Is the Seahawks defense ready for another midseason turnaround? – Seattle Seahawks Blog

SEATTLE — They’ve done it in 2020, going from a historically poor defense early in the season to one of the best in the NFL in the second half.

They did it again in 2021, righting the ship on this side of the ball after a brutal first month.

Was the Seattle Seahawks’ dominating defensive performance in Week 6 a sign they were pulling off another drastic turnaround from their last miserable start? There were plenty of celebrations following their 19-9 victory over the Arizona Cardinals at Lumen Field on Sunday, but are their first five-game defensive struggles completely in the rearview mirror?

“You see all the work that we’ve put in is finally starting to come out,” said defensive end Shelby Harris, who had one of Kyler Murray’s six sacks in Seattle. “When we take the lead like that at the end of games, you rush, the D-line can have fun. Obviously you look around the dressing room and everyone is always happier after a win. You are not not as bad after a win. Always remember that feeling and do it again next week.

The Seahawks entered Week 6 giving up the most yards per game (430) and second-most points per game (30.8), while ranking near or bottom of the NFL in several other metrics. defensively, including yards per pass and yards per rush.

They held the Cardinals to 315 total yards and kept their offense from scoring after driving for a field goal on the opening possession (Arizona’s only other points came via a fumble recovery in the end zone). goals on a sloppy punt). They held Arizona to 4 of 16 on third down and 1 of 5 on fourth down. Add in the two takeaways they got from rookie cornerbacks Tariq Woolen and Coby Bryant, and it could have been the Seahawks’ most complete defensive performance since they held the Los Angeles Rams to three goals over. the field during week 16 of the 2020 season.

It helped the Cardinals miss No. 1 receiver DeAndre Hopkins as well as RB1 James Conner, but the Seahawks’ defense had been chipped in consecutive weeks by Detroit Lions and New Orleans Saints offenses that were each missing some of their best players. It made Sunday’s win a reversal of what had become entrenched roles over the first five games, with the Seahawks defense carrying the charge for a change while Geno Smith and the offense did just enough.

“Really happy with the whole group on defense,” coach Pete Carroll said. “They fought to do it and to try to get to a point where they really feel like they’re getting something done. And the pass rush came to life today. And the guys were all over the place. quarterback. So really rewarding in that regard.”

The Seahawks’ six sacks were their most in a game as they had that many in Week 12 of the 2020 season, just after this turnaround began. They came from six different players: Harris, defensive linemen Poona Ford and Quinton Jefferson, outside linebackers Uchenna Nwosu and Darrell Taylor, and safety Ryan Neal. According to ESPN Stats & Information, they’ve sent four or fewer rushers on six sacks — their most sacks in a game via a standard run since their 2013 Super Bowl season.

“We stopped the race,” Nwosu said. “That’s really what it was. For the last four or five weeks we struggled to stop the run, and that’s what the game plan was going for in this game: to stop the run so that we could have fun. We did, and the guys were able to fly all over the field and go after Kyler Murray.”

Murray rushed for 100 of the Cardinals’ 144 rushing yards as Seattle limited their running backs to 44 combined yards on 18 attempts. The Seahawks had allowed just over 5 yards per carry (including QB carries) on Sunday, the fifth-worst mark in the NFL.

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Carroll made vague mentions of some adjustments defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt made following their 39-32 loss last week at New Orleans, though he wouldn’t elaborate with the Seahawks and Cardinals facing deal in three weeks. The changes included different alignments of their defensive linemen — Ford played more on the edge, for example — and fewer snaps for inside linebacker Cody Barton, who has had an uneven start to the season, especially against the run.

“Their running backs are averaging 2.5 yards per carry,” Carroll said. “And it’s all these guys working on the inside and getting the thing going. We made some adjustments this week that worked really well. And I think they’re going to pay off as we move forward.”

At 3-3 heading into their Week 7 game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium, the Seahawks are tied with the 49ers and San Francisco Rams for the NFC West’s best record. Every team in the division has their flaws and none of them seem ready to retire anytime soon.

With Smith playing as an above-average starter, it doesn’t seem at all unrealistic to think the Seahawks can compete for a playoff spot in what was supposed to be a transition season after the Russell Wilson trade – especially on whether their performance against Arizona was indeed the start of another defensive turnaround.

“Now it’s time to start piling these things on from week to week,” said safety Quandre Diggs. “You can’t be one of those teams that win one, lose one, win one – because this is average football. We have to start stacking these dubs and be consistent. I think it’s okay to be really, really fun on offense, defense and special teams click at the same time. I think it could be really special here.