Big problems the Seahawks must fix before playing the Lions in Week 4

The Seattle Seahawks have a surprising two-game lead in the NFC West. Unfortunately for Seattle, the schedule is about to get tougher, and that lead will disappear if they don't solve two issues that have dogged them so far this season.

I'm sure most 12s aren't too surprised that the Hawks have jumped out to a 3-0 start this season. The Broncos weren't expected to be very good, and neither were the Patriots. The Dolphins were supposed to be the toughest test for the Seahawks in the early going, but without their starting quarterback, they're toast. Frankly, they hadn't been too good with Tua Tagovailoa in the lineup.

Seattle's success has been built on a nasty defense and an explosive offense. The Seahawks either lead the league or rank in the top five in multiple defensive categories. They've scored four times on plays of 30 yards or more. The Buffalo Bills lead the NFL in scoring with 112 points. Yet they've only had one touchdown longer than 30 yards. But that also points to the two problems Seattle must fix to win consistently.

The Seattle Seahawks offense can't disappear for series after series

Yes, it's pretty great when your team can score from anywhere on the field. Whether it's DK Metcalf taking it to the house from 71 yards out, or Geno Smith scrambling for a 34-yard TD himself, the Hawks have no shortage of speed and quick-strike weapons. But for all that potential, they've only scored 73 points. That's not even 10 points above the league average of 63.5. To put it another way, the Seahawks offense is only one field goal per game better than average.

That simply isn't sustainable for an entire season, not if you want to make the playoffs. Perhaps even worse, Seattle has scored on only 37.8 percent of their drives. That ranks 17th in the league. The Hawks have to move the ball more consistently.

Week after week, the Hawks offense stalled

Yes, Seattle beat Denver, but the Broncos never should have been within three scores in that game. In the first quarter, Seattle's first three drives netted negative three yards. The first two drives the Hawks mounted in the fourth quarter gained nine yards and resulted in a pair of punts.

We saw the Seahawks' offense sputter just as badly versus the Patriots. In the third quarter, Seattle opened with a 10-play drive but turned the ball over on downs. After that, we saw three straight punts on drives that totaled 18 yards. Yes, Geno Smith saved the day with a brilliant drive in overtime. but the Patriots are lucky to be 1-2. That is not a good team.

Then we had the debacle of the two-quarter vacation in the middle of the Dolphins game. After smacking the Phins with a 17-point opening quarter, the offense all but disappeared for 30 minutes. The Hawks mounted a decent drive, but after a penalty - don't worry, I'll get to that - Jason Myers missed a 53-yard kick. That was his first miss of the year, so I'm not exactly concerned about that.

What does concern me is that the Seahawks' next four drives gained a grand total of negative four yards and 7:27 on the clock. Thankfully, the Hawks have the league's best punter in Michael Dickson, or this could have been even worse than it was. Yes, the defense came up big on play after play and drive after drive to shut the Dolphins down. Geno Smith came through again with a 98-yard drive to put an exclamation mark on the win, so no complaints there.

Yes, Smith threw two picks in the Phins game. Both times he was under major pressure, and both times, the interceptions were off deflected passes. Smith took full accountability for the picks, as he should. As quoted by Gregg Bell, Smith said, "(I’m mad) just (with) the fact we scored 17 points right in the first quarter. Felt like we came out great, and then for some reason we couldn’t just get over that hump. I kept trying to push the guys: ‘Hey, we got to put our foot on the gas, score more points.’ I’m right at the forefront of that."

We all know it's the line

I applaud Smith for shouldering the responsibility. To some extent, he's right; he's the quarterback, the guy who makes everything go. But when your offensive line plays as poorly as it has overall, the QB isn't the issue. Anthony Bradford is clearly the biggest offender on the Hawks line. The Miami game was a strange one for the O-line, as Charles Cross gave up his first sack, even his first pressure, of the season. But Bradford has been abysmal.

If Bradford isn't giving up sacks or QB hits, he's committing penalties to nullify big plays by his team. His six infractions are tied for second-most in the NFL. We've mentioned before that guard Christian Haynes must look absolutely terrible in practice. But at this point, it's time to find out if he's one of those guys that dials it up on game day.

Give Haynes the first half to see what he can do. If he's somehow even worse than Bradford, send in Sataoa Laumea on the next rotation. Heck, give Blitz a helmet and pads. He can't be as bad as what we've seen so far. Something has to change for this offense because the competition will only get tougher.

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