Flying High

by acclerator3 | 8 years ago | 0 Comments

Here we stand just over halfway through the season with the Seahawks nestled in at 7-2. Seattle's management has come through on their promise to infuse the team with more talent in the offseason. After the 3-13 finish last year the 12th man has come back in full force and has been reinvigorated by some stout play on both sides of the ball.

The standout this year has certainly been the defense. After finishing in the bottom half of the league every year since Coach Mo took over things are looking different this year. The defense has given up 14ppg to go along with 257 yards per game good for 1st and 4th in the league respectively. With fresh talent all over the defense its hard not to call this a group effort but both new defensive ends Aldon Smith and Carlos Dunlap have certainly stood out. With 21 sacks between them they are weaking havoc on opposing pass attacks and have the Seahawks sitting in the top 3 in team sacks.

The offense hasn't been quite as dominant this year but the team still ranks #4 in ppg at 26. Much of that can be attributed to short fields and some defensive scores but at 291 yards of offense per game the Seahawks have brought a more balanced offensive philosophy to the table. Ranking 17th and 18th in passing and rushing yardage it is a breath of fresh air for Coach Mo to finally have a semblance of a rushing attack back in Seattle.

That being said the rushing attack has been far from dominant. Donald Grimes has certainly been better than his rookie campaign but sitting at 144 attempts for 633 yards(4.4ypc) Coach Mo is still not thrilled stating, "Just over four yards per carry as a team just is not going to cut it if we make the playoffs. We have to get that into the high fours to give ourselves a realstic shot at this thing." With Gavin Dildine getting injured after the first month of the season the passing attack has largely gone through Tyler Lockett. Lockett is now up to 55 grabs for 881 yards and 12TDs. Dildine was on pace to be a big time contributor notching 25 catches for 386 yards and 3 TDS in the 4+ games he played but he will still be out multiple weeks after his injury during the week 5 game.

Both losses on the year have come since Dildine went down. The first one in week 6 against the Bengals by a score of 20-30 and the second just this week against the 49ers 16-23. Backup WR Paul Richardson has struggled to have the same impact that Dildine had and the Seahawks can't wait for Dildine to be back in a few weeks.

In one of the toughest divisions in the OMFL this season the Seahawks are tied for 1st with those 49ers at 7-2. The NFC West has been absolutely brutal to opposing offenses this year with all 4 teams rankings in the top 10 in fewest yards given up. The 49ers, Seahawks, and Rams ranking 1, 2, and 3 no less in that category. The 4-4 Rams and the 2-7 Cardinals are some of the best .500 or below teams in the league this year.

With a tough road ahead in an attempt to make the playoffs including a week 16 matchup against the two time defending champion Falcons it will not be easy. Coach Mo said "I fully intend on this team making the playoffs. These guys have really gelled this year and some of these rookies have been impressive in stepping up to the plate. If we can get the ground game going a bit more I see no reason why we can't nab a first round bye and make a run at the Superbowl."

 

All previous Seahawks LoB articles can be found here