Building steam with a grain of salt: 3 things we learned from Seahawks Week 3 victory

Can the Seahawks go one week without blowing coverage?

I understand the defense is hurt on every level right now. I get that Jamal Adams, when fully healthy, is a game-changing talent with the ability to affect the defense at every level, in every aspect of stopping an offense, and at every point during the game. It makes sense to me that a team missing two of its best coverage players would not be as effective.

But it's one thing to give up 300 yards passing in each of your first three games. It's another to do it in the manner the Seahawks have done it. Devon Witherspoon has been a revelation ever since taking the field for the first time against the Lions. Quandre Diggs has been as solid as ever. Jordyn Brooks has evolved his coverage to the next level, and the Lance Briggs comparisons I once made with KJ Wright may soon apply to him, as well.

So why is it that every week, the Seahawks are giving up dozens of yards to wide-open receivers whose defenders are in parts of the play that aren't even close to relevant? And why is it that when those blown coverages happen, Julian Love always seems to be in proximity to the play? I can't say.

It's not unusual to give up 300 passing yards in a game anymore, even if the defense plays well. The number isn't the important aspect here. But if the Seahawks can stop giving opponents basically a free score every game, it will do so much for the game tempo, and it will take pressure off the team to score on every possession.

It hasn't cost them any games they weren't already going to lose yet, but coverage misses like that could end up being the difference between a division champ and a Wild Card team. And with crowds like the one that was in Lumen Field on Sunday, those playoff home games will be vital for this team to make a deep playoff run.