Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak did not sugarcoat the issue when addressing his team’s rushing struggles ahead of Thursday night’s high-powered NFC West showdown against the Los Angeles Rams. With first place in the division on the line, Kubiak acknowledged that Seattle’s run game has reached an urgent crossroads.
When asked directly about the state of the ground attack, Kubiak offered a blunt assessment of where things stand and what exactly needs fixing, Kubiak expanded on the breakdowns he’s seen across the unit.
“It’s got to improve pretty quick,” Kubiak said, via Michael-Shawn of The Athletic. “We’ve got to move the ball better on the ground. We’ve got to coach better, we’ve got to block better, we’ve got to help the operation by being a more balanced team.”
Kubiak’s comments come at a time when Seattle’s offense appears statistically strong on the surface but increasingly inconsistent where it matters most.
Seattle hasn’t scored an offensive touchdown in the first half since Week 12 and hasn’t reached the end zone in the first quarter since Week 10, and those are the figures that are quite concerning for Kubiak's unit.
Those struggles were magnified in Sunday’s 18-16 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Despite escaping with a victory, Seattle failed to score an offensive touchdown for the first time all season, relying on a franchise-record six Jason Myers field goals.
The run game offered little help, managing just three rushing yards on nine attempts in the first half and finishing with a season-low 49 yards overall. No Seahawks run gained more than eight yards, snapping a streak that dated back to Week 1.
The lack of production is especially concerning given Kubiak’s background. When head coach Mike Macdonald hired him to replace Ryan Grubb, part of the appeal was Kubiak’s expertise in the outside-zone system popularized by Mike Shanahan.
That scheme depends heavily on synchronized blocking and lateral movement — elements that have yet to show consistency.
With both Seattle and Los Angeles sitting at 11-3, Thursday’s prime-time rematch at Lumen Field will test whether the Seahawks can correct their most glaring flaw. If the run game doesn’t improve quickly, as Kubiak warned, Seattle’s margin for error against a surging Rams team may be thinner than ever.
