The Seattle Seahawks are desperately searching for answers amidst a three-game losing streak, but as bleak as it may look, those answers may not be that far off.
Through the first third of the season, the Seahawks have made it a point to keep up the tempo on offense. It’s evident in the stats, as they rank third in the league with 65.8 plays per game. They also lead the league in passing offense and rank seventh in total offense, so they may be on to something here.
The problem is that pre-snap penalties have killed them, likely a symptom of them still learning to go up-tempo. Just on Thursday against the San Francisco 49ers, an illegal shift penalty wiped out a 52-yard touchdown by DK Metcalf that would’ve brought the Seahawks within one score with just under three minutes to go, three minutes before they actually scored. Charles Cross also received a false start penalty later on that drive, as did Jake Bobo on Seattle’s final possession.
Still, the Seahawks feel like they have something going with this up-tempo approach, and they’ll do what they have to in order to sort out the penalties.
“I think we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be more on the same page from the center and the quarterback on some of the snap issues,” head coach Mike Macdonald told reporters Friday. “That’s something that’s shown up multiple times. Procedure-wise, it’s a good lesson learned. We’ve got to get set when we take the line because they’re going to call it.
“There’s less of a grace period right now than there has been probably in weeks past. And, look, those are the rules. You’ve got to get lined up right and make sure you’re operating the same way. When you’re a team that moves and shakes the way that we do and shifts and motions, which is an asset for us, we’ve got to make sure we’re taking advantage of how we’re able to operate too. We should be cleaner on that front.”
It’s one of many issues that the Seahawks will look to sort out during their mini bye week. Once again, though, the idea is very solid, it’s just the execution that needs work.
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