Baffling Defensive Game Plan Dooms Pete Carroll, Seahawks in Road Loss to Bills

Despite having the NFL's worst pass defense by a wide margin, Carroll apparently thought the Bills were going to emphasize running the ball. While execution by players must be better, the coaching staff needs to be held accountable for putting players in a position to succeed.

ORCHARD PARK, NY - As has become a weekly occurrence for a maligned defense, the Seahawks yielded over 400 passing yards as Josh Allen carved up a helpless secondary during a 44-34 loss to the Bills, dropping their record to 6-2 on the season.

Combining the defensive ineptitude with an uncharacteristic four turnovers committed by quarterback Russell Wilson on offense, coach Pete Carroll didn't have much positive to say after the game.

"I don't recognize that game," Carroll said to start off his post-game press conference. "We haven't seen us look like that and it's a game I don't have any place in my brain for. Really had a hard time in the first half getting started on defense and offense and they made it look easy."

While it's easy to point fingers after any loss in the NFL, based on how the first two months of the season played out coupled with perplexing comments made after the game, Carroll isn't without fault considering Seattle's ongoing issues defending the pass.

This latest road defeat marked the sixth time Seattle has allowed an opposing quarterback to throw for at least 300 yards. During the first seven games, the team established a new record by surrendering 2,511 passing yards, which equates to nearly 370 passing yards per game. Somehow, that average was surpassed as Allen sliced and diced a defense with open receivers running all over the field.

Yet, despite those atrocious numbers, Carroll and his staff mystifyingly went into Sunday's game believing the Bills were going to emphasize running the football. He felt this way despite the fact Buffalo entered Sunday with a top-10 passing offense, a talented young gunslinger, and a bevy of weapons at his disposal headlined by star receiver Stefon Diggs.

From the outset, Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll opened up the skies, immediately attacking the Seahawks' suspect secondary and Charmin-soft zone coverage.

Right out of the gates, following a 60-yard kick return by Andre Roberts, Daboll dialed up three consecutive passes for Allen, who wasted little time leading his team into the end zone. Less than a minute and a half into the game, he capped off the quick drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah McKenzie, who beat safety Quandre Diggs inside on a deep post route.

After Seattle went three-and-out on its first defensive drive, Allen went right back to work, throwing five straight passes to guide the Bills to the Seahawks 33-yard line before finally handing it off for the first time. Five players later, he found tight end Tyler Kroft in the end zone for a one-yard score and the rout was on.

In the first half alone, while putting up 24 points on five offensive drives, Buffalo threw the ball 28 times compared to just three runs. This aggressive continued after halftime, as excluding three late kneel downs, the Bills ran the ball only 16 times total while Allen completed 31 out of 38 pass attempts for 415 yards and scored four total touchdowns.

"These guys didn't even try to run the football today," Carroll commented. "We didn't expect that to happen. We didn't think they would totally abandon the running game. We had a real nice plan for how they were gonna run it. We have to be able to adapt better."

In the past, Carroll has prioritized stopping the run first as a means to make opponents one-dimensional. When the "Legion of Boom" was roaming the back half of his defense, such a strategy was much easier to execute.

Given how Seattle has been breaking passing yardage records for the wrong reasons all season long, however, Carroll should know better at this point. How did he not expect Buffalo to come into this game planning to throw the ball all over the yard?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist moon lighting as an offensive coordinator to know how to attack the Seahawks defensively. Allowing less than four yards per carry on the season, they have been stout against the run, with giving up over 200 yards on the ground to the Vikings in Week 5 as the lone exception. 

But when it comes to defending the pass, Seattle's defense has functioned like a colander. Before this week, they had allowed more air yards (1,668) than any team in the league and also ranked ninth in yards after the catch (970). Any football coach preparing to face them who doesn't air it out 80 percent of the time should go on a trial for malpractice.

Already without Pro Bowl cornerback Shaquill Griffin for a second straight week, it was obvious from the get-go something was wrong with Quinton Dunbar, who has been dealing with a knee issue since Week 2 and missed a pair of games. He wasn't moving well at all and labored for much of the game, making him an easy target for Allen and Daboll to exploit, including throwing a pop-pass touchdown to Gabriel Davis with him in coverage.

"He had a tough day," Carroll said when asked about Dunbar's health. "He was playing on a sore knee and eventually we had to take him out [because] he was hobbling. He tried to suck it up and keep going, but we needed to get him out."

If there was anything that did go right defensively against the Bills, the pass rush finally showed up with a season-high 7.0 sacks. Recently acquired defensive end Carlos Dunlap registered his first sack with the team, while Jarran Reed and Jamal Adams combined for 4.0 sacks between the two of them. Nonetheless, in the end, the 44 points allowed on the scoreboard made the breakthrough a moot point.

Returning to his normal optimistic self in an otherwise somber press conference, Carroll said, “We’re gonna get better, and we’re gonna do better."

While that still may very well happen - there's never been a question about the Seahawks talent - such words become hollow as they roll off the tongue each week. Along with players executing better, Carroll and his coaching staff need to be held accountable for putting their players in a position to succeed. Looking in the mirror and realizing opponents are going to go into attack mode through the air until the secondary gets healthier and/or starts playing better would be a good starting spot.