Run-Game Woes Resurface as Seahawks Potential Achilles Heel in Loss to Bucs
Among several factors that helped the Seahawks turn their season around in October and orchestrate a four-game winning streak, a once dreadful run defense tightened the screws, in turn dramatically improving their third down efficiency. Likewise, the arrival of rookie sensation Ken Walker III sparked the rushing attack on offense, having a similar impact on their own third down production to sustain drives.
But in Sunday's win streak-snapping 21-16 defeat to Tampa Bay in Munich, Seattle reverted back to its former self on defense when least expected, allowing the NFL's 32nd ranked rushing team to rack up 161 yards on 38 carries against them. Consistently gaining quality yardage on first and second down runs to stay on schedule with the duo of Leonard Fournette and Rachaad White to complement Tom Brady in a vintage performance under center, the Buccaneers wound up converting on 10 out of 15 third downs on the evening.
Bemoaning a "missed opportunity" after the game, coach Pete Carroll wasn't pleased to see such a regression against this particular opponent after witnessing the Seahawks defense right the ship defending the run over the past month and change. He was especially disheartened by the unit's inability to get a stop on the final drive of the game when White ripped off 12 and 18-yard runs to pick up first downs and seal the deal in the closing minutes.
"I was really disappointed," Carroll bluntly said. "They have not been running the ball very consistently, so coming into the game, we were hoping we could just keep it under wraps and be able to deploy for the throwing game. They did better than we thought they would. They finished running the ball in the fourth quarter, which kills me. That last drive, to not get the ball back and get our chance again, that's just not the way we expect to play or the way we ever want to put it out there. So that's unfortunate."
Through the first nine weeks of the season, the Buccaneers averaged under 61 yards rushing per game, easily ranking dead last in the league. Excluding the strike-shortened 1982 season, their 546 rushing yards as a team ranked as the third-lowest total through the first nine games of a season since the NFL/AFL merger in 1970. They also were one of only three teams in that span to rush for fewer than 550 yards and average 3.0 yards per carry or less.
Against Seattle, however, Fournette and White passed Tampa's season rushing average before halftime, helping the "home" team score consecutive touchdown drives in the second quarter to take a commanding early lead. Once the final horn sounded, they had nearly rushed for 30 percent of their previous season total in one game.
After the game, linebacker Cody Barton indicated the Buccaneers threw some run concepts at them that they had not seen on film previously, which contributed to the slow start. They were able to make successful adjustments after halftime, helping hold the opposition to seven points with the disclaimer that Fournette threw an interception to cornerback Tariq Woolen in the third quarter that wiped at least three points off the board.
“They started doing a new run that we hadn’t seen on tape, but that’s expected, right? Teams are going to throw something new in,” Barton said. “But at the end of the day, it just comes down to us… It just comes down to everyone doing their job.”
Giving the Bucs credit as due, Carroll praised offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich for doing a stellar job mixing play passes with a wide array of run concepts. With the run game opening up the entire playbook and play action passes leading to chunk plays, this effectively helped stifle the Seahawks pass rush, leading to six pressures and no quarterback hits on Brady in four quarters of play.
But considering how historically inept Tampa Bay's run game had been prior to Sunday, it's no wonder why Carroll was so irked by Seattle's defensive letdown. With poorly executed run fits, struggles getting off blocks, and missed tackles resurfacing in Germany, a potential Achilles heel remains a major work in progress.
Compounding matters on Sunday, the Seahawks couldn't muster anything on the ground themselves. From the outset, the Buccaneers dominated at the line of scrimmage and linebackers Devin White and Lavonte David flew all over the field making plays, bottling up Walker and limiting him to eight yards on seven carries in the first half. Things didn't get better after halftime with the rookie only rushing for nine yards on three carries as the offense leaned on Geno Smith's throwing arm playing catchup mode.
Statistically, Seattle averaged 120 rushing yards from non-quarterbacks during its four-game winning streak with Walker doing the bulk of the damage and scoring five touchdowns in that span. With that said, run blocking has not been consistent up front and the team has dealt with extended slumps where moving the ball on the ground has been a major challenge, a worrisome trend for an offense built around balance.
In a Week 8 victory over the Giants, Walker couldn't get untracked with 51 yards on 18 carries. For the game, the Seahawks averaged just 3.1 yards per carry and finished with 87 total rushing yards, their third-lowest total of the season. Even in Week 9 when Walker wound up rushing for over 100 yards thanks to a strong finish against the Cardinals, he only had 31 yards on nine carries at halftime and the offense had been rendered one-dimensional.
Heading towards its bye week, for Seattle to reach its goal of winning the NFC West and possibly make noise in the postseason, improvements will have to be made both defending the run and finding more consistency in the ground game offensively. If those areas aren't shored up, with tough games looming against Kansas City, San Francisco, and the New York Jets among others, their fairytale season thus far will be difficult to sustain into December and January. Those teams all love running the ball and play stifling defense.
But while Sunday's loss proved to be a frustrating one for Carroll's young squad, Barton saw plenty of positives after halftime with the team nearly pulling off a fourth quarter comeback and isn't putting too much stock in one poor half of football. Still sitting in first place with a 6-4 record, he has no doubts the Seahawks will execute proper adjustments as needed coming out of the bye to get back on track and continue their winning ways in the final two months of the season.
“The first half wasn’t wasn’t how we wanted to start as a team. But the second half, we started to come to life. And even towards the end, I honestly thought we were gonna win that game up to the very end. That momentum we had and those adjustments we had for the second half, that’s something we need to take [going forward]. That’s the way we’ve been playing, and that’s something you need to take in throughout the season game in and game out.”
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