Three scary preseason Seahawks trends that could last into the season

Third down defense

Third down defense is about putting defenders in the right position to stop a team from picking up third down. Seahawks defensive coordinator Ken Norton, Jr. struggles mightily at how to do this. What the Raiders did when needing a third down – of any distance, mind you – in preseason game one wasn’t surprising. It’s what teams have done against the Seahawks in recent seasons and must be changed.

Third down defense will get Seattle beat in the regular season and in the postseason. In the playoffs, opposing teams will take advantage of any weakness and stopping teams from picking up first downs on third down is a massive weakness for Seattle. Part of the issue is that Seattle’s cornerbacks seem less aggressive than they used to and allow to many receptions in front of them near the first-down line.

In the 2020 regular season, Seattle was 27th in allowing third down conversions at 47.1 percent. This was arguably Seattle’s best defense by the end of the season that Seattle had had since Norton became the defensive coordinator in 2018. Seattle was better on third down in 2019 and even better in 2018. This means Seattle’s third down defense is actually getting worse each year.

Las Vegas picked up a ridiculous 11 of 17 third down attempts. This was one huge reason that the Raiders held the ball for 40 minutes and 37 seconds of the clock. If Seattle is going to make a deep run in the playoffs, the Seahawks third down defense needs to get much better.