'Starts With Me': Seattle Seahawks' Tyrel Dodson Ready to Step Up Game, Fix Run Defense

Displeased with his own performance last week in Foxboro, Tyrel Dodson plans to take on a lead role shoring up the Seahawks run defense.

Sep 15, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson (38) loses control of the ball against Seattle Seahawks linebacker Tyrel Dodson (0) in the second half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

RENTON, Wash. - Through the first two games of the Mike Macdonald era, the Seattle Seahawks have demonstrated marked improvements on defense compared to a year ago, improving to 13th in scoring defense and sixth in total yards allowed so far.

But while the Seahawks have undoubtedly played better on that side of the football to this point, plenty of work remains for the unit to reach their potential. In fact, starting middle linebacker Tyrel Dodson felt the group took a step back in last week's 23-20 overtime win over the Patriots, specifically citing issues stopping Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson, who rushed for a combined 122 yards on just 17 carries in the final two quarters of regulation.

After finishing 31st in run defense a year ago, even though Dodson wasn't a member of the team at the time, it provided an ugly reminder of Seattle's struggles getting steamrolled by opponents on the ground, and the sixth-year defender has put the onus on himself to ensure that trend doesn't continue moving forward.

"I'm not happy about last week, to be honest with you," Dodson told reporters before Thursday's practice. "The run game, that's how you make your bread and butter in the NFL, making the offense one-dimensional and you got to do that by stopping the run. We're making good progress, but the progress still has to be the number one thing, which is no one runs on us. That's the most disrespectful thing, in my opinion, is an offense running the ball on you. So we got to get that fixed and it starts with me. I got to up my game in the run defense, so I'm ready to do that this week."

For a half in Foxboro, the Seahawks held their own shutting down Stevenson and Gibson, holding the duo to 54 rushing yards on 13 carries with the lone blemish being a 19-yard run that set up a Patriots field goal in the second quarter. Coming off a 120-yard performance in the opener, Stevenson averaged just 2.8 yards per carry in the half with the defense swarming him every time he touched the football.

However, New England stuck with the run game in the second half and old cracks began to resurface for Seattle, including poor tackling and poor execution of run fits.

Recommitting to the ground game, the Patriots largely leaned on Stevenson and Gibson on a methodical 11-play, 66-yard touchdown drive to retake the lead early in the fourth quarter, with Stevenson pounding the rock into the end zone on a wild cat run. On the next series, edge defender Boye Mafe appeared to have Gibson dead to right four yards in the backfield, only to miss the tackle and watch the former Memphis standout break two other tackles on his way to a 45-yard gain.

If there's a silver lining, safety Julian Love blocked a Joey Slye field goal at the end of the drive, and the Seahawks came back with a vengeance on their final defensive drive in overtime, as Dodson flew downhill and teamed up with defensive tackle Jarran Reed to stuff Stevenson on 3rd and 1 to force a punt on a three-and-out possession.

"CP [Chris Partridge], our outside linebacker's coach, he put that clip up throughout the week and he only showed it one time, so I know if he shows something it's real. So I just trusted myself. The defensive line made some great push up front and I made a big play for my team," Dodson said.

Remaining unblemished as one of nine teams with an undefeated record, the Seahawks currently rank 21st in rushing defense, which represents tangible improvement from last year's ineptitude but also still remains far from where the team wants to be. Per Pro Football Reference, Macdonald's defense has left too many plays on the field, sitting seventh overall in missed tackles (17), with the majority of those whiffs coming against the run.

Last week in particular, Seattle also suffered from problems maintaining contain off the edge against off tackle runs and working off blocks at the second level, which allowed Stevenson and Gibson to enjoy great success for most of the second half.

Those issues will need to be ironed out by the Seahawks promptly with the explosive Dolphins coming to town on Sunday. Even though quarterback Tua Tagovailoa won't play due to a concussion suffered against the Bills last week and will be replaced by backup Skylar Thompson, his absence will put more of an emphasis on a strong rushing attack featuring a pair of dynamic backs in Raheem Mostert and De'Von Achane, who combined to rush for 1,812 yards and 26 touchdowns last season for the NFL's second-best scoring offense.

As Dodson noted, Macdonald has taken the sword publicly by calling out his own play calling and scheming, but he and his teammates have to be accountable for their lack of execution. Knowing the upcoming opponent well from his time playing against them in the AFC East, he believes the key will be sharpening fine details on the practice field, ensuring Seattle's defense takes quality pursuit angles to the football and finishes tackles as a swarm to prevent Mostert and Achane from ripping off big gains to take pressure off of Thompson.

"Speed, man. They got a lot of speed. I got a lot of respect for those guys coming from the AFC East. Guys better be drinking their water and better put their track shoes on because of the speed, a lot of misdirection and just trying to mess up your eyes. So if you stay fundamentally sound, I think we'll be all right."