Seattle's offense led the NFL in broken and missed tackles by a huge margin last year, a stat that truly pops off the page in Aaron Schatz's new Football Almanac. This isn't just about one or two guys, it's about a whole unit refusing to go down, and it's just one of the many insane positives highlighted for our Seahawks in this year's deep dive.
The Play-Action King and the Power of 12
Listen, if you weren't screaming about it during games, you should be now: our play-action game was straight-up lethal. The Seahawks were the best play-action team in the entire NFL, period. No other squad had a bigger difference between their play-action and non-play-action production. We were the *only* team to average north of 10 yards per play-action pass, which is absolutely phenomenal! And guess who was slinging those passes? Sam Darnold in play-action passing is as lethal a quarterback as there is. You heard that right. That kind of efficiency is pure gold. This all tracks with how our offense changed up its identity. After the less-than-desirable 11 personnel heavy approach in 2024 under Ryan Grubb, Klint Kubiak flipped the script, and we leaned into heavier formations, especially 12 personnel (two-tight end sets). When we rolled out 12 personnel, we averaged 9.3 adjusted net yards per pass attempt, which was third-best in the league behind only the Bills and Lions. Our new OC, Brian Fleury, is expected to keep that heavy formation usage going, and frankly, why wouldn't he? We were a monster with it.Unseen Strengths: Health and Tackling
Beyond the raw numbers, the almanac points to another crucial factor in the offense's success: health. Our offense was among the cleanest for "Adjusted Games Lost," a metric that tracks how much important players miss time. We had the third-best AGL score on offense. Think about it: only Charles Cross and Jalen Sundell missed multiple weeks due to injury among starting players. Cooper Kupp and Zach Charbonnet each missed just one game during the regular season. This kind of consistency is vital for building rhythm and trust, and it clearly paid off. Even better? The absolute bane of our existence for years , running back screens , was seldom used. The Seahawks ran only 10 running back screens, the lowest in the entire league. Good riddance! What does this all mean for the upcoming season under Mike Macdonald and Brian Fleury? We know they're bringing an intense, physical identity. Seeing these offensive insights from the almanac, like the incredible broken tackle rate and the power of Sam Darnold in play-action, should fire up every single 12s out there. This team has some serious weapons and a proven scheme that worked last year. Get ready to see that same tackle-breaking, play-action dominating offense light up Lumen Field. The league has been warned.This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.