​You're Still Not Worrying Hard Enough About the Seattle Seahawks

Last week, I told you it was time to start worrying about the Seattle Seahawks…. That was after their too-close escape from the Miami Dolphins, but no—not even the gloomiest naysayer expected the Seahawks to lose to the lowly Los Angeles Rams. And yet here we are.

The Rams' season opener might have been the worst Week 1 performance of our lifetimes. They were totally uncompetitive on offense, and yielded 28 points to a Blaine Gabbert-led 49ers offense. Rams owner Stan Kroenke—nicknamed "Silent Stan" because of his rarely-seen, never-heard approach—came down to the locker room after the game to demand answers.

The very same Case Keenum-led Rams team—with their miserable, punchless offense—managed just three field goals in 60 minutes against the Seahawks.

And yet, the Seahawks mustered only one.

To be sure, both teams are blessed with talented, physical defenses. Frank Clark continued to emerge as the next great Seahawks pass-rusher, registering his second and third sacks of the year. Robert Quinn and company hassled Russell Wilson all afternoon, with Quinn tallying his first sack of 2016 in the second quarter.

But despite Thomas Rawls' 2015 success and Christine Michaels' preseason hype, the Seahawks are now collectively averaging a miserable 3.2 yards per carry on the ground. Wilson has thrown 43 and 35 times in the past two games: his highest and joint-seventh highest totals in his 65 games as a starter. In each game he's connected for a long gain or two (see this 53-yard catch-and-run with Tyler Lockett on the Seahawks' final drive), but whatever yards he's managed haven't generated any points (see the sack-fumble of Wilson that ended the Seahawks' final drive today).

And as pathetic as the Rams' offense was, the Seahawks' was even worse.

Still accurate: The Los Angeles Rams have still not scored a TD since Dec. 24, 1994.
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) September 18, 2016

The Seahawks have started slowly in almost every year of the Pete Carroll era, but this is different. Today against the Dolphins—Seahawks' Week 1 opponents—the Patriots took a 24-0 lead. This discredits the idea that Wilson and company just struggled against the Dolphins' 'unstoppable' defense. Meanwhile, the Rams looked like an 0-16 team during their Monday Night Football debacle. These are teams even a diminished Seahawks squad should have no problem handling.

The Seahawks appear to have doubled down on their bargain-bin strategy one too many times: The offensive line can neither open holes for their unproven running backs nor protect Wilson, and the receivers can't get open against middling secondaries.

No matter how good the defense is, or how good Wilson is—and both may be among the best in the NFL—the offensive isn't effective enough for the Seahawks to be a playoff team in 2016.

They don't have much time to get it fixed.