Worst case scenarios for 2022 Seahawks based on preseason opener
By Lee Vowell
The Seahawks lose a lot of close games
Close wins and close losses have been a staple of Pete Carroll’s teams since he came to Seattle in 2010. In a lot of the early seasons, this was by design. Carroll knew his defense was great and just needed a quarterback who didn’t turn the ball over. This is even true during Russell Wilson’s first seasons. Wilson didn’t throw picks that cost the team games and the defense would hold the other team at bay.
After 2015 when players like Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor and Richard Sherman started to be injured a bit more and the defense wasn’t quite as good, the team changed and became a lot more Wilson-focuses. Wilson was still good but this turn didn’t help the team overall. Seattle needs a great defense and a QB that can avoid losing games.
This is probably why Seattle is giving Geno Smith a lot of QB1 reps as opposed to Drew Lock. Lock is the more dynamic quarterback – stronger arm and more versatility – but Smith knows the offense better and might be less likely to turn the ball over.
Still, from what we saw from Smith last year, the Seahawks aren’t going to trust him to do a lot when the offense has the ball. This means, hopefully as far as the Seahawks coaches go, lower-scoring games where Seattle wins in near the end. But Smith made a habit of late-game turnovers in 2021 and Lock did the same against the Steelers. So, Seattle seems destined to lose a lot of low-scoring games in 2022.