Closing Thoughts: Productive Pass Rush Can't Save Putrid Seahawks Defense in Week 9 Defeat
For the last two years, the Seahawks have been chastised for their inability to pressure opposing quarterbacks. Week after week, like a broken record, they haven't been able to muster much of a pass rush, making life harder for a maligned secondary.
Against Buffalo on Sunday, that narrative finally changed, at least for one game. Recently acquired defensive end Carlos Dunlap made an immediate impact with his first sack, Jarran Reed had his best game since 2018 with 2.5 sacks, and effective blitz packages featuring Jamal Adams and K.J. Wright got home as Seattle produced a season-high 7.0 sacks on Josh Allen, the highest total by the franchise in seven years.
In somewhat ironic fashion, however, on a day where the Seahawks pass rush finally came to life, an abysmal performance in the secondary made this development irrelevant. They still surrendered 44 points in defeat, the most given up by the team since coach Pete Carroll arrived in 2010.
"We tried to generate pressure to help the offense out but we've got to play better as a defense to come out with a W," a dismayed Reed told reporters after the game. "We can't keep giving up points and all of them yards passing."
Not all of this falls on the defense, of course. Russell Wilson put Ken Norton Jr.'s unit in some very difficult spots with an interception and two fumbles deep in Seattle territory. Somehow, the defense managed to limit Buffalo to only 16 points off four total turnovers by the star quarterback. That's a positive considering circumstances.
But that's where the optimism starts and ends for this hapless Seahawks defense. It took the Bills less than a minute and a half into the game to find the end zone, as Allen completed three straight throws and capped off a statement opening drive with a 25-yard touchdown to Isaiah McKenzie, who beat safety Quandre Diggs on a deep post pattern.
On the very next possession, with receivers such as Cole Beasley and John Brown running wide open against soft coverage, Allen marched the Bills 72 yards on 10 plays. After a horse collar penalty on L.J. Collier set up first and goal at the Seahawks one-yard line, he found tight end Tyler Kroft on a crossing route to extend the lead to 14 with 7:35 left to play in the opening quarter.
By the time halftime arrived, Allen had led four scoring drives on five possessions for Buffalo, which entered the locker room with a 24-10 lead. Carving up a Seattle defense that has consistently been breaking undesirable records each week, he threw three touchdowns and passed for 282 yards in the first two quarters, more than any other quarterback had produced in a half this season.
From Carroll's perspective, as has been the case far too frequently this year, the Seahawks were plagued by missed assignments and broken coverages.
"We gave them some stuff with some misplay," Carroll said. "We expected to play the stuff that we did play much better than we did, and it seemed like we were real loose on run-after-catch stuff as well. We did not plan to be off them as much as it wound up looking like. Got to see why that happened. You know, such an out-of-character game across the board that I don't even recognize us."
Following a third quarter in which they allowed just three points, the Seahawks entered the fourth quarter trailing by only seven. Despite how poorly the defense had played for the most part, they were positioned to get off the field again with a key stop with 14 minutes left to play.
Facing a 3rd and 9 from Seattle's 34-yard line, Norton dialed up a blitz, sending safety Ryan Neal off the edge. The reserve safety came untouched and sacked Allen, knocking Buffalo out of field goal range. But the sack wound up not counting, as Adams was penalized for illegal contact on Beasley, gifting the opponent a free set of downs.
Moments later, on a play Carroll took blame for after the game, the Bills again converted on a third and long opportunity. With the Seahawks bringing an all out blitz trying to get to Allen on 3rd and 16, offensive coordinator Brian Daboll picked the perfect time to call a bubble screen and Brown raced 33 yards, nearly finding the end zone on a back breaking first down pickup.
Two plays later, running back Zack Moss punched it in from a yard out and Buffalo regained a 14-point advantage, capitalizing on Seattle's pivotal mistakes. In the end, while the pass rush finally showed up, far too many mistakes were still made by a struggling defense to have a fighting chance.
"Just gave them a lot of easy stuff and after a while, we had to change the way we were playing, and we did and we got after the quarterback pretty well. But it wasn't enough," Carroll remarked. "He [Allen] did a really nice job being resourceful and moving around and making plays. In the first half seemed like every time he moved he made something happen, first down, which we had seen him do."
Going back to the drawing board after their second loss in three weeks following a 5-0 start, Carroll still believes the Seahawks can turn things around defensively. Always an optimist, Dunlap's immediate contributions along with Reed's standout performance should inspire confidence in him that the front four can be more effective generating a rush moving forward and the team won't have to be quite as reliant on blitzing.
But as Sunday's beatdown exhibited, Seattle won't be able to get by with how poorly the secondary played with numerous mental and physical mistakes, regardless of whether the pass rush shows up or not. The unit as a whole has to come together and make substantial strides quickly, or an MVP effort from Wilson and the league's No. 1 scoring offense will be all for naught.
"We didn't disrupt anywhere near like we needed to. What gives me hope is we're going to get better and do better. A lot of guys played for the first time together, and so we got to see if we can improve ourselves in a lot of ways."
