Seahawks defensive grades for their mid-term report card

We’re halfway into the 2019 season. Let’s see how the Seahawks defense has played compared to both last year and the league overall.

The Seahawks defense hasn’t kept pace with the offense in 2019. At the halfway point, the Hawks are ranked 20th in the league in points allowed and 23rd in yardage surrendered. I’m sure all 12s know this intuitively, but to clarify, that’s the worst ranking for Seattle since Pete Carroll first took the helm in 2010. In his second year, Carroll brought the Hawks all the way to seventh and ninth in points and yards allowed. So what exactly is going on?

Even last season, Seattle ranked 11th in points allowed. They were in the middle of the pack in yardage, at 16th, but I’m okay with that. In the final analysis, the scoreboard shows points and nothing else. But 20th in points allowed? This is a far cry from glory days of the Legion of Boom. The Seahawks led the league in defense – that is, least points allowed – for four consecutive years. Again, what happened?

One key difference between the Hawks of that era and the current team is the coaching staff. Current Falcons head coach Dan Quinn was the defensive coordinator for two of those seasons. I think site expert Lee Vowell is on the right track with his call for a return of Quinn. But we’ll get to coaching when we wrap everything up. But now it’s time to talk about the players.