Seahawks Searching For Answers as Short Yardage Woes Persist

Despite ranking in the top-10 in short-yardage red zone plays, the Seahawks haven't been able to consistently cash in for touchdowns. What gives?

Dec 1, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) avoids a tackle during the third quarter and is chased by New York Jets safety Chuck Clark (36) at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Smith-Imagn Images / Mark Smith-Imagn Images

Winners of three consecutive games, the Seattle Seahawks have turned their season around after enduring an October slump, climbing back to the top of the NFC West standings thanks in large part to a suddenly dominant defense that has yielded just 63 points in their previous four contests.

But while Seattle has righted the ship led by dynamic performances from Leonard Williams, Julian Love, and others in recent weeks, the offense remains a significant work in progress, failing to score more than 20 points in a game since a Week 7 road win at Atlanta. Headlining those struggles, the inability to consistently convert on short yardage situations has been a major problem all season long, and that trend continued in a 26-21 win over the New York Jets last weekend.

Though the Seahawks found a way to claw back after falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter to steal a key road victory, they picked up just three first downs on 17 total plays where they needed three or fewer yards to move the chains. Most frustratingly, they failed to score a point despite running eight plays inside the Jets' five-yard line in the third quarter, only for Geno Smith to take a sack on fourth and goal to leave the team empty handed.

During that ugly sequence, the duo of Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet mustered a single yard on three carries, though one of those didn't count in the box score with New York being flagged for an offsides penalty. As for Smith, the veteran quarterback didn't complete any of his four pass attempts, including leading tight end Noah Fant a bit too far when he came open on a quick out route, before an onslaught of rushers brought him down for a drive-ending sack.

"I thought we had some opportunities, man," Smith bemoaned prior to Thursday's practice. "Obviously, the one pass to Noah [Fant] was a touch too far, could've been a touchdown. We could've pretty much ended it right there. But, I think overall, just things that we need to improve on. There's one guy here, one guy there. As an offense, you've got to play all 11. Every guy's got to execute for a play to work. If we can just clean up some of our stuff down there, I think we'll be better."

Moving the chains in short yardage situations has been a chronic issue for Seattle dating back to the start of the regular season, primarily due to the team's dreadful 28th-ranked ground game and a poor offensive line that has been dogged by injuries and lack of continuity.

Through 13 weeks, the Seahawks rank 31st in the NFL converting just 23.4 percent of plays needing three or fewer yards into first downs, ahead of only a two-win Jaguars squad. They haven't been much better when whittling those plays down to third and fourth down snaps, ranking 25th in the league with a 43.6 percent conversion rate, while also ranking in the bottom third in fourth down conversion rate in those situations (23.8 percent).

As evidenced once again with the aforementioned eight-play debacle at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Seattle has been especially ineffective in short yardage scenarios in the red zone. Smith, Walker, and company have turned 70 plays with three or fewer yards to gain inside the opposing 20-yard line into just 14 first downs, or an inexplicable 20 percent conversion rate, which ranks 28th in the NFL. The team also ranks near the bottom of the league averaging just 0.5 yards per play in those instances.

In his first season as an NFL offensive coordinator, Ryan Grubb has yet to find a bread and butter play that the Seahawks can turn to in order to pick up first downs in short yardage situations, lamenting the fact that consistency in that department continues to be an issue three quarters of the way through the season.

"I think that for us, we just haven't had the consistent success in those moments," Grubb said on Thursday. "I think the thing you've got to do is continue to search and try to find better answers, and for us, that's what we committed to do."

With that said, while the Seahawks still weren't good enough efficiency-wise in short yardage opportunities last weekend with under a 20 percent conversion rate, there were signs of progress away from the botched red zone possession.

Looking to make life more difficult on the Jets defense, Grubb deployed a fair amount of two-back personnel groupings on Sunday with Walker and Charbonnet on the field together. In particular, on two specific 3rd and 1 situations, Charbonnet lined up as an offset fullback and Walker lined up as a wing back nestled outside of two tight ends on the strong side of the formation.

In both instances, Walker ran jet motion across the formation and Smith took the snap as the speedy back raced behind him, forcing the defense to account for the possibility of a jet sweep handoff. But he served as a mere decoy with Charbonnet taking the handoff on a pair of fullback dives, and the second-year back turned those opportunities into a seven-yard gain and an eight-yard game-winning touchdown on two of Seattle's best running plays all afternoon.

"I think the more threats, obviously, the better," Grubb remarked. "Any time they have to think about two guys that have gotten the ball in in short yard situations, I think it makes it more difficult on them." 

From Grubb's perspective, echoing Smith's comments earlier from Thursday, cleaner execution remains the biggest checkmark for the Seahawks to address in short yardage from the offensive line to skill players. But he also indicated he and the rest of the coaching staff have to continue working to improve from a planning standpoint to help players achieve success between the lines in those scenarios, seeing both aspects as part of the solution.

If there's a silver lining, Seattle has ran the 10th-most short yardage plays in the red zone among NFL teams this year, so the offense has had a decent number of chances after advancing the ball deep into opposing territory. But to win the NFC West and make the playoffs, simply getting to the red zone isn't enough, and Grubb understands everyone involved in the operation has to step up their game down the stretch to punctuate more drives with touchdowns.

"I think we could've done a better job having a better plan certainly and being more creative and I think there could've been a little better execution at times, of course. I think what our guys always do a good job of is having good ownership. So for us, we're just looking for the best possible answers and solutions to try to find the best way to get in the end zone."

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