Is This the End of Tom Cable in Seattle?

The cries for Tom Cable’s head have started in Seattle after another embarrassing offensive line performance in Week 16. Could this be the end of the Cable era with the Seahawks?

Tom Cable developed a reputation for being an excellent offensive line coach after his lines’ successes with the Oakland Raiders. With Cable as the offensive line coach and the head coach of the Raiders in 2007 and 2008, Oakland’s rushing stats ranked sixth and tenth, respectively. That was considered pretty good for a mediocre Oakland team at the time.

Two weeks after his tenure in Oakland was officially over, Tom Cable joined the brain trust of Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who put him back in his familiar position of offensive line coach and assistant coach. His o-lines had initial success in his first few years. Cable’s lines became an integral part of the Seahawks offense during the Marshawn Lynch era, allowing Seattle to batter teams into submission with their power running attack. He and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell created a foundation for Russell Wilson‘s success by taking some of the pressure off of his throwing arm.

You know the rest of the story. Tom Cable became known for taking players with no offensive line experience whatsoever and turning them into starting NFL linemen. His most recent project is George Fant, a former college basketball player and one-time tight end who earned a starting position at left tackle.

Signs of offensive line decay started last season, culminating in a season-ending terrible first half against Carolina in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. This year, the wheels came off. From Week One, the Seahawks offensive line has been inconsistent at best and turnstiles at worst.

In last week’s loss to the Arizona, no one could pass protect, and they weren’t very good at run blocking, either. It looked like I, a 6’3″, 200-pound man with no football background whatsoever (except for writing about it and watching it) could have sacked Russell Wilson. (He probably would have juked me).

We know about the Seahawks’ offensive line struggles. It’s easy to blame Tom Cable and John Schneider‘s approach to investing virtually nothing in the line the past two seasons. And fans have taken to Twitter to heap criticism on Cable in the aftermath of the potentially disastrous loss to the Cardinals:

The top tweet is from Keith Myers, an editor and writer for 12th Man Rising. Myers detailed Cable’s struggles in a recent article for his FanSided site.

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The bottom tweet expresses in hilarious meme form Tom Cable’s apparent cluelessness in his latest press conference, in which he called starting offensive guard Germain Ifedi‘s play (which has been terrible) in recent weeks “dominant.”

Is Tom Cable simply sticking up for his offensive line? Or does he not know what to say about his disaster of a line at this point in the year? Regardless of whether the offensive line suddenly and miraculously pulls it together for the playoffs, Tom Cable could be in line to replace any number of former head coaches around the league. Does he know he’s finished in Seattle and is trying to say the right things?

Few offensive line combinations have worked for Tom Cable so far this year, which gives me a less-than-confident feeling heading into the playoffs. No matter what happens with Cable this offseason, we’re all hoping he can create a workable line for the postseason.

Remember to root for the Saints this weekend!

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