We’ve heard this before, right 12s? Why aren’t the Seahawks running the ball more? It’s a bit more complicated than simply calling the play.
I’ve got a question for you, 12s. How many times have we heard that Pete Carroll needs to update his offensive philosophy for the Seahawks to win? A dozen, two dozen? That’s on a weekly basis, at least.
One writer proclaimed that “Pete Carroll has aged out of the NFL” and that he has “an outdated understanding of the NFL”. I won’t link to the article to spare them the embarrassment, as they also said it was time to move on from John Schneider.
That criticism is largely based on the Seahawks supposed dogged dedication to the run. For a team and a coach that is supposedly determined to play an old-school running game, the Seahawks sure don’t run the ball much. So why is that? Why don’t they simply call more running plays?
Seahawks need to open up the passing game to run the ball more
Pete Carroll himself has said that his team needs to run more often. As Gregg Bell reported for the Tacoma Tribune, Carroll said that the Seahawks have to run the ball to be successful. Seems a bit odd for the head coach of a team to point out what’s going wrong, as if he has no control over it. Maybe that’s just me, though. Carroll’s actual comments:
"“We didn’t do anything like we wanted to today,” Carroll said. “On the line of scrimmage, on either side of the ball, we didn’t deal with it right. …“It’s really hard to win this football game the way we did it. “We didn’t run the ball worth a darn. …We’ve got to get right.”"
Well, yes, you do have to get it right. As fans, we can complain all we want, but the one person who can get it right is Pete Carroll. Yes, it would be helpful if Shane Waldron would call more running plays, but Pete is the ultimate authority on this team. It’s up to him to make the message clear.
In the same article, Rashaad Penny was quoted as saying the Seahawks need to trust the run more. He’s right, of course. A lot’s been made of the running backs’ supposed anemic performance so far. In two games they’ve totaled just 112 yards on 33 carries. On the face of it, that’s mediocre at best. But as Penny said,
"“To be honest, I feel like we are still really trying to find our identity as to who we are as an offense,” Penny said. “It’s early in the season, so that’s kind of like how it’s always been here. We’ve tried to kind of find ourselves in the first few games. “That’s a good defense, a really good defense. … “I feel like we’ve got a really great running-back room. I think, you know, we’ve just got to trust it more.”"
Penny is right about the Niners having a really good defense. But he’s a really good running back, too. Does it make sense to anyone that the man who led the NFL in yards per attempt last year got just 12 carries against the Broncos?
It makes far less sense that the Seahawks only called his number six times versus the 49ers. As he said, they need to trust the running game more. I mean, Chad Morton might as well take up crochet for all the work he’s being asked to do.
To do that, they have to trust Geno Smith more, too. That’s the crux of the issue as I see it. Yes, he threw an interception in this game. So what? Tua Tagovailoa threw two pics this past Sunday versus the Ravens and wound up with six touchdown passes. You know why, 12s? Because their head coach said, and I quote – well, I can’t quote what Mike McDaniel said, but check it out here, thanks to our friends at Phin Phanatic. Basically, he said “eff” it and trusted his players to deliver.
And that is exactly what the Seahawks need to do with Geno Smith. The Dolphins have a pair of great receivers in Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill. Does anyone think they’re better than the Hawks duo of Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf? Geno Smith played much better than Tua last year. Shane Waldron needs to trust Geno to throw the deep ball. It’s pretty easy for opposing defenses to stack against the run when they see that the Hawks have turned Metcalf into a possession receiver. Open up the passing game, and the running game will be there. Assuming they actually call running plays, that is.