Ten Things that went wrong for the Hawks in 2021

 The 2021 season was not an ideal one for the Seattle Seahawks.  After 17 weeks and just one game left, they sit with a record of 6-10 and no shot at the playoffs.  This is the first losing season of Russell Wilson's career and only the second time the Hawks have missed the playoffs since he became the starting quarterback.  So, what went wrong?  I have compiled a list of ten things that went wrong and, for good measure, I gave them a rating of 1-5 on how worried we should be that this may affect the Hawks going into next year, with 1 being not at all worried and 5 being extremely worried.  

1. Russell Wilson's finger injury
Worry scale: 2
It's safe to say that if not for Russ's finger injury, the season would be a lot different.  Russ came back and his finger was clearly still trying to heal, as we saw in his first two or three games back, causing the offense to be downright anemic.  Before this season, Russ had not missed a single start, so there's not much concern here, although there will be more if he gets hurt again next season (provided he stays in Seattle, of course).

2. Having historically bad time of possession
Worry scale: 5
The Hawks had a nagging problem throughout 2021 that, for too long, they were unable to fix.  That is the time of possession battle.  You generally want to hold onto the ball on offense more than your opponent, and the Hawks were historically bad at doing this.  This stems from the combination of the offense not being able to put together long, sustained drives, and the defense being unable to get off the field when they needed to.  This led to the defense wearing out at the end of the game and, in some games, the offense still showing signs of rust going into the 4th quarter.  This is definitely concerning, as this issue concerns both sides of the ball and the fundamentals regarding them.

3. Adjusting to a first-year offensive coordinator
Worry scale: 2
Shane Waldron was hired in the offseason, and for a team that wants to win now, he may not have been the wisest hire.  He had never been an offensive coordinator before, and that certainly showed at times this season.  The last two OC hires, Darrell Bevell and Brian Schottenheimer, had previously been OC's before coming to Seattle.  Hopefully, Shane has learned a bit from this season and will improve as an OC going into 2022.

4. Injuries to too many notable players
Worry scale: 1
Injuries are a part of NFL football and always will be.  But sometimes you suffer an irregularly high amount of injuries, which hurts your season.  The Hawks not only lost Russ to injury for a few games, but stars and leaders Chris Carson and Jamal Adams suffered season-ending injuries, and the Hawks also had to deal with a number of players missing games due to COVID.  But this shouldn't be any cause for concern for the future as teams generally don't suffer through two consecutive injury-plagued seasons in a row.

5. Jason Myers' off year
Worry scale: 3
Myers made every field goal in 2020, so expectations were high for 2021.  However, he missed a few too many crucial field goals and several PAT's.  He was bound for at least a slightly down year, but his regression to the mean was far too severe.  Hopefully, he'll bounce back next season and look more like 2020 Myers, and hopefully, 2021 wasn't a sign of things to come for him.

6. Ken Norton Jr's schemes aren't working
Worry scale: 3
Sad to say, I think I would need more than two hands to count the number of times the Seahawks put a defensive tackle into coverage this season.  Ken Norton Jr, the Seahawks defensive coordinator, may take pride in the fact his team didn't give up a ton of points, but as of the time of this post, the Hawks had the 2nd worst pass defense in the NFL.  They consistently allow receivers to get open, afraid of possibly allowing the big plays.  As a defense, you need to tighten up and risk allowing big plays, because otherwise teams go up and down the field on you.  Ken Norton Jr. has not realized this, and we can only hope Pete Carroll will swallow his pride and decide to move on from KNJ.  The worry scale is at a 3 because he may or may not get fired, and I worry slightly that we won't move on from him.

7. No clutch factor this season
Worry scale: 2
The Hawks have been one of the luckier teams of the past 5-10 years, largely because their offense and defense were known for making big plays when the game was on the line.  That was not the case this season.  On multiple occasions, the offense was unable to come up with a game-winning drive, and the defense was unable to stop the opposition when it mattered.  This is highly unusual for the Hawks, who in years past thrived in close games.  Yet the Hawks are 0-5 in games decided by 6 points or less.  Just changing two of those five outcomes gives the Hawks a record of 8-8 going into the final week.  Also, two of those five close games were started by Geno Smith, and who knows if Russ would've been able to lead us to victories in those games, but our odds certainly would have been better with him.

8. No established running back until late
Worry scale: 2
The Seahawks are definitely better when they have an established back take the bulk of the carries and stay healthy for at least most of the season.  That was not the case this season.  Chris Carson started the season as the starter, but then a neck injury derailed his season.  Alex Collins took over, but he too got injured after several games.  Fortunately, Rashaad Penny emerged, but it was too little too late.  The Hawks likely won't have a running back even get 700 yards this season.  Although to be fair, the Hawks did not have a running back get 700 yards last year, either.

9. Poor offseason additions
Worry scale: 2
Gerald Everett was easily the best addition the Hawks made in the past offseason.  Gabe Jackson was solid, if unspectacular.  The 2021 draft class, meanwhile, leaves a lot to be desired.  Of course, there were only three draft picks, but Eskridge was hurt and under-utilized, Tre Brown showed signs of promise but got hurt, and Stone Forsythe barely saw the field.  There was not enough added in the past offseason.  The Hawks could have used another cornerback and edge rusher for sure. 

10. Pete Carroll
Worry scale: 3
This reason is simply Pete Carroll.  Is his "rah rah" style of coaching wearing thin?  Possibly.  It certainly isn't the best coaching style for a team that is struggling.  He's the oldest coach in the league, and his schemes and philosophies seem to be a bit dated by now.  I think he could still do well as an NFL executive, but it's time for him to retire from coaching duties.  This was certainly a trying year for him, and one could argue his worst coaching performance in Seattle.  

2021 was definitely a trying year for the Hawks.  I am in the boat that the Hawks do not need to rebuild this coming offseason.  Going into Week 18, they have a +21 point differential despite their 6-10 record.  They are a few close games from quite a different story this season.  If they can focus on the lines, draft smartly, and keep Russ (but maybe make a change at head coach or DC), they can quickly go back to being perennial contenders again in 2022.