On Monday, after a string of questions about the Seattle Seahawks' issues in pass protection, Pete Carroll decided he'd heard enough.
"Let's go to the next question," Carroll said politely. "Offensive line, we're done."
Issues up front led to an abysmal offensive performance in which the Seahawks managed just one field goal in a 14-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Below are five thoughts after having reviewed the game and looked at the numbers.
1. The Seahawks went into this game believing their pass protection would hold up well against the Bucs, and they'd be able to do damage through the air. They were wrong. As Carroll put it, left tackle George Fant "had a hard time" all afternoon, consistently losing his one-on-one battles and allowing pressure off the edge. Germain Ifedi had a lot of trouble with the Bucs' stunts. And none of the other linemen played well either. Russell Wilson was sacked six times and hit 11 more. He was pressured on 60 percent of his dropbacks, the most of any quarterback in Week 12.
What's concerning is that this was not a great pass-rush. The Bucs came in ranked 30th in pressure rate and 14th in sacks per dropback. The Seahawks entered Sunday riding a three-game winning streak in which the offense averaged 29.3 points. But the performance against the Bucs served as a reminder that it's difficult to gauge what the offensive line is going to look like on any given week.
Going forward, center Justin Britt, who has been the team's best lineman, is expected to return from an ankle injury in Week 13. But the Seahawks have decisions to make at the tackle spots. Do they let Fant work through his issues or sit him for Bradley Sowell? On the right side, do they go with Sowell or Garry Gilliam?
One reason why Carroll is probably annoyed by the offensive line questions is that these issues should ideally be worked out in September or October, not December.
2. Wilson did not play well, but it's difficult to expect any quarterback to perform when he's under constant pressure. There are the sacks and the hits, but what doesn't show up in the box score is how that lack of trust between the quarterback and offensive line can cripple an entire passing game. Wilson was jittery in the pocket, sometimes taking off when pressure didn't exist, and his accuracy suffered as well.
Wilson and the Seahawks had all kinds of issues against the blitz. When Tampa sent pressure, he went 4-for-10 for 22 yards and was sacked twice. He averaged 1.46 yards per dropback when blitzed, which ranked 30th among Week 12 quarterbacks.
Wilson has a proven track record that shows he's one of the league's top quarterbacks when protection holds up. But the pressure clearly affected him Sunday.
3. Third down was a disaster for the Seahawks, as they failed to convert on their first 10 attempts and went 1-for-11 on the day. Their game plan was to go to an empty backfield look on third down -- something that has been a weapon in the past. But on Sunday, it was a nightmare.
The offense went empty on its first three third-downs. On the first one, Wilson had nowhere to go with the ball and threw it away after Ifedi got beaten on a stunt. On the next try, Fant allowed pressure off the edge, and Wilson was sacked. And on the third attempt, Wilson recognized the blitz, but fired high to Tyler Lockett on a slant and was nearly picked off.
Overall, Wilson was 2-for-7 for 9 yards and a sack out of empty. In the previous two games, he was 9-for-10 for 170 yards out of this look.
4. The one bright spot Sunday was that the zone read was working. Wilson and Thomas Rawls combined to run nine times for 57 yards (6.3 yards per carry) out of zone-read looks. Wilson kept the ball twice for 30 yards.
Carroll indicated that Rawls left some yards on the field and is still shaking off the rust after having missed seven games with a fibula injury. He had an 8-yard run in the third that could have been a monster gain, but Rawls spun right into the linebacker in the open field.
When Wilson was under center, Rawls ran five times for 11 yards. Look for a significant increase in shotgun/spread runs and the zone read in the weeks ahead.
5. There were definitely some missed opportunities in this game. The Seahawks were driving at the end of the first half when Wilson was intercepted. Carroll indicated that Paul Richardson made a mistake with his route on the play. In the third, the Seahawks kept seven players in to block, and Wilson had a chance to hit Lockett on a deep ball down the left sideline but overthrew him. Later in the quarter, the Seahawks only sent two players into routes, but TE Brandon Williams did a poor job blocking, and Wilson was hit as he threw incomplete to Richardson deep.
The handoff to Will Tukuafu on 3rd-and-1 was inexplicable at the time and remains so. Tukuafu has run the ball seven times in 49 career NFL games. Why not just give Rawls a chance there?
And finally, Jimmy Graham fumbled when the Seahawks were in field-goal range in the fourth quarter.
Carroll's message after the game was that this was merely a hiccup, not the start of a trend. But for a team that's used to peaking this time of year, Sunday's offensive performance was concerning.
