NFL Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks Need To Clean Up Offensive Issues

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Marshawn Lynch Seattle Seahawks

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While 30 points may seem like a solid day for the offense, it definitely wasn’t the case for the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Up 24-3 at halftime, the Seahawks held on for a 30-24 victory. Despite their win over the winless Oakland Raiders, the Seahawks’ offense struggled to move the ball consistently for much of the day.

This has been an ongoing issue for the majority of the season. Without the stellar play of the defense forcing three first half turnovers, one of which was returned for a touchdown, Seattle likely would have lost this game because of its inability to find a rhythm on offense. There are a few reasons why the Seahawks are having troubles on the offensive side of the ball.

Without a doubt, much of the struggles stem from the abundance of injuries, especially on the offensive line. Center Max Unger and tight end Zach Miller were out once again, and left tackle Russell Okung was a late scratch this week. Left guard James Carpenter sprained his ankle during the game and the Seahawks were down to their fourth-string center in Patrick Lewis — that meant there was a lot of inexperience and lack of starting reps for this Seahawks team.

As a result, the offense’s timing was off for most of the game, and it was very evident that Russell Wilson was uncomfortable at times. Wilson struggled with his accuracy, and there were times when he was not on the same page as his receivers on key plays.

But injuries are something that every team goes through, so it’s hard to say that is much of an excuse for poor execution. Penalties on big plays continue to be the bigger problem. The defense set up good field position for the offense, but they were often unable to capitalize, settling for field goals rather than punching it in for touchdowns. The few times that Seattle had big plays, they were called back due to penalties, which continue to be a big concern for this team.

Penalties are drive-killers and are avoidable, so if the Seahawks can clean up their play, it will go a long way towards finding a better rhythm on offense.

Fortunately for Seattle, they have a guy running the ball named Marshawn Lynch, who provided nearly half of their total offense. Leading the team in both rushing and receiving, Lynch had 26 touches for 143 yards and two touchdowns, and could have recorded even more as four penalties wiped away 78 of his yards; regardless, without Lynch, Seattle would have lost this game.

The Seahawks will be getting healthier in the coming weeks as Unger and Okung are expected back next week. A win is a win and it all counts the same in the end; however, it’s hard to ignore the fact that the Seahawks will need to improve, especially on offense, if they want to make a playoff push.

It all starts with Lynch and the ground game, and Wilson has to do a better job of working off of that with more consistency. They’ll look to do just that in next week’s home game against the New York Giants.

Connor Frederickson is a Seattle Seahawks Writer for www.RantSports.com. “Like” him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @cfredrun or add him to your network on Google.

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