The Seattle Seahawks could very well have just four games left in their 2023 season. They are still in the playoff hunt, but they have lost four straight games. Nothing over the last months says Seattle should be in the postseason.
For Seattle to make a playoff run, the following three players have to be better than their overall 2023 performances have been. Two play on one unit. The other protects the Seahawks backend of the defense.
If even two of the following players fail. Seattle is likely going to be watching the playoffs for the second time in three years. This could mean massive changes to the organization this coming offseason. There is still hope for this season, however, if these three play a lot better.
Damien Lewis - Seattle Seahawks left guard
Lewis has had a mixed career with the Seahawks through almost four seasons. Many times he has been Seattle's best offensive lineman. The problem with saying that is that Seattle's offensive line has not been good in Lewis' career. Still, in 2022, the left guard was graded as Pro Football Focus' (subscription required) 11th-best guard in the NFL. Last season, Lewis allowed just 19 pressures and 3 quarterback hits.
This year, Lewis has already allowed 23 pressure with four games remaining. He hasn't been terrible, and he very likely has still been the Seahawks' most consistent offensive lineman, but he has fallen to 32 in terms of PFF's grading among guards. Maybe Lewis simply hasn't had much stability or good play around him, especially at center, and that has affected his overall play as well.
Of course, this could also be diminishing his price tag next offseason. He will only be 27 years old in Week 1 of 2024 and he is a capable guard who could command more than $10 million a season with his next contract. To help earn that new deal, however, Lewis needs to continue his play of the last two weeks when he has allowed just one pressure against the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. Before that, between Weeks 7 and 12, Lewis allowed multiple pressures in each game.
Evan Brown - Seattle Seahawks center
Maybe there is something wrong with Seattle's offensive line coaching. This is a little bit surprising because through the first four games, when Seattle was mostly playing without tackles Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas, and had multiple changes along the interior of the line, Seattle's O-line seemed better and a lot of the credit for that could have gone to line coach Andy Dickerson and center Evan Brown. But Brown has been mostly bad since Week 2.
Brown did miraculously play well against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 13 when he did not allow a pressure on 41 pass attempts, but why was he suddenly better when he had been bad for weeks? An offensive lineman must be consistent to be counted on and I am partly surprised that the Seahawks have not made a change to rookie Olu Oluwatimi at center.
Brown was back to his old bad habits against the 49ers in Week 14, however. He allowed 2 pressures and 2 quarterback hits. This was the same kind of performance he gave between Weeks 3 and 12 when he allowed multiple pressures in seven of eight games including giving up 4 against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 9.
Brown is graded at number 29 among centers this season, per PFF. As there are only 32 teams, this would mean the Seahawks have the fourth-worst center situation in the NFL. Brown was only signed for one year this past offseason, so unless he can be nearly perfect over the final four games, there should be no chance he returns in 2024.
Quandre Diggs - Seattle Seahawks safety
Where has the Quandre Diggs gone that was so good for Seattle from 2019 through 2022? Diggs made the Pro Bowl every year between 2020 and 2022 and had at least 4 interceptions in each of those seasons. This year, the free safety has just one pick, and his quarterback rating allowed has ballooned to 105.1. 20 of the 28 pass attempts thrown in his direction have been completed for 15.6 yards per completion.
Diggs is also on pace to allow his most yards after the catch since 2018 when he was playing for the Lions. This is partly due to Diggs whiffing on 13.1 percent of his tackle attempts, his highest number since 2019. Maybe Diggs has lost half a step? He plays a physical game, but free safeties can age quickly once past 30.
Diggs' contract is also simply too high for 2024. Even if he wasn't playing as poorly as he was the team would need to look at reworking his current deal or releasing him. He has a cap hit of $21,262,500 while Seattle only currently has around $12 million in cap room for next offseason. Releasing Diggs would add $11 million to that last number.
Por Football Focus currently has Diggs graded as the seventh-worst safety in the league. To help the Seahawks win at least three of their final four games to try to make a playoff push, Diggs doesn't need to just be decent, he needs to be near elite. Otherwise, the final four games of 2023 should be Diggs' final four games with the Seahawks.