Brian Fleury’s first season calling plays for the Seattle Seahawks has coincided with a 3-2 start and a 32-29 loss to the San Francisco 49ers that dropped the team two games behind its division rival. The question hanging over Fleury’s debut as offensive coordinator is not whether Seattle has explosive moments, but whether the offense is functioning as a whole. The early numbers suggest an offense still searching for consistency, weighed down more by turnovers and a stagnant run game than by any single flaw in Fleury’s scheme.
Fleury, a first-time play caller who previously worked with quarterback Sam Darnold on the 49ers in 2023, was brought in to preserve Seattle’s established identity of running the ball and passing efficiently. Through five weeks, that identity has been hard to find on the stat sheet.
Turnovers Have Erased Scoring Opportunities
The loss to San Francisco illustrated the problem in stark terms. Seattle produced three touchdown drives that covered a combined total of less than 30 yards, a sign the defense and special teams were setting up short fields, but the offense still had to settle for five field goals rather than converting more of those chances into touchdowns.
Turnovers have been the larger issue in the Fleury-led offense’s run game specifically. The Seahawks rank last in the NFL in expected points added on rushing plays this season, at minus-40.5. More than half of that total, minus-23.3, came from four lost fumbles. One of those, a fumble by running back Kenneth Holani at the goal line, cost Seattle 7.0 points in expected value and handed San Francisco a touchdown on the recovery, according to NFL.com.
The Run Game Has Not Improved Under Fleury
Seattle’s ground game numbers have slipped slightly from a year ago rather than improved. Through Week 5 of 2026, the Seahawks rank 17th in total rushing yards with 530, 20th in yards per carry at 3.8, and 20th in success rate at 34.8%. At the same point in 2025, Seattle ranked 17th in rushing yards (565), 23rd in yards per carry (4.0) and 21st in success rate (38.2%).
The yards-per-carry figure actually ticked down year over year, even as the success-rate ranking improved slightly. Those are marginal shifts, not the dramatic turnaround the coordinator change was meant to produce, and the four fumbles have done more damage to the rushing numbers than any play design.
The depth chart has not helped matters. Running back Zach Charbonnet has been out since January with a knee injury and was not expected to play Thursday against the Denver Broncos, while Jadarian Price remains on injured reserve with a chest injury, according to NFL.com and Yahoo Sports.
Darnold’s Decline Complicates The Picture
Judging Fleury’s play-calling independent of his quarterback’s performance is difficult. Darnold is working through a glute tendon injury suffered against the New England Patriots more than a month before the 49ers game, and his numbers have fallen across the board compared to last season. His completion percentage sits at 64.3% through Week 5, down from 73.1% at the same point in 2025. His yards per attempt have dropped from 9.3 to 7.7, his interception rate has climbed from 2.2% to 5.1%, and his sack rate has nearly doubled, from 4.3% to 8.4%.
Darnold threw two interceptions against San Francisco, his third straight game with at least one pick. He has also been pressured on 42.7% of his dropbacks this season, up from 36.1% in 2025, and those pressures have turned into sacks 19.1% of the time, compared to 11.3% last year. Jaxon Smith-Njigba remains a bright spot, finishing the 49ers loss with five catches for 102 yards and a touchdown, showing the passing game can still produce explosive individual plays even when the broader operation is uneven.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said Darnold has been a “great representation” of the team’s shortcomings this season, a comment that spreads responsibility across the offense rather than isolating the coordinator. Macdonald also said Seattle’s passing game hasn’t “really clicked yet” under Fleury, a direct acknowledgment that the unit is still finding its footing.
The Counterpoint: Teammates Aren’t Pointing At Fleury
The strongest case against pinning Seattle’s offensive issues on Fleury comes from the locker room itself. Players have remained supportive of Darnold and have not blamed Fleury for the unit’s struggles, even though he is the third different play caller Seattle has had in three seasons. That kind of turnover at coordinator would normally be cited as a built-in excuse for inconsistency, yet teammates have avoided using it as one.
Saubert, addressing Fleury’s play-calling, said the coordinator is “getting us in the right looks” but added that the offense needs to execute better. That framing puts at least part of the burden on execution rather than scheme, a distinction the fumble-heavy rushing numbers tend to support, since four lost fumbles reflect ball security more than play design.
What To Watch Next
Seattle is scheduled to face the Denver Broncos on Thursday with Charbonnet not expected to play, meaning the running back rotation will again lean on healthy bodies behind an offense still ranked last in rushing EPA. Darnold’s health and turnover trend will remain the most watched variables, given his third straight multi-game interception stretch and rising sack rate. Fleury’s early body of work shows an offense with individual playmakers, led by Smith-Njigba, but one that has yet to put together the complete performances needed to climb back into contention in the NFC West.
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