'Good Early Statement': Seahawks Pleased With Initial Returns Defending Run

On the heels of a dreadful season where opponents ran for over 150 yards per game against them, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has been encouraged by strides his defense has made limiting explosives against the run in preseason play.

SEATTLE, Wash. - Though the Seattle Seahawks vastly surpassed all outside expectations winning nine games and earning a wild card spot last season, they achieved those feats in spite of one of the worst run defenses in the NFL.

By any metric, Seattle struggled to slow down ball carriers last season, finishing 30th allowing 150.2 yards per game on the ground. Struggling giving up chunk plays all year long, coach Pete Carroll's squad yielded 4.9 yards per carry, which tied for sixth-worst in the league, while also surrendering 47 runs of 12 or more yards and giving up 22.8 yards per rush on those plays.

Frustrated by those results, Carroll and general manager John Schneider prioritized upgrading the front seven this spring. Undergoing a full-scale overhaul along the defensive line, the Seahawks spent big bucks on Dre'Mont Jones and Jarran Reed while also investing two day three draft picks on Cameron Young and Mike Morris. At linebacker, with starter Jordyn Brooks recovering from a torn ACL, they brought back Bobby Wagner and added former first-round pick Devin Bush.

With the regular season still three weeks away, time will tell if those personnel moves will yield better results defending the run. But from a scheme and execution standpoint, Carroll has liked what he has seen with Seattle allowing under 100 rushing yards and less than four yards per carry in each of the team's two preseason games this month.

"What I really like is I like our overall play, overall leveraging the football, containing the football," Carroll told reporters after Saturday's 22-14 win over Dallas. "The force elements of our game. We made a huge emphasis of this in the offseason. I thought we were sloppy in the past, not accountable. Tonight, you saw us again pounding on those things."

While the Cowboys did score a touchdown on the ground when rookie Deuce Vaughn broke multiple tackles on a 15-yard run early in the third quarter on Saturday, the Seahawks bottled up opposing running backs the remainder of the game. Excluding that one notable blemish, Carroll's defense yielded 79 rushing yards on 25 carries, barely allowing over three yards per carry.

This stellar performance came on the heels of another quality outing against Minnesota in the exhibition opener when Seattle held the opposition to just 83 yards and 3.2 yards per carry.

As is always the case with the preseason, results in these games that don't count in the standings must be taken with a giant grain of salt. But at the same time, as Carroll stated, the Seahawks look light years ahead of where they were this time a year ago when they allowed 185 rushing yards to the Steelers and 117 rushing yards to the Bears in their first two exhibition contests, which ended up being a sign of things to come in the regular season.

What has Carroll seen as the biggest difference so far? Playing better team run defense with players soundly executing run fits as a unit, Seattle has made notable strides mitigating explosives on the ground. Minnesota didn't have a single run of more than nine yards in the preseason opener and Dallas only had two runs of 10 or more yards on Saturday.

"I think we're better than we've been in the last few years at this early stage of leveraging the football," Carroll explained. "The big plays aren't getting out. That's why the numbers are in the threes. It's a really good, early statement because it's been a huge emphasis for us. We'll see if we can do it again next week, keep growing with that."

Against the Vikings, Carroll wasn't pleased with missed tackles early in the first preseason contest, particularly from linebackers, cornerbacks, and safeties. Poor pursuit angles and the inability to wrap up ball carriers showed up prominently on the Seahawks' second and third defensive drives as they allowed the visitors to race out to a 10-0 lead.

But after an expected rough start in the first live game action of the season, Seattle shored things up at all three levels, giving up just 53 rushing yards in the final three quarters as the team came back for a 24-13 victory. The front line played stout at the point of attack, edge defenders contained well, and the back six cleaned up as tacklers, holding the opponent under 3.2 yards per carry in the final three quarters.

Away from missing multiple tackles on Vaughn's touchdown run early in the third quarter, that trend continued into Saturday night for the Seahawks, who did an superb job flying to the football and gang tackling. With the defensive line setting the tone regardless of who checked into the game, they were especially effective in the final two quarters, limiting the Cowboys to 24 rushing yards on eight carries after halftime.

Rookie linebacker Patrick O'Connell, who received the start next to Bush with Wagner and Brooks not playing, felt a noticeable difference in Seattle's tackling from the outset.

“I think we tackled really well in the first quarter," O'Connell said. "Guys were flying around running and hitting. That’s exactly what we talked about before the game, which is to get guys on the ground. There was an emphasis from the last game because we had some missed tackles. We did a really good job of that.”

Stepping up his game after a roller coaster first preseason game, fellow linebacker Jon Rhattigan agreed with O'Connell's assessment, believing the Seahawks made quality strides from one week earlier while still having plenty of room for improvement.

“I think overall we made the improvement from last week and that was our goal coming into this game. That’s going to be our goal every week from here on out," Rhattigan remarked. "There’s always more things that we can improve on. 3.7 [yards per carry], that’s probably something we’ll continue to aim for a lower number. But overall, I think we did stop the rush pretty well. I’m happy with how we performed as a defense tonight.”

As Carroll made sure to note heading towards their preseason finale in Green Bay, the Seahawks have to demonstrate consistency week in and week out defending the run. While pleased with the start compared to where his team was this time last August, it's still very early in the process and until the real bullets start flying against the Rams on September 10, the jury remains out on whether or not the run defense has truly taken a big turn.

Nonetheless, Carroll and his staff have every reason to be cautiously encouraged by what they have seen so far. Seattle's new look defensive line has played physical, assignment-sound football up front while creating frequent chaos in the backfield. Outside linebackers have been disruptive penetrating gaps and excelled setting a firm edge to limit runs off tackle and linebackers and safeties have been decisive with their reads coming up to make hits against the run.

Considering the major problems the Seahawks had all of last year getting ran roughshod every single week, it's clear a positive step forward. And, in time, just as their preseason struggles last year illuminated, hopefully proves to be a sign of things to come in the regular season.

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