Entering Week 6, the Seattle Seahawks slid back down the power rankings after losing to the San Francisco 49ers. After losing their second game in a row to the Denver Broncos, how much farther will they fall? Let’s take a look at five national media sites (NFL.com, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report (B/R), Pro Football Talk (PFT), and ESPN) to see where they rank Seattle.
Let’s start with the worst news. NFL.com dropped the Seahawks down three spots to 10th best in the NFL. In their ranking, they mention
Sam Darnold’s “turnover problem.” However, they also remain optimistic that the offense as a whole can turn it around with the offensive line returning to full strength soon. B/R also dropped Seattle down three spots, from 6th to 9th. B/R also remains optimistic about the team considering their running back room is returning to health. However, they also mention the turnover issues as a big issue the team needs to address moving forward.
Both CBS and PFT have the Seahawks ranked as 7th best in the league. PFT who moved the team down two spots simply state “[t]hey should’ve kept Kenneth Walker III.” CBS meanwhile didn’t move Seattle at all, and kept them ranked at number 7. In their ranking, CBS also highlighted that “Sam Darnold is turning the ball over way too much.”
The highest ranking the Seahawks got from a national site this week was from ESPN, who ranked Seattle as the 6th best team in the NFL. Despite this higher ranking, ESPN also talked about the turnover issues. ESPN notes that the Seahawks have committed 12 turnovers, third most of any offense so far. Ten of those turnovers came in Seattle’s three losses.
Overall, it would be surprising if the Seahawks did not drop down in the national power rankings. Losing two games in a span of five days will do that. Turnovers were the clear trend in all of these rankings. However, despite these woes the Seahawks are still firmly in the top ten of the NFL.
Entering Week 6, the average power ranking between the five polled sites was 5.0. Entering week 7, that average has fallen to 7.8. The Seahawks face Kenneth Walker III and the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs next week on Sunday Night Football. Will Seattle be able to bounce back or will the slide down continue into week 8.
