The shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday has Seattle Seahawks fans worried about the defense, and for good reason. What had initially been viewed as a strength of the roster has suddenly morphed into an area of concern.
But it’s not just that the defense gave up 38 points in the loss, with only 10 coming on the back of a Seattle turnover. It’s not just that Tampa Bay’s offense picked up 446 yards, a season-high mark for their impressive unit, or that Baker Mayfield had a near-perfect performance. Because all of those are issues brought on by one symptom: poor tackling.
Through five weeks, the Seahawks are nearly leading the league in missed tackles, their 46 falling just short of the Cincinnati Bengals’ league-worst 49. Seattle, tied with the New York Jets for the second-most missed tackles, is just one of two teams with more than 35 missed tackles while still holding a winning record.
How Mike Macdonald plans to fix the Seattle Seahawks' tackling woes
Seattle missed 10 tackles against Tampa Bay. Most of that damage was done in the open field. Tampa’s run game was largely ineffective without Bucky Irving, but through the air, the Bucs racked up 204 of their 379 passing yards after the catch.
"We missed too many [tackles], especially on the perimeter," Macdonald said after the game. "So it's a technique thing and an all-11 type of thing. So really, as a defense, we have to play better, we have to take better angles, think we need to practice it better. I know we train the heck out of it, but it's not showing up on tape right now, so we got to keep attacking it."
Considering head coach Mike Macdonald has already revitalized the defense in several areas in his short time with the franchise, this issue wasn’t one Seahawks fans expected to encounter this season. The defense got off to a fiery start this season, but the lapse in tackling consistency is something Macdonald has had an eye on all season.
"We missed tackles earlier in the year as well, but they didn't show up as much,” Macdonald said. “We have more guys at the point of attack, and it's a lot easier to take your shot when I'm next to you and I got three guys behind me ready to clean it up for me rather than just me versus you out in the open field."
To be fair to the situation, Seattle’s defense is riddled with injuries, particularly on the backend. Julian Love, Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Derrick Hall, and DeMarcus Lawrence are all dealing with injuries. It’s as solid a reason for a step down in overall play, but as far as excuses go, it’s not the most easily acceptable one out there. After all, tackling is the most basic fundamental skill for a defender to have.
Those guys will eventually return, and hopefully, they will bring more discipline to the fundamental skill of tackling when they do.
In the meantime, Macdonald said on his Monday show with Seattle Sports that the tackling isn’t up to standard and that he and his staff are evaluating the situation.
“It must be better, there’s way too many hidden yardage out there where it’s putting us in more defensive positions and guys are getting leaky yardage on us, so, it needs to improve,” Macdonald said.
Obviously, in the NFL, there isn’t a lot of live tackling at practice. Macdonald suggested that the team could amp up the tempo at practice and ‘thud’ in open space as potential avenues for the defense to course correct.
Seattle’s defense needs a quick turnaround ahead of their Week 8 BYE. This week, they’ll take on the Jacksonville Jaguars, who took advantage of poor tackling efforts from Kansas City Monday night to get a momentous primetime victory.