No team in the NFL is perfect and that includes the Seattle Seahawks. Some teams are weak at quarterback, some have no depth at wide receiver. Some teams have no pass rush and others wasted top draft picks on players that haven’t panned out. The Seahawks, who stand at 2-2 after two recent wins against the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, haven’t intercepted a pass all season and look semi-lost in the passing game. They can fix these things as the season progresses with good coaching. But the team’s most glaring weakness – and what we want to talk about in this piece – is their porous offensive line. 

There are seven players of note on the team’s O-line: right guard J. R. Sweezy, left guard Justin Britt, right tackle Garry Gilliam, left tackle Russell Okung, center Drew Nowak, tight end Jimmy Graham and utility backup Alvin Bailey.

Sweezy has a reputation for being one of the league’s best run blockers and Okung is a former Pro Bowler (2012). None of them are rookies, though Gilliam and Britt are in their second years. In the off season, the team lost their former center, Max Unger, and left guard, James Carpenter. Unger was an especially big loss, but in return they got Jimmy Graham, who, in my humble opinion, is the key to this year’s season. 

Graham was a stud on his former team, the New Orleans Saints. He caught unbelievable touchdowns and looked like a perennial all-star. With the ‘Hawks, however, he hasn’t shown much on offense (the team doesn’t know how to use him, doesn’t have long enough protection from the weak O-line to let plays develop for him, and he can’t block). Really, he’s a wide receiver. The ‘Hawks secured him as sure-thing touchdown machine, but it just hasn’t worked out. Yet. 

The rest of the O-line doesn’t pass the eye test, either. And this has been the case since training camp. In August, Field Gulls reported that the team was shuffling their players on the O-line, quoting coach Pete Carroll as saying, “We have to get better.” This problem has lasted through Monday’s game, a narrow victory over the Lions. Wilson, according to ESPN stats and information, was pressured 48.6 percent of his dropbacks, the “highest number of any quarterback in week 4” and that was against a now 0-4 team. This led Coach Carroll to say, “We obviously had trouble protecting.” 

Carroll has expressed confidence in Offensive Line coach, Tom Cable, saying he “will get it done,” according to ESPN, but Cable has a spotty history in the NFL, having been fired by the lowly Oakland Raiders. Under Cable, though, the O-line has been good in the past, especially in the running game. So, it’s unclear if he’s the problem, or if it’s just personnel. 

When the team made the Graham/Unger trade it seemed like a slam dunk. But maybe it was a poor decision in retrospect, given that Graham was a wash in the first four games. 

“It’s just experience really,” Carroll said to ESPN, “…it just takes time.” 

We are inclined to believe him. The ‘Hawks are traditionally slow starters. Last year they started 3-3 before ripping off three wins in a row. It’s clear that something is wrong with the O-line now, but what can be done? Offensive lines, more than anything, are about chemistry; guys knowing where each other will be. They’re about trust. This line is new and they’ve been shuffling personnel in and out while bringing in new talent and trying to figure out how to use Graham all on the fly. But the team has even struggled snapping the ball: Nowak told the Seattle Times, “I need to do a better job.” 

But there is hope. The veteran Sweezy told 710 ESPN that the unit has been having “better practices, our cohesion is a lot better, everyone is getting on the same page.” Maybe the first four games were the bottom of the barrel and things will soon be looking up. If we had to bet, this is what we’d bet on. 

Cable has said that despite the inexperience together on the O-line, “The guys we have, the starting five, we’re different than any O-line in the league… we can run.” 

This will most certainly be tested this week against the undefeated 4-0 Cincinnati Bengals, whose defensive line and pass rush has looked much improved this year. The Bengals spent $20 million on new talent on their D-line and the unit has generated 11 quarterback sacks through four games, compared to just 20 total last year. 

‘Hawks QB Russell Wilson is a magician when it comes to evading the rush, and the team should have running back Marshawn Lynch back for this week’s game, which will help. It’s not hard to image the team will be spending much of their practice this week working on the O-line and how to use Graham, given that it’s the most glaring need. But the question remains: will it prove dividends? 

Our prediction? If Carroll’s history of innovation and patience is any indication, then the answer is yes. The O-line is perhaps the most important unit in football – that’s where the battle begins on the field – and if time is what they need to succeed, time is what they’ll get.