When the defending Super Bowl champion goes on the road with a backup quarterback and dominates a division rival, you might not think there would be many problems for a coach to fix. In the case of the Seattle Seahawks, who pulled away from a game and overmatched the Arizona Cardinals in the second half of Sunday's matchup, you’d be right.
Mike Macdonald can’t have too many complaints after seeing his team improve to 2-0 on the season.
Still, this is the NFL, and Macdonald is something of a perfectionist. No coach will ever admit to being entirely satisfied with his team’s performance. Macdonald does have issues to resolve. They are not glaring, and with a seemingly easy game against the depleted Washington Commanders coming up in Week 3, you might think Macdonald’s concern would be slight.
The Seattle Seahawks must find solutions for several lingering issues
From everything we have learned about Seattle’s coach, that would be entirely wrong. You can be assured that he and his staff will be working hard to fix the following problems as they prepare for Week 3.
Red zone play calling isn’t getting it done
Seattle scored its first touchdown when the Cardinals blew coverage on the best receiver in the NFL, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba scored from 82 yards out. For much of the game, that was looking like the only way Seattle could find the end zone, because they were being continually stymied by the Arizona defense whenever they reached the red zone.
At the end of the first half, offensive coordinator Brian Fleury seemed hell-bent on pounding the ball into the end zone. He called four straight versions of dive plays from six yards out and closer. The offense failed to score. On fourth down, Seattle loaded up with an extra lineman – Josh Jones – and backup center Olu Oluwatimi in the backfield. It didn’t work.
This futility was repeated several times in the second half. Seattle eventually wore down the Cardinals' defense and did pound the ball into the end zone late in the game. But it was still a major struggle. Against teams with more potent offenses, Fleury needs to show more imagination to take advantage of scoring opportunities.
Getting Anthony Bradford back at right guard may help, but the Seahawks, as currently constituted, do not have a very good straight-ahead power-running offense. Fleury needs to find more creative avenues when he gets close to the goal line.
Tight ends are largely invisible as pass catchers
One thing that will help the red zone offense, as well as the offense overall, is finding ways to involve the Seahawks' tight ends in the passing game. Against the Cardinals, AJ Barner, Elijah Arroyo, and Eric Saubert saw a total of three targets. They caught all three but managed just 15 total yards. (That number is deflated by Saubert’s -10 yard reception on a busted play.)
Tight ends accounted for 16 percent of the club’s catches, 11 percent of the total targets, and an anemic six percent of the passing yards. Seattle does not rely on its tight ends for big plays, but those numbers simply aren’t good enough.
Barner should be more involved. Arroyo should be running downfield more often. The Seahawks don’t need their tight ends to be Trey McBride, but when they face better teams, those players will have to contribute more.
Kick coverage was spotty
The Seahawks have generally had strong special teams play under Jay Harbaugh. On Sunday, it wasn’t particularly bad. Jason Myers and Michael Dickson were solid as always. But there were still some troubling minor issues that bear watching.
Rashid Shaheed has yet to break free on a return the way he did late last season. There’s no real cause for alarm there. Assuming he doesn’t give up the role to a younger player like Tory Horton, you can bet Shaheed will have one or two game-altering returns before the year is over.
But the kick coverage showed some problems, especially on the right side of kickoff coverage unit. Cornerback Avery Smith was essentially blown up on the opening kickoff, setting up the Cardinals with excellent field position.
On the ensuing kickoff, Myers pushed the ball to the other side of the field. But Cardinal returner Jalen Brooks crossed back to Smith’s side. To his credit, Smith did recover and make the tackle, but not before his initial overcommitment cost the Seahawks another 30+-yard return.
Smith and George Holani need to lock down their side of the field on those returns the way AJ Finley did on the opposite side. Though the sample size was small, the Cardinals averaged ten yards more per return when attacking Seattle’s right side.
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