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Stopping Screens Lies at Heart of Seahawks' Early Defensive Struggles

Seattle hasn't been able to stop much of anything on defense over the past two games, but opponents have had their way running screens, particularly to running backs. What has led to these struggles and what needs to happen to fix the problem?

Corbin K. Smith

Over the first three games of the 2021 season, the Seahawks have dealt with a multitude of problems on defense while giving up a league-worst 440 yards per game and surrendering 25 points per game.

First and foremost, Seattle has once again done a poor job defending the pass. With starting cornerbacks Tre Flowers and D.J. Reed struggling and the pass rush being wildly inconsistent thus far, the team has given up the seventh-most passing yards (856), the fifth-most air yards (527), and five touchdowns without any interceptions. Coach Pete Carroll's defense also has allowed 9.5 yards per pass play on second down, the third-worst mark in the league.

Surprisingly, after being a top-five unit defending the run last season, the Seahawks have also been gashed on the ground. Opponents have rushed for 465 yards against them so far, third behind only the Cardinals and Chiefs, and they have been especially effective on first down, rushing for 5.6 yards per carry in those situations.

But running backs have been causing extensive problems for Seattle's defense beyond finding success as ball carriers in the run game. Per Pro Football Reference, the team has yielded more receiving yardage (248) to running backs than any other team and ranks second behind only Cincinnati in receptions allowed to the position. A large portion of this yardage has come via screens, which have become a weapon of choice against the Seahawks during the early stages of the season.

“Every team has screens in their repertoire. I don’t know if they’re copying, but if you watch the way we’ve played screens the last few games, if you have them then I definitely think they’re going to go up on your play call list," linebacker Bobby Wagner said on Wednesday. "It’s something that I think we did a better job in the second half of the Vikings game playing, but until we nip that in the butt, they’re going to get very creative with their screens."

Through 12 quarters of play, the Seahawks haven't held up well against screens for a number of reasons, starting with the inability to read them quickly enough. Up front, defensive linemen have been slow to recognize the play call at times and gotten too far upfield, making it easy for the quarterback to throw the ball over the top of them to the back. Far too often, linebackers and corners have been delayed reacting to the screen out of their drops in coverage as well.

For example, late in the fourth quarter of a 33-30 overtime loss to Tennessee two weeks ago, all four of Seattle's pass rushers pinned their ears back and got at least four yards upfield. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill dumped the ball off to running back Derrick Henry, who had both of his guards out in front of him to block Wagner. Several defenders flew to the ball after reading screen late, but there was so much cushion that the back was able to get 14 yards with ease. He would tie the game a few minutes later on a five-yard touchdown run.

This recognition issue was also apparent in last weekend's 30-17 loss to the Vikings. Even without star runner Dalvin Cook, offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak dialed up several successful screens to backup Alexander Mattison in the first half, which played a key role in sustaining three eventual touchdown drives.

Out of 21 personnel with two backs and one tight end, quarterback Kirk Cousins carried out a play fake to Mattison while the two outside receivers ran vertical routes and the fullback ran a wheel route out of the backfield to occupy defensive end Alton Robinson. As soon as the play fake occurred, Wagner and fellow linebacker Jordyn Brooks both swung their hips and sprinted back 10 yards dropping into coverage.

With the linebackers nearly 15 yards off the line of scrimmage and tons of space to work with, the Vikings were able to get a two linemen caravan out in front of Mattison and the Seahawks as a whole were a split-second too slow reacting. By the time safety Jamal Adams chased Mattison down, Wagner had been blocked to the turf and the back had picked up 20 yards to push the home team into visitor territory.

"We have to recognize them. We're not recognizing them quickly enough and we're getting back in our drops and they're working - you know, they have a nice scheme, they throw the ball behind you, as they did," Carroll explained after the game. "We're driving out of there and we get too much space between us on the screen, and that's why you throw those sometimes. We were late to respond... We just have to do a better job sensing it."

Wagner credited Kubiak for savvy play calling and setting up the screens effectively, particularly employing them off of play fakes, which seemed to give Seattle trouble throughout the game.

“I think a lot of it is the way they set it up," Wagner elaborated. "They’ll do a play pass, when you do a play pass it’s designed for it to get the underneath defenders to come up a little bit. When you come up, you panic out. As your defenders are panicking out to get underneath the routes that are happening, that’s when they’re setting up the screen. Sometimes, especially one of those screens to the field, when you set it up it’s only four guys. Four linemen against maybe two guys, so sometimes you’re outnumbered. The best way is to make sure you read it faster, be instinctive on it, and take a chance.”

When it comes to the reaction-related concerns, the absence of K.J. Wright stands out. The veteran linebacker became known for his innate ability to blow up screens during 10 seasons in Seattle and his departure seems to have had a negative impact on the team's ability to defend such plays.

“K.J. was a screen master," Wagner commented. "He almost discouraged the screens his direction for the most part. A lot of the screens that happen come on that back side, which is where K.J. was sitting. You get a challenging guy like that, and that’s where you want to go, he’s going to find that every time.”

When the Seahawks did adequately snuff out screens in quick fashion, other breakdowns led to big plays for the Vikings.

In one instance, Minnesota ran a simple halfback screen from 11 personnel under center without a play fake. Brooks immediately recognized what the opponent was trying to do and worked his way outside in pursuit before Mattison even had the football. But as Carroll noted following the game, his execution was flawed, as he didn't keep his outside shoulder free to force the runner back inside to his teammates and wound up getting hooked inside by center Garrett Bradbury.

As a result, Mattison ended up bouncing the screen outside, made Adams miss along the sideline on an ugly whiff, and picked up 23 yards on the play. Moments later, Cousins hit Adam Thielen for a 19-yard touchdown to trim Seattle's advantage to 17-14 and momentum had shifted back to the home team.

"Any one of the guys, linebackers, DBs who are in the forced situation have an opportunity," Carroll said. "Unfortunately, there was a couple and they were impacting. I think they threw four in the first half. They did a nice job with it."

Looking towards a Week 4 road matchup against the 49ers, Wagner knows coach Kyle Shanahan has a wide array of screens in his playbook to take advantage of an overly aggressive pass rush, as he will dump the ball off to running backs, receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, fullback Kyle Juszczyk, and tight end George Kittle. He even joked, "I wouldn’t be surprised if they brought the young guy back there and did a QB screen," referencing athletic rookie quarterback Trey Lance.

With all of those different playmakers at his disposal and Seattle struggling to stop screens in general, there's no question Shanahan will be looking to sprinkle those plays into his game plan for this week. Wagner and his counterparts will have to do a much better job reading and reacting to such plays, maintaining contain and forcing the ball back inside, and tackling after the catch.

But citing past situations such as struggling to stop jet sweeps two years ago as an example of the Seahawks being able to fix problems as they arise on defense, the star linebacker has the utmost confidence they will be able to do just that.

"This is something that we have to get a hold on. When you put stuff on film, this is a copycat league. Every team, if they don’t have that play that you messed up on, they’ll put that play in. It’s on us to make sure that we see it better, see it faster. If you watched the game, we read a lot better in the second half. We just have to make sure that’s consistent.”

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Corbin K. Smith
CORBIN K. SMITH

Graduating from Manchester College in 2012, Smith began his professional career as a high school Economics teacher in Indianapolis and launched his own NFL website covering the Seahawks as a hobby. After teaching and coaching high school football for five years, he transitioned to a full-time sports reporter in 2017, writing for USA Today's Seahawks Wire while continuing to produce the Legion of 12 podcast. He joined the Arena Group in August 2018 and also currently hosts the daily Locked On Seahawks podcast with Rob Rang and Nick Lee. Away from his coverage of the Seahawks and the NFL, Smith dabbles in standup comedy, is a heavy metal enthusiast and previously performed as lead vocalist for a metal band, and enjoys distance running and weight lifting. A habitual commuter, he resides with his wife Natalia in Colorado and spends extensive time reporting from his second residence in the Pacific Northwest.

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