Dark Horse Tavern » The Seattle Seahawks finished 9th in offensive DVO

A this season Byron Maxwell Color Rush Jersey , its highest ranking since the memorable 2015 second-half surge put them all the way to the top spot. Unfortunately, when matched up against the #9 defense by DVOA last Saturday, they could not break down the Dallas Cowboys until it was too late. Or rather, they did break down the Cowboys defense through the air, they just waited too long to realize that was working better than the stagnant rushing attack.Whatever the case, that loss was a familiar sight for the Seahawks offense in 2018. Even though DVOA takes into account strength of opponent, if you look at the end-of-season rankings, Seattle was just 2-4 against teams that boasted top-10 defenses, and six of their bottom eight performances in terms of Expected Points Added (EPA) were against those teams.L at Denver Broncos (5th) - 24 pointsL at Chicago Bears (1st) - 17 pointsW at Dallas Cowboys (9th) - 24 pointsL vs. Los Angeles Chargers (8th) - 17 pointsW vs. Minnesota Vikings (4th) - 21 points (but only 14 points on offense)L at Dallas Cowboys (9th) - 22 pointsNow you may be thinking that averaging 20.8 pts per game against quality defenses isn’t that bad, but I argue it’s deceiving. Seattle’s EPA was -7.72 versus the Broncos. 14 of their 24 points came off of turnovers that only required them to go a combined 56 yards for their touchdowns. Overall, 8 of their 15 drives ended in a three-and-out or a turnover. Against the Bears, their final touchdown to make it 24-17 dropped Chicago’s win probability to 99.8%. They went three-and-out on 5 of 12 drives and didn’t eclipse 200 yards of total offense until the aforementioned consolation TD. Seattle’s EPA was a season-worst -11.46, with the pick-six certainly not helping matters. And yes, in both Denver and Chicago there were six sacks taken by Russell Wilson.They fared well against the Cowboys in the first matchup, particularly on third-down conversions (7/16), but even in that game they went three-and-out on half of their 12 possessions (subtracting the kneeldown at the end of the game). We’d probably be looking at that game a tad differently if not for three turnovers by the Cowboys, two of which were deep in Seattle territory. Nevertheless, the 17-point second quarter is their singular best 15 minutes of football against a top-10 defense all season.The Chargers game had its share of blown opportunities with a missed field goal, bad passes (and a pick-6) by Russell Wilson Sebastian Janikowski Color Rush Jersey , questionable officiating, but they were stuck on 10 points until after the two-minute warning, by which point the win probability for the Chargers was at 98.8% on Nick Vannett’s TD that cut it to 25-17. Even on the game’s final snap, Los Angeles’ WP had dropped to 84.4%.Against the Vikings, the defense did the work. Yes, the rushing attack gashed Minnesota for 214 yards, but Seattle was held to 6 points until Chris Carson’s score with 2:53 to go. The Seahawks defense got a fumble return touchdown to make it 21 points on an evening when Seattle’s offense had a -0.04 EPA.Then we come to the Cowboys rematch. The EPA was a positive 3.19, but another six three-and-outs on 12 drives combined with a 2/13 third-down conversion rate is not optimal offense. For some reason the win probability chart went haywire and is showing 77.7% WP for Dallas after they recovered the uh... “onside kick.” It does list Dallas at 99.8% a couple of plays prior to JD McKissic’s touchdown, which is good enough for me to say this game was effectively out of reach once it got to 24-14, much like the Bears game at 24-10.If you subtract what was close to garbage time against Chicago and Dallas — the low rate of onside kick success in 2018-19 only strengthens my argument — the Seahawks only averaged 16.5 points on offense against these teams in meaningful action. Also glaring? They were only 23/80 on third-down conversions in these six games. And these were at various points of the season, with and without Doug Baldwin, with and without a stronger commitment to the running game, with DJ Fluker/without DJ Fluker, etc.Unsurprisingly, their best offensive performances came against very bad defenses like the Kansas City Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers (home), Carolina Panthers, Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders Dontae Johnson Color Rush Jersey , and the very overrated Rams defense twice over. That’s a good thing that this offense is conclusively strong enough to be efficient against the bottom of the barrel. Truly elite offenses have to be able to be more successful against stronger defenses than what we saw from the 2018 Seahawks, and that’s on Pete Carroll and Brian Schottenheimer to figure out entering 2019. Pete Carroll is the originator. Departed assistants from his old Seattle Seahawks coaching staffs are the imitators. While Carroll’s 2018 Seahawks defense, this year manned by Ken Norton Jr, has arguably performed above expectations and was able to help close out last Thursday’s win over the Green Bay Packers, several former Seahawks assistants were subject to late-game defensive collapses in a wild Week 11.Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn is undoubtedly Seattle’s best defensive coordinator in franchise history, but his current legacy is likely tied to his defenses on two different teams blowing a pair of double-digit Super Bowl leads to the New England Patriots... and 28-3 is really damn hard for any defense to squander against any offense. This year, his banged-up Falcons defense ranks 32nd in DVOA, now with four blown 4th quarter leads. Against the Dallas Cowboys, the Falcons held up well for most of the afternoon, but their 9-6 advantage was lost early in the final quarter on a Dak Prescott touchdown run, and then they were 19-9 down after a Matt Ryan interception gifted the Cowboys a short field. Julio Jones tied the game with 1:52 to go with a ridiculous touchdown grab in tight coverage against a Cowboys defense whose play-caller and passing game coordinator is former Seahawks DC Kris Richard. Unfortunately for Quinn, the two-minute drill defense failed him again, as Dak Prescott led a 10-play, 51-yard drive, and Brett Maher made the game-winning field goal as time expired. Marquand Manuel, a former Seahawks player and Carroll assistant, called a three-man rush on a critical 3rd and 5 and Prescott predictably found an open receiver to extend the drive. The Falcons sit at 4-6 and have the New Orleans Saints on Thursday, so they might as well be done. Quinn is conceivably going to be on the hot seat next season, especially with how awful Atlanta’s defenses have been for Quinn’s entire tenure regardless of health. Sunday was Quinn’s 12th blown 4th quarter lead of any margin since he became Atlanta’s head coach in 2015 D.J. Fluker Color Rush Jersey , the 2nd most in the NFL behind only the Chargers.The Jacksonville Jaguars were all over the Pittsburgh Steelers, sitting at 16-0 well into the 3rd quarter. Defensive coordinator Todd Wash (ex-Seahawks defensive line coach from 2011-2012) must have been overjoyed by Jalen Ramsey’s two-interception performance and the way the Steelers offense was being shut down. Unfortunately, the Jaguars offense (read: Blake Bortles) was as pitiful as ever, so the game was far from over, and Jacksonville’s defense gave up 20 points in the game’s final 16 minutes. With 5:06 to go, Ben Roethlisberger and company racked up 148 yards on 15 plays, as Roethlisberger’s one-yard plunge with :05 left capped off a stunning comeback that sits a point shy of tying the biggest blown lead in Jaguars history. Jacksonville now sits at 3-7, and while the offense should rightly get torn to shreds over 64 net passing yards, the defense that nearly took them to the Super Bowl last season ended up falling apart at the very last moment.Lastly, our old pal Gus Bradley, Seahawks defensive coordinator from 2009-2012, is now the DC for the Los Angeles Chargers. Turnovers by Phillip Rivers kept their game against the Denver Broncos uncomfortably close, but after blowing a 19-7 lead, the Chargers got their noses in front on a field goal with 6:51 left. A defensive stop ensued, but Rivers inexplicably gifted the Broncos a free timeout with a virtual throwaway on 3rd down after the two-minute warning. Case Keenum, who’d spent much of the day barely mustering up any passing offense whatsoever, was backed up at his own 8-yard line with 1:51 and a timeout in his pocket, needing a field goal to win. Los Angeles melted down, as Keenum went 5/5 for 86 yards before clocking the ball with :03 left. He even had to do a little extra as Tim Patrick’s apparent 11-yard gain for a first down was wiped out due to an absurd OPI call against him. Brandon McManus split the uprights to give the Broncos an upset win Barkevious Mingo Color Rush Jersey , and severely damage the Chargers’ hopes of catching the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West race.That’s five former Seahawks assistants I’ve listed across four teams, all of whom lost 4th quarter leads, and three of them gave up the game-winning points in two-minute drill situations. Only the Cowboys prevailed, but not before blowing that 19-9 lead along the way. While Dallas is very much alive in the NFC East race (especially with Alex Smith done for the season for Washington), the Chargers’ AFC West hopes took a huge blow, while the Falcons and Jaguars are all but done in their respective bids to make the postseason. One name not mentioned here because they’re off for Week 11 is San Francisco 49ers DC Robert Saleh, defensive quality control coach in Seattle from 2011-2013. The Niners may sit at 2-8, but four of their defeats saw them lose 4th quarter leads, and games against the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals, and New York Giants all finished with the deciding points scored in the final minute. Is there a point to this article? Not really, just an observation. Everyone listed was part of the Seahawks’ rise to prominence and a Super Bowl win in some capacity, even if they weren’t all on the 2013 staff. In fact, Atlanta’s loss benefits the Seahawks! Now it’s up to Carroll’s defense to tighten up down the stretch and bring Seattle back into postseason play.