If you’re active on social media, there’s a good chance you’ve seen this somewhat viral statistic from CBS Sports, which shows which NFL teams have allowed the most sacks since 2010. Unsurprisingly, the Seattle Seahawks are tied atop the list with the Washington Commanders.
Keep in mind that “since 2010” means that this stat includes four full seasons without the notoriously sack-prone Russell Wilson at quarterback. If you limited this same graph to 2010-2011, the Seahawks were top-10 in sacks allowed in that span, but they are middling in two seasons with Geno Smith. Just for fun, let’s take those same teams and compare their sack rates so we’re not just looking at raw totals:
Seahawks – 7.94% (1st)Bears – 7.6% (4th)Jets – 7.38% (5th)Commanders 7.25% (7th)Browns – 7.14% (8th)Dolphins – 7.04% (9th)Jaguars – 7% (10th)Cardinals – 6.99% (11th)
So this stat is actually a fair bit worse when you realize the Commanders had a much higher pass rate than the Seahawks. Not much of a newsflash there.
You know what is quintessentially anomalous about this graph, however? The Seahawks playing winning football.
The Seahawks rank sixth in the NFL in win percentage since 2010 and won a damn Super Bowl. Those other seven teams have done all the losing and not a lot of scoring.
Win percentage of top eight teams in sacks allowed (2010-2023)
| Team | Win Percentage | Win Percentage Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Seahawks | 60.60% | 6th |
| Dolphins | 48% | 18th |
| Cardinals | 45.40% | 22nd |
| Bears | 44.10% | 25th |
| Commanders | 39.20% | 29th |
| Jets | 38.80% | 30th |
| Browns | 35% | 31st |
| Jaguars | 32.20% | 32nd |
Points per game for top eight teams in sacks allowed (2010-2023)
| Team | Points Per Game | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| Seahawks | 24.03 | 8th |
| Cardinals | 21.4 | 23rd |
| Dolphins | 21.2 | 26th |
| Bears | 21.03 | 27th |
| Commanders | 20.5 | 29th |
| Browns | 19.3 | 30th |
| Jaguars | 19.13 | 31st |
| Jets | 18.87 | 32nd |
Not coincidentally, the only teams on this list with any sort of prolonged quarterback stability are the Seahawks and Miami Dolphins, and it wasn’t like Ryan Tannehill was considered a high-end starter for much of his career. The Jaguars, Browns, Jets, etc. have had revolving door policies at starter and consequently some very bad offenses, and just generally lousy teams.
The way the Pete Carroll Seahawks were able to consistently produce winning football (even if not necessarily playoff-winning football in recent years) on a consistent basis despite their astronomical sack rate is a microcosm of their unconventional path to success. For the realization that Russell Wilson was responsible for a lot of his own pressure and sacks, it’d be flagrantly dishonest to not acknowledge how mediocre to horrible many of the offensive lines were. The OLs pre- and post-Wilson were not anything to celebrate, either. Wilson made a lot of magic that made him special in his prime, if occasionally frustrating. This type of chaos ball should not have worked as well as it did, and yet that’s what happened.
With all of that said, I politely ask the Seahawks to stop winning games this way. The lack of an elite defense (or even a good one) in Pete’s final few seasons showed the limitations of having astronomical sack stats and poor 3rd down stats usually associated with bottom dwellers. It’s time to forge a new, ideally more sustainable path on offense in order to get back to the top.
