Seahawks-Moons: As I Sea It

What Seahawks fans are arguing about after Week 10: Seaside Joe 1715

It would be easier to list the teams that do not have divisive quarterback situations than the ones that do and what’s the most common denominator between NFL teams that have the least amount of controversy at quarterback? Practically all of the quarterbacks who rank lowest on the “Boo!” meter were drafted by the franchise that they currently start for and most of them would also fall into the categories of “Recent” and “First Round”.

Consider some of the quarterbacks who have been benched (Jimmy Garoppolo, Ryan Tannehill, Josh Dobbs in Arizona before a leading MVP candidate in two games with the Vikings) vs. others who have been treated with extraordinary patience like Daniel Jones, Kenny Pickett, Mac Jones, Justin Fields, Zach Wilson, Jordan Love, and Bryce Young.

This does not mean that teams need to draft first round quarterbacks in order to have success (2021 Rams, Stafford; 2020 Bucs, Brady) because there is more than one way to skin the pig. But it could be inferred that teams—and fans—are willing to have more patience with a quarterback that the franchise invested a recent first round pick in than one who developed somewhere else.

Kirk Cousins has practically been in a different league than Fields over the past 2.5 years, and has proven a lot more in his career before then, but it seems to me like there was a heavier push (prior to Cousins’ Achilles injury) for the Vikings to get an upgrade than there was for the Bears.

The only veteran quarterback not drafted by his current team who has been safe all year? Not Stafford. Not Cousins. Not Derek Carr. Not Russell Wilson. Not Deshaun Watson.

Jared Goff.

Not Geno Smith. Geno can’t go a quarter without turning half of the Seahawks fanbase against the other, then back the other way, depending on if this is going to be a drive that ends in a wasted opportunity because of procedural mistakes (end of first half) or a touchdown and game-winning field goal (end of fourth quarter).

If Smith was 25 and Seattle’s first round pick in 2021, I think almost everyone would be on the side of accepting the bad with the good. Maybe because he’s 33, spent seven years as a backup, and offers little hope of the upside that would come if he cut his mistakes in half, this divide in the fanbase created by a QB controversy is never going to go away.

Rather than get involved in the arguments, I recommend doing nothing more than observation. We can’t control how different writers, podcasters, and social media accounts react to each game any more than we can control what Pete Carroll and John Schneider are going to do about the quarterback position in the next six months.

That lack of control is going to drive some people nuts—especially during games like Sunday’s 29-26 win over a Washington team that is counting the days until they blow it down to the ground and start over—as the Seahawks did just enough to survive their mistakes and improve to 6-3 with a continued share of first place in the NFC West. It’s another case of when Seattle wins, so all is not forgiven, but is forgotten.

Also known as a case of amneSieahawks.

The quarterback missed some wide open players. He failed to see wide open players. In a rare third quarter touchdown, Ken Walker scored a 64-yard receiving touchdown with 64 yards after the catch.

The Seahawks went 4-of-14 on third down, likely sinking them even further down the league rankings than 30th, which is how they entered Week 10.

And of course, needing points to win the game after a defensive lapse, in itself a source of concern as far as how competitive Seattle is expected to be over the rest of the season and playoffs, Smith and DK Metcalf came up with two connections.

Good.

I wrote that the Seahawks would not bench Geno Smith until it was a matter of postseason contention elimination and I don’t see anything that happened on Sunday against Washington that would change that. The offense was as good—and as bad—as it has been for the last year. Washington entered the week with a bottom-three pass defense and quarterback Sam Howell actually plays better on the road than at home.

The Seahawks next face a Rams team that beat them 30-13 in Seattle in Week 1 and is expected to get back Matthew Stafford after three weeks of rest. Barring injury, we won’t see Drew Lock in that game, or at home against the 49ers four days later on Thanksgiving. That’s not how Pete is going to manage the quarterback situation (but would it be different if the Seahawks had drafted a quarterback?) and your soul is going to be tortured if you expect any different.

So I say, enjoy the ride and accept what’s true of any rollercoaster: You have no control.

More Seahawks-Moons thoughts

• The Seahawks had 27 first downs, tied for their second-most of the season and the most that Washington has allowed in a game this season

• The Seahawks had a season-high 489 total yards, also the most that Washington has allowed this year

• “QB Wins and Passing Yards are not real stats”…unless you’re trying to make a point, in which case Geno Smith set a career-high with 369 passing yards in a win

• DK Metcalf pulled out of a rut but only at the last minute: Metcalf had caught just 10 passes on 27 targets over the past three games and was heading for another game like that until the final drive. He finished with 98 yards on seven catches and 12 targets. Tyler Lockett had eight catches for 92 yards and a touchdown.

• Offensive line penalties may be more costly than offensive line blocking and that’s a problem that started last season

• Noah Fant had two catches for six yards and he has six catches for 72 yards in the last four games. What will Seahawks want to pay him after the season? What will he expect to be paid?

As I sea it, the offense managed to have one of its better days of the season while simultaneously emphasizing and reiterating why games like last week’s 37-3 loss to the Ravens will happen sometimes. The Seahawks face the 49ers, Cowboys, 49ers, and Eagles over the four games after playing L.A. in Week 11.

The 49ers beat the Jaguars 34-3 on Sunday. What is really expected on Thanksgiving?

The other thing I sea is that the Seahawks need to figure out how to replicate DK’s good plays because the connection between him and the quarterback is so inconsistent that he can hardly be referred to as a “weapon” at this point. Or he is a weapon, but more like a very sharp spork. Speaking of sporks…

Defense

• Devon Witherspoon had three pass deflections and a key forced fumble but did even more than the stat sheet will indicate. In fact, he’s been so good that he makes it hard for revisionists to wonder if Seattle should have traded up for C.J. Stroud

• Bobby Wagner had 10 tackles and two pass deflections, but his coverage will be a talking point this week

• It’s great for the Seahawks to have Leonard Williams. He lines up everywhere and was responsible for at least two sacks, including one of his own. It’s gonna be a hard life for anyone who feels like “I’m going to root against any good play by Leonard Williams because I didn’t like that the team traded a mid-late second round pick” if the Seahawks do in fact re-sign him for another three or four years. That’s a lot of plays you have to pretend you didn’t like.

• Boye Mafe has a sack in seven straight games, a new franchise record

As I sea it, the defense can’t feel “back” after this one, especially with the Rams on deck. Consider this: The Seahawks defense had an EPA of -17.08 against the Ravens in Week 9, but they were even worse against the Rams in Week 1: -20.95.

The good great news is that Seattle looks like they’ll come out of this season with something that they needed even more than dominant wins right away: They have potential blue chip cornerstones in Witherspoon and Mafe. Plus, Dre’Mont Jones and Williams have flashed, which is something that the defensive line definitely needed.