Jim Moore: Wondering whether the Seahawks are real? They can prove it against Cleveland

Through six games can you figure out how good the Seahawks are? I can’t either. They’re 4-2, possessing the fourth-best record in the NFC, behind only Philadelphia (6-1), San Francisco (5-1) and Detroit (5-2), and they’re tied with Dallas.

They beat Arizona 20-10 Sunday at Lumen Field in a mostly unimpressive 60 minutes aside from a sensational touchdown grab by rookie Jake Bobo in the second quarter. The Seahawks’ defense was good, even great at times, but it’s hard to get excited about anything on that side of the ball considering who they were stopping. Arizona’s offense featured a backup QB and running back and mediocre receivers.

It was a can’t win game. If they’d lost, the reaction would have been “I can’t believe they couldn’t beat the Cardinals.” And even though they won, it’s as if it barely registered since Arizona is one of the worst teams in the league at 1-6.

Give the Seahawks credit for beating 5-2 Detroit, though some of that shine faded Sunday when the Lions were boat-raced by the Ravens Sunday, 38-6.

Their other three wins have come against Arizona, Carolina and the Giants, teams that have combined to go 3-17 this season.

The defense looks like it’s ready to take on all comers, allowing just 30 points in the last three games. OK, fine, two of those three games were against the Cardinals and Giants, but one was against a supposedly rejuvenated Joe Burrow and the Bengals.

The trend is encouraging, and I’m guessing when the Seahawks face better opponents, such as the Browns this Sunday, we won’t be talking about the defense as the reason why losses are showing up more frequently than wins.

The offense is much more concerning. Against an Arizona defense that ranked 29th in the league, the Seahawks mustered two field goals in the second half. They couldn’t turn a first-and-goal from the 1-yard line into a touchdown and haven’t scored a second-half TD in the last three games.

There were excuses to be found Sunday with D.K. Metcalf missing the first game of his career because of an injury, and the Seahawks played with backups at center, right guard and right tackle.

But Geno Smith was hot and cold again, offsetting what some of his numbers said about his game (18-for-24 for 219 yards and two TDs). He lost a fumble on a snap, cost the Seahawks at least three points with an interception in the red zone and got lucky when an Arizona defensive back dropped what might have been a pick six.

Smith’s inconsistent ways could prove more significant when the schedule toughens up, which it does the next two weeks with Cleveland and Baltimore waiting to turn the Seahawks into a 4-4 team if Seattle’s quarterback play stays in a so-so pattern.

Aside from what appeared to be an aberration in Sunday’s game where the Colts gained 456 yards and scored 38 points, Cleveland’s defense has been stifling this season, led by the play-wrecking Myles Garrett, who had two strip sacks against Indianapolis.

And after their demolition of Detroit, the Ravens look more and more like Super Bowl contenders. Meanwhile, the Seahawks resemble wild-card contenders again, which is good but not good enough.

Jim Moore has covered Washington’s sports scene from every angle for multiple news outlets. You can find him on Twitter @cougsgo, and on KJR-FM 93.3, where he co-hosts a sports talk show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays.