Week 5 proves Ken Norton Jr. is not only issue with Seahawks defense

Seahawks defensive coordinator Ken Norton, Jr. is not good at his job. But the personnel on the Seattle defense is a big part of the problem, Scheme has been an issue in Seattle since Norton, Jr. came to be the DC in 2018 but let me ask you this: Even if Norton, Jr.’s scheme put players in the right spots, could Jamal Adams cover any better? No.

Seattle is supposed to have a bunch of talented pass rushers. Talent should be able to overcome scheme quite a bit when it comes to chasing down quarterbacks. Except for Darrell Taylor, every other edge rusher for the Seahawks has been inconsistent or not good. For instance, Carlos Dunlap has more passes defended this year (2) than sacks (0).

Seattle has 10 sacks as a team in 2021 in five games. That’s bad. Taylor has four of them. No other player, and I am not making this up, has more than one. The rest of the defensive line by itself has as many sacks (4) as Taylor does by himself. Taylor also leads the team in quarterback hits (5) and is tied for the lead in tackles-for-loss (3). So, yes, Darrell Taylor doesn’t have to run laps like the rest of the team.

Seahawks defensive personnel just as bad as Ken Norton, Jr. in 2021

Seattle also gives up 4.5 yards a carry, 21st in the NFL. So, no, the Seahawks run defense isn’t good either. This entire defense stinks. And while coaching and designing a defense that puts players in the best spots to succeed is clearly important we once again saw that Seattle can get beat even if there isn’t an issue with scheme.

To be more specific, the Rams completed a 68-yard throw and catch when Matthew Stafford looked like he just threw the ball towards the direction of DeSean Jackson before Stafford got hit. Heck, Stafford threw it and then turned his head in the other direction. Jamal Adams must have done the same thing because while he was near Jackson he made no attempt to make a play on the ball. Jackson was able to catch the pass easily and run for another 30 yards. Adams got completed lost on the pass.

Adams has zero sacks this year and had 9.5 sacks in 2020. He has zero quarterback hits. He is being blitzed less this year but he is still being blitzed. Adams, per Pro Football Focus, is graded as the 62nd-best safety in the NFL so far in 2021. No matter what the scheme is, Adams is not playing well enough.

At some point, players just need to be players and make football plays. Norton, Jr. might not design defenses well or call the right defensive calls but the player have to communicate better themselves on the field. The secondary misses receiver switches too many times, seemed confused whether the play called is man coverage or zone. Quandre Diggs leads the team in passes defended this year with 3. Four players have two passes defended and only one of them (Marquise Blair) is a secondary player. That’s atrocious.

The interior of the line allows gaps too often as well. This happens more in the second half and possibly because the defense is beginning to get tired. But when it comes to teams have third and short or fourth and short, I have no faith that Seattle can stop them. And this comes down to the players going head-to-head with an opponent and getting beat. That’s not coaching, that is personnel.

It is easy to overreact to what we have seen from the Seahawks this year (last in total yards allowed and 28th in yards-allowed-per-play) but we are now five games into the season and the trends that started early in the season haven’t changed or gotten better. Ken Norton, Jr. needs to be fired but the defensive personnel needs to be changed in the offseason too.