A couple of weeks ago, Fox Sports announcer Greg Olsen identified the way in which the Los Angeles Rams’ “light box” defense might signal the best way for opposing teams to counter the Seattle Seahawks' potent offense. At least for one week, he proved prescient. The Minnesota Vikings used a light box to cause a lot of problems for the Seahawks in Week 13.
Fortunately, it didn’t matter. The Seahawks’ defense was even better. Going up against a very inexperienced, inaccurate quarterback in Max Brosmer, Mike Macdonald’s defense was suffocating. That led to another Olsen observation, which may turn out to be crucial as Seattle rolls toward the 2025 playoffs.
"You want to get rid of (turnovers) without losing your aggressiveness." Olsen and his broadcast partner Joe Davis were discussing how Seattle has committed the second most turnovers in the league, and that if they could just cut down on the giveaways, there is no weakness on the team.
Seahawks' conservative offense against the Vikings does not predict the future
But Olsen was quick to note this caveat. Fewer turnovers cannot come at the expense of splash plays on offense. And fortunately, Seattle is in an excellent position to execute that strategy. That is because of the Seahawks' defense.
Olsen went on to explain, "If I know my defense is great, I'm going to take more chances on offense."
The interesting part of Olsen’s observation is that Klint Kubiak called a very conservative game against Minnesota in Week 13. Seattle repeatedly seemed to be playing for field goals, which is not consistent with how Kubiak has been running his offense this year.
That may be due to some rather unique circumstances on Sunday. Brosmer was making his first NFL start in extremely hostile territory. The undrafted free agent had thrown just eight passes in his rookie season, and he was drastically overmatched by Seattle’s outstanding defense. He threw four interceptions, including a pick-six that broke open a close game.
With the Vikings' high-risk defense – they blitz far more than any other team in the league – it was realistic to believe that the Vikings had a better chance of scoring on defense than they did on offense. Therefore, the conservative play-calling made sense.
But Seattle will not be playing anemic offenses like Minnesota’s going forward. When playing against Los Angeles and San Francisco, Seattle will have to score points.
As Olsen pointed out, this Seattle offense will not score points without being aggressive. Sam Darnold throws a good deep ball. Seattle thrives on balance. The running game sets up deep shots to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The potent passing attack loosens up running lanes for Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet.
The fact is, except for JSN, Seattle does not have a single elite skill player. They have plenty of borderline stars. Plenty of tough-minded players. But elite? Top five in the league? Not a one.
This offense needs all the parts to be working in order to compete with the best in the league.
The defense, on the other hand, is already elite and, assuming it remains healthy, will only get better. Of course, they will not be able to stop the likes of Matthew Stafford or Christian McCaffrey every time, but they can cover up a lot of mistakes, as they did throughout the entire game against the Vikings.
So the bottom line for Klint Kubiak and his Seattle Seahawks’ offense is this. Don’t play scared. Of course, no one wants to commit turnovers, but with this defense, an extra turnover isn’t going to be as detrimental as playing scared will be. Greg Olsen has seen a lot of football, and he understands how smart offensive coordinators leverage a great defense to become even more explosive.