Seattle Seahawks' Run Defense Regression: Legitimate Concern Or Blip On Map?

For most of the first half of the 2023 season, the Seattle Seahawks have been stingy defending the run. But even before demolished by the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Pete Carroll's defense had started to show cracks in the previous couple games, creating a major question mark with nine games left to play.

BALTIMORE, Mary. - Coming out of the locker room trailing by 14 points on the road, Jarran Reed and the Seattle Seahawks opened the second half against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday looking to rebound from their two worst quarters defending the run and climb back into the game.

Entering the Week 9 contest ranked in the top five in yards allowed per carry and seventh in rushing yards allowed, the Seahawks had made a remarkable turnaround following a dreadful 2022 season where they finished 30th in run defense. But in the first 30 minutes, coach Pete Carroll's unit resembled their predecessors, getting gashed for more than 120 yards, six yards per carry, and two touchdowns by Ravens running back Gus Edwards.

Unfortunately for Carroll and his defensive coaching staff, whatever adjustments were drawn up at halftime didn't generate desired results to help Seattle close the gap. Instead, as evidenced by the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Baltimore was just getting started grounding and pounding the opposition into submission.

Taking the handoff from star quarterback Lamar Jackson, Edwards followed behind a dominant double team on defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones with a semi-wide crease to accelerate through. Safety Quandre Diggs whiffed trying to tackle him and the powerful back then shrugged off tackle attempts by Devon Witherspoon, Boye Mafe, and Riq Woolen, rumbling 42 yards to instantly put Baltimore in opposing territory.

“We couldn’t tackle in the second half. We just didn’t tackle," a baffled Carroll told reporters after the game. "It shouldn’t have been any different. It’s just basic plays, and we didn’t get them on the ground. That’s the part I need to look at the most. That’s what I’m most concerned about, the way that happened like that.”

All afternoon long, the Seahawks were plagued by missed tackles at all three levels and poor execution of run fits, allowing Edwards, Justice Hill, and undrafted rookie Keaton Mitchell to torch them for 230 combined rushing yards. This didn't include the dynamic Jackson's contributions, as he rushed for 60 yards himself, including a 23-yard scramble to escape a potential sack by Mafe in the second quarter.

Most of the damage by Baltimore's three-headed trifecta came after halftime, and surprisingly, the 5-9, 191-pound Mitchell took center stage as the unexpected breakout star. The former East Carolina standout hadn't received a regular season handoff in the two previous games where he dressed, but he exploded onto the scene with 138 yards on only nine carries in the second half.

Despite his diminutive size, Mitchell slipped through several arm tackles and once he found daylight, he did substantial damage against an uncharacteristically sloppy defense. Busting the game wide open late in the third quarter, he slithered through Mafe's grasp and cut out of the reach of Mario Edwards, turning on the jets to rocket past Woolen and Jamal Adams for a 40-yard touchdown to extend the Ravens lead to 30-3.

On the next possession after Seattle turned the ball over on downs, lightning struck twice as Mitchell broke free from Tre Brown's tackle attempt on a toss play and made Witherspoon miss along the sideline before cutting back inside for a 60-yard run. The Ravens extended their lead to 37-3 moments later when backup quarterback Tyler Huntley connected with Odell Beckham Jr.

Gus Edwards provided the thunder with two short yardage touchdowns, while Keaton Mitchell provided the lightning with 138 rushing yards as the Ravens exposed a suddenly struggling Seahawks run defense / © Jessica Rapfogel-USA TODAY Sports

By the time the dust settled in the second-worst loss in the Carroll era, the Seahawks had surrendered 298 yards on the ground, equaling 40 percent of their combined total allowed in the first seven games, along with three touchdowns. Taking the blame for his contributions to the poor performance, a frustrated Reed said the team must learn from their self-inflicted mistakes and flush this debacle down the drain.

“We had a lot of missed tackles. I had like one myself, you know, I think just stuff like that is why we beat ourselves," Reed remarked. "Fitting into gaps the right way, staying in the backside of the play, and staying in the front side of plays. Things you know we can’t do to beat ourselves, we’ve got to hone in on that. We will look at the film and we will be very critical of ourselves, and you know, we will sit on this for 24 hours and we move on to the next one.”

While Reed, Carroll, and others have the right mindset to review the film and quickly forget about Sunday's laugher, the beatdown in Baltimore continued a troubling trend over the past three games for Seattle. Since Week 7, the team has yielded at least 127 rushing yards in each game with the Cardinals, Browns, and Ravens establishing new season-highs for yards allowed in three consecutive weeks.

During that span, which coincided with the loss of starting outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu to a season-ending pectoral injury, the Seahawks have let opposing offenses rush for 193 yards per game, 5.5 yards per carry, and five touchdowns on the ground. Most concerningly, after giving up only eight runs of 10 or more yards in the first five games, Carroll's defense has given up 12 such runs in the past 12 quarters of play, functioning like a sieve.

For optimists who like to view problems with a glass half full approach, as pointed out by linebacker Bobby Wagner after the game on Sunday, the Seahawks have faced two of the best running teams in the Browns and Ravens over the past two weeks. They also had to deal with Jackson, arguably the most dangerous running threat at the quarterback position in NFL history, further complicating efforts executing run fits and gap responsibilities.

“We have to learn from it and move on from this game. Watch the film. We hold ourselves accountable," Wagner said.

Though the results weren't acceptable, Wagner sees a growing opportunity with hopes the Seahawks can right the ship and round back into a top-five run defense moving forward. It would certainly help if the defense wasn't on the field for over 40 minutes as they were on Sunday too, with plenty of pressure on Geno Smith and the offense to step up their game after going AWOL in Baltimore.

At the same time, however, the reality is that it has been a month since Seattle held an opponent under 100 rushing yards and with each passing week, teams continue to achieve greater and greater success employing a ground-heavy assault against Carroll's defense. Even with Leonard Williams coming to town at the trade deadline, Nwosu's absence looms large with coordinators scheming to take advantage of soft edge play without him in the lineup.

While it isn't time to hit the panic button just yet and the Seahawks remain tied for first place even after getting smacked around by the Ravens, from scheme to personnel usage, significant adjustments must be made to get back on track stopping the run. With a grueling schedule featuring games against the 49ers, Cowboys, and Eagles coming soon, if things don't improve in quick order, NFC West title aspirations could vanish in a flash.