Notes from the Nest: Seahawks dominate in Week 7, take NFC West lead

The Seahawks bear front is a game changer

Stopping the run is so important to Seattle’s success. When you stop the run as they did, it allows the defense to pin their ears back and attack the quarterback. The Seahawks were able to register three sacks on Justin Herbert, including a sack-fumble that led to points. That doesn’t even tell the whole story, as Herbert never had time to throw. He was constantly running for his life, being forced to check it down to Ekeler.

The past two weeks, we’ve seen the defense look and play like a top-tier defense. We know the defense has switched their trench play from a traditional 3-4 to back to the bear front that we’ve seen the past few years. There’s no question that the run defense and pass rush has improved in the past two weeks.

The bear front is aggressive and makes it vital that your linebackers finish tackles, and the secondary needs to be elite, in case the pressure doesn’t get home. What we saw on Sunday was the linebackers doing enough, never letting Ekeler break off a huge play. If they’re average, this defense can be average at a minimum. With Tariq Woolen, Coby Bryant and even Michael Jackson playing as incredible as they did on Sunday, this defense can work, and even be good.