SB Nation Reacts Results: Seahawks fans with concerns about pass defense

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Each week we ask questions of the most plugged-in Seattle Seahawks fans and fans across the country.

The opening week of the 2022 NFL season is in the books, and the Seattle Seahawks sit alone atop the NFC West. The Hawks travel to Santa Clara for Week 2 to take on the San Francisco 49ers in a divisional tilt that will see the winner of the contest guaranteed to be in first place in the division to open Week 3.

As for how the on field performance of the team in Week 1 impacted the belief of fans in the team, well, there’s no shortage of confidence following the upset victory over the Denver Broncos.

As for how fans graded out the performance, the majority of responding fans did not believe the effort warranted an A, but rather a very solid B.

Why a B instead of an A? Well, that’s a question one would have to pose to the fans who responded, but the unit which fans felt struggled the most was the pass defense.

That’s not a surprise after surrendering 340 yards through the air to the Broncos, but perhaps most troubling is the fact that the second most concern was expressed regarding the run defense. If the defense as a whole has issues stopping opponents either through the air or on the ground, it could make for a long season. And, yes, it’s only one week, but after that one week the Seahawks offense ranks 29th in the league for yards generated and 29th in the league in yards given up.

As for the portion of the offense which fans felt struggled the least against Denver, significant portions of that success are certainly attributable to Geno Smith, who led the unit that most impressed fans.

Speaking of Smith and the offense, he met or exceeded the expectations of the majority of fans.

The only logical explanation for the one percent of fans who felt that Smith failed to meet expectations is that they are the Drewanon followers whose expectations for Smith included limited offensive production, sacks and multiple turnovers, leading to a benching in favor of Drew Lock.

Seattle didn’t just impress its own fans, though, as the performance Monday impressed fans across the country enough to put the Hawks at the top of a list of contenders. Sort of.

So, yes, the Seahawks are likely the biggest contender out of that group of teams that are likely not contenders. In any case, it’s on to Week 2 and San Francisco.

Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

---