The Seattle Seahawks are not going to the postseason this year. 12s have certainly gotten so used to making the postseason every year they can’t be blamed for feeling like the team should assume the team will be good enough to do so.
2021 started off with a nice feeling as Seattle defeated the Colts with ease in Week 1. This seems difficult to believe now as the Colts are playing great and Seattle is not. If these two teams played again, Seattle would likely not get the victory.
But 2022 could be better for Seattle, as they have been successful with Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson for a decade so maybe this season is just a one-off bad one. But here is why 2021 has been a bad one.
3 reasons why the Seattle Seahawks are missing the playoffs in 2021
1. The Seahawks could not replace Shaquill Griffin or K.J. Wright
Griffin was vital to the Seahawks success in the secondary and was much better in pass coverage than his replacements this year. Seattle tried to replace him with Ahkello Witherspoon in free agency, but Witherspoon never played a real down with Seattle and was traded before the season started. The Seahawks then acquired Sidney Jones from Jacksonville, but he eventually lost the position to rookie Tre Brown.
K.J. Wright was a veteran presence in the Seahawks locker room the past few years. He was key to helping the defense adjust at the line of scrimmage and he was clearly missed this year. He also blew up screen passes brilliantly and Seattle has missed that skill this season.
The Seahawks did see growth from a pair of young players in Jordyn Brooks and Tre Brown at linebacker and cornerback, respectively. However, without Griffin and Wright, the Seahawks defense really struggled early in the season at keeping opponents out of the end zone.
2. The Seattle Seahawks made the wrong hire at offensive coordinator
Seattle made a questionable decision last off-season to fire offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. Schottenheimer orchestrated an offense that finished 8th in the NFL in scoring in 2020, averaging 28.7 points per game. This season, the Seahawks have fallen to 20th in the league in scoring and have averaged just 20.4 points per game (through Week 16).
Shane Waldron was brought in to add more creativity to the Seahawks offense this year. However, outside of the first game of the season, there has been little to no creativity with this offense. In fact, the offense now seems less creative, especially when Seattle faces quality defenses, than it was in the first part of the year. The offense is playing like it is afraid of making a mistake.
Some of these issues could stem from Pete Carroll’s philosophy possibly having too much influence on play-calling and decision-making. This could explain why the offense has been so passive and disconnected.
Although, it ultimately is Waldron’s decision to call plays, and from that perspective, he has clearly failed to create an identity on offense and seems to not be taking advantage of the talents of DK Metcalf and others.
Number 3: Injuries plagued the Seahawks all year
The Seahawks really needed their running backs and defensive backs this season to be consistently healthy. The injuries piled up in the secondary this year with Tre Brown, DJ Reed, and Jamal Adams all missing multiple games due to injury.
Seattle’s running backs also dealt with injuries with Chris Carson playing in just four games this season and Rashaad Penny missing seven games. The biggest injury was Russell Wilson’s finger injury which sidelined him for three and a half games.
Seattle would go just (1-2) in Wilson’s absence at the position, struggling to win with Wilson out. When he returned, it took three weeks for him to return to form, as they lost in his first two games back from injury, as his accuracy lagged, with his finger appearing to not have fully healed.
These injuries highlighted some of the warning signs from training camp and preseason, as the Seahawks won just one preseason game, appearing to lack roster depth. The lack of draft picks and bad picks in prior drafts have hindered the Seahawks ability to fill and replace injured players with young talent.