3 takeaways from frustrating Seattle Seahawks Week 3 loss
By Jake Luppino
Defense couldn’t get off the field
The Minnesota Vikings had their way offensively. Kirk Cousins was able to sit back in the pocket and just hit open wideouts while seamlessly marching there up way up the field. It was touched upon after the game, but many are blaming the horrendous defense on the “schematics”. The Seahawks philosophy has always been keep everything in front of you. Vikings WR Justin Jefferson would have been able to catch a curl on nearly every play as the Seahawks defensive backs were overplaying the deep ball.
The fear of playing man to man is resulting in this team getting picked apart with their zone defense. The Vikings put together methodical drive after methodical drive, frustrating the Seahawks defensive backs. Minnesota was 9-14 on third downs. Many of those conversions coming on throws outside of the numbers to a wide-open pass catcher.
In the second half of last year, the Seattle defense was able to mask up some of their secondary issues by applying pressure upfront. Over the last two weeks, the pass rush hasn’t complimented the secondary. I don’t know if this means bringing more pressure up front or drop more people back into coverage, but the Seahawks need to figure something out.
The solution is unknown, but the Seahawks do have some options. CB Richard Sherman is still a free agent. CB Sidney Jones is on the sidelines awaiting his opportunity to get some reps. There may even be a potential trade they have on their minds. Nevertheless, the Seahawks defense needs to get better. It starts up front with generating more pressure.