The Seattle Seahawks have undergone a pretty dramatic transformation since their bye back in Week 10. While their suddenly-elite defensive unit has rightfully gotten most of the credit, the offense has also found its footing of late. While they’re not scoring a ton of points, they are playing far cleaner on this side of the ball over their last few games.
To name a few promising improvements, starting quarterback Geno Smith is forcing fewer passes, Jaxon Smith-Njigba is blooming into a star, the offensive line isn’t coughing up penalties every 45 seconds and it appears even the long-defunct run game is starting to get going. So, what changed, exactly?
According to star wide receiver DK Metcalf, first-year offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb came in after the bye and lit a fire under the unit, raccording to Sports Illustrated. Here’s what DK said about the resulting turnaround earlier this week.
DK Metcalf on Ryan Grubb
“Well, he came in here after the bye week and lit a fire under us like, ‘Hey guys, we got to fix our mistakes. We’re shooting ourselves in the foot on offense… First with the offensive holding penalties, and then with the false starts, and then just making us get more into our details with the run game and the pass game to where the coaches, the players, me, Geno (Smith), and everybody’s on the same page. So after the bye week, we start meeting as an offense, even after practice, watching film together, making sure everybody’s on the same page instead of more individual meetings.”
Considering it’s been a unit-wide progression, Grubb deserves a great deal of the credit. Just a couple weeks ago we were ready to question whether he should return in 2025 if he couldn’t figure out a way to scheme around Seattle’s offensive line issues down the stretch. He answered that question pretty emphatically last week, though.
As for Metcalf, he has seen his production shrink coinciding with JSN’s rise and a trend of defenses bracketing him. Over this last stretch of four games Metcalf hasn’t posted more than 70 receiving yards or scored a single touchdown. DK doesn’t seem to mind, though. He told reporters that seeing JSN shine makes him feel “like a proud parent,” and he genuinely seems to enjoy his run blocking duties.
Looking ahead, Metcalf will be going into the final year of his contract next year. If they don’t change his deal he’ll have a cap hit of almost $32 million. However, according to Over the Cap, if the Seahawks were to sign Metcalf to an extension they could save around $13.5 million for the 2025 season.
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