Seattle Seahawks defense becomes a punchline on social media after loss to Steelers

Heading into their Week 17 matchup with the Steelers, the Seahawks were riding on the high of back-to-back exciting wins against the Eagles and Titans. They were their first wins after a heartbreaking stretch of losses, which made it seem like their chances against another 8-7 team like a winnable game.

Unfortunately, they followed up two outstanding performances with an absolute stinker, and the saddest part about it is it was primarily due to the inefficiencies of the defense.

Besides Geno Smith being back in the lineup, nothing about the offense was different. Kenneth Walker did leave the game when he reaggravated his shoulder injury, but the ball was spread around to almost every pass catcher on the team, and they all contributed to the offensive effort.

D.K. Metcalf rose to the top, recording five receptions for 106 yards, Jaxon Smith-Njigba added another score to his rookie resume, and Zach Charbonnet did all he could to help fill in for Walker. They kept the game from getting too out of control, as they ended up losing by just one score.

But the defense? Their master class in how not to tackle has gained traction online. It was an utter disaster that had fans sharing their disappointment and disgust during the game and in the hours since it ended as well.

The Seahawks defense, in totality, was off their game against the Steelers

From poor tackling to allowing opposing running backs to literally do whatever they wanted on the field, the Seahawks defense was hard to watch on Sunday. It has been a consistent problem this season, despite the amount of talent on their roster, and it reared its ugly head in a game that could have sealed their post-season fate.

What should have been an easier outing against a backup quarterback Mason Rudolph and an underperforming offense wound up being Seattle's kryptonite, which to some fans felt all too familiar.

Because Steelers' Najee Harris (27 carries for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns) and George Pickens (7 receptions for 131 yards) had the best games of the season on Sunday, one fan reminded us all that this isn't the first time we've heard that about a player or two this year.

To make matters worse, Harris is said to have gained 118 of his rushing yards after contact, according to Next Gen Stats. That means he only recorded 4 yards before contact, and the rest came because of the absolute lack of defensive tackling.

They have now allowed the most rushing yards (1,102) and rushing touchdowns (13) this season. Long gone are the days of the Legion of Boom; here are the days of the Legion of Gloom.

And because of their lackluster effort in that area, the Steelers totaled a season-high 468 total yards in the game, which prompted another fan to post a meme regarding the Seahawks' absence of proper tackling.

With just one game left of the regular season and the outcome dictating whether or not they make the playoffs this year, the Seahawks need to kick it into high gear and avoid having a repeat of this performance. They can't continue to play "keep away,", as Geno Smith said in the post-game press conference.

That won't be enough to ensure a win over the Cardinals, who have nothing to lose and everything to gain by ruining a divisional rivals playoff hopes in the last week of the season.

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