Now back to Legion-al programming

Seahawks defense back to Super Bowl form going into home stretch

Every team is going to have “gimme back” games and for the Seahawks that has to be losing to the Buccaneers 38-35 in Week 5. Since that fluke, the Seahawks are 7-1 with the best defense in the NFL and the Bucs are 3-5 with total offensive discombobulation starting at quarterback amid rehashed questions about Baker Mayfield’s value to a team.

Games like that make you re-examine what went wrong and while it is never just one thing, the two touchdowns allowed by Nehemiah Pritchett stand out because, well, he’s still CB4 or CB5 when the team is healthy. This is not to blame Pritchett for the loss*, it’s merely a fact that the defense is better with Devon Witherspoon and that’s easier to see now with the benefit of eight games of defensive dominance.

The Seahawks have allowed 120 points since Week 6 (15 points per game), just one more point than the Rams have allowed for the NFL lead. Week 16 is going to be nuts.

*just to further prove that I’m not blaming Pritchett: that terrible interception by Sam Darnold at the end of the game, Ernest Jones was blamed for 5 missed tackles!, Josh Jobe was credited with over 100 passing yards allowed, Tyrice Knight allowed 75 passing yards, Coby Bryant missed 3 tackles, Jason Myers missed a 44-yard field goal, and some coaching mistakes I’m sure…

Seahawks last 8 games of defense:

• 15 points per game (2nd)

• 2,133 total yards allowed (t2nd)

• +120 point differential (2nd)

• 57.3% completion rate allowed (3rd)

• 28 sacks (4th)

• 8 interceptions (t5th)

• 70.3 passer rating allowed (2nd)

• 14 takeaways (t4th)

• 15 touchdowns allowed (t3rd)

• 131 first downs allowed (5th)

• opp 3rd down rate 26.1% (1st)

• opp 4th down attempts 28 (most)

While the Seahawks don’t quite rate first in points or yards allowed, I’d still argue that they have the best defense because no other team has as many bases covered as a top-5 defense in virtually every sense of the word. Furthermore, they are the best third down defense in the NFL by a wide margin, as they’re the only team allowing less than 31% and they’re waaaay blow that mark.

The Seahawks now have Pro Bowl caliber players on the defensive line, the linebacker corps, and the secondary.

For years when I was talking about the importance of having good, great, and elite players to actually compete with the league’s best teams (and the Seahawks had very few of those), this is the type of roster I was talking about. Not the one where we overrate Seahawks players because they’re better relative to their teammates…but a roster in which Seahawks players are better relative to the starters around the rest of the league.

Including special teams, even a conservative estimate of Seattle’s Pro Bowl nods this year could hover close to 10. (The NFL record from one team is 12.)

So yeah, if the Seahawks could say “gimme back” to any game this year they’d love to get that win over the Rams a few weeks ago for playoff reasons…but the least characteristic game from Seattle we’ve seen would be Week 5’s defensive hiccup against the Buccaneers. And if they had that back, the Seahawks would also be in control of the NFC right now.

Then again maybe it’s the hiccups that bring the kick ups because Seattle hasn’t been close to this good on defense in a very long time.

Here are some of your post-game comments from Sunday. My apologies if I didn’t have room for yours, just leave some more next week and hopefully we can squeeze you in!

Danno: I posted my predictions in a comment yesterday on the 5 players to watch in this game. The score I predicted was Seahawks 38 Falcons 9 Off by one. It was my 2nd best prediction of the year.

Well, let’s see how you actually did, Danno…here’s your comment from Saturday:

“I call this Sam Darnold’s get right game. I have him going over 250+ yards and throwing three TDs. One to JSN (who gets 125+ of those 250+) One to Shaheed of 40 + yards, and maybe one to Barner or K9, although I’d like K9 to get his TD in an explosive run, rather than pass. I am calling for the defense to hold the Falcons to 10 or fewer points, and base this on no turnovers by the offense.

Emmanwori picks off a pass for Pitts, and Spoon reads and explodes on a pass to Robinson, picking Cousins off a second time. I see 4 plus sacks of Cousins as the game will spiral out of control early. I am not counting on Pearce being out, but I am counting on a big game by our OTs, negating the outside pressure. The interior DL injuries should make it a little easier for them to hold up and allow Darnold his get right game.

Seahawks 38 Falcons 9 - I know I’ve tried hard to avoid predictions, but this game is one I’m sure MM has done everything he could to make sure we don’t see a Giants game repeat of last year that cost up a spot in the playoffs.”

…Okay, wow, you nailed just about everything.

PhilippRttr: This defense is awesome. I can’t remember who was asking about Devon Witherspoon some weeks ago but man has he responded. I watched every snap and specifically watch 21 every time. He is so good at defending the LOS. He makes plays for his mates and does all the dirty work. Definitely one of the best CBs in the NFL.

huevobueno: The thing about Witherspoons interception was that he first moves the outside linebacker inside, then fills the hole, then tips the ball up… and then gets the INT. He did everything to create that play. Awesome.

Devon Witherspoon can be two things: He can be a really good player who the Seahawks want to keep long-term and he can be a cornerback who had a rough patch this season that made some of us question what the long-term outlook really is for him in Seattle.

Both of those things can be true and it won’t erase the good times or the rough patch. Both eras deserve equal footing.

That being said, here are Witherspoon’s coverage numbers since he returned from injury, per Next Gen Stats:

• 24 targets as the nearest defender

• 15 receptions allowed (62.5%)

• 107 yards allowed (4.45 yards per target)

• 0 TD allowed

• 1 INT

• 32 tackles (no missed tackles)

• 4 pass breakups

• 1 FR

I would say the same thing to Witherspoon when times are good that I would say to Riq Woolen…Keep doing that, that’s great, more of that please. And if one of them has a bad game, Seaside Joe’s going to point it out because we only care about the 2 OBs: Objective Observations.

While we were distracted by how good Seattle’s defensive line has been, the Seahawks actually have the top-tier cornerback room that we envisioned a couple of years ago. Woolen was credited with 21 yards allowed and Josh Jobe was credited with 13 yards allowed on Sunday. The Falcons might also have the worst WRs corps in the league too (when Drake London’s not there) but Seattle’s been on this streak for a while now.

Paul G: Josh Jobe: Cousins picked on him all game. While Cousins had some success, Jobe hung in there and made several nice plays under pressure. Ty Okada: Even though Julian Love is back on the field, Okada’s hard-nosed games demands some PT. He embodies the depth of the Hawks D. Anthony Bradford: I didn’t hear his name called once!

Your eyes could be better than Next Gen Stats (I mean it) but NGS officially tallied these numbers:

• 5 targets on Jobe (2 catches for 13 yards)

• 5 targets on Witherspoon (3 catches for 9 yards)

• 4 targets on Woolen (2 catches for 21 yards)

Jobe is allowing a passer rating of just 67.6 this season, which ranks 30th among all DBs but probably more like top-10 among cornerbacks. Not to take anything away from Jobe, it’s just difficult to not see these numbers and think that the defensive coaching staff is the best in the league. I think we all want to see players return next year (Jobe, Woolen are free agents) but if that doesn’t happen I have faith in the replacements.

Unfortunately not even NGS has stats for offensive linemen but I agree that Bradford looked good this week.

Mike McD: SD is a good QB. But I wonder if he can ever make that last little jump to being a great QB. The interception was a terrible decision. K9 was wide open for a first down and for some reason he didn’t see it and decided to force a throw that wasn’t there.

Conversely, what a second half. Just a thing of beauty to watch him operate. As stated this week, he is already plenty good enough to win a SB. But I’m still excited to see if he can take that last little jump to being more consistent.

No question that Sam Darnold was off in the first half. Maybe Kubiak’s aggressive passing plan was a sort of motivation to build more confidence in Darnold. Perhaps some quarterbacks forget how good they are when the team is winning by so many points and the offense is quickly turning to the run?

Per NGS, Darnold went 6-of-8 with all three touchdowns against man blitzes. So much for the blitz being his Achilles heel.

MOBILIZER: Made our annual trip to an away game this year to ATL. To my eyes the OL struggled a lot in Q1 & 2 which I did not enjoy seeing. Falcons had their best pass rusher out and yet they dominated until the 2nd half. The Hawks made the necessary halftime adjustments and then everything seemed far easier. The Falcons are a lost cause and they quit by Q4.

So that was you? I looked at the stands from the TV copy and the Benz looked completely empty.

Last week I wrote that the Falcons shouldn’t necessarily fire Raheem Morris. I would probably amend that now to the Falcons will fire Morris. They might even look in Klint Kubiak’s direction. Hell, Jay Harbaugh could be an upgrade seeing how many net points the Seahawks got on special teams.

mfwords: I don’t understand the game plan for the first half at all. This team has been run-to-open-passing and they just trashed that to start this game. Why? Even though they didn’t have a great day running, they could’ve had a better one by… let’s see…running the ball!

Part of me thinks they’re trying to keep a bunch of play designs off the film for when the games “really” matter. Part of me even hopes that. Like, you know, handing off to the fullback when nobody is expecting that. Remember Mack Strong, anyone? Great hands, awesome blocker. Unless Robbie Ouzts has hands of stone (maybe?) or cannot be trusted with the football, is there a reason that mix is out of the mix?

Looking at the play log again, I think the Seahawks mostly passed in passing situations and ran in running situations in the first half:

1st down: 6 runs, 1 pass (not including final drive of half)

2nd-and-short: 0 plays

2nd-and-medium (4-6): 0 plays

2nd-and-long (7+): 2 runs, 4 passes

3rd and 0-4 yards: 1 run, 2 passes

3rd and 8+ yards: 3 passes

I think the “Seahawks passed too much” narrative here is mostly that Seattle just wasn’t running the ball well on first down. In fact, the Seahawks ran it on 2nd-and-14 and got 10 yards from Kenneth Walker just on that play alone. Seattle was only getting 0-2 yards on their runs and that was putting them in a 2nd or 3rd-and long situation, which is when they should be passing.

There were probably only two times a pass was a little questionable, which was 3rd-and-Goal from the 4 (but I’d say pass is the right call) and 3rd-and-1 from the SEA19, which was Darnold’s interception. That drive started with a holding penalty on Robbie Ouzts and then a 2-yard run by Walker and then Darnold then hit Rashid Shaheed for 12 yards, which was followed by the tipped interception.

Is it a bad play call or bad execution from a few Seahawks? It’s the perfect play call if Darnold can be a little more accurate or Elijah Arroyo can make a better play on the ball.

The Seahawks got the ball on their own 25 with :57 seconds left in the half. That drive accounted for 4 passes and 2 scrambles from Darnold, which led to 3 points. We all agree that passing was the right decision on that drive.

So while my initial inclination was the same as yours, I come away thinking that Kubiak was just calling the game he could call given the down-and-distance situations.

Don Ellis: I believe we have the longest punt return for a touchdown in addition to today’s longest kickoff return. I was not a Jay Harbaugh believer before this year but am now firmly in his camp. This Hawks team is dangerous in all phases.

Isaac B: On the KR TD, there was some really great blocking all over. I see Morris and Kallerup, Knight, Okada, O’Connell, Thomas, and Russell all engaging and controlling their man so Shaheed could find a way through with Ebiketie only getting his fingertips on him because Bobo got him enough to knock him off course. What were Bell and White doing? Why, running next to Shaheed to keep him clean on the way down, of course. Perfect execution by all 11 players on the field. I’ve been saying this since like week 2: This ST unit is really special.

KHammarling: Kallerup is like what Pete hallucinated Bellore was. Kallerup is a heck of a blocker and effort giver. He could easily lock down ST captain position and be a team staple for a decade. He’s fast becoming my favourite player of the year!

Nick Kallerup also quietly sneaking in 29 snaps on offense and getting the job done as a blocker. Mike Macdonald said that Arroyo has to be able to make contested catches like the one he dropped, plus now he has a knee injury, so it’s looking like Kallerup’s playing time isn’t fading any time soon.

Can we talk about the unusual depth chart of guys I’ll call “6th blockers” for now? A.J. Barner, Kallerup, Ouzts, Brady Russell, Walker, Charbonnet, Velus Jones, Cam Akers, and Arroyo. Seattle has a total of nine RB/FB/TEs on the 53-man roster, plus they had to put Eric Saubert, George Holani, Kenny McIntosh, and Jacardia Wright on IR. They’ve got Myles Gaskin on the practice squad. Just a very deep group you don’t see often in the NFL anymore.

Flurb: SSJ - please relay this suggestion to Elijah Arroyo… “Stop photobombing Sam’s interceptions!”

I think Macdonald got the message and passed it along.

Bryant: 129 yards rushing and we’re talking about it as a bad day. No one player was dominant, no one play stood out, but the team quietly gained 129 yards on the ground. Keep pounding the rock and good things happen which is why I hated the first offensive drive with its wide passes for losses.

To be fair, if we take out the 43 yards gained on the last drive (and I don’t mind saying that the Falcons had given up) then Seattle runs for 86 yards. I agree with you in general, just saying that the context here is that 27% of the Seahawks runs came on the last drive with Velus Jones.

I think for me, I just try not to overthink “how” the Seahawks won each game. Not saying you are doing that, or that others are doing that, but for me sometimes the context of a win actually does more to distort the fact that Seattle beat a team by 28 points rather than it does to explain it better.

Before the last drive, the Seahawks had about a 2.5:1 pass-to-run ratio in the second half and they scored 24 points (not including KO return).

Just think about that: Klint Kubiak insisted that the pass would work even though it hadn’t worked that great in the first half and Seattle had their fourth 30+ point half of the season. The rest of the NFL has six 30+ point halves this season combined!

It has never once mattered to me if the Seahawks win with 500 passing yards or 300 rushing yards. Those numbers are just flair to a 37-9 win.

This season, the Seahawks have five wins of 22+ points. That’s as many as the Seahawks had in the last six years of Pete Carroll’s tenure combined.

However that happens is fine with me. I don’t think we have to sugarcoat that Seattle is a below-average rushing team because they’re still one of the highest scoring teams in the league in spite of that weakness. They could very well become a good rushing team this year and I also hope that happens.

West Seattle Tim: Max Brosmer, Kirk Cousins, Riley Leonard. You can only play the teams on the schedule, but it sure is nice to face these guys towards the end of the season.

Isn’t it a little ironic that the least intense game left on the schedule could be against the team that was once the number one seed in the AFC?

Despite Daniel Jones’ injury, I’m not going to let up on the Colts being a threat to Seattle’s hopes of winning the NFC West. Indianapolis hasn’t lost to a bad team this year. They’ve lost to some middling teams, but they haven’t lost to a bad team. And Jones has been so mediocre over the last month, I’m not so sure that the Colts aren’t curious to see how they could maneuver an offense around a different QB with a week of planning.

But if the Colts miss the playoffs, the Sauce Gardner trade looks worse than the Jamal Adams trade.

Not really that worried about Seattle’s chances to win the game, but the Colts will now prove if they’re the kind of team that excels under pressure or buckles from it. Meanwhile, the Seahawks can become the sixth team in the last 25 years to go three straight games without allowing a touchdown, so that’s something for the defense to think about this week too.

Seaside Joe 2471