Seahawks have one big problem to fix before their Week 14 showdown

The Seattle Seahawks survived a very shaky start to beat the New York Jets and take sole possession of first place in the NFC West. They won't hold onto first for long if they don't resolve this problem before their Week 14 return match with the Cardinals in the desert.

The Hawks had to come back not once, but twice from 14-point deficits in New York. It helps to have a player like Leonard Williams make a historic play to keep them in the game. The Big Cat was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his outstanding effort, rightly so. That made the Hawks the winners for the second consecutive week - even though we all know another Hawk, Devon Witherspoon, should have been awarded instead of Coby Bryant. Maybe give them 1A and 1B.

The Seahawks' offense wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders, but they outperformed a bad Jets team. Not that that's saying much. Seattle's offense put 20 points on the board compared to New York's 14. As we all know, both teams added another score. The Hawks put up six on Williams' spectacular play. One of Seattle's biggest issues is how New York scored their other touchdown.

Seattle Seahawks have to lock special teams down in Week 14

Seattle would have won the contest pretty easily if it hadn't been for this glaring issue. It would be one thing if the Hawks had only made one bad play in either aspect, But they failed miserably over and over. Had they had a more consistent approach, they could have easily won easily.

Kickoff returns

If it weren't for their terrible performance on special teams, the Hawks would have beaten the Jets without much stress. To be more specific, it was their performance on kickoffs. The Seahawks wasted no time addressing at least part of this problem. They released Laviska Shenualt Jr. the Monday after the game. He did have a kickoff return touchdown return earlier this season, true. But the first job of a return specialist is to secure the ball. Shenault didn't do that.

The Hawks followed that up Thursday by releasing their other primary return specialist, Dee Williams. He had returned all of Seattle's punts this season but also fumbled the ball away to New York on Sunday. He'd also fumbled two punts on the year. The Seahawks found a potential return specialist by claiming Cleveland's Jaelon Darden off waivers. He's not spectacular; he's averaged 9.7 yards on punt returns and 20.9 yards on kickoff returns in what's now his fourth season. What he doesn't do is turn the ball over. He has one fumble in 105 career returns.

Kickoff coverage

The Hawks have to cover the other team's kick returns far better as well. The other seven points the Jets scored came on a 99-yard kickoff return. Again, if this was an isolated issue, it could be overlooked - well, maybe accepted. But it's far from isolated. Special teams coach Jay Harbaugh appears to be encouraging opponents to run the ball out on kickoffs, rather than settle for touchbacks.

It would be great if the Hawks had great kickoff coverage, but they don't. They're in the middle of the pack in average return yards allowed and have allowed more kick returns than any other team but two. I'm not sure, but I think those teams are in Division II football. Harbaugh must prove he can make these corrections to keep his job next season.

Moving on from Shenault and Williams is a short-term answer to the return game. Well, it's part of the answer. Seattle still has to identify who's going to return kicks and punts. Jaxon Smith-Njigba volunteered to take over during the Jets game, but Mike Macdonald wisely opted to keep him out of the role. Identifying the right person should be simple - just hold onto the ball.

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