The Seahawks lost to the Cheifs on Sunday and are now 7-8. If the season were to end today, Seattle would miss the playoffs. This is even after beginning the season 6-3.
At my day job, we have an NFL survivor pool. It is pretty simple, pick one team to win each week, and pray they survive. This season saw nearly 400 participants, so let’s just say the pot is quite large.
As we head into Christmas and the home stretch of the NFL season, there are only four survivors left (I’m not one of them…stupid Buccaneers). Of the four picks this week, two of them chose the Chiefs to beat the Seahawks. That’s the confidence people have right now that the Seahawks were going to lose, and sure enough, they survived. In a second straight game facing off against the best the league has to offer, the Seahawks showed how far they have to go to be great.
Notes from the Nest: Seahawks lose in Week 16
The defense fought hard…
When you are playing the expected MVP Patrick Mahomes and the greatness of Travis Kelce and Andy Reid, you had to think the Seahawks’ defense was in for a brutal day. A little over five minutes in, they were down 7-0 after giving up one of the easier touchdown drives of the year. Early in the second quarter, the Seahawks yet again were steamrolled for an easy touchdown and found themselves down 14-0.
From the 8:56 mark of the second quarter to the 4:42 mark of the fourth quarter, the Seahawks held the vaunted Chiefs offense to only 3 points. In the second half, the Seattle defense forced three straight punts, and six punts total, the most Kansas City has been forced this season. Why was Seattle able to stymie the Chiefs?
The most likely conclusion is the weather. It was absolutely frigid in Kansas City, and you could tell it affected the passing game of both quarterbacks, taking away the chance for the QB duel we were hoping to see. We also saw the run defense, knowing KC wanted to run more than normal, stand up, and hold the Chiefs to only 77 yards on 22 rushes. While they were only able to sack Mahomes once and get three pressures, they did deflect 5 passes and made some huge plays on 3rd down to keep their team in the game for the first 50 minutes.
But…the Seahawks defense just isn’t good enough
As we have seen the past two weeks against some of the best in the NFL, the Seahawks defensively are simply not talented enough to hang with the best. Yes, the Seahawks held the 49ers to 21 points, but San Francisco should have scored over 30 points if not for a few mistakes. They held the Chiefs to 24 points, but in some better weather, Mahomes probably drops 40 points on the Seahawks. I’m not trying to knock the Seahawks, but moderately competitive losses where they were lucky to hang with a good team are not the goal right now. At the end of the day, the players just aren’t good enough.
Tariq Woolen is going to be a star. We saw that on a beautiful deflection that denied the Chiefs a scoring opportunity. After that play, the great Mahomes didn’t seem to want to challenge him again. Uchenna Nwosu appears to be a solid pass rusher that should be a number 2 or number 3 guy on a true contender.
The rest of the defense (and I mean the entire rest of the defense) should be on the chopping block if there’s an opportunity to improve the position. Expensive players not performing like Quandre Diggs, or players with inflated stats like Jordyn Brooks, need to be considered as problems and not solutions right now. The draft is shaping up to be a great opportunity to get four high-quality players in the first two rounds at a minimum. It is fair to wonder if another strong draft is enough.
The questions about the Seahawks leadership will intensify
Whenever a team that was 6-3 loses five of their next six games to put their season on the brink, questions will naturally come about the future of the coach and GM, even for Pete Carroll and John Schneider.
Seahawks owner Jody Allen chose the leadership duo over Russell Wilson, a move that probably saved Seattle a half-decade of darkness. Still, the massive falloff we’ve seen from this team is concerning. A potentially spectacular draft in 2022 can’t overcome six to seven brutal drafts that left the roster thin on stars and depth.
The Kansas City Chiefs are a painful reminder to Seahawks fans about the consequences of drafting poorly. You never know how a player will develop in your system, but the Seahawks took Christine Michael one pick ahead of Travis Kelce in 2013. In 2021, the Seahawks took Dee Eskridge over pro bowl caliber players in Nick Bolton and Creed Humphrey. Those three players are a major reason why Kansas City is one of the classes of the NFL. Seattle can’t make those mistakes.
The defense being the worst part of this team for six straight seasons, having passed through numerous defensive coordinators, has to eventually fall on Pete Carroll, a defensive coach.
This week we saw a few rumors from a semi-credible reporter stating the possibility that Pete Carroll and Sean McVay could potentially retire at the end of this season. Where the road appears to have ended on the all-in run of McVay and the Rams, this would be quite shocking for Pete and the Seahawks. While he is getting up there in age, Carroll is signed on through the 2025 season. He finally has the type of draft capital he used in 2010 to kick off this run, and while he’s a Hall of Famer in my book, another conference championship or even Super Bowl could be his final goal.
At the same time, he may be realizing this team is farther away than he thought, and doesn’t think they can make a legitimate run in this on-the-fly rebuild. I personally don’t believe the rumors, but the question remains: Can leadership see this through, or is a new voice and vision needed? Make no mistake, this offseason will be the deciding factor on whether the Seahawks can jump into contender status, or need to tear it all down and start over.
The Seahawks are on the brink of 2022 extinction, but Russ brought gifts
With their fifth loss in six games, the Seahawks find themselves on the brink of elimination. A loss to either the Jets or Rams would all but eliminate them from the playoffs. If Seattle were to rise up and finish the season with back-to-back wins, they’d need some help.
The Washington Commanders are two wins away from the final playoff spot, even with their uneven play as of late. If they slip, Green Bay is next in line for the final spot. The Packers were gift-wrapped by a road victory after Tua Tagovailoa completely melted down, throwing 3 fourth quarter interceptions in a 26-20 loss. If Green Bay wins their final two home games, against Minnesota and Detroit, they would have the tiebreaker over Seattle.
While Seattle no longer appears in a good spot to make the postseason, their potential haul in next spring’s NFL draft is as promising as any team in the league. Thanks to former NFL quarterback, I mean Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, Seattle appears to be headed towards a top three overall pick in the draft. The Broncos saved their most embarrassing performance of the season for Christmas, getting lit up by the lowly LA Rams 51-14. When the Broncos weren’t fighting with each other, Wilson was running for his life, throwing 3 picks and getting sacked 6 times.
The apparent end of Wilson’s career and Denver’s future is Seattle’s gain. The Seahawks are currently slated to pick 3rd, 12th, 35th, and 50th. The potential of adding four immediate impact players, and the potential of two blue-chip stars, could be franchise-changing.
It’s an interesting game Seattle is playing. Do they win their final two games and try to make the playoffs? Fans seem pretty split on this idea. The playoffs are a valuable experience but would cost the Seahawks 6 to 7 draft slots. For now, I expect the Seahawks to do everything they can to defeat the Jets, and their fate should be clear by the end of week 17.