As the Seattle Seahawks attempt to overcome Russell Wilson‘s finger sprain from Thursday night’s Rams game, they also have a much bigger problem on their hands. Just as Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk pointed out, the Seahawks are allowing an average of 451 yards per game to their opponents in the 2021 season.
If the Seahawks’ defense continues anywhere near that pace, it would break the all-time record for most yards allowed for a single season in NFL history.
The current record is 7,042 yards allowed by the New Orleans Saints in the 2012 season. That horrible defense allowed an average of 440 yards per game over a 16-game season.
By allowing 2,254 yards in five games, the Seahawks are on pace to shatter the previous record, putting them on track to allow 7,718 yards in the 2021 season. Of course, the extra game doesn’t help, but it wouldn’t matter either way with how this defense is playing.
Even before facing off against the red-hot Los Angeles Rams, the Seahawks had the worst defense in the league. Allowing another 476 yards to Matthew Stafford‘s bunch didn’t help.
Sitting in last place among what’s likely the best division in the NFL in the NFC West, the Seahawks have a tough road ahead. It’s rare for any team led by Russell Wilson to have a 2-3 record, but as the Seahawks have consistently shown, the blame shouldn’t fall on the eight-time Pro Bowl QB.
Will a team break the Saints’ record from 2012 for most yards allowed in a single season? Probably, but most likely because of the extra game added to the season. The Seahawks just hope they’re not the first to do it.