It wasn’t a clean night for the Seattle Seahawks offense last Wednesday, and that makes the tape and the numbers a little tricky to sort through. When your quarterback goes down on play No. 5, the rest of the evening becomes a scramble for any kind of rhythm or stability. Still, Brian Fleury’s handling of that chaos tells you something.
Seattle leaned on under center looks more than most teams in Week One. According to Football Insights, the Seahawks were at 61.1% under center snaps, which put them above average and ahead of all but nine teams.
That stands out even more because many of the clubs ahead of them spent a lot of their games with the lead, including the Ravens, Bears, and Lions. Seattle won, but spent most of the night trailing, so the volume there matters.
The Seahawks also stayed committed to their preferred personnel groupings. They were near the bottom of the league in 11 personnel, using three wide receivers on just 27.8% of snaps.
Only the 49ers and Raiders were lower. At the same time, Seattle ranked third in 21 personnel usage at 36.1%, behind those same two teams.
In other words, even after losing Sam Darnold, Fleury didn’t suddenly tear up the plan.
Play action was another clear part of the approach. Ryan Paganetti, a former NFL analytics coach, has broken down how often teams use it in neutral down-and-distance situations. The sample is still small enough that nobody should get carried away, but Seattle sat 12th in that category before Monday Night Football.
On 15 “on schedule” passing plays - first-and-10 or second-and-1 through 6 - Fleury called play action on nine of them. Of the 11 teams ahead of Seattle, six were playing most of their games with a lead, and a seventh, LaFleur in Green Bay, had led for most of the game before things slipped away late. That makes Seattle’s usage look less like a fluke and more like a real feature of the offense.
There’s no point pretending one week tells the whole story. It doesn’t.
But given how extreme the circumstances were, Fleury still stayed true to the basics of the Kubiak-Shanahan offense. The Seahawks remained under center and kept hammering play action even after losing their quarterback and falling behind.
Seattle was never down by more than 10 points, and it only had to live in that spot for two drives, but the lack of panic is still worth noting. And if the Seahawks do end up buried in a game later on, moving into shotgun and dialing back play action would be a perfectly sensible adjustment. For now, though, the early signs are encouraging.
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Ian Rapoports update at least gave Seattle a clearer frame on the wait, suggesting Darnold could be back as soon as Week 3 and might miss only one or two games. In the meantime, Drew Locks strong showing in Week 1 bought the Seahawks some breathing room, but the bigger question now is how long the team has to keep that backup momentum going before it can hand the offense back to Darnold. [Read more 🡒]
Kenneth Walker's Chiefs Debut Gave Seahawks Fans Mixed Feelings
Kenneth Walkers first game in a Chiefs uniform gave Seattle fans plenty to process. After leaving the Seahawks in the offseason, the former Seattle back made an immediate impression in Kansas City, piling up 173 rushing yards on 23 carries and adding three catches for 18 yards. It was the kind of debut that reminded everyone in Seattle just how much burst and balance Walker brought to the backfield during the Seahawks Super Bowl-winning run last season.
For Seahawks fans, the reaction was bound to be mixed. There was satisfaction in seeing a former title contributor land in a prominent role with another contender, but there was also the familiar sting of watching him thrive somewhere else so quickly. Playing alongside Patrick Mahomes, Walker set a rushing standard for a back in that offense right away, and it only sharpened the question of what Seattle will miss most after his departure. [Read more 🡒]