The Seattle Seahawks got off to a great start to the 2024 season, especially on defense.
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Seattle jumped out to a 3-0 record by not allowing more than 20 points in any of those early-season games, including a decisive 24-3 victory over the Dolphins where the Seahawks didn’t even let Miami into the end zone.
Of course, a lot has been made about the competition the Hawks faced in those games, particularly at quarterback. Seattle has had to deal with better opposing QBs the past two weeks, and that’s an easy thing to point to when trying to figure out why the Seahawks have struggled defensively in their two straight losses.
That’s certainly a part of the story, but is it the whole story? On Monday’s edition of Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy, Seahawks Radio Network analyst Bryan Walters guest hosted with fellow NFL wide receiver Michael Bumpus, and he shared what he’s seen as the difference for the Seahawks’ defense from the first three games compared to the last two.
“I think tackling is the easy answer,” said Walters, a Bothell native and Juanita High School product who spent two of his five NFL seasons with the hometown Seahawks. “I thought the first three games, what this defense did best was swarm tackling. When one guy got to the ball, there was two or three more (Seahawks defenders) following.”
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Walters pointed to a term used by Seahawks safety Julian Love after Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants – leaky yards – to explain how the lack of swarm tackling has shown up in the results of the last two games for head coach Mike Macdonald’s team.
“You didn’t see the leaky yardage (in the first three games). Guys were falling backwards. They weren’t falling (forwards) for one or two more yards, which puts you ahead of the sticks,” he said. “Guys were falling backwards for one or two yards.
“So I think just playing as a team, playing (as a) cohesive unit that Macdonald always talks about – this defense kind of moves together. I feel like we have not seen that the last two games, and that’s where these big chunk plays and the big explosive plays have happened.”
Not enough pressure
There’s one other thing Walters mentioned – and yes, we’re going back to the quarterback play.
In Seattle’s 42-29 loss in Detroit in Week 4, Lions QB Jared Goff set an NFL record by completing all 18 of his pass attempts. And last Sunday, the New York Giants were led to a 29-20 win by QB Daniel Jones, who completed 23 of 34 passes for 257 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Both Goff and Jones were sacked three times by Seattle, with the Seahawks registering four QB hits against Detroit and five against New York. Seattle averaged 3.7 sacks and 8.7 QB hits over its first three games, so the past two games have seen less pressure from the defense.
“The first three games, they affected the quarterback. They really rattled them. They got into that pocket,” Walters said. “They made it tough on these opposing quarterbacks. Last two games, Jared Goff was 18 for 18. Daniel Jones was (23 of 34). Those numbers aren’t good enough. There’s not enough disruption to the quarterbacks.”
Hear the full conversation in Four-Down Territory, the second segment of the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post. Four-Down Territory, where four football questions are answered, airs at 11:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. during Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy (10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays).
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