Somebody has to take the fall for the sorry state of the Seahawks’ defense. There are several obvious culprits to point at, but the name at the top of the list has to belong to coach Pete Carroll.
One reason why Seattle has been getting diced up defensively is a refusal to disguise what they’re doing before the snap. According to Pro Football Focus, the Seahawks are staying in the same coverage they show pre-snap on over 92% of their plays, the most in the NFL this season.
Seattle is leading the NFL by doing this over 92% of their defensive snaps https://t.co/IRMZHiea6q
— Eric Eager 📊🏈 (@PFF_Eric) September 27, 2021
That’s not much of a problem when you have players like Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas cleaning things up and daring opponents to do their worst. Seattle simply doesn’t have the talent on the back end (or up front for that matter) to play cover-3-F-U anymore, though. In any case, disguising coverages should be a part of any modern defense – regardless of the personnel involved.
Defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. seems to be the fanbase’s chosen scapegoat here. However, this has always been Pete Carroll’s defense no matter who calls the plays. Direct your disappointment appropriately.
