The Seattle Seahawks won a heart-attack inducing game against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football, 30-29, to move to 4-1 on the season.
It’s been a strong start to the year for the Seahawks, but one area the team has not excelled as much as expected has been in the pass rush.
Despite strong starts from Quinton Jefferson and Rasheem Green, Seattle’s new veterans – Jadeveon Clowney and Ziggy Ansah – have been a little slow to develop to their new system.
Clowney seems to be breaking through however, after recording an interception in Week 4 against the Cardinals that he returned for a touchdown, and forcing and recovering a fumble against the Rams.
In fact, coach Pete Carroll thinks Clowney could have had an even better night.
“Clowney was so close to having a huge night,” Carroll commented on Friday. “He was all over, arms up and just missed probably four different times to knock balls down and to be a factor on the plays. He was wild with his rushes, I thought he did a great job, it just didn’t show up numbers wise. He had an effect.”
Clowney finished the game with three combined tackles, one quarterback hit, one tackle for a loss and the fumble, so it’s not like his day was bad by any means.
The Seahawks will get elite pass rusher Jarran Reed back soon, and adding him to the mix along with Ansah, Jefferson, Green, Clowney and potentially rookie L.J. Collier should make the Seahawks a much more formidable pass rushing team in the second half of the season.
That is especially scary considering the team is still 4-1 even with a pass rush that has underperformed.
