John Schneider whiffed badly by signing Blair Walsh, who continues to hurt the Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks were shut out in the first half of their 30-24 loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but they could’ve easily been on the scoreboard by halftime had Blair Walsh not pushed a 38-yard field goal in great weather conditions wide right. Meanwhile, Jacksonville’s Josh Lambo went 3-for-3, including a 51-yard field goal that went right down the middle.

Walsh has now missed 6 of his last 14 field goals, and only one of his attempts was longer than 50 yards, which happened to be the missed game-tying attempt against the Atlanta Falcons. He also missed an extra point against the San Francisco 49ers, and hooked a 37-yard field goal wide right against the Indianapolis Colts, giving him nine missed kicks on the year. That’s 22 points off the board because of one guy.

He is statistically worse this year in field goal percentage (20/27 or 74%) than he was when the Vikings cut him in 2016 (12/16, or 75%). His three missed field goals against Washington were a key reason Seattle didn’t win that game. He is an unacceptably mediocre 7/10 from 30-39 yards away.

I had no problem with the Seahawks letting go of Stephen Hauschka given how 2016 went. It likely would’ve been too costly to keep him off of a subpar season, but he’s been outstanding with the Buffalo Bills, whereas Walsh has revealed himself to be no better now than he was last year. Seattle’s special teams as a whole is downright miserable if not for Neiko Thorpe and I suppose Jon Ryan on his good days, but that’s a discussion for another day.

The Seahawks have virtually no cap room left, and must free up some space just to pay bonuses. I’d love for Blair Walsh to be gone, but that’s not financially realistic since his salary is already guaranteed. They’d have to great super creative to find the room to sign a replacement, who may not be any better than what Walsh has produced thus far.

Consider this signing and the Eddie Lacy one as one of the many attempts over the years by the Seahawks front office to salvage their careers on one-year “prove-it” deals, only for both moves to effectively blow up in their faces. At least Lacy can be inactive on gameday, Seattle is realistically stuck with Walsh through the end of this season, but there isn’t a chance he’s back here in 2018. This was a bad move by John Schneider, and two years removed from benefiting off of Walsh’s woes, they’re the ones getting repeatedly hurt by his inability to be consistent.