After Monday’s loss to Washington, Seattle is 3-8 and staring down its first losing season since drafting Russell Wilson in 2012.
But one of the most inexplicable parts of the Seahawks’ performance in Week 12 was the offense’s inability to get receiver D.K. Metcalf involved.
Despite playing 94 percent of Seattle’s offensive snaps, Metcalf wasn’t even targeted with a pass until there was 4:31 left in the third quarter. He made his one and only catch with 1:06 left in the contest, grabbing a 13-yard reception.
Metcalf averaged 5.2 receptions and 81.4 yards per game in 2020, catching 83 passes for 1,303 yards with 10 touchdowns. He has eight TDs this year, but his receptions per game have gone down to 4.3 and he’s averaging just 59.1 yards per game. Metcalf has totaled 47 receptions for 650 yards in 2021.
Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said in his Thursday press conference that Seattle has to do a better job involving Metcalf.
“We’ve got to get to get the guy the ball,” Waldron said, via Brady Henderson of ESPN. “We’re going to keep working to get that done, not making any excuses about different things that happen throughout the course of the game. It’s just something we have to get done.”
Henderson also noted that Wilson said there were eight or nine plays that were called for Metcalf but several did not go as planned.
Still, when a player is as talented as Metcalf and has a track record of production, there’s no reason for him to not be a part of anything for two-and-a-half quarters — especially against the league’s No. 30 passing defense.
There likely isn’t much to salvage in the 2021 season for the Seahawks. But if they’re going to win a game or two down the stretch, Metcalf has to get back to being a significant part of the offense.
