Seahawks’ intermediate passing is the key to unlocking the offense

Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Fleury has come under fire from local media for his unit’s regression compared to 2025, but the run game is admittedly lacking essential personnel. While the running back room is due to receive reinforcements, there’s also one essential concept Fleury can fix through his play-calling. He needs to get the intermediate passing game back on track.According to NFL Pro’s Next Gen Stats, Seattle ranks 20th in the NFL with 18 deep pass attempts in 2026 thus far. They actually ranked lower last year at 26th with just 44. However, when they threw deep, they were as efficient as any team in the NFC with +0.89 Expected Points Added (EPA). The lone AFC team ahead was their Super Bowl opponent, the New England Patriots, with +1.12 EPA. Nine of the top 10 teams on that list made the playoffs.Deep throws are not a high-volume proposition. They’re a possibility that needs to be efficient to maximize success. Seattle’s EPA on deep passes in 2026 is still elite — fourth in the league — and a higher mark at +1.04 (although the data is noisier due to a smaller sample size). The glaring issue is in the intermediate passing game, which needs to be the foundation the passing game is built on. They ranked 11th in the league last year with +0.44 EPA on intermediate passes. This year? They’re 24th at +0.11 EPA. That mark needs to go up.Fleury doesn’t need to concern the players with analytics. He needs to get creative with his route concepts and empower quarterback Sam Darnold to be a precision-based pocket passer. One thing that was apparent in Klint Kubiak’s offense last season was Darnold’s decisiveness. When he would get the ball out quickly, he’d fill up the middle of the field with high-probability completions that would make both analytics nerds and old-school film junkies blush. When Fleury gets Darnold back to that, the sidelines will open up. The deep passing opportunities will become clear. The pass-catchers will play with extreme confidence in short areas. Even the run game will benefit.Follow seahawkswire.usatoday.com and @TheSeahawksWire on X for human analysis of all things Seahawks.This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Seahawks’ intermediate passing is the key to unlocking the offense