SEAHAWKS-PACKERS FINAL SCORE

🚨🚨SPOILER ALERT🚨🚨

In comparison to the MLB and the NBA, the salary cap is one of the things that separates the NFL from its competitor leagues in terms of parity and in my opinion also in terms of interest. The salary cap not only gives off an appearance of “fairness”, but also it forces teams to also win the game outside the game for 12 months out of the year:

On a (theoretically) even playing field, can you outsmart your rivals in the draft and free agency?

There are comparisons to be made between the players on the Seahawks and Packers during Seattle’s 30-13 loss at home, but the game-behind-the-game stood out just as much when looking for reasons why the Seahawks are less likely to win any playoff games this year than the Packers:

Seattle spent so much of their 2024 salary cap on players who don’t contribute enough, or at all, the Seahawks are trying to win their division with players who were supposed to be backups this year, or the team couldn’t afford upgrades, or John Schneider just signed the wrong players.

Yes.

Yes.

Sometimes.

So when Geno Smith throws another interception in the end zone (tied with Jameis Winston for the most this season), the number “$26.4 million” comes to mind, making Geno $7.5 million “more important” than any other player on the team. And when Geno was injured in the second half and left the game, Sam Howell proved that Geno is actually at least $26.4 million better than his backup.

If Geno had not been injured, he might have been able to lead Seattle on another touchdown drive and keep the score close, if not eventually give the Seahawks a lead. The rest of the team played well enough in the second half to do that aside from Howell’s performance and protecting Howell. The circumstances may not have favored Howell, but regardless he threw a pick-six right to the defense and somehow attracts sacks unlike any QB I’ve ever seen.

The Seahawks pass protection is typically bad enough to not need the quarterback’s help.

Since we’re comparing apples and oranges, Green Bay entered the season with an advantage because they’re paying Jordan Love less than what Seattle pays Geno ($20.7 million), he’s eight years younger so it is more likely that he is improving, and they’re able to protect him because the Packers offensive line history is a mirror image of the Seahawks. Love was sacked 0 times on Sunday (compared to 7 times) and he’s only been sacked 11 times all season.

The Packers have a 7th round left tackle and no first rounders on the entire unit (rookie Jordan Morgan is on IR), yet they’re consistently able to develop these players in a way that Seattle hasn’t figured out.

Keep going down the line for how the Seahawks are spending their money this season:

• Tyler Lockett, $18.9 million: 1 catch for 22 yards on 1 target

• DK Metcalf, $15 million: 3 catches for 28 yards on 3 targets

• Dre’Mont Jones: $10.7 million: 4 tackles, no pressures that I’m aware of

• Leonard Williams, $10.4 million:✅

• Uchenna Nwosu:, $7.8 million: Has been out all year, didn’t make any plays in his return on Sunday

• Noah Fant, $7.5 million: 3 catches for 15 yards on 7 targets

Including Geno, these are Seattle’s 7 highest-paid players of 2024, not including Jamal Adams ($20 million) and Quandre Diggs ($10 million).

And aside from Leonard Williams, these players just aren’t giving the Seahawks many-millions of dollars worth of value. This isn’t a tsk tsk, shame on you for John Schneider (aside from the Fant contract, which never made any sense to Seaside Joe), it’s just reality:

• $55 million dead money for players not on the team

• Lockett is at the end of his career

• Since his most recent 100-yard game, Metcalf is averaging 59 yards per game with one touchdown in his last eight starts

• $25 million for Jones, Fant, and Nwosu is certainly the bigger lump of coal to Seattle than paying Geno roughly the same amount

Even if the answer is, “They don’t use those players properly”, it presents the same issue. The Seahawks didn’t spend their money in a way that wisely matched the coaching. Connor Williams, Jerome Baker, Tyrel Dodson, Rayshawn Jenkins, Fant, Nick Harris, Laken Tomlinson, Pharaoh Brown, just being several examples from this year. Leonard Williams could be the only notable free agent or re-signing that seems to be getting an immediate benefit from Mike Macdonald or Ryan Grubb, in addition to the acquisition of Ernest Jones.

Now compare that to the team that beat the Seahawks on Sunday night and could be a threat to win the NFC if they continue to play like this:

• Josh Jacobs, $5.3 million, great first season in Green Bay

• Xavier McKinney, $7.8 million, great fit with the Packers

• Jordan Love, 4-year extension, somewhat inconsistent but appears to be heating up at the right time

So while there’s a lot to cover with regards to what happened on Sunday, why the Seahawks lost at home and lost in the way that they did, but I think the explanation is simply found in the game behind the game: The Packers are the better team right now.

Seattle could already be on track towards changing next season with the hirings they made, their draft picks, some of the players who haven’t had a chance to prove themselves yet. Today they’re just not as good as the Packers.

Seaside Joe 2115