Seahawks enter final game with franchise records in reach

It’s time for another look at the Seahawks’ weekly stats and where they rank as we head into the final game of the regular season with Seattle still on track to break or near a number of franchise records.

Total offense

How it ranks: 380.3 yards per game, fifth in the NFL.

Analysis: As we have noted previously, the Seahawks have finished in the NFL’s top five in total offense only three times – second in 2005 (369.7 yards per game), third in 1997 (359.9) and third in 1978 (344.4). And yes, 344 yards per game ranking 21st shows how the NFL has changed over the years.

The Seahawks are on pace for 6,084 yards, which would break the team record of 6,012 set last season (which was an average of 375.75 per game). Or put another way, the Seahawks need to get 308 yards against the Cardinals on Sunday to break the franchise record for yards in a season.

Seattle also remains on pace to break the team record of 5.88 yards per play, averaging exactly 5.9.

Russell Wilson remains on pace for a number of franchise records, including having thrown 31 touchdown passes, needing one more to tie and two to break Dave Krieg’s team record of 32 set in 1984.

Wilson is also on pace for 4,080 passing yards, which would break the team record of 3,966 set by Matt Hasselbeck in 2007.

Wilson also leads the NFL in passer rating at 109.3 which would shatter his team record of 101.2 set in 2013 and at the moment is the 15th best all-time.

Rushing offense

How it ranks: 141.6 yards per game, third in the NFL.

Analysis: The Seahawks fell off a little bit in this category after getting just 60 yards Sunday, the fewest in more than two years. But this season still ranks as one of the better rushing seasons in Seattle history.

Seattle is also averaging 4.6 yards per carry, tied essentially for fourth in the NFL.

Seattle’s per-game total would not rank among the top three in team history — the best rushing season in Seattle history came last year when the Seahawks gained 2,762 yards, an average of 172.6 per game.

Passing offense

How it ranks: 238.7 yards per game, 19th in the NFL.

Analysis: The Seahawks were 28th in the NFL in passing heading into the Dallas game but have moved up drastically since then. (and remember that Seattle’s overall passing totals differ slightly from Wilson’s due to sacks being counted against passing yards).

Still, this is a pace for 3,820 for the season which would be not far off the best in team history – the record is 4,078 yards in 2002.

In what is a more important number to Pete Carroll, Seattle is averaging 8.4 yards per pass, second in the NFL behind only Arizona. That would be a team record, bettering the 8.35 of 2013.

Doug Baldwin is now on pace for 78 receptions for 1,091 yards and 15 touchdowns, all numbers that would be among the best, if not the best, in team history. Baldwin has already broken the single-season TD record with 14. His receptions would be the most since T.J. Houshmandzadeh had 79 in 2009, and his yards the most since Bobby Engram had 1,147 in 2007.

Offensive ppg

How it ranks: 25.8, eigth in the NFL.

Analysis: The Seahawks are on pace to score 413 points this season, which would be the second-best of the Pete Carroll era – they had 417 in the Super Bowl-winning season of 2013. The team record is 452 by the 2005 Super Bowl team.

Total defense

How it ranks: 295.9 per game, second in the NFL.

Analysis: Seattle trails only Denver (280.9) in yards allowed and remains just a bit off the pace of the last two seasons.

Seattle allowed just 267 yards per game last season to set a team record, which was just a little better than the 273.6 of the 2013 Super Bowl champs.

And also up a little bit is Seattle’s average yards per play allowed of 5.0, which is third behind Denver (4.4) and Carolina (4.8). The Seahawks allowed 4.6 last season and 4.4 in 2013.

The Seahawks have been pretty darn stout of late, though, allowing just 864 yards over the last four games, just 216 per game and 4.1 per play.

Rushing defense

How it ranks: 87.7, fourth in the NFL.

Rank: This has been as consistent as any area for the Seahawks all season – they are also fourth in the NFL in yards allowed per carry at 3.7.

Seattle remains just off the team record in rushing yards allowed per game, set last year at 81.5.

Passing defense

How it ranks: 210.6 per game, second in the NFL.

Analysis: This area has seemed more vulnerable this season than the last few. But the total numbers are still pretty good if just off the pace of the last few seasons – the Seahawks allowed 185 per game in 2014, and just 172 in 2013.

Seattle is allowing a passer rating of 81.3, also just off the 80.4 of last season.

Defensive ppg

How it ranks: 18.1, 3rd in NFL.

Analysis: Here is another stat that has begun to come down a lot in recent weeks. Seattle is now on pace to allow 289 points for the season after allowing 254 last year, 231 in 2013 (the team record) and 245 in 2012.

Seattle has allowed 271 points and still has a chance to become the first team in NFL history to allow the fewest points for four straight seasons. The Seahawks trail Cincinnati (263) and Kansas City (270), though Seattle will obviously be heavily challenged defensively this week going against an Arizona offense that leads the NFL in scoring at 32.2 per game.