Seahawks are as good as they should be

Can Seahawks go 15 rounds with a playoff team?

The Seattle Seahawks haven’t fired many head coaches — the AFC South has fired more coaches since 2020 than Seattle has fired ever — so you know it was serious business when they parted ways with Pete Carroll against his wishes. If the Seahawks turn(ed) out to be a little bit worse than last season, it would be understandable, but if anything Seattle seems to be a little bit better.

That was the majority opinion from Monday’s poll, with Seahawks fans who think the team is “as good” or “better” than expected had a 2:1 advantage over fans who think Seattle is underachieving:

This week’s game against the 12-2 Minnesota Vikings is not only Mike Macdonald’s second chance to guarantee that Seattle will finish with a winning record, but also an opporunity to prove that the Seahawks can keep up with the big kids. Losses by more than a touchdown:

• 2022: 2 (plus one in the playoffs)

• 2023: 4

• 2024: 5 (29-20 Giants loss is a little different though)

Seattle’s 30-13 loss to the Packers didn’t see them fall on their face quite like losing 37-3 to the Ravens last season, but it was another game in which the Seahawks started too slow, couldn’t make up for their mistakes, and ultimately saw Macdonald essentially “take a knee” despite not being the winning team. And half of you saw 30-13 as a fair representation of how the Seahawks played:

By most measures, the Vikings are better than the Packers. If anything, Minnesota’s threat level is simply minimized by the fact that the quarterback’s name is “DARNOLD” instead of “ALLEN” or “MAHOMES”, but for all intents and purposes he is producing at a Pro Bowl level and has led the Vikings on four game-winning drives.

Say what you will about the value of stats like that one, it is very easy for quarterbacks to crumble when the game is close. Darnold is completing 72% of his passes with 8 TD, 1 INT when the Vikings are tied, and has a passer rating of 108.8 when Minnesota is trailing.

By comparison, these are Geno Smith’s splits:

Nothing is more concerning about these numbers than the fact that Geno has 127 pass attempts when leading and 286 when trailing, whereas Darnold has 224 when leading and 108 when trailing.

Hell, I’ll say it…If the Seahawks get a lead and hold it until the end of the game, I like their chances.

Anyone could tell you before a game that the Seahawks are good enough to beat good teams and list all the reasons why they will, but we’re still waiting to have that conversation after Seattle plays a good team. When the Seahawks have beaten good teams, like the 49ers or Falcons or Cardinals, it’s as if those teams made a pact to fall apart afterwards and miss the playoffs.

If the Seahawks are better than their 8-6 record and losing at home to the Giants, 49ers, Bills, Rams, and Packers, they can’t just tell us to believe that they’re capable. They have to show us.

Or apply for reassignment to the AFC South.

Here are survey results for another question:

Largentium: Nothing short of winning all three games should be "acceptable". Is it realistic? Hell no, and that's really what needs to be answered. They are clearly not a team good enough to beat the Vikings and will probably get trounced by the Rams too, so the question becomes can they beat the Bears?

Geno is maddeningly frustrating at times, but he's competent. Howell looked like a deer in the headlights.

At least for the time being, it seems Sam Howell won’t make another appearance. As for the Bears game, in a way it is also Macdonald’s “riskiest” game of the last three because while the Vikings and Rams are respected, Chicago is not.

If Caleb Williams has his best game of the season, I don’t expect Macdonald to get any slack for playing on a Thursday on the road.

• Since their bye week, the Bears have scored 118 points in 8 games

• 14.7 points per game ranks 31st in that time

• Seahawks are averaging 21.7 PPG in that time, which is 20th

Ironically, if the Seahawks do beat the Vikings, it probably only increases the pressure on them to beat Chicago with the Rams on deck. Whereas if Seattle loses, maybe they would be a little more relaxed? This is only speculative.

zezinhom400: Guess my question would be whether DK is going to get any $30m offers, or Geno any $45m offers

Geno Smith

Whether a team would pay Geno Smith that much money, I am probably the worst person to ask because when it comes to QB contracts, the NFL and I couldn’t be in any greater disagreement.

Why is Dak Prescott making $60 million per season? Why is Kirk Cousins at $45? Why did the Saints sign Derek Carr AT ALL?

If the Seahawks were to cut Geno and he is a free agent, he may only need one team (ideally 2 or more) to make a moderate, middle-lower class $45 million salary, and I do think there will be a lot of teams who are at least open to signing Geno.

If you took all the teams that could need a QB in 2025 and then only 25% of them want to sign Geno, that’s at least three teams.

DK Metcalf

For DK, he need only convince one team that he’s worth as much as Brandon Aiyuk, as he held the Niners to fire over one great season and was able to sign for $30 million. But what a team would pay DK Metcalf is less important than what DK Metcalf thinks he should be paid.

As long as DK thinks he is due an extension in 2025 —and I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t — then his only strategy will be to say “Pay me as much as I think I’m worth or trade me” and if Seattle is not interested in meeting his numbers, then the next step will be Rapoport tweeting, “Seahawks are allowing DK Metcalf to seek a trade” some point next year to find out if another team will do it.

If it pleases the court, I’d like to offer wild speculation…

The Jets most acclaimed beat reporter Rich Cimini has let it be known that Garrett Wilson might request a trade.

The chemistry between college teammates Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Wilson would be insane. Meanwhile, Metcalf’s opportunities have diminished since his injury but on the Jets he would be the unquestioned number one, so long as they do the expected and release Davante Adams, plus he could be more likely to get that $30+ million contract from them.

A Metcalf-Wilson trade might not even require any picks to be included by either side, but any additional compensation most likely would be going from Seattle to New York because Wilson is younger, having a better season, and cheaper for the next couple of years; although he would probably be extended by his new team, if traded.

It would be fitting as the Jets drafted Wilson with a first round pick that they got from Seattle in the Jamal Adams trade.

OR…the Seahawks win the next three games, make a playoff run, and we’re having wildly different conversations than these ones.

Seaside Joe 2119