A couple of playoff contenders with broken offensive lines
When thinking about potential Super Bowl contenders, the Seattle Seahawks immediately spring to mind. The Kansas City Chiefs also have reasonable playoff aspirations. Both of these potential playoff teams are faced with the prospect of entering the regular season with broken offensive lines.
Russell Wilson was sacked twice in his first four drop-backs of the season before coming out in Week 1. He wasn’t sacked during Week 2’s game against Kansas City but was running for his life on most passing downs.
Alex Smith took some seriously big risks escaping from his pocket the same evening, and he ended up getting sacked twice.
It’s not surprising that Seattle’s offensive line has received the second-worst grade in pass-blocking, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), or that Kansas City was graded as the third-worst. Worse still for the Seahawks is the fact that the running game has suffered just as badly.
Marshawn Lynch is going to have to lead the league in broken tackles again in 2015 if the Seahawks have any hope of featuring the same dominant rushing attack that has carried the team the past few years.
For Kansas City, Smith is going to suffer a concussion—or worse—very soon unless the coaching staff can conjure up some magical potions to fix their abhorrent offensive line.