These Seahawks stats...ARE MAKING ME ANGRY!
Over 10 stats about the Seahawks that are really ticking me off and they need to fix it by TNF's game against the 49ers!
Why does it feel like Week 18 walked into the clubhouse wearing a “Week 6” mustache? Because the universe has conspired to raise the stakes of Thursday night’s midseason matchup between the Seahawks and 49ers to read like this based on the outcome:
Seahawks win = 2 game lead and head-to-head win over the 49ers + San Francisco falls to 0-3 in the NFC West, 0-4 in the NFC
49ers win = 49ers lead the NFC West, head-to-head win over the Seahawks + Seattle falls to 0-3 in the NFC and 0-1 in the NFC West
It just does not feel like the loser of this game will make the playoffs. That may not matter, right? Our feelings, I mean. The hard-coded facts would state otherwise because if the Seahawks lose, they’ll still have the same record as the 49ers, they’ll still have a better record than the Cardinals and the Rams, and they’ll still have 11 more games to turn their problems around before it’s too late to miss the playoffs.
Those are all true statements and factually more relevant than how any of us feel.
But dammit, I feel like the loser on Thursday will miss the playoffs because both teams have started out so poorly against NFC competition that being thrown into a wild card competition may not bode well for the three NFC West teams that fail to win the division: The Cardinals are actually off to the most ideal start, 2-0 in the NFC West and 2-2 against the NFC.
Arizona has twice as many wins against conference opponents as the other three teams combined (1-9) so far.
This may be an overreaction to the first five weeks of the 2024 NFL season, as this one-third of the season could be a lot different than the second one-third, or the third one-third. But the teams that don’t win the NFC West must now measure themselves against the teams don’t win the NFC North (Lions and Bears are current wild card teams and a combined 5-1 in the NFC, Packers are 3-2), the NFC South (Bucs are 3-1 in conference and playing underrated football), or the NFC East (not only are Cowboys, Eagles, and Moons all formidable, the Seahawks now have a head-to-head loss to the Giants).
Say what you will and should say about “It’s only…” and “There’s so much time left…” but there’s only one clear path to the playoffs for Seattle and that’s by winning the NFC West. If the Seahawks do not win their HOME game against the best team in the NFC West, then they will have made their mission twice as hard for the next 11 games. If the Seahawks do beat the 49ers, take a two-game lead, and keep the Niners winless in the division and conference, their mission is twice as easy.
These may be “feelings”, but feelings are as important as facts and that’s what we’re focused on in today’s BONUS Seaside Joe newsletter:
These STATS (facts) are making me ANGRY (feelings) through five weeks of the NFL season!
And here’s a stat to get you started: 1.
That’s how many division titles the Seahawks have won since 2017. It was 2020, the Seahawks immediately lost in the wild card round to a division rival, and it’s been about eight years since Seattle has done anything significant in the postseason. Maybe that’s not the intention of the 2024 season, which for many of us has been about just seeing improvement from the defense and consistency by the offense, but while you’re here anyway…beating the 49ers in primetime would be great and make Seahawks fans happy.
Can the Seahawks clean up these issues on Thursday night against the 49ers, potentially setting themselves up for, if nothing else, their clearest path to a division title since their last? These stats I have to reveal to you will perhaps be the most important, including topics we’ll address like:
Ryan Grubb might be more responsible for Seattle’s receiving YAC than Seattle’s receivers
The problem with Mike Macdonald’s blitz plan this season
The number that Tyler Lockett needs to fix
Injuries (updates on Wednesday for who is out and who is in)
The rushing offense no-nos
The offensive line issue that won’t go away
The problem with Ryan Grubb’s offensive gameplan
And I’ll start with this one because it’s arguably the most important stat of the night and the one that the Seahawks must figure out on both sides of the ball:
The 49ers offense is averaging 3.04 seconds before allowing the defense to get pressure on the quarterback, which is the best mark in the NFL.
The Seahawks offense is averaging 2.33 seconds before allowing pressure on the quarterback, which is by far the worst mark in the NFL.
How can the Seahawks manufacture an extra 0.5 seconds for Geno Smith in the pocket? How can the Seahawks cut a half-second off of what Brock Purdy is used to having in the pocket? That’s the key to Thursday night and though Seattle is down a few defensive players going into the game, they’re also getting back a couple who have an ability to considerably change the dynamics of the Seahawks pass rush that we’ve seen in the last two games.
Here are the rest of Week 18’s Week 6’s relevant Seahawks/49ers stats that are yes, making me mad as hell…but here’s the good news, ladies and gentleman…I’m not gonna take this anymore.
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