The Seattle Seahawks are 4-5 after the team's 2024 bye week. Seattle will next play two NFC West rivals, the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals. The season will be shaped by how well or poorly the team does in the next two weeks.
Should Seattle somehow win both games, then head coach Mike Macdonald and the team would be 6-5 and back in the race for the division crown. If the team loses both games, a 4-7 Seahawks team should be looking forward to next year. Let's hope that doesn't happen.
Still, even if the season ends poorly for the team there could still be hope for 2025. What we see now does not mean things will remain that way forever. Here are some massive overreactions to what 12 saw in the first half of the season.
Five massive overreactions to what the Seattle Seahawks did in the first half of the 2024 season
Geno Smith is a bad quarterback
Smith has become one of the more divisive figures in recent Seahawks history. Many still see him only as a backup and lucked into a starting gig after Seattle traded Russell Wilson in 2022. Since then, though, Smith has led the NFL in completion percentage (2022), fourth quarter comebacks and game-winning drives (2023), and currently leads the league in passing yards per game.
Smith also is tied for the league lead in interceptions (10) after having three in Week 9. To keep that in context, however, he is only 10th in interception percentage, so he isn't making as many relative mistakes as other quarterbacks. He is also constantly under quick pressure, so he is forced to make decisions that other QBs cannot.
The question about Smith isn't whether he is a bad quarterback because he isn't. The issue is where the team sees themselves at quarterback in three-to-four years. If Seattle wants to commit to a rebuild, Smith might be released next offseason, but he will catch on elsewhere and help another team win a lot of games.
Mike Macdonald is no better than Pete Carroll
The answer to this debate is not yet known and probably will not be known for several more seasons. After Carroll's first two years in Seattle (seasons in which the team had back-to-back 7-9 records), many 12s might have wanted Carroll gone too. The difference is Carroll had the final say over roster moves and Macdonald doesn't. In other words, if there is a problem with Macdonald, the fault might currently really lie with general manager John Schneider.
Still, Macdonald's defense is not statistically any better in most categories than it has been in previous seasons under Carroll. The team is also committing more penalties, almost two more than in 2023. Macdonald's teams are, so far, no more disciplined than they were under Carroll, and the defense has not improved.
But a first-year head coach cannot truly be evaluated after nine games. Macdonald's way might not be established until 2025 when players have another year in his system. If Macdonald is failing by the end of next season then we have a real problem.
Devon Witherspoon has been a second-year disappointment
Witherspoon was expected to take a step up in being a disruptor in year two, especially in Macdonald's system, but he hasn't. His pass rush numbers are way down, and his coverage statistics are poor in relation to last season as well. The one aspect he has improved is run defense, but his tackling is worse.
The cornerback has whiffed on 16.4 percent of his tackle attempts this season compared to 12.1 percent in 2023. He has allowed 74 percent of the passes thrown his way to be completed compared to 57.4 percent last season. But he is also giving up fewer yards per catch than in 2023 (8.7 to 10.2), and he has yet to allow a touchdown pass this year.
Is Witherspoon the exciting player he was in 2023 when he had three sacks and a 97-yard pick-six? No. But he also has not been bad, and he will probably be better in the future.
Ryan Grubb is over his head as an NFL offensive coordinator
Like Macdonald, Grubb cannot be too harshly criticized for how his offense is doing this season. Has he had anywhere near the success he had in college? No. But his scheme also cannot be fully implemented because of the wretchedness that is the right side of the offensive line. Geno Smith does not have much time to throw and that means deep routes cannot develop the way Grubb hopes.
The offensive coordinator could be better in terms of getting something close to run-to-pass equality, but his running backs have no holes to run through, either. The entire offense is hampered by right guard Anthony Bradford and whoever is playing right tackle. Maybe if Abraham Lucas comes back soon then the offensive will look differently. But until Seattle addresses the offensive line, Grubb is going to seem to be worse than he is.
The Seattle Seahawks need a complete rebuild
Sadly, this might be true. Maybe the second half will teach the team and 12s something different than what we have seen in five of the last six games, but there is no reason for much optimism. DK Metcalf should be back soon, and maybe Lucas is as well. But the defense does not seem to be getting better any time soon.
The next offseason could be a great upheaval for the Seahawks. Maybe Geno Smith leaves, along with edge rusher Dre'Mont Jones and others. If the team finishes something like 6-11 then that needs to happen. There is still some hope for a successful 2024, though.