Seahawks' Beleaguered Defense at 'Crossroads' Following 27-23 Loss to Falcons

Starting slow isn't new for Seattle's defense, but the group hit a new low on Sunday yielding nearly 400 yards of offense and 27 points to a previously winless Atlanta squad, leaving Pete Carroll and his staff searching for answers.

SEATTLE, Wash. - With under four minutes left to play in the third quarter of Sunday's contest against the Falcons, the Seahawks looked poised to go for it on 4th and 2 from the opposing seven-yard line.

After quarterback Geno Smith's third down goal line fade to DK Metcalf sailed over the receiver's head, the offense stayed on the field readying to take a quick snap and prevent the defense from having time to scheme up a play for the situation. But as the play clock ticked under 10 seconds, coach Pete Carroll called timeout from the sidelines and after deliberation, Seattle opted for the safe route and sent Jason Myers in for a short field goal instead.

"We were going for it, and that was the mentality, and then we got a little screwed up, and we needed time to talk about it," Carroll said after the game. "I was hoping we would not be in fourth and whatever that was, two and a half or whatever. I thought we were going to be in a better situation going for it. I was thinking about going for it possibly. Guys on the field weren't ready, so we had to call timeout."

Rather than roll the dice and risk potentially coming away empty-handed, Carroll decided to take the points and Myers delivered, splitting the uprights from 25 yards out to put the Seahawks back in front 23-20. Unfortunately, that advantage wouldn't last long, putting the decision under the microscope.

In the past, Carroll's conservative decision may not have been met with much criticism. But as the past two weeks have reaffirmed, the vaunted "Legion of Boom" of yesteryear is long gone and trusting Seattle's current maligned defense to protect a three-point lead isn't a wise business decision.

One week after San Francisco gashed his defense for nearly 200 rushing yards, Carroll's faith in the unit once again backfired in a matter of minutes. After bottling up Cordarrelle Patterson in the first half, the front seven functioned like a matador in a bullfighting arena, yielding massive run lanes off the edges behind a red curtain for the back to rip off 40 and 18-yard runs on consecutive plays.

For his part on the 40-yard run, linebacker Uchenna Nwosu took the blame for getting too far upfield and allowing Patterson to cut back with tons of green in front of him.

"I take full responsibility for that because if that doesn’t happen then they have to drive the length of the field and it’s tougher to score, and I just made it easier," Nwosu said. "That is a play on me that I just have to take one and go in there and correct and it can’t happen again.”

In the blink of an eye, thanks to Patterson's heroics coupled with poor run defense, the Falcons already were in the red zone and unlike the Seahawks, they didn't settle for three points. Three plays later, quarterback Marcus Mariota calmly stared down a blitz by linebacker Jordyn Brooks and fired a strike to receiver Drake London, who then slipped through missed tackles by safeties Josh Jones and Quandre Diggs to cross the goal line for six points.

A microcosm of the Seahawks' season through three weeks with shoddy run fits and poor tackling aplenty, the sequence of plays proved to be the difference in a tightly-contested game as the Falcons hung on for a 27-23 victory at Lumen Field, leaving defenders such as Quinton Jefferson continuing to soul search.

“I just know that we are at a crossroads right now. We need to get it together, that’s the biggest thing," Jefferson said of Seattle's defensive struggles. "Everybody needs to be accountable and go through the film and fix it. I think that’s the biggest thing, being disciplined, do your job, and trust your brothers. You have to trust that your brother is going to do their job. Again, we have a lot of football left, so we have to get it together. We get paid to play defense, so we need to do that."

As was the case against the 49ers only a week prior, Carroll's defense allowed far too many explosive plays to a Falcons offense that is far from being one of the NFL's most potent attacks. In the first half, Mariota only completed eight passes, but seven of those passes went for more than 20 yards and he averaged north of 22 yards per completion. Several of those passes came on third down when the Seahawks had a chance to get off the field.

Most notably, Mariota converted on a 3rd and 19 play with a 26-yard connection to Olamide Zaccheaus, eventually leading to a 17-yard touchdown by Patterson to give Atlanta a 17-10 lead midway through the second quarter.

"We just have got to get our guys to understand the D-and-D," Carroll explained. "We would have rolled that way, and they're not supposed to be able to throw the corner in behind us, and we played it like it was third and five instead of playing third and 20. We don't sink and take away that deeper ball. Just an error."

After allowing Patterson to rush for 107 yards in the second half alone, the Seahawks have yielded 471 yards on the ground this season, or nearly 160 yards per game, ranking a dismal 30th overall in both metrics. They also have allowed four rushing touchdowns, tied for the third-most in the league, while missing 21 tackles, second behind only the Texans.

While their numbers against the pass aren't quite as dismal, the Seahawks rank dead last in the league allowing nearly nine yards per attempt through the air, signaling the persistent issues they have dealt with surrendering explosive plays.

From Jefferson's perspective, Seattle's maligned defense continues to be plagued by "minor things" and beaten themselves more than anything. With minimal margin for error in the NFL, untimely penalties coupled with poor execution of run fits or coverage schemes have led to undesirable results, including forcing only one three-and-out possession so far this year. That simply won't cut it.

"When we start to get rolling, we will have penalties. We can’t do that," Jefferson commented. "We have to get off of the field on third down, don’t shoot ourselves in the foot, and get stuff rolling. It’s minor things. You are playing against good teams week-in and week-out, and you can’t play against a team and play against yourself. It’s hard to win in this league, the margin of victory is like three points. You have to do right.”

With tough road games against the Lions and Saints up next on the schedule, things won't get any easier for the Seahawks. If there's a silver lining, as Diggs pointed out after the game, they have gotten off to slow starts defensively each of the past two seasons and found a way to turn things around as the season progressed. There remains hope the unit can do it again with a lot of football left to be played.

But if that rebound is going to happen, improvements defending the run, tackling, and limiting explosives in the passing game need to start showing up on the field for Seattle now. Otherwise, a season that already didn't have high expectations to begin with will get away from the franchise quickly and any chance at competing for a playoff spot as Carroll envisioned will be out the window before Halloween.

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