Losing to a non-trivally injured San Francisco 49ers team, giving them a big lead in the division to start the season, has some fans on edge. I asked my discord server what their biggest questions about the team are right now. Let’s take a look at what’s on the mind of the fans. The wording of the questions has been lightly edited for this article.
Brian Fleury’s Fight For His Right (To Call Plays)
“Will Brian Fleury make it to the end of the season?”
It’s very hard to fire a playcaller in the middle of the season. Generally speaking, any team that does it has nothing to lose. Off the top of my head, the 2012 Baltimore Ravens are the only example of doing it successfully. They fired OC Cam Cameron late in the season at 9-4, promoted Jim Caldwell, and went on to win the super bowl.
You could consider it in week 11 during the bye week, but then what? You can’t bring in someone from the outside, and everyone on the staff has no experience calling plays, so you’re just crossing your fingers. Jake Peetz, Justin Outten, or John Benton would probably be on deck, but it’s going to take some extreme incompetency to get that far.
Adjusting The Strategy
“Should we change our scheme on offense to be as pass-heavy as possible in order to compensate for the lack of a running game?”
I really can’t see any other solution. Last year, the Seahawks were bad at running the ball most of the season, but at least their running backs didn’t fumble. Until you get to a place of trust with your backs, which may not happen for a couple more weeks when Price returns, just open up the offense and try to use short passes as a surrogate for a run game.
But more than just being pass-heavy, we need to bring back the big play. Last year, the Seahawks were inefficient offensively, but they were highly explosive. They routinely hit plays of 50 or more yards, which compensated for their shortcomings in other areas. This year, I’m not even seeing an attempt to take big shots down the field. Bring it back.
Any Port In A Storm
“Why is George Holani still on the team?”
The unfortunate reality is that the Seahawks are not in a position to end that particular relationship quite yet. On just about any other team in the league, I’m sure Holani would be cut for his performance on Sunday. Note that, yesterday, the Seahawks did cut ties with a back, but it was Velus Jones Jr. So they’re working on it.
When Charbonnet and Price are available again, I could definitely see Holani getting cut, especially if Robert Henry Jr makes a good impression. Just to consider the other side of the debate, however, Holani’s current struggles may be due to his injuries, and it’s possible a stint on Injured Reserve might get him back to a useful state.
A Style Mismatch
“Why does Brian Fleury insist on using slow backs for outside runs?”
Fleury wants to run outside (just like Klint Kubiak did), and he doubtlessly had big plans for Jadarian Price. He lost Price very quickly, and feels compelled to use those plays regardless. It’s not the most shocking thing in the world than a first time OC doesn’t have enough put together for a Plan B and Plan C, I suppose.
But being a successful playcaller in this league is all about finding a way to use the tools that you have, and right now Fleury is failing at that. There’s a reason why every question this week dealt with him in some way, shape, or form. He’s not getting it done, and the potential solutions for producing better results are seemingly right in front of him.
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