12s obviously hope that the Seattle Seahawks are not currently heading down a spiral they cannot pull themselves out of. The team started 3-0 but has lost its last three. A big reason for that is the defense has been atrocious. That is true whether Seattle has had most of its starters healthy or not.
There might be an even worse trend beginning, however. According to recent comments by veteran defensive lineman Leonard Williams, some teammates seem to lose faith that Seattle can win during games if the team falls behind. This was not the case when Pete Carroll was the head coach because the team came from behind to win in the fourth quarter so often, including an NFL-leading six times in 2023.
Tyler Lockett, who has been with the Seahawks since 2015, can definitely see the differences between a Carroll-coached team and one coached by Mike Macdonald. Lockett is also far too nice of a guy to throw any teammate or coach under the bus, and he is not normally hypercritical. In other words, any hint by Lockett that something is going awry is concerning.
After Seattle's loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 6, Lockett spoke with the media and implied that the team is struggling with simple fundamentals. That is fairly ridiculous, as Seattle is now six games into the season, and the team is, obviously, full of professionals. It is their job to learn plays quickly, put the scheme into effect, and then adjust from there.
Lockett said, "We could be more focus-oriented when it comes to walkthrough...we gotta treat walkthroughs as a game." Without outright saying it, Lockett is suggesting some teammates simply don't focus on the details during some aspects of practice as they should.
That might be a player problem. That could also be a coaching issue. If players are not doing what they need to do, even in walkthroughs, some stern conversations need to take place. Possibly, a player needs to be benched for an indefinite amount of time if another teammate is showing the drive to get better every second they have a chance to do so.
Williams voiced his concerns about some of of the Seahawks players' mental approach. Lockett appears to be mirroring those comments. If veterans are noticing those kinds of issues and talking about it, 12s can be sure there is a real problem. Now the question is whether the new coaching staff knows how to reverse the downward spiral of a team that has lost three straight games and has three straight tough games ahead of them before the bye week.
