The Seattle Seahawks desperately need a victory. The team could still make the postseason but with every passing game over the last month, playoff hopes have diminished. Seattle is on a four-game slide with no end in sight.
It's easy forget, though, that Seattle also was 7-8 late in 2022 before making the playoffs. As most of the league appears mediocre, the Seahawks could sneak into the postseason again. Currently, the NFC playoff picture has four teams that are 9-4 or better, but seven teams sitting 7-6 or 6-7 (seven teams total make the NFC playoffs).
But for Seattle to improve this year, several players need to be better. The coaching also needs to be better. Here are four Seahawks who should be on the hot seat entering Week 15 versus the Philadelphia Eagles.
Geno Smith - Seattle Seahawks QB
Whether Geno Smith plays or not in Week 15, he is on the hot seat. I say this not to be obvious but to point out that Smith might unfairly be compared to Russell Wilson in terms of playing every game. Smith did not play in Week 14 because Pete Carroll was afraid Smith might do more harm to himself as Smith would not be able to move around as well with an injured groin.
Smith was seen on the field before the game doing warmups and he seemed to be moving around fairly well, but of course going through drills and facing one of the NFL's better defensive lines are two different things. Smith would have to move more quickly and unpredictably going up against a pass rush. The issue is that Wilson never took a game off for almost a full decade until he literally could not straighten a finger on his throwing hand so he couldn't pass the ball.
The other problem for Smith is that his replacement, Drew Lock, basically played as well as Smith might have. The issue with the Seahawks was not the quarterback, but a terrible defense. Smith's cap hit goes up to $31 million in 2024 so he needs to play in Week 15 and play well, or has to hope Lock doesn't play as well as he did in Week 14.
Pete Carroll - Seattle Seahawks head coach
Pete Carroll might not have ever lost four straight games in his coaching career before Seattle lost their fourth straight in Week 14. The Seahawks will be underdogs at home to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 15 so the expectation is that Seattle will lose its fifth straight game. 2023 was supposed to look even better this year than last when they made a surprising run to the playoffs. Seattle added free-agent talent this offseason and had potentially another good draft class, but this year is falling apart.
The issue is that 12s, and owner Jody Allen, cannot be sure that Carroll can lead the team out of its current mess. Since Carroll has never lost so many games in a row nor had a truly underperforming team where there is so much on-field miscommunication and lack of apparent leadership, we don't know if Carroll even knows how to make the team better.
Maybe the problems Seattle has, such as Jamal Adams' silly spat with a Jets reporter and DK Metcalf getting kicked out of Week 14, just come with when a team isn't doing well. But Carroll also looks like he is losing control of the team. While he is a very capable football coach, he is also the oldest coach in the league and is unlikely to coach for many more years. His losing the team might speed up when he stops being the head coach of the Seahawks.
Clint Hurtt - Seattle Seahawks DC
I want to like Clint Hurtt and I want him to be doing a great job. Not only because he works for the Seattle Seahawks, but in many ways he is just like the rest of us. He has to grind away for years, working his way up to management. But in the two years he has been the defensive coordinator, the defense has not been very good.
Worse, the defense is in many ways not any better than last year. An offensive or defensive coordinator should see growth from year one to year two in much the same way a rookie quarterback should show progression in his second season. 12s have seen digression in many aspects of Seattle's defense, however.
The Seahawks were 21st in yards per play allowed last year, but they are 24th in 2023. Seattle was 13th in quarterback rating allowed in 2022, but they are 26th this year. The worst statistic, though, is that Seattle is 27th in points allowed per game (24.5) this season, but was 25th in 2022 allowing almost a full point less (24.6).
Carroll says the coaching staff is preparing the players correctly and has the right game-plan in place but other teams are simply out-executing the Seahawks. This is an excuse, however. Plus, if this is so, Hurtt needs to sit some players who are not following the game-plan correctly. Players like the next guy on our list.
Jamal Adams - Seattle Seahawks safety
Why is Jamal Adams on the football field for the Seahawks? If he is still not fully healthy from all of his injuries, especially the one he suffered in Week 1 of 2022, then he should not be playing. He clearly has lost a lot of explosiveness and seems to be a 34-year-old safety in the body of a 28-year-old. I don't even mean that as a slight; injuries take a toll on a person after a while.
But in 2023, Adams has allowed a career-high 113.2 passer rating and missed a career-high 12.7 percent of his tackle attempts while having zero sacks and just 2 quarterback hits. He does have 7 tackles for loss which is tied for second on the Seahawks but that might just be another sign that Seattle's defense overall has struggled. For instance, Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks lead the team with 8 tackles for loss, but every other team in the NFC West has a player with a higher number.
Seattle is also trying to find a place for Adams to play and whatever they are trying do with him, as unique of a talent as Adams has been in his career when pressuring quarterbacks, it isn't working. The defense is simply not good. Maybe Seattle just needs to stick with Julian Love and Quandre Diggs at safety, using another cornerback in place of Adams, and only uses Adams on obvious passing downs.
The Philadelphia Eagles are very likely to expose Adams even more on Monday Night Football in Week 15. Adams will likely bite on a few of quarterback Jalen Hurts pass plays and the Eagles could have almost as many explosive plays as the 49ers had against the Seahawks (12). All of this because Adams only knows how to move forward and is a liability on the backend of the defense.