Through the first 30 minutes of Sunday’s game, it looked like the same old story for the Seattle Seahawks’ struggling run defense.
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Atlanta’s backfield duo of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier had combined to rush for 117 yards on 15 carries in the first half, marking the fifth time in seven games that Seattle had allowed 100-plus rushing yards. It looked all too similar to the past two weeks, when the Giants and 49ers ran roughshod over the Seahawks for a combined 403 yards on the ground.
But after the break, Seattle flipped the script.
The Seahawks suddenly were clogging running lanes. They were swarming to the ball. They were getting tackles for loss.
And the difference was strikingly evident on the stat sheet: Robinson and Allgeier combined for just 22 yards on 11 carries in the second half as Seattle pulled away and snapped its three-game losing streak with a decisive 34-14 road victory.
What changed in the second half?
“I think just honing in on details,” Seahawks outside linebacker Derick Hall said. “I mean, really, schematically there was nothing different. Just honing in on details. … We just try to take it one play at a time, one day at a time, and I think that’s what we did coming out in the second half and just really locking in on the jobs that we had to do.”
Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald echoed that sentiment. He said the primary difference was simply better execution as his team grew more familiar with Atlanta’s zone-running scheme.
“Guys just executing their job,” Macdonald said Monday morning during his weekly appearance on Seattle Sports. “It’s really that simple. We were playing the same defense. … We made a couple of adjustments on how we’re playing the front, but the guys just played the plays better, frankly.”
Macdonald also pointed to better tackling. Missed tackles contributed to the Falcons’ two biggest runs in the first half – a 26-yarder by Robinson and a 24-yarder by Allgeier. After the break, Atlanta’s longest run went just 9 yards.
“I felt like the second half, our second and third-level guys (got) in on the tackle and (got) the guys to go backward, rather than maybe missing a tackle as a second-level player and then (the ball carrier) spitting out for about 15 or so yards before the post safety has to tackle him,” Macdonald told reporters on Monday. “I thought that eliminated some explosive yardage.”
What Wyman saw
Seahawks Radio Network analyst and former NFL linebacker Dave Wyman said the biggest difference he noticed was fewer instances of defenders getting turned when taking on run blocks.
“Everybody needs to stay square to the line of scrimmage when you’re taking on your block,” Wyman said Monday on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob. “So if you’re in the end zone, you should be able to see the defenders’ numbers and name plate, because they’re staying square. But when they get turned sideways and you’re looking at the sleeve or the right arm or whatever, that’s when it’s bad. … And I thought that occurred less frequently in the second half.”
In the first half, the Falcons gained five-plus yards on 11 of their 15 carries. In the second half, they did so on just four of their 16 carries. They also lost yardage on three of their second-half rushing attempts.
“It’s just very basic things,” Wyman said. “It’s a very boring answer. It really is. I mean, (it’s stuff like) having the edge. That means you turn every run play back inside, and it means you never get your feet or your body position or anything so that you can’t force the guy to the sidelines or force him back inside. And that was mainly what was happening.”
Reinforcements play a role
One major difference on Sunday was the return of rookie 6-foot, 306-pound defensive tackle Byron Murphy II, who missed the previous three games with a hamstring injury.
Murphy, the No. 16 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft, made his presence felt with a number of disruptive plays. The highlight came on a 2nd-and-1 situation early in the third quarter, when Murphy unleashed a swim move, split two offensive linemen, exploded into the backfield and helped bring down Robinson for a 2-yard loss.
“He’s just one player, but those things add up over time and there’s a reason why guys are starters in the NFL, and there’s a reason why this guy got picked in the first round,” Wyman said. “I mean, he’s a difference maker. He’s not like other defensive tackles. … You can see the plays that he makes and you can see the talent and how different it is. Having watched over the last couple of games when Byron has been out, he just flashes differently.”
With Murphy back, the Seahawks had their full season-opening defensive line rotation for the first time since Week 2. They also had a new face in defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris, who Seattle acquired in a trade with Jacksonville last week.
Murphy’s return and Robertson-Harris’ addition allowed the Seahawks to keep their defensive line fresher.
Leonard Williams’ defensive snap-count rate decreased from 85% over the previous two games to 62% on Sunday. Jarran Reed saw his rate decline from 75% over the previous three games to 49%. And Johnathan Hankins’ rate went from 65% over the previous three games to 23%.
“I think it showed up in the second half,” Macdonald said. “You’re looking at some of the snap counts to be a little more controlled that ideally you’d want on a per-game basis. … (It helped) being able to have some more fresh legs to play some of the run schemes.”
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