RENTON, Wash. -- Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald and his assistants went into this week's bye with a long list of issues to address after five losses in the past six games dropped them to 4-5 and last place in the NFC West.
They're the most penalized team in the NFL after getting flagged 12 times for 95 yards in their overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
QB Geno Smith, with way more of the offense on his shoulders than they want, is tied for the league lead in interceptions with 10 after throwing three last week. He's been sacked 28 times in nine games -- more than all but three quarterbacks -- behind an overmatched O-line that has lacked difference makers and continuity.
Even the fundamentals have been a challenge. In their last two games, they've botched three shotgun snaps and had an under-center play at the goal line go to waste when Connor Williams stepped on Smith's foot.
Then there is the run game, a bottom-half operation that showed signs of life against the Rams before failing on consecutive plays in overtime. With less than a yard needed from Los Angeles' 16, Kenneth Walker III was stuffed on third-and-1 and again on fourth-and-1, leading to a turnover on downs that preceded the Rams' winning touchdown drive.
So much for the thought that the run game would be the bread and butter of the Seahawks' offense, as obvious as that seemed given Macdonald's stated vision, his defensive background and comments from players over the offseason.
"It's tough," Macdonald said Monday when asked about the recent struggles in short-yardage situations, "and as coaches, we need to help them out as well. It's not just the players, it's everybody. ... We need to get more movement at the point of attack. Got to find a dent in it and rock and roll. There's not a lot of space when you've got 11 guys in the box, but the good teams figure out a way to get it done, so that'll be a big priority for us this week."
The Seahawks rank 28th in rushing yards per game (91.2) and 23rd in yards per carry (4.1). To describe their last two snaps against the Rams as a microcosm of their run game wouldn't be totally accurate because in that case -- unlike for the majority of the first half of the season -- they actually leaned on it.
The Seahawks are 31st in designed rush rate this season, going with running plays on only 31.2% of their offensive snaps.
Ryan Grubb coordinated some of college football's most pass-heavy offenses at Fresno State and Washington before Macdonald hired him. So his inclination towards throwing the ball may help explain why the Seahawks have leaned way more on Smith's arm than on Walker's legs, but his hand at times been forced.
As a function of how bad they've been on early downs, the Seahawks' average distance needed to convert on third down is an NFL-high 8.9 yards. The figure is the same on second down, also worst in the NFL.
They've also shifted into dropback mode while chasing a few double-digit deficits in the second half. However, when looking only at the first halves of games, their designed rush rate is also second-lowest in the NFL at 31.1%.
Against the Rams, though, they came out running, handing off to Walker five times on their nine-play opening drive. He finished with 83 yards on 25 attempts. That included runs of 8, 6, 4 and 5 yards on the first five plays of their overtime drive before Seattle faced third-and-1.
That was part of Macdonald's reasoning for going for it on fourth-and-1 from the 16. He wanted to end the game with a touchdown and not have to stop Matthew Stafford and the Rams' offense from driving into range for the tying field goal while in four-down mode.
"The way we ran the ball that drive, I mean, why not go for it?" receiver Tyler Lockett said postgame. "I think it was one yard or half a yard."
On Monday morning, Macdonald said the Seahawks had gotten decent movement when they ran the third-down play earlier in the game. The fourth-down play, he said, looked good in practice throughout the week, and they got the defensive look they wanted. But penetration killed both runs, even with Seattle fielding a heavy package on fourth down that included an extra offensive lineman and three tight ends, one of which was lead blocking for Walker.
"I just felt like we were running the ball well," Macdonald said Monday. "I just finished watching the tape. That drive, the run game finally started to come alive in that series of downs. I really felt like we were a block away from getting K9 -- I just had a vision of him scoring at some point and felt like we had two good plays. The results don't mirror those things. It's frustrating to watch it. We're going to have to have a better plan moving forward. I felt I was optimistic and confident in our offensive operation."
Macdonald has said multiple times since the end of the game that "everything is on the table" this week as they take midseason stock and adjust their approach for the second half. That won't include a change at quarterback, but some O-line shuffling beyond Abraham Lucas' impending return at right tackle doesn't seem out of the question.
As Macdonald put it, the bye makes it feasible to "take more of a detour than you would on a normal week's schedule." But it also means more time to have to sit with the disappointment of their run game coming up short in the clutch.
"We've got to be able to get a half yard in two shots," Macdonald said. "Great football teams convert third- and fourth-and-short, and right now we're not doing that."