RENTON -- The Seahawks addressed one significant part of their rushing game issues with the acquisition of Duane Brown from the Houston Texans early this week. The next step is figuring out exactly which running back gives them the best chance for consistent success moving forward.
Eddie Lacy will get the first chance to take hold of the job this weekend against the Washington Redskins. Lacy will start and get a significant share of the carries for the game as Seattle looks to settle on one running back to carry a majority of the load.
"We need to improve in the running game obviously," offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said on Wednesday. "There is a lot of things that we are continuing to work on and obviously just being able to block up front and be able to cover guys up so we can get back to the line of scrimmage and I know that we are going to start with Eddie and kind of let him go a little bit and then see where it goes from there."
Seattle's running backs managed just five yards on 16 carries last week against the Texans last Sunday. Lacy had six carries, Thomas Rawls had six carries and J.D. McKissic had four carries as the limited touches were spread around relatively equally.
"For the run game to be that stagnant was a little unacceptable to us as a line," right tackle Germain Ifedi said. "We kind of put that on us. We don't put that on the backs, we don't put that on the play call, we put it on us. We know going forward we have to better running the ball because come the colder months you can't play catch, can't drop back 60 times a game. You have to be able to run the ball."
In retrospect, head coach Pete Carroll believes that they need a change in philosophy.
"I think I have held them back a little bit by spreading it around quite a bit and trying to figure that out and so as we zero in here, heading into the second half, I’m hoping that we are going to make some real headway," Carroll said.
Offensive line Tom Cable also hoped focusing on one back would be beneficial.
"I think the move towards trying to establish a running back, rather than multiple backs, I think that will also help a little bit in terms of seeing it, but we need to be cleaner. It wasn’t clean enough on Sunday," Cable said.
Cable did say the offensive line didn't do nearly enough against Houston either. He wanted to see better play from both guards Ethan Pocic and Oday Aboushi in the running game. The addition of Brown should help the group progress as well.
"We missed. We targeted right and all, but we just missed blocks. Too many negative plays," Cable said.
"We just need to clean it up; we need to fit our helmets properly, hit our aiming points, be clean with our hands and our feet, and when that happens, we’ll be fine."
If Lacy can't get the unit going, they can try Rawls. If neither Lacy or Rawls can move the unit in the right direction, they may need to make additional changes in due time. For now, Lacy will get a chance to lead the way.
"We just got to continue to be us," Lacy said. "Everything don't work when you want it to but you've got to keep doing the little things and don't change who we are. Just stay focused and when it happens, it happens."
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Photo Credit: SEATTLE, WA - OCTOBER 1: Quarterback Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks hands off to running back Eddie Lacy #27 of the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth quarter of the game at CenturyLink Field on October 1, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)