2022 32 Teams/32 Days: Seattle Seahawks

32 Teams/32 Days: Seattle Seahawks 2021 Season

I. Introduction

Seattle Seahawks

Division: NFC West

Record: 7-10, 4th in NFC West

• Playoffs: Did Not Qualify
• Pro Bowl: 4: QB Russell Wilson, LB Bobby Wagner, FS Quandre Diggs, LT Duane Brown
• All Pro: 1: LB Bobby Wagner (2nd team)

A. Statistics

Total First Downs	302
1st Downs (Rush-Pass-By Penalty)	106 – 166 – 30
3rd Down Conversions	72 / 193
4th Down Conversions	4 / 11
Total Offensive Yds	5506
Offense (Plays-Avg Yds)	954 – 5.8
Total Rushing Yards	2074
Rushing (Plays-Avg Yards)	413 – 5.0
Total Passing Yds	3432
Passing (Comp-Att-Int-Avg)	324 – 495 – 7 – 7.7
Sacks	34
Field Goals	17/23
Touchdowns	49
(Rush-Pass-Ret-Def)	18 - 30 - 1 – 0
Average Time of Possession	25:33
Turnover Ratio	+5

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Passing Stats	Att	Comp	Yds	Comp%	Yds/Att	TD	TD%	INT	INT%	Long	Sck	Sck/Lost	Rating
Russell Wilson	400	259	3113	64.75	7.8	25	6.25	6	1.5	69	33	266	103.1
Geno Smith	95	65	702	68.42	7.4	5	5.26	1	1.05	84	13	117	103

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Rushing Stats	Att	Yards	Yards/Att	Long	TD
Rashaad Penny	119	749	6.3	62	6
Alex Collins	108	411	3.8	25	2
Chris Collins	54	232	4.3	33	3
Russell Wilson	43	183	4.3	17	2
Adrian Peterson	38	98	2.6	16	2
DeeJay Dallas	33	139	4.2	15	2
Travis Homer	21	177	8.4	73	1
Geno Smith	9	42	4.7	12	1

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Receiving Stats	Rec	Yards	Yards/Rec	Long	TD
DK Metcalf	75	967	12.9	84	12
Tyler Lockett	73	1175	16.1	69	8
Gerald Everett	48	478	10	41	4
Freddie Swain	25	343	13.7	68	4
Will Dissly	21	231	11	39	1
DeeJay Dallas	21	133	6.3	29	0
Travis Homer	16	161	10.1	31	0
D'Wayne Eskridge	10	64	6.4	17	1

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Field Goal Stats	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+
Jason Myers	0-0	2-2	9-11	3-5	3-5

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Punting Stats	Punts	Average	Yards	In 20	Long	Blocked
Michael Dickson	83	46.9	3895	40	68	0

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Def. Stats (Excerpted)	Total Tackles	Solo	Assist	Sack	Safety	Fumble
Carlos Dunlap	35	24	11	8.5	1	1
Darrell Taylor	37	28	9	6.5	0	1
Rasheem Green	38	27	21	6.5	0	0
Poona Ford	53	23	30	2	0	0
Al Woods	50	26	24	1.5	0	0
Bryan Mone	35	15	20	1.5	0	1
Kerry Hyder Jr.	33	20	13	1.5	0	0
Bobby Wagner	170	93	77	1	0	1
Alton Robinson	22	13	9	1	0	1
Ryan Neal	49	32	17	1	0	0
Benson Mayowa	30	15	15	1	0	0
Jordyn Brooks	184	109	75	1	0	0

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Interception Stats	Int	Yds	Yds/Int	Long	TD
Quandre Diggs	5	68	13.6	29	0
D.J. Reed	2	9	4.5	7	0
Jamal Adams	2	0	0	0	0
Ugo Amadi	1	12	12	12	0
Bobby Wagner	1	3	3	3	0

B. 2021 Draft Picks

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Round	Overall	Player
2	56	WR D'Wayne Eskridge
4	137	CB Tre Brown
6	208	OT Stone Forsythe

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C. 2020 Signed Free Agents

Free Agent Additions

• CB Ahkello Witherspoon
• TE Gerald Everett
• DE Kerry Hyder Jr.
• DT Al Woods
• DE Aldon Smith
• CB Pierre Desir

Retained Free Agents

• DT Poona Ford (RFA)
• FB Nick Bellore
• C Ethan Pocic
• DE Benson Mayowa
• G Jordan Simmons
• T Cedric Ogbuehi
• RB Chris Carson
• DE Carlos Dunlap II
• S Damarious Randall
• QB Geno Smith

D. 2022 Presumptive Draft Picks

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Round	Overall
1	9
2	40
2	41
3	74
4	109
5	145
5	153
7	229

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II. 2021 Season Analysis

A. General Season Review

The end of the most successful era in Seahawks history. That’s what the 2021 Seahawks season was, summed up in nine words. But was it a fitting end? I’m not sure. It feels like there was one more chapter that was waiting to be written – where either the wheels fell off and there was an acrimonious split between Russell Wilson and the front office, or where the team made it work between them and finally made it to an NFC Championship game. But Pete, John, and Wilson all thought that chapter was not worth writing and decided to end the story prematurely.

If you had told me, when I was writing the Offseason Review Series and predicting 12 wins for the year, that we would finish with only seven, I would have said – “Did Russell Wilson get injured?” And we know that he did, but that isn’t quite the whole issue. 2021 was a whirlwind for the team that began with the Seahawks crumpling early in the playoffs once again and ending with a whimper as the 2021 seasonal campaign finished with the first losing record under Russell Wilson. Because the season ended how it did, the Seahawks realized that this was the end, and begun serious discussions to trade their franchise QB to the Broncos and embrace a rebuild.

How did we get here?

Well, the Seahawks had one of the smallest draft classes in NFL history because they traded away all of their resources to acquire the right to pay oft-injured safety Jamal “Best in the Naaaaaaaaay-tion” Adams a position-topping contract. Then, the Seahawks failed to upgrade the offensive line through free agency and the draft, and their 2021 draft picks failed to impress in their rookie campaigns, with Tre Brown ending on IR after only five games, and Eskridge barely able to crack 100 scrimmage yards. The offensive line player they did draft, Stone Forsythe, only played 14 snaps at OL.

After roaring to a win over the Indianapolis Colts with a new-look offense under Shane Waldron, the Seahawks settled back to Pete-ball over the coming weeks, with the innovative concepts stolen from the Rams playbook disappearing almost overnight. The wins soon dried up, as the Seahawks lost two very winnable games against the Titans and the Vikings. Russell Wilson got back on track against the 49ers (as he would often do), but the following week against the LA Rams, disaster struck when Russell injured a finger on his throwing hand. The Seahawks would lose the game and their QB for the first time since 2012. The Seahawks, now under Geno Smith, would drop two games that should have been easy wins – against a hobbled Steelers team and a Saints team with no long-term QB. Geno was able to lead a win against a disastrous Jaguars’ team… and the team headed into the bye week with a 3-5 record. For the record, in my initial predictions for the offseason review series, I had the Seahawks at 6-2 going into the bye, with only losses to the 49ers and Rams.

But then Russell came back. And the savior was supposed to deliver us from darkness, right? Instead, more despair was on the horizon. Wilson was not healthy. At all. And three straight losses to the Packers, Cardinals, and WFT cemented that this was not going to be a magical season where the Seahawks got hot at the end of the year – it was going to be a failed one.

And it showed. The Seahawks looked flat, lifeless, and going through the motions for large parts of the season. Pete Carroll looked lost for most of the season, unable to reconcile his positive outlook with his team’s disappoint results.

Moreover, Wilson himself looked checked out in multiple games, and his field generalship – for which he has always been celebrated for, turned into morose acceptance. Tellingly, for the first time in his career, Russell Wilson did not have a single fourth quarter comeback. This from the man who has the third most fourth quarter comebacks since 2012 (behind Tannehill and Stafford) and the second most game-winning drives (behind Stafford).

So change had to be made at some point. And when you have a 70-year old head coach who looked tired and defeated for the first time at the helm of the Seahawks, and who likely does not have five years left in him, you’d think that the owner would step in and make the right decision. A strong owner, like what the Seahawks had before in Paul Allen, can do the analysis and see that Wilson likely could finish out this decade with the Seahawks and still play at a high level, while Pete Carroll likely will be lucky to coach until 2025, and pick the QB over the head coach that was just extended. After all, the Seahawks were bold enough to pick Wilson over the QB they had just handed millions of dollars to in 2012, why couldn’t they do the same for Wilson over the aging coach now?

But the Seahawks do not have a strong owner. Paul Allen (rest in peace) is gone. In his place is Jody Allen, his sister, who is an absentee owner at best, and a negligent one at worst.

And so, with nobody to fire him, Pete and John were able to win the power struggle over Wilson that dates back years and two contentious contract negotiations. With Wilson and Wagner both gone, there is nobody left from the 2013 Super Bowl winning team left outside of Pete Carroll. With relatively little talent that looks to be capable of out playing their salary costs on the roster, and without a stalwart rock at the most important position in sports, fans of the Seahawks are in for a long night of sorrow and pain at the bottom of one of the hardest divisions in football.

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Due to the length of this post, I have broken up the post into disparate sections and linked them through replies. I will also have hyperlinks below if you're looking for something specific.

· Game-by-Game Review, Weeks 1-5

· Game-by-Game Review, Weeks 6-10

· Game-by-Game Review, Weeks 11-14

· Game-by-Game Review, Weeks 15-18

· Performance Review of New Additions, and How the Seahawks Performed

· 2022 Season Analysis, Team Needs, Free Agency, and the Draft

· Conclusion

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Conclusion

I'd like to give a shout-out /r/NFL_Draft for hosting some of the best draft conversation, /u/ehhhhhhhhhhmacarena for hosting this thing, and all of you for reading it.

The 2022 Offseason was a tectonic shift for the Seahawks. Fans will need to put all of their faith in Pete Carroll and John Schneider to do what they have not been able to do for the past eight seasons – draft well and identify free agent talent that can produce beyond their contracts. With the Super Bowl Champion Rams poised for further success under McVay, the NFC Title Contending 49ers reloading under Kyle Shanahan, and the playoff-contending Cardinals looking to build more momentum under Kliff Kingsbury, the Seahawks have a hard mountain to climb to escape the basement of the NFC West. After Russell Wilson brought light to Seattle, his departure may signal a return to the dreaded 90s era of Seahawks football, where wins were few and far between, and competent play at the quarterback position a mirage.

Whether darkness or a new dawn await is yet to be determined. Time will only tell. Go Hawks.

Link to Hub.