Dre'Mont Jones, Retooled Seahawks Defensive Line Building Chemistry
Even compared to a sputtering offense, nothing may have been more frustrating for Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll coming out of a 30-13 season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Rams more than the team's punch-less pass rush.
Despite investing big bucks in free agency on defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones as well as handing Uchenna Nwosu a lucrative three-year extension in the offseason to go with a young nucleus, Seattle could only muster two quarterback hits and didn't sack Matthew Stafford once. Unfortunately, those struggles carried over into the Week 2 road opener against the Detroit Lions, as Jared Goff carved up the secondary to the tune of 180 yards and two touchdowns without being hit once in the first two quarters of play.
But in the closing moments of the half, Jones made his first notable play as a Seahawk on a key third down deep in Detroit territory, steamrolling over left guard Jonah Jackson with a powerful bull rush. As the blocker went to the ground, he latched onto Jones as Goff exited the pocket to his left, drawing a holding penalty that ultimately was declined and the Lions wound up punting for the first time in the game.
In the box score, Jones' efforts didn't show up as a sack or quarterback hit. But the violent rush seemed to be exactly what the doctor ordered to wake up a dormant Seahawks pass rush that had failed to generate a sack through six quarters and the effect also had a positive impact on run defense as well.
Coming out of halftime, Nwosu bounced off a block attempt by tight end Sam LaPorta on Detroit's first snap and shot into the backfield, punching the ball out of running back David Montgomery's hands and allowing Jarran Reed to recover the fumble. Moments after the momentum-changing turnover, Ken Walker III scored from three yards out and Seattle had quickly erased a seven-point deficit to tie the game at 14 apiece.
Though the Lions still managed to score 17 points in the second half to force overtime, the Seahawks' once-maligned defensive front came to play in the final two quarters. After being shut out in the quarterback hits department before halftime, they hit Goff five times in the closing two quarters, with Jones and Reed leading the way combining for a sack and three quarterback hits.
From Carroll's vantage point, Seattle's defense followed Jones' lead, as the fifth-year defender energized the group up front with his relentless effort and penetrating ability while registering his first sack with the team and a trio of second half pressures.
“He’s playing really hard," Carroll said of Jones on Monday. "He’s got some elusive style to him that we’re learning about. In the running game he’s been in the backfield making penetrations. He’s doing his job. Had a really nice win on his sack. We’re learning how to run our games to get more efficient in how we’re doing it. I think he’s playing hard.”
In the NFL, there's no such thing as a viable excuse when it comes to lackluster performance. But entering a new season, the Seahawks had plenty of question marks along their new-look defensive line, including how quickly the group led by Jones and Reed would be able to mesh after barely playing together in the preseason.
Not surprisingly, Seattle's retooled front four didn't seem to be in sync to kick off the regular season. Jones endured a quiet debut, failing to generate a single pressure on 28 pass rushing reps, while only Reed and cornerback Coby Bryant managed to get a hit on Stafford, who threw for over 300 yards while tearing apart the Seahawks' secondary with precision from a chronically clean pocket.
Run defense-wise, the Seahawks did fare a bit better, limiting the Rams to under three yards per carry. But it ultimately didn't matter with Stafford and company converting on nine of their first 12 third down attempts, extending drives without any semblance of a pass rush to make the quarterback uncomfortable.
Against Detroit, Seattle once again played pretty well against the run, holding the opposition to 3.8 yards per carry along with Nwosu's crucial forced fumble. Reed, Jones, and Mario Edwards made their presence felt in the backfield, with each frequently penetrating gaps to blow up run plays before the back could even get to the line of scrimmage. Even rookie Cameron Young got in the action with his first career tackle for loss.
While not making any excuses for their disappointing play one week earlier, Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner admitted a lack of exhibition snaps had delayed developing chemistry as a unit. As evidenced by their more frequent disruption getting into the backfield, he saw stark improvements on that front in the Motor City.
"We didn't really get a lot of preseason reps, so it's still knocking off some of the rust and having that familiarity with the guys that you're playing with," Wagner said after Sunday's win in Detroit. "I think we're still going to keep getting better and it definitely felt like we were playing on the other side of the ball. We knew this team was going to come in and run the ball. They have a great backfield and we did our best to slow them down."
With chemistry gradually improving, the Seahawks made their most obvious strides in the pass rushing department, however. After only pressuring Stafford 11 times on 41 drop backs in Week 1, according to Pro Football Focus charting, they were far more efficient against Goff and the Lions, producing 15 pressures on 33 drop backs by Goff. That equates to a nearly 20 percent increase in pressure rate.
Dre'Mont Jones and Jarran Reed made their mark collapsing the pocket against the Lions in the second half, combining for a sack and three quarterback hits as the Seahawks won in overtime.
A more active pass rush played a vital role in Seattle escaping with a victory, as Nwosu's quick pressure on Goff early in the fourth quarter led to an errant throw and cornerback Tre Brown picked him off for a 40-yard touchdown return. In addition, with the Lions having a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, an interior pressure by Reed resulted in a quarterback hit and a low incompletion from Goff that ultimately stalled the drive, forcing Detroit to kick a field goal.
On the flip side, the Seahawks still only only had six quarterback hits on Goff, who eclipsed 300 yards passing on the afternoon and completed 80 percent of his pass attempts with three touchdowns. There were still far too many plays where the quarterback was able to scan the field without any worry about the pass rush bearing down on him and with a capable veteran in Andy Dalton coming to town with the Panthers this weekend, they will have to create more consistent pressure to avoid a potential letdown.
So while the defensive line demonstrated marked improvement and took steps forward against the pass and run, Carroll knows much work remains left to do in the early stages of the season. Giving Goff and the Lions offensive line their deserved due, as Jones, Reed, Nwosu, and the rest of the defensive line continue to gel and grow together, he hopes last weekend proves to be just the tip of the iceberg and results hunting down opposing quarterbacks will only get better in coming weeks.
“We rushed yesterday better than we did the week before and so that’s a good improvement for us. We’d like to get more. We’d like to get a couple of more hits on the quarterback. They did a nice job. He is really quick with the football and it’s a challenge to get to him. He played like he’s been playing. He’s an efficient, sharp, quarterback. [He] played a lot like [Matthew] Stafford did. There’s a lot of similarities; very similar systems and the rhythms were very much the same. We rushed a little bit better yesterday. We’ll see how we do, keep improving."
