Film Breakdown: Why Seahawks' Pass Protection Isn't to Blame For Recent Offensive Woes

While Russell Wilson continues to struggle amid the worst slump of his career, some have been quick to criticize a banged-up offensive line. But as exhibited against the Giants, the front line shouldn't be blamed for the Seahawks lingering offensive woes.

After lighting the NFL on fire during the first half of the season, the Seahawks offense has gone cold over the past month, including scoring 16 or fewer points in losses to the Rams and Giants.

Amid the most prolonged offensive slump of the Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson era, Wilson has been at the center of Seattle's woes. Once on pace to break Peyton Manning's single season passing touchdown record, he has thrown just six touchdowns compared to five interceptions over the past five games and his passer rating has sunk nearly 20 points during that span.

There's been much debate about the main reason for Wilson's recent struggles. Has he been holding onto the ball too long? Has offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer not helped him from a play calling standpoint? Or has a banged-up offensive line failing to protect him been the main culprit?

It's been easy in the past to point to Seattle's offensive line whenever Wilson struggles - after all, he's had some poor front lines protecting him over the years - and he has been sacked more than any quarterback since entering the NFL.

But even without starting right tackle Brandon Shell in Sunday's loss to the Giants and the Seahawks down to their third and fourth string right tackles, film and stats suggest pass protection wasn't close to the offense's biggest problem last weekend. Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, coach Pete Carroll agreed with such an assessment.

"I came out of the game feeling like the guys protected well and we needed to get more production out of our opportunities. We really had chances," Carroll said. "We were trying to get the ball down the field more than allowed and we were looking for opportunities and we just need to adjust and take advantage of what was available to us. But the protection was solid, I thought that was a good job even providing that we had a couple guys in there that haven't been playing a lot. "

Check out my latest film breakdown as I dissect all 54 of Wilson's drop backs against the Giants to evaluate how the Seahawks performed in pass protection and dispel the narrative that the unit has been a key factor in Wilson's recent swoon.