This week we close the loop on the NFC west with our health recap of the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle was the healthiest of the four teams in the west regular season which isn’t really saying much when your competition is the Rams, Cardinals, and 49ers. However, being the best of the worst comes with benefits when it comes to health. As we have said since day one healthy teams in their divisions make the playoffs and that is exactly what happened with the Seahawks. Sure, it took a little help, and they didn’t make it past the wild card, but they got there. Unfortunately for them their division rival 49ers had gotten a bit healthier by then and moved on.
The Seahawks were a team that exceeded expectations after losing Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos and starting the season off with a low 79.7 Banged Up Score (B.U.S). Throughout the season however they were able to maintain B.U.S rankings within the mid 70’s as other teams drastically fell. They had a few weeks where injury depleted their team as well but ultimately recovered and kept pushing forward. That combined with great play by QB Geno Smith and Rookie RB Kenneth Walker III they were able to overcome some defensive struggles.
Seattle was a streaky team this past season when it came to wins and losses. Losing 3 of their first 5 games only to bounce back win 4 in a row and then lose 5 of their next 6. Their wins unsurprisingly (being in the NFC West) came against very injured teams including the Rams and Arizona but also others such as the New York Giants and Denver Broncos. All four of which finished in the bottom ten healthiest teams by B.U.S rankings. Then again, so was Seattle.
Key injuries to the teams secondary including Jamal Adams (quad tendon rupture), Tre Brown (patellar tendon rupture), Justin Coleman (calf), Josh Jones (hamstring), Joey Blount (hamstring, patella tendon rupture), Isaiah Dunn (hamstring) and Artie Burns (groin) left the Seattle depleted in depth with few options. Additional pre-season injuries and recoveries that pushed into the regular season at positions like linebacker and the defensive line also played their part.
On offense the team racked up 5,976 total yards, 231.4 yards passing per game and 120.1 rushing yards per game. They also finished in the top 10 in points per game despite losing some key offensive weapons throughout the season. WR Marquise Goodwin was consistently on the injury report with a multitude of injuries ranging from his knee up to SC joint. RB Rashaad Penny was a big loss suffering a high ankle sprain and fibular fracture week 5. The wide receiver room saw some thinning as injuries to Tyler Lockett, Penny Hart, Dee Eskridge and even DK Metcalf either nagged them or even sent them to injured reserve.
The overall Banged Up Score trend of the Seahawks was flatter than many other teams. Their biggest issue as mentioned earlier was that they started so low with players on the report week one. It made it very hard for them to climb out of the hole they were already in. You can see that following their bye week the medical staff did help to get a few athletes back and, in the game, as they had a slight increase however that decreased quite rapidly over the rest of the season eventually ending in the wild card weekend with a B.U.S of 58.0. That week they played the San Francisco 49ers who had already bested them twice during the year except this time the 49ers B.U.S had climbed to 75.5 and with their elite defense and offensive weapons the Seahawks faced an uphill battle eventually losing 41-23.
Overall, the Seahawks put together a good run with the injuries they faced. Pete Carroll and the team did everything they could to roll with the injuries and still perform well enough to play in the post season. This offseason shoring up their defense will have to be a big part of their draft process. They will need depth and a few impact players if they want to compete in the 2023-24 season.
