Seattle Seahawks: 5 takeaways from loss versus Bills
By Jake Luppino
Quinton Dunbar was awful
In Week 8 against San Francisco, the Seahawks were without Shaquill Griffin, Ugo Amadi, Jamal Adams and they did a fantastic job. In Week 9, once again without Shaq and Ugo, the secondary really struggled. With Tre Flowers on one side and Quinton Dunbar on the other with DJ Reed in the slot, the Bills were able to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. The first four Bills possessions went as follows: touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown.
When the Seahawks offense first touched the ball, they were down 7-0 and had a quick three and out. They punted the ball back over and before you know it, the Seahawks were down 14-0. I do not think the Bills had one rushing play on their opening drive. They simply felt the Seahawks secondary was too bad to guard them and apparently, they were right.
#Seahawks have allowed 397 yards or more passing four times already this season (Ryan, Newton, Prescott, Allen).
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) November 10, 2020
They allowed 397 or more passing yards four times in the previous three seasons combined.
The amount of yardage is just not acceptable when you cannot force any turnovers. I know Russell Wilson didn’t play his best game, but it was primarily due to the fact that he was trying to do too much with the football. The Seahawks were down so big and the defense wasn’t giving them any breaks that Wilson had to be Superman in order for this to be close.
If I were to pin the blame on anyone, it would be Quinton Dunbar. He played with 0 effort and 0 intensity. He was barely going for tackles and was getting beat in coverage on long down and distances. He is playing in his contract year, so he better step-up the play if he wants to get paid. Last year, he was one of the better graded CB’s by PFF. This year, he looks like a completely different player.
Here is what Coach Carroll had to say about his playing style.
Asked Pete Carroll about #Seahawks CB Quinton Dunbar giving Bills WRs way too much space off the line before snaps. Like, all-the-way-to-Erie space.
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) November 10, 2020
It wasn't all just because of his knee injury.
Carroll's full answer, which is kind of a head-shaker: pic.twitter.com/pjF0UXNyCq
Whatever the problem is, it needs to be addressed. With the front four slowly coming along, this back end can finally start playing up to its expectations. With Shaquill Griffin still in concussion protocol, his status for Sunday’s game remains up in the air. The Rams have the potential of having an explosive offense, so it is instrumental that this Seattle backend performs up to standard this Sunday.
Next. What should the Seahawks do with Ken Norton, Jr.?. dark
This game is crucial for many reasons. Not only do the Seahawks want to maintain their first-place hold on the division, but they also want to push their competitors down further as well. I do not expect Wilson to have another poor game, but if the defense plays as it did against the Bills, we could be in for another long day. As Bobby Wagner said after the defeat to the Cardinals, it’s put up or shut-up time.