The Seahawks are on the brink of playoff elimination. By the time you read this, it might already be confirmed.
This week I’ve read quite a lot on social media about the great achievement of Mike Macdonald gaining a winning season in year one. I’m not going to diminish that for Macdonald but I suspect if you asked him whether he thinks it means anything, he’d probably say no. I get the impression he has little interest in participation prizes.
When the franchise fired Pete Carroll, it wasn’t with the intention of instigating a rebuild. It’s my belief, and others have voiced this too, that they thought they had a roster that could and should be more competitive than it had shown to be in the final years of the Carroll era.
That doesn’t mean they thought they were Super Bowl contenders. Just that they’d be more competitive and probably make the playoffs.
The reality of this season is they should’ve made the playoffs. The 49ers collapsed. The NFC West isn’t good. The Rams are going to win it a year after losing Aaron Donald and with Matthew Stafford looking close to retirement.
Seattle blew a home game against the hopeless Giants. They are 3-6 at Lumen Field. They cocked-up games against the Rams and Vikings. They were soundly beaten by the Packers, Bills and 49ers in their own backyard. Wins against Arizona (twice), the remaining husk of the 49ers, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver in week one, Miami minus Tua, New England and the New York Jets hardly feels like a statement of intent.
The offense started hot and went cold. The defense started cold and warmed considerably. The end result, though, is the same. They’ll win nine or ten games, miss the playoffs and they’ll remain in a middle ground area they must find a way to break out of.
People say they ‘just need to fix the offense’ and patience is needed. I remember when they only needed to fix the defense a few years ago and that never happened. Fixing the offense means building a proper offensive line and finding a long-term solution at quarterback — the two toughest things to do in the NFL.
It’s going to be one playoff win in eight seasons for Seattle. Their only playoff wins since the Super Bowl run in 2014 came against Minnesota in the Blair Walsh game, the 9-7 Lions and the 9-7 Eagles (minus their starting quarterback). They’ve won the NFC West twice in 10 seasons.
The Seahawks set a standard that is better than this. They constantly talk about competing every year and playing meaningful football. So why are so many people so willing to accept any kind of hollow victory, like a non-playoff season with no memorable or significant victories — just a cluster of ‘should’ve won’ opportunities to get to an unspectacular win total?
Let me be clear, I’m not suggesting rocking up at Lumen Field with pitchforks and torches. Neither is anyone trying to claim that the Seahawks are a bottom-feeder franchise. We all know who they are. Macdonald has done a good job with the defense.
They are still pretty boring and irrelevant though. They aren’t taken seriously nationally. They picked 16th in the draft last year — bang in the middle — and they’re currently slated to pick 18th.
It feels like the franchise needs a jolt. That can come in a number of ways. They can be serious — as in changes to the front office. I doubt that will happen. It can be embracing that significant changes to the roster are required, particularly at key positions. That can happen. It should mean further changes to the staff. That will happen. It also probably means taking some calculated risks.
The Seahawks haven’t been seriously competitive for a long time now. Part of getting back to that is probably at least acknowledging it as a fact.
