DK Metcalf’s meltdown against Green Bay might be window into cracks in Pete Carroll’s culture in Seattle

If you don’t live on the West Coast or just have not paid much attention, the Seattle Seahawks look to be falling apart at the seams. DK Metcalf’s ejection from Sunday’s 17-0 loss to the Green Bay Packers may sum up the season for Seattle. Maybe Metcalf was confused after being ejected. Or maybe he just tried to pull a fast one, everybody.

It’s hard to imagine Russell Wilson wanting to stick around in Seattle past this season if things continue down this path. Wilson’s record is 2-4 this year, while the team is 3-6 overall. It’s hard to place any significant blame on DangeRuss when he’s thrown 10 TD passes to only 3 INTs. Sure, he may run into a sack here and there, but we saw what this team was like without him on the field for a month. Wilson will win you more games than he’ll lose for you, and that’s been evident throughout his career in Seattle. The finger injury that kept him out those few weeks doesn’t look to be 100 percent either.

The Seahawks just can’t seem to get everything aligned with offense and defense clicking simultaneously. In recent weeks, their defense has stepped up, which we saw Sunday when they held Aaron Rodgers and the Packers to 17 points. Rodgers didn’t even throw a TD in this one, but Seattle’s offense couldn’t get going.

Has Pete Carroll’s voice become stale in the Seahawks locker room? It wouldn’t be the biggest shock in the world if this is the case, but for Wilson, their leader on the field, it may have happened some time ago. Everyone knows about the crazy offseason in Seattle, spearheaded by Wilson’s trade request (which he denies making), and the drama that followed. Whether you believe Russ asked for a trade or not in the offseason, if the Seahawks continue to fall further and further behind in the NFC West, those trade rumors will likely pop up again during the 2022 offseason. Although this time, I think we could see a lot more movement and a real possibility of Wilson leaving the Pacific Northwest behind.

Carroll’s been in Seattle over a decade, and his laid-back approach to coaching may have run its course with this team. Coach Carroll sidestepped potential long-term drama years ago by running players out of town that didn’t buy into Wilson’s leadership style, which is an extension of the head coach’s voice on the field. Now it seems like there’s a disconnect between Carroll and the team. It may not be out in the open, but the Seahawks haven’t looked right all year. Seattle’s lacked a consistent running game for years, and the defense has looked frequently lost over the past few years as well, regardless of what they’ve done recently.

There could be significant changes on the horizon in Seattle. I don’t know if the Seahawks can bring back both Carroll and Wilson for another year, as this doesn’t feel like a franchise that’s one or two players away from contention. All good things must end eventually; therefore, it might be time to turn the page on the Wilson-Carroll era in Seattle.