Seahawks Pass Rush Couldn't Crack Packers Front in Week 15

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love is one of the least-sacked quarterbacks in the NFL this season. The Seattle Seahawks didn't bring him down once.

Connor Benintendi | 4 Hours Ago

Dec 15, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love (10) passes the ball against the Seattle Seahawks during the second half at Lumen Field. / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

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Seattle Seahawks

For just the third time this season, the Seattle Seahawks had zero sacks in their Week 15 primetime loss to the Green Bay Packers.

It was the latest display of Seattle’s pass rush getting consistent pressure but failing to convert those into negative plays for the opposing team. The Seahawks’ pressure-to-sack percentage (P2S%) continues to fall, and they now rank 27th in the league (12.21 percent), per Pro Football Focus data.

“We just didn’t create enough passing situations, and then when we did, we didn’t marry it up,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said of the team’s performance on Sunday. “It’s going to be the same answer all the time, it’s just the way it goes. You deny the ball, the quarterback holds it, your rush wins, you get sacks. You don’t do that, he’s going to throw it, or he’s going to scramble and create extended plays. That’s what happens.”

The league average P2S% this season is 14.70 percent, and the New York Giants have remained in the top spot for most of this season at 19.25 percent after Week 15. The Seahawks are fifth in team pressures (262) through 14 games, but below average in other pass-rush categories.

Packers quarterback Jordan Love only dropped back to pass 28 times, and he faced pressure on 19 of those dropbacks (67.9 percent). However, with an average time to throw of 2.76 seconds, Seattle couldn’t get to Love quickly enough.

On the flipside, Green Bay pressured Seahawks quarterbacks Geno Smith and Sam Howell on 34 of 42 dropbacks (81 percent). Seattle’s offensive line couldn’t keep their passers clean as the Seahawks were forced to throw the ball early via a quick deficit.

Defensive tackle Jarran Reed and edge rushers Derick Hall and Boye Mafe each logged three pressures to lead the Seahawks. Rookie first-round pick Byron Murphy II and defensive lineman Leonard Williams each had two.

Hall had three quarterback hits on his own while the rest of the team had just four. The second-year rusher was by far Seattle’s best pass rusher in a down game for the Seahawks.

Williams remains the Seahawks’ leading pass rusher with 42 pressures (T-10th in NFL among interior defensive linemen) and seven sacks (T-5th). Hall has 39 pressures and six sacks.

Seattle’s defense has been at its best when striking fear in opposing quarterbacks, forcing them to either extend plays with their legs or take sacks in the pocket. The only other games this season the Seahawks haven’t logged one or more sacks were in Week 6 against the San Francisco 49ers and in Week 9 against the Los Angeles Rams.

The Seahawks will face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 16, who have allowed pressure on Sam Darnold on 33.3 percent of his 493 dropbacks this season. Darnold has been sacked far more than Love, however, being brought down 42 times this season — fourth-most in the NFL. Only Chicago’s Caleb Williams (58), Houston’s C.J. Stroud (45) and Seattle’s Smith (43) have been sacked more this season.

If Smith can’t play for the Seahawks on Sunday, the defense will have to be even better if Seattle hopes to defeat a red-hot Vikings team. That will include a need to make Darnold’s life difficult.