Super Bowl LVII: Lessons the Seattle Seahawks can learn

Lesson for Seahawks number 4: Championships are won in the trenches

I have long believed that the team with the best trench play would be in the best position to succeed. In 2013 and 2014, the Seahawks punked the rest of the lead by just destroying their opponents in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Yes, the LOB was fantastic and helped the pass rush, but it was the guys like Michael Bennett, Red Bryant, and Cliff Avril that would force the QB to have to make poor throws that put the LOB in position to be great.

Yes, Marshawn and Russell Wilson were incredible runners in their primes, but they also were able to show their greatness in the open field thanks to strong offensive lines that did their job. The Seahawks haven’t been to that level since, and it may be the area they are farthest behind when looking at the Eagles and Chiefs.

The Seahawks have their franchise tackles, which is a great start, but that’s only half of the equation when it comes to the offensive line. The interior of the offensive line is what allows your quarterback to step up and into a throw, as well as gives the offense the confidence to run inside, controlling the time of possession of the game and wearing out a defense. The Eagles and Chiefs are clearly two of the absolute best in this area. Yes, they have good tackles, but their guards and center destroy not just the defensive tackles, but also get to the second level taking out linebackers.

Jason Kelce is one of the greatest centers of all time, Creed Humphrey appears to be the next great center in the league. The Seahawks offense looked like a true Super Bowl contender when Austin Blythe was holding up during the first half of the season, the second half was a disaster. There’s a reason why the Seahawks haven’t been as successful since they traded Max Unger. Learn from these teams, Seahawks, go get a franchise center to unlock Kenneth Walker III and allow Geno to be his best.

As great as an awesome o-line can be, there’s nothing more destructive on the football field than an unstoppable pass rush. The Chiefs saw this in 2020, New England lost a perfect season because of it. A destructive pass rush will rip up any game plan and crush a team’s hope of victory. Both of these teams have that, while the Seahawks don’t. The Eagles nearly broke an NFL record for sacks in a season after racking up 70 during a 17 game season. They had four players reach 10+ sacks, with Reddick reaching 16 total. The Chiefs are no slouch either, sacking the QB 55 times with Chris Jones terrorizing the interior with 15.5 sacks as a DT.

These are monster numbers from teams that have monsters in the trenches, an area Seattle must upgrade this offseason. An upgrade at the center position, adding a blue chip edge rusher or defensive tackle could go a long way to improve a defense that ranked 25th in the league. The Seahawks have the draft capital, they look like they will have the financial flexibility with or without Geno Smith, go make a push Seattle.