There were mixed reviews and some understandable skepticism when the Seattle Seahawks hired Brian Fleury as their offensive coordinator. Klint Kubiak left some big shoes to fill despite being with the team for a short time, but the Seahawks' success went well beyond that.
Fleury came from the same Shanahan-Kubiak coaching tree, but trusting a first-time play-caller to take the reins of the Super Bowl champions' offense may have been a big ask. Unfortunately, as usually happens to champions, there weren't many high-end options available at the time, either.
Fast forward to Week 8, and that decision is already starting to feel like a mistake. He got the benefit of the doubt in Sam Darnold's absence and because of some of the injuries, but the play-calling has been pretty bad, especially in the loss to the Chicago Bears.
It's time the Seattle Seahawks have a conversation about OC Brian Fleury
Clearly, Fleury's game plan to attack Dennis Allen's defense didn't work. Despite watching Jadarian Price and Zach Charbonnet average 2.9 and 3.8 yards per carry, respectively, he kept calling running plays on first and second down.
Sam Darnold is good at plenty of things, but making plays and good decisions when facing third-and-long has never been one of them. He deserves plenty of blame for the offensive struggles and the turnovers, but the play-calling isn't putting him in a position to succeed.
The Seahawks have the best wide receiver in the game, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba put the Bears' beatable cornerbacks in a blender whenever he was given the ball. For whatever reason, they didn't call plays for him again until the game was out of reach. He wasn't tightly covered, and it's not like Darnold missed him that often; he just wasn't getting involved.
Giving Fleury some slack was the first thing to do at first. Getting the plays in late and some miscommunication were normal for a first-timer. Also, the running game couldn't get going with all the injuries, and Darnold missed some time, too.
The offensive line just got a massive boost with Quenton Nelson, and they got Price and Charbonnet back. They were at home, and while Rashid Shaheed's absence can play a role, it's not like he's JSN. So, what's the excuse this time?
There were legitimate reasons to be concerned about the offensive regression after Kubiak's departure. Darnold has turned back the clock in the worst way, and the passing game has consisted mostly of finding JSN and hoping he can make guys miss. He's a superstar, the best in business, but he's just one guy.
Hopefully, Quenton's addition and the return of the running backs can help this team establish a running game. That said, it's on the OC to flip the script and make adjustments whenever that's not working.
The Seahawks showed no sense of urgency despite being down by multiple scores. Some of that is on the quarterback— Darnold should've run a no-huddle offense and gotten the guys going faster — but plenty of that is on the coach, too.
Midway through the season, the Seahawks rank in the middle of the pack in both passing yards per game (229.6, 15th) and rushing yards per game (113.7, 18th), and turnovers keep holding them back on a weekly basis.
Execution clearly can and must be better, but play-calling hasn't done anything to help, and barring a major turnaround in the final nine games of the regular season, Fleury is looking like a one-and-done in Seattle.
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