The Seahawks finally have a defense on the rise after years of hanging out at the bottom.
Regardless of whether or not the Seattle Seahawks make the playoffs, there is one major in-season accomplishment that I believe is worth spotlighting given the expectations of first-year head coach Mike Macdonald.
The Seahawks defense has turned itself around since the bye week and has been one of the best groups in the NFL. There were the highs of the 3-0 start when they dominated the likes of rookie Bo Nix (who’s been much better since that game) and career backup Skylar Thompson, then the horrid stretch of performances against the Detroit Lions, New York Giants, San Francisco 49ers, and Buffalo Bills.
Trades were made. Players were cut and benched. Schematic adjustments were made to correct an ineffective run defense. The results have not been perfect but they’re markedly improved since over the past two months.
Seahawks defensive rankings prior to the bye week:
EPA/play: 20th
EPA/dropback: 18th
Rush EPA: 21st
DVOA: 15th (16th pass, 18th rush)
Yards per play: 19th
Seahawks defensive rankings after the bye week
EPA/play: 8th
EPA/dropback: 13th
Rush EPA: 12th
DVOA: 11th (could rise after Week 17 is over)
Seahawks defensive rankings from Weeks 11-17
EPA/play: 4th
EPA/dropback: 5th
Rush EPA: 5th
Yards per play: 3rd
Contrast that with what the numbers looked like at the same time last year.
Thursday’s 6-3 win over the Chicago Bears marked the third time this season the Seahawks have held the opposition out of the end zone, the most such instances for Seattle since the 2016 season.
I did not say the Seahawks defense is now great or elite or whichever term of lavish praise you want to use. They weren’t great in their toughest matchups against the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings, but they were not completely overmatched from start to finish like we’ve seen in seasons past (and even at times in the early portion of 2024). The extremely sackable Caleb Williams notwithstanding, Seattle’s pass rush hasn’t been the best at converting pressures into sacks, there have been issues generating negative plays/tackles for loss all season, and the defense is on pace for its fewest turnovers in franchise history. They’re not in the top tier just yet.
There’s always room for improvement but I also think that today’s NFL makes it functionally impossible to ever have a Legion of Boom level of dominant defense. It’s okay if the Seahawks do not have the absolute best defense in the league or even top three. All I personally wanted was for the defense to at least be average, which in itself would’ve been a huge upgrade over the last several Pete Carroll teams. They’re an above-average unit with young talents like Boye Mafe, Derick Hall, Byron Murphy II, Devon Witherspoon, Coby Bryant, Riq Woolen, Julian Love, and Tyrice Knight all under contract at least through next season. There’s still the big question mark surrounding Ernest Jones IV’s impending free agency, but ideally he’s extended. You also have veteran Leonard Williams playing at an extremely high level and he’s under contract for two more seasons.
Of course, this is an offense-driven league and defense tends to not be as statistically stable year-to-year as offense, so the Seahawks team won’t be a contender again until the woes on offense are fixed. It’s nevertheless highly encouraging to see the defense improving and not collapsing, especially given it’s a new system and hardly similar to Pete Carroll’s defenses of yesteryear.
If the offense has grossly underachieved and may stand as the main reason for the Seahawks missing the playoffs, the defense has perhaps even slightly overachieved with how this season has gone. This is something that should excite everyone heading into next season.