Notes from the Nest: Seahawks play real football…kinda

Seahawks defensive line got lots of pressure

• I was very impressed with the consistent pressure the d-line put on the Steelers, considering the struggles in the secondary.
• There’s a lot of hope in Darrel Taylor becoming that premier pass rusher that Seattle has lacked since the days of Bennett and Avril. Taylor showed that explosive speed, nearly getting a sack on Trubisky, before failing to finish the job.
• This was a theme for the team last year, but specifically for Taylor. He finished the year with 6.5 sacks in 16 games last year. He easily missed out on 10+ sacks with his failure to rap up. If he can finish in these critical moments, Seattle may get a 12+ sack season out of Taylor, which would be the best Seattle has seen since 2018.
• The most pleasant surprise on the defensive side of the ball was that of rookie edge rusher Boye Mafe. In his first NFL experience, Mafe was the most impressive defensive player on the field, collecting two sacks and a forced fumble.
• It’s early, but you could see the speed, power, and smarts on both plays. The Seahawks haven’t seen that from a rookie in a long time.
• There will be growing pains for both Taylor and Mafe, but I believe both could be #2 type pass rushers on good teams, and the chance of Seattle nailing down two of those is huge for the rebuild.