The Seattle Seahawks have certainly outperformed expectations thus far this season. While 2-3 may not be seen as a great record by many, that is likely two more wins than most people believed that the Seahawks would have at this point. A rebuild is what many envisioned, but Pete Carroll has his guys playing hard every week.
The offensive performance has been shocking as Geno Smith is leading one of the most explosive units in the NFL. Seattle is top-10 in both scoring offense and total yardage gained as Smith is having one of the most efficient seasons we have ever seen. The running game, which was led by Rashaad Penny but will now be turned over to Kenneth Walker III after Penny’s injury, is also above league average.
Alas, there are some areas of the team that are playing even below the expectations that were set for the team coming into the season. What Seattle has accomplished, or been unable to accomplish on defense, has been detrimental to the team.
There is only so much an explosive offense can overcome when the defense struggles as much as the Seahawks’ unit currently is. After surrendering only 16 points to the Denver Broncos in Week 1, Seattle’s opponents have scored at least 27 points in every game since.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, as shared by Brady Henderson, a Seahawks reporter for ESPN’s NFL Nation, the team has allowed a combined 84 points in the last two games. That is the most a Seahawks team has surrendered in back-to-back games since 1983 when they allowed 86 combined points in consecutive games.
What makes this feat even tougher to stomach is that it has come against teams who are missing key pieces offensively. In their Week 4 shootout with the Detroit Lions, which they won, Detroit was without De’Andre Swift, Amon-Ra St. Brown and D.J. Chark. Those are their starting running back and two starting receivers.
In Week 5, the Seahawks traveled to take on the New Orleans Saints who were without starting quarterback Jameis Winston. Wide receivers Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry were both sidelined and rookie sensation Chris Olave was injured and missed most of the second half.
Seattle was instead torched by Taysom Hill, who ran for 122 yards and three touchdowns while throwing one more. Alvin Kamara looked like his old self, rushing for 103 yards and catching six passes for 91 yards.
The Seahawks offense has proven capable of putting up numbers, but it has all been undone by a defense that would struggle to stop the common cold at this point. Unfortunately for them, things aren’t going to get easier in the next two weeks as they host the Arizona Cardinals before visiting the high-flying Los Angeles Chargers.
