Seattle Seahawks

The skies in Seattle were chilly and gray, typical for March in the region and as gloomy as the mood in the room. Though news of Russell Wilson’s trade to the Denver Broncos had broken a week earlier, NFL rules forbade the Seahawks from making public comment on it until now. In the seven days in between, Seattle coach Pete Carroll had faced more criticism than he had at any point since Super Bowl XLIX. Now came his chance to defend himself and general manager John Schneider, to restore faith in the fan base, to create excitement about a new season. Forty minutes later, he had done the opposite. By the end of his press conference, Carroll had made it clear that the NFL had passed him by, and that his team was going to play an obsolete brand of football as long as he was in charge.

The quotes from that press conference help explain how Seattle fell to 7-10 in 2021, their first losing season in a decade. They explain why Carroll so badly underrated not just Wilson, but NFL quarterbacks in general. And they show why there are likely to be more losing seasons in the decade to come.

“Last year kinda sucked. That was that one time, we had that space in the schedule here. We’re just going right back to business.”

Everyone will agree that 2021 kinda sucked for Seattle. After putting up nine straight winning seasons, the Seahawks fell as far as five games under .500 before a too-little, too-late surge brought them four meaningless wins in December and January. They paired a boom-and-bust offense with a bend-don’t-break defense but ended up with too much busting and breaking to make it work.

Seattle’s offense specialized in the deep ball. Wilson led the NFL with a 10.2-yard average depth of target and was sixth in DVOA on passes that traveled 20-plus yards downfield, but the offense lacked a good third wideout or reliable receiving back, and Seattle’s tight ends failed to produce on mid-range passes. And, as always, Seattle struggled to keep either Wilson or...