What Can We Learn From the Seattle Seahawks Blitz Rate Against the Patriots?

Of the many things that happened on Wednesday night against the Patriots, one of the things that stood out to me the most was how much they blitzed.

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike MacDonald watches play against the Kansas City Chiefs. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Seattle Seahawks don’t blitz very much. That’s been the case for quite some time, regardless of who is calling the plays on that side. According to Sharp Football Analysis, the team sent a blitz on 21.7% of their defensive snaps last season, which is in the bottom quartile of the league, and blitzed on less than 21% of their snaps in the Super Bowl.

The Changeup

Naturally, I would have expected a similar plan on Wednesday. New England’s offensive line has been improved during the offseason, but there wasn’t a radical overhaul that would have demanded an extreme gameplan. But an extreme (by Mike Macdonald standards) gameplan is what we got. PFF says we blitzed Maye on 13 dropbacks, or 31% of the time.

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon (21) celebrates with safety Julian Love (20) after a stop during the first quarter against the New England Patriots. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Only four teams in the NFL blitzed at a higher rate than that last season. The primary blitzer was Devon Witherspoon, who was given nine pass rush reps by PFF. Drake Thomas, Ernest Jones, and Julian Love also got involved. It defied expectation, and while it’s just one game, I do think it’s worth wondering if this might portend a different defensive approach this year.

Process VS Results

The Seahawks allowed ten points. Three of those came on a drive where the Patriots got the benefit of a roughing the punter penalty. They had 277 yards, threw three interceptions, allowed three sacks, and averaged 4.1 yards per play. By any reasonable measure, the defense was excellent. So on some level, the blitz-happy gameplan worked.

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) scrambles against Seattle Seahawks linebacker Drake Thomas (32). | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

But did the blitzes themselves work? None of the interceptions, and only one of the sacks, came on plays where there was a blitz. Maye was able to come up with an array of third down conversions against the blitz. It was nowhere near the level of success the team enjoyed on the blitz in the super bowl. So I’m not convinced correlation equals causation here.

Possible Explanations

It’s possible that Mike just felt like amping up the blitzes. Maybe he figured that it would be effective at home in front of a crazed crowd on banner night. It’s certainly not an unreasonable position. But if this persists beyond just one or two games, I’m going to wonder if this might be a response to concerns about our edge room’s ability to get to the quarterback this year.

Seattle Seahawks linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence (0) after the first training camp at Virginia Mason Athletic Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

DeMarcus Lawrence is still a force against the run, but his age might limit what he can do on passing downs. Uchenna Nwosu can get pressure but seems unable to finish the job. That’s most of your edge snaps right there. Maybe he doesn’t believe they can get home enough on their own, and he has to find other ways to create pressure.

We’ll find out in the next few weeks, but edge pass rush was one thing I was concerned about this year. Dante Fowler might not be enough, and Derick Hall might not have another gear to shift to as a pass rusher. This is where a Maxx Crosby trade becomes a discussion. But we’re at least a few weeks away from cracking that one open, so we’ll see where this goes.

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