The Seahawks cannot win consistently unless they address these issues. Sadly, their biggest problem has persisted for years.
The Seahawks began their game against the Broncos as poorly as one could ever imagine. Geno Smith was sacked on the first play of the season. As if that wasn't bad enough, he threw an interception on the very next play. Of course, that got the vocal "Geno Sucks" contingent fired up.
The problem with that is that Geno Smith wasn't the problem. The offensive line was atrocious in the first half. Smith was sacked because Denver's Jonathon Cooper was practically given a free pass to the Seattle backfield. The interception was the result of the Broncos' defensive line pouring through the cheesecloth Seahawks blocking and getting to Smith as he released the pass. The line played better as the game continued, but it's still a big issue.
The Seattle Seahawks have to fix the offensive line - again
As John Boyle reported on seahawks.com, Coach Mike Macdonald did see improvement in the O-line as the game progressed. In his press conference Monday, Macdonald said, "There's room for improvement. No one's going to turn the tape on in the first half and be excited about what they saw. But to their credit, they kept plugging away, and I thought in the second half, the guys played well together."
Yes, the offense improved in the second half, but it wasn't necessarily because the line was blocking any better. As Gregg Bell stated in The News Tribune, Seattle stopped trying so many inside runs and began sending Kenneth Walker out wide. The result: 84 yards for K9 in the second half, compared to only 19 in the first.
Give Ryan Grubb credit for that adjustment, 12s. How often have we lamented in the past that the Hawks didn't make necessary halftime adjustments? Hmmm...how many games have they lost over the past few seasons? That's a rhetorical question, gang. Too many, and too often because the coaching staff didn't seem to have an answer to what they saw in the first half.
But the problem remains. The Seahawks offensive line, except for Charles Cross, didn't hitch up their pants and get to work in the second half. Ryan Grubb changed the scheme to compensate for their inability to block for Smith and Walker. We all expected great things from the Seahawks' new offensive coordinator, and we got them, especially in the third quarter. But that blocking has to improve. The potential loss of George Fant doesn't make things any easier.
Seattle shouldn't have ever needed a spectacular catch by Tyler Lockett to salt away the game with less than two minutes to go. Once K9 went out of the game, the running game evaporated. Until Lockett's nine-yard catch, the Hawks had managed just 5 yards on six plays. Those five yards were the result of an offsides penalty on Denver. So without Walker, Seattle gained exactly zero yards until Lockett made the near-impossible look routine. Sorry, but that O-line still needs to be fixed.