Seahawks defensive grades from week 8 defeat of Falcons

The Seahawks defeated the Falcons 27-20 in week 8. Like the offense, the defenses success was night and day from half to half.

The Seahawks gave up 460 yards passing to the Falcons backup quarterback on Sunday. A bit over 300 yards of that came in the second half. That isn’t good but the defense was also on the field a ton as the offense wasn’t helping.

The defense might have done just enough to win, but it wasn’t a performance to be proud of. Thankfully, some individual players helped the team win. Here are the grades for Seattle defensive from the defeat of the Falcons in week 8.

Defensive line

Jarran Reed has seemingly made no difference since his return from suspension two games ago. The Seahawks need Reed to be close to what he was in 2018 and get interior pass rush. He’s basically been invisible so far.

Jadeveon Clowney continues to be a player who Seattle needs to do what it can to re-sign to an extension this offseason. His sack numbers aren’t there because he’s getting no help but he has been extremely disruptive this year. Against the Falcons Clowney had a sack and four quarterback hits. Imagine what Seattle’s defense would be without him?

Grades: Line besides Clowney, D+; Clowney A+

Linebackers

Mychal Kendricks had a nice interception of Matt Schaub in the first half. Bobby Wagner had a sack. K.J. Wright was in on 10 tackles. Still, Seattle played Cody Barton a bit in the second half when Seattle gave up 20 points to the Falcons. It was almost as if Seattle was treating the second half like a preseason game.

Grade: B+

Secondary

The Seahawks missed Tre Flowers a lot. In fact, the game really showed how much value Flowers has to Seattle. Atlanta abused whichever corner was playing on the opposite side of the field than Shaquill Griffin. Griffin, however, continues to be very good this season and might be becoming the number one corner Seattle hopes he will be.

Marquise Blair was good again. This was his second start and he showed that he should be Seattle’s long-term starting strong safety. He forced a fumble in the first half and led the team with 11 tackles.

Grade: B-