What’s working/not working? | Seahawks

By Adam McFadden • October 5, 2010 2:56 pm
Seattle tight end John Carlson celebrates after a touchdown.
Seattle tight end John Carlson celebrates after a touchdown.

As the Seahawks head into their bye week at 2-2, there are plenty of questions about how good this team really is. So looking at pass/rush offense and defense stats, here is a look what’s working and not working so far:

What’s not working?

Passing defense

Blame it on injuries (Marcus Trufant), inexperience (Earl Thomas) or overexperience (Lawyer Milloy), this pass defense has simply not been good.

The Seahawks are allowing 302 passing yards per game – fourth worst in football. One silver lining is that the unit already has 11 sacks, which is in the top third of football.

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The pieces are there for success. If healthy, Trufant remains one of the top corners in the NFC. Thomas has shown flashes of excellent playmaking ability (three interceptions) and he will improve his coverage skills. Milloy has been aggressive and disruptive so far this season.

Rushing offense

With Justin Forsett taking over the lead role in the past two games and offensive line (hopefully) getting better, this group should improve. Still, after four games Seattle has just two rushing touchdowns… and both are by quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

The Seahawks are averaging 79.5 rushing yards per game. On the plus side, they’re one of just six teams with no fumbles by running backs so far.

Passing offense

On the surface this group seems pretty bad so far. Dig a little deeper and the team ranks 19th in completion percentage and 21st in yards per game. Not inspiring, but certainly not among the worst in the league.

The biggest hinderance is the lack of a top receiving option. Ten different Seahawks caught at least one pass in Week 4.

John Carlson leads the team with 14 receptions, Deion Branch has 13 and Mike Williams has 11.

What’s working?

Rushing defense

Seattle is allowing 72.8 rushing yards per game, third best in the NFL.

Pessimists may see that as a result of the porous pass defense, but that doesn’t hold water since opposing teams are rushing 26.5 times per game (17th in the NFL). The unit’s long gain allowed all season long is 16 yards. That’s impressive.