Seahawks fans should rightfully be asking why Ken Norton Jr is still coaching

The Seattle Seahawks need to find a different defensive coordinator than Ken Norton, Jr.

Enough is enough. The Seahawks defense has never been as bad as it currently is and the blame should be placed on Ken Norton, Jr. Norton, Jr. was a bad defensive coordinator while with the Raiders and in the last three years with Seattle the defense has gotten worse every season. Ken Norton, Jr. needs to be fired.

Seattle’s defense is embarrassingly bad and I for one am tired of hearing excuses. 12s have heard from Pete Carroll that injuries have been a big issue, and while that may be true it doesn’t make sense that a banged up Quinton Dunbar can look good one week against the 49ers and the next week look like he has never played football against the Bills.

One reason Dunbar looked as bad as he did was that the defensive game plan had the cornerbacks were playing 10 yards off receivers at the line and when the ball was snapped instead of running forwards towards the receivers, they retreated. How many simple down and outs did the Bills complete in the first half?

But besides the cushion that the corners were giving, once the Bills receivers caught the ball they were sometimes able to run the ball without being touched for another 10 yards. It was maddening to watch.

So why does Ken Norton, Jr. get the blame? Because he called a decent game against the 49ers and brought pressure and got the best out of players like Bobby Wagner. Wagner had voiced his opinion about wanting to be used to rush the passer and play as if running downhill for some weeks and the Seahawks did not do that until the 49ers game when the defense was dominant for the first three quarters.

Sure, the 49ers were an injured bunch but they are still professional football players and Seattle played without fear against them. In every other game, Seattle seems to be afraid of what an offense will do. They let the opposing offense dictate the pace and play of the game. This is bad coaching.

Defensive stats

Seattle currently sits dead-last in the NFL in total yards allowed per game (455.8) by 37 yards! The Seahawks are last in passing yards allowed per game with 362.1, 52 yards worse than the next-worst team. The rush defense looks decent as no one needs to run against Seattle but the Seahawks have still allowed 11 rushing touchdowns this year, 27th in the league.

Seattle has tried to add talent, like Jamal Adams (who has major issues in coverage), Carlos Dunlap (who looked pretty good in his one game so far) and drafted Jordan Brooks and others. But adding talent is simply wasting talent under Norton, Jr. who doesn’t know how to use the talent he has.

Seattle needs a change. This likely won’t come midseason as it would be very un-Pete Carroll-like but it needs to happen. If not, Seattle could easily miss the playoffs even after starting 5-0. Seattle was embarrassed by the Bills in week 9 and if Norton, Jr. remains the DC in Seattle, they will get embarrassed again this year and probably more than once.