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The Seahawks secondary is terrible says Pro Football Focus

By Lee Vowell

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 05: Michael Gallup #13 of the Dallas Cowboys comes down with the touchdown reception against Shaquill Griffin #26 of the Seattle Seahawks in the second quarter during the Wild Card Round at AT&T Stadium on January 05, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 05: Michael Gallup #13 of the Dallas Cowboys comes down with the touchdown reception against Shaquill Griffin #26 of the Seattle Seahawks in the second quarter during the Wild Card Round at AT&T Stadium on January 05, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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Once known as the Legion of Boom, the Seahawks secondary was the strength of the team. But Pro Football Focus says the unit is now a weakness.

When the Seahawks were going to back-to-back Super Bowls in 2013 and 2014 a big reason for their success was the secondary. Three players on the Legion of Boom could potentially make the Hall of Fame one day: Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. In 2019, though, the secondary is no longer a strength of the team. But are they really bad?

The unit is terrible, says Pro Football Focus. According to PFF, Seattle has the 31st best – or second worst – secondary in the NFL this season. Think about that for a second. In three years, Seattle has gone from one of the best to one of the worst.

PFF places a lot of the blame for the secondary’s seeming lack of success on third-year cornerback Shaquill Griffin. Griffin, of course, wasn’t great last year but his numbers probably also look worse than they really were. PFF had Griffin ranked as the second worst corner in the league in 2018 (Griffin allowed a passer-rating-against of 100.4) and that simply wasn’t the case.

Griffin, though, has lost weight this offseason and vowed to be much better. Plus, he is coached by one of the best secondary coaches in league history in Pete Carroll. Griffin will improve simply because he is coached by Carroll.

Per PFF:

"31. SEATTLE SEAHAWKSCB Shaquill GriffinCB Tre FlowersCB Jamar TaylorS Tedric ThompsonS Bradley McDougaldWe’re now entering Year 3 of the Shaquil Griffin experiment, and it’s worth questioning if things will ever turn around. Griffin allowed a passer rating of 100.4 in his coverage last year while breaking up only five passes."

Right corner Tre Flowers could make a big jump this year too. He was already better than expected last season but with a year of experience might feel a lot more confident to take chances on getting jumps on passes he wouldn’t have last year.

dark. Next. Ranking Seahawks five best players in 2019

Will the Seahawks have the second worst secondary in 2019? Most likely not. Probably they will be much improved and PFF is simply wrong about their rankings. If PFF is correct, however, Seattle will not make the playoffs this year.

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