'Big Challenge For Us': Seahawks Scrambling to Fix Run Defense, Bracing For Dynamic Cardinals
RENTON, Wash. - Still with an outside shot at earning a playoff spot entering the final weekend of the NFL season, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll understands those hopes rest largely on his team making quick improvements defending the run.
In the aftermath of an ugly 30-23 loss to the Steelers in which the Seahawks allowed 202 yards and three touchdowns, Carroll has gone back to the basics this week. In particular, as they prepare to travel to Glendale to face the Cardinals this weekend, he and defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt have been harping on tackling fundamentals after missing a boatload of tackles in Sunday's defeat.
"We’ve got to do some things better than we did, and we’ve had some times where we’ve been okay," Carroll said prior to Wednesday's practice. "But we’ve got to get better. ‘How can you get better in the week?’ Well, watch. We’re going to do that and we’re going to change a little bit of how this thing happened last week, and I’m anxious to see it come together."
Early in the season, Seattle looked to have made substantial strides slowing down opposing run games. Coming off a season where the team ranked 30th in rushing yards allowed, Carroll's defense allowed just 79 yards per game and 3.2 yards per carry in the first five games, ranking fifth and first in the NFL respectively.
Seattle has struggled to stop the run over the past two-plus months and now will have to deal with James Conner, one of the league's best at producing yards after contact.
But since then, the Seahawks have not only regressed, but they have arguably been worse against the run than last year. Since Week 7, they have surrendered 159.1 rushing yards per game, given up 18 rushing touchdowns, and allowed five yards per carry, ranking dead-last in all three categories. For context, Carroll's defense gave up 150 rushing yards per game and 4.9 yards per carry while allowing 21 rushing touchdowns for the entire 2022 season.
From Carroll's perspective, from tackling to executing run fits, inconsistency has been Seattle's biggest issue all season long. On Sunday, for example, Pittsburgh rushed for 145 yards and six yards per carry in the first half alone. But in the final two quarters, the defense allowed just 57 rushing yards on 22 carries for under 2.6 yards per carry.
“There were some opportunities in executing better up front that we didn’t get done. That means we got blocked once in a while," Carroll remarked. "But we had five missed tackles on one play, so that was an ugly memory in all of our minds. We did way better in the second half than we did in the first half, so we know what’s there. We have to make sure we capture early and make sure we come out of the chutes better than we have.”
As Carroll acknowledged, the Seahawks have been doomed by poor starts defensively in general, giving up seven touchdowns on game-opening drives. While explosives in the passing game have also been a problem, the run defense has functioned like a sieve in the first half of games, as they have allowed a league-worst 939 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns, and a first down on 32.8 percent of run plays in the first two quarters since things began unraveling in Week 7.
Not surprisingly, Seattle sits dead last in all three of the aforementioned categories, and the team's 127 total missed tackles also ranks 32nd according to Pro Football Reference. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know those results are far from ideal.
Unfortunately for Carroll and the Seahawks, Sunday's finale doesn't offer a reprieve. Though the Cardinals have been out of playoff competition for more than a month, led by Kyler Murray under center and bruising back James Conner, they just knocked off the Eagles in Philadelphia last weekend behind a dynamic rushing attack that produced 221 yards and a touchdown.
Even before Murray returned from a torn ACL in November, Arizona established one of the NFC's best running offenses. Back in October, with Murray and Conner both sidelined, the Cardinals started the Seahawks free fall defending the run by rushing for 127 yards and 5.1 yards per carry, including a 25-yard touchdown run by then-starter Joshua Dobbs.
For the season, Arizona ranks sixth in the NFL in rushing yardage (2,159) and tied for first averaging 5.0 yards per carry. As Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner stated on Thursday, it all starts in the backfield with a bruising tone setter in Conner, who ranks seventh in the NFL in yards after contact (688), first in yards after contact per carry (3.78), and fourth in missed tackles forced (52) according to Pro Football Focus.
“He’s just a really good back," Wagner said. "The way he finishes runs, the way he reads the defense, he’s really good. He’s somebody that’s always trying to fall forward when he gets on the outside. He knows when to use his speed versus a stiff arm. He does a really good job for them, and he adds another dynamic to that. You have to honor him, and the moment you pay too much attention to him, that’s when Kyler [Murray] comes into the mix. It’s going to be a big challenge for us, and we need to make sure we’re ready for it and we tackle.”
Considering the Seahawks had major trouble getting Derrick Henry and Najee Harris - two backs who rank in the top six in yards after contact this season - down to the ground the past two games, Conner clearly poses a significant threat to a run defense that has offered the resistance of a teddy bear for the past two months.
Making matters even tougher, Murray has rounded back into form as one of the NFL's best dual threat quarterbacks. While Arizona hasn't had to lean on his legs as much as previous seasons, he has rushed for 211 yards in seven games while averaging a healthy 5.4 yards per carry and scoring three touchdowns. His mobility only complicates things more for Wagner and company, as his ability to take off and pick up big yardage as a rusher makes him a threat every play who must be accounted for.
“The threat of the quarterback is always part of it," Carroll said of Murray's impact on Arizona's run game. "He’s rushed for over 200 yards in seven games back. He’s getting 30 to 40 yards a game. That factor does add in, and we have to make sure and keep Kyler somehow in control, which is almost impossible, because he’s so elusive and so fast, but we have our ways that we’re going to go about it in our plan. I’ve got to see if we can keep him under control. We have to execute really well in the running game, because James [Conner] is going to get the ball a bunch.”
If there's a reason for optimism heading into Sunday's rematch, the Cardinals won't have starting left tackle D.J. Humphries, who suffered a torn ACL in Philadelphia. Murray has also been without his top receiver in Marquise Brown, who landed on injured reserve last week, which should allow the Seahawks to be a bit more aggressive stacking the box in an effort to slow down Conner and the run game.
With that said, as evidenced last week and several other games this season, it won't matter how many players line up near the line of scrimmage if defenders aren't able to work off blocks, play disciplined with run fits, or finish tackles. Those issues have put Seattle on the brink of playoff elimination, but Carroll hopes to see a far better performance in the second half last week translate to Sunday with everything on the line for his team.
"We’ve got to do some things better than we did, and we’ve had some times where we’ve been okay, but we’ve got to get better. ‘How can you get better in the week?’ Well, watch. We’re going to do that and we’re going to change a little bit of how this thing happened last week, and I’m anxious to see it come together. Always on this day, it’s back to basics and fundamentals and doing the little things right, and so we have to capture this day and make sure it’s a good one for us.”
