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What's Behind Seattle Seahawks Continued Struggles Defending the Run?

Fans may be hoping for a simple solution to fixing the Seahawks' run defense woes, but it's a multi-faceted problem that will require improvements at all three levels.

Corbin K. Smith

Oct 6, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald during the first half against the New York Giants at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
Oct 6, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald during the first half against the New York Giants at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
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RENTON, Wash. - Navigating his first adversity as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Mike Macdonald has a familiar problem that he needs to tackle quickly to help his team get back on track after losing back-to-back games to the Detroit Lions and New York Giants.

As has been the case far too often for the past two seasons, the Seahawks have been abysmal defending the run in recent weeks, regressing after a strong season opener against the Broncos. Since then, they have surrendered 135 rushing yards per game over their last four contests, including allowing the Giants - who entered Sunday with the 30th ranked run game in the NFL - to carve their defense up for 175 rushing yards and 5.1 yards per carry without starting running back Devin Singletary in a stunning 29-20 defeat.

After allowing sixth-round pick Tyrone Tracy to run wild with a career-high 129 rushing yards, the Seahawks currently rank 21st in the NFL in total run defense and 16th in yards per carry. Though those rankings are significant improvements from last year, Macdonald has been frustrated by the lack of execution at all three levels and knows the group must shore things up quickly with the talented 49ers coming to town on Thursday night.

"I can't quote you the rush stats, but we're not stopping the run the way we need to be in certain coverages that we're asking them to do," Macdonald told reporters on Monday. "That's on the edge guys, but it's on the interior guys, it's on second level players. It's all eleven guys."

What's gone wrong so far for Macdonald's defense defending the run? And can these issues quickly be remedied?

Statistically, the Seahawks have been plagued the most on the ground by trouble setting the edge and limiting damage off tackle and to the perimeter, particularly in their last two games that resulted in losses. Per Pro Football Focus charting, they allowed 146 rushing yards on runs directed behind the tackle or wider, including 59 yards and more than seven yards per carry to Tracy alone on such runs in Sunday's game.

Turning on the All-22 film, as Macdonald discussed on Monday, there isn't one player or a single position group to blame for these difficulties. From outside linebackers losing contain to force players failing to come up from cornerback or safety spots to make a play to poor gap integrity, a litany of team-wide issues have led to numerous explosive runs over the past two weeks.

"If the ball squirts out and you force the ball, but your secondary contained player isn't where he's supposed to be, which I'm not saying that happened in every situation, it could be a corner and the ball gets out," Macdonald explained. "So to attribute it to just the edge players, I think is unfair to those guys. There's plenty for them to work on as well. But your run stat, it's a team stat. It's all eleven guys and how it works together."

Against the Lions, many of those symptoms cropped up as David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs ran wild with 118 rushing yards and three touchdowns between them on Monday Night Football.

On an outside zone run in the first quarter, the Lions broke the huddle with 12 personnel, putting both tight ends attached on the left side of the line and running to the strong side. Outside linebacker Trevis Gipson initially was chipped by the outside tight end before being sealed inside by a double team, while linebacker Tyrice Knight wasn't able to strafe outside on the spilled run and cornerback Riq Woolen lost outside leverage against a receiver, allowing Montgomery to get to the sideline for a 13-yard gain.

Understanding that the Seahawks preferred to play in two-deep coverages, the Lions continued to line up in heavy formations with multiple tight ends against an undermanned front, creating additional gaps that Macdonald's defense consistently wasn't able to account for. In just one example, on a duo run from under center, Detroit double teamed nose tackle Quinton Bohanna and Knight came up to the play side A-gap, forcing Gibbs to cut the run back to his left where Seattle had nobody to fill a wide open B-gap, allowing the back to scamper for a 16-yard gain.

Similar problems cropped up against the Giants on Sunday, who didn't rely on heavy formations as much as the Lions did but brought the mobile threat of Daniel Jones at quarterback to the equation against a defense that continued to struggle with injuries.

Dialing up a dive play from shotgun in 11 personnel, Jones handed the ball off to Tracy and initially, the Seahawks did a good job of stuffing the intended run lane with Jarran Reed and Jerome Baker forcing him to bounce outside. Unfortunately, defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins misread the back turning up to the B-gap and got caught inside, while edge Dre'Mont Jones was too far upfield and wasn't able to trip him up on a diving attempt, allowing the back to turn the play into a seven-yard gain and a first down.

Aside from being unable to corral Tracy on cutback runs off the edge, the Seahawks were snake bitten by issues executing run fits with multiple defenders winding up in the same gap. In the second half, the Giants called a trap out of shotgun with the left guard pulling and Dodson read the puller to guide him to the ball, shooting up to the play side A-gap with hopes of quickly penetrating to make a tackle at the line of scrimmage or in the backfield.

Unfortunately, Leonard Williams was driven back inside by a double team and collided with Dodson, taking both out of the play as the pulling guard kicked out Baker on a trap block, creating a big running lane for Tracy. The back eventually cut back outside at the second level, sprinting towards the sideline on a 25-yard run.

Coupling in 11 missed tackles, with the majority of those coming on run plays, on top of leverage and gap issues, the Seahawks made far too many fundamental mistakes on Sunday to overcome, letting the Giants set the tone from the opening kickoff.

If there's a silver lining, none of these problems appear to be personnel related as much as poor execution, which can be cleaned up if players take to coaching and the coaches implement the proper adjustments, including being more willing to use single-high looks for extra safety help in the box to combat being outgapped. Run fits can be shored up at the second level, force players can be put in a better position to make plays, and as demonstrated earlier in the season, Seattle's defenders are more than capable of making tackles and taking crisper pursuit angles to ball carriers.

While injuries have been a major obstacle in the past few games with Williams, Byron Murphy, Uchenna Nwosu, and others up front missing time, the interior defensive line has been rock solid most of the season. As for the edge, there are obvious areas of improvement that need to be addressed, but as Macdonald said, that's far from the only area that has struggled executing assignments and second/third level defenders need to do their part supporting them on off tackle and boundary runs.

Ultimately, the Seahawks have to quickly get their players on the same page, attacking the film room to learn from the mistakes made filling gaps and setting the edge among other things. If they can get the mental aspect of the game sharpened in quick order and communication catches up with physical talent, better results will come, but those efforts better be underway with a sense of urgency or the 49ers could run them out of their own building on Thursday night.

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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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