Leonard Williams implies Seahawks have trust issues ahead of Week 9

Head coach Mike Macdonald is not willing to accept the blame for how the Seattle Seahawks defense has played over the last few weeks. One of those games was good. The others? Not so much. Macdonald says that scheme and pre-snap alignments are not the issue.

Veteran Leonard Williams might agree with him, too. Williams spoke up previously this season about some of his teammates seeming to give up during games once the team falls behind. He might have been referring to younger players because veterans such as Tyler Lockett were used to come-from-behind wins under Pete Carroll. The team led the NFL in fourth quarter comebacks last year, for instance.

In the days leading up to Week 9 versus the Los Angeles Rams, Williams was asked about Seattle's poor run defense. He blamed himself as much as any other player. The defensive lineman, though, said that the problem was not the talent on the field but a lack of discipline and a lack of trust among teammates.

Leonard Williams believes the Seahawks need to learn to trust each other better

Williams told the media, "I will use myself as an example, say my gap is the B-gap, and I feel like (the opposing team) is zoning to the right but trying to cut back every time. So, instead of me just staying in my B-gap because I feel like they have been running it on us, now I am going to try to play the A-gap and the B-gap instead of just dominating the B-gap...It's just about us getting back to the basics, trusting our teammate that they are going to do their job, and everyone keeping it rolling."

The implication there, of course, without Williams naming any one player, is that not every Seahawks defensive lineman is doing their job as well as they should. Williams is trying to play two different gaps at times, and that is not going to work efficiently. Whoever has the A-gap next to him needs to play better.

Williams also needs to feel the freedom to trust his teammates, but that means other players need to do well. That certainly hasn't happened in most games since Week 3 for the Seahawks. Other than Williams (who ranks 10th), no other Seahawks interior lineman grades in the Pro Football Focus (subscription required) top 30 in terms of run defense. Meanwhile, two former Seahawks, Poona Ford and Shelby Harris, both rank in the top 18.

Seattle is 29th in rushing yards allowed per game (148.4). In the last four games, though, Seattle has given up at least 155 rushing yards. The Rams are not the league's most productive rushing team, but they have run for more than 100 yards in each of their last four games. They might decide to run quite a bit more in Week 9. Unless the Seahawks can heed Williams' advice to stay disciplined against the run, Los Angeles will probably run at will against Seattle.

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