More defense! More data! More wins!
Arguably the biggest play of your Seattle Seahawks’ overtime road win in Gillette Stadium (a close shave indeed) was not defensive. Yet it came from a budding defensive star. Remember when the front office extended Julian Love this past summer to the tune of $33 million? He is already repaying the contract with good deeds.
BLOCKED BY J LOVE! pic.twitter.com/ej3rNNUFG6
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) September 15, 2024
And he’s doing pretty ok on REGULAR defense, too.
Julian Love among safeties in Week 1:
93.4 PFF grade (1st)
90.2 coverage grade (T-1st)
90.7 run defense grade (1st) pic.twitter.com/aENS7LENs4— PFF SEA Seahawks (@PFF_Seahawks) September 10, 2024
The block was very very exciting and helpful and a poignant bonding moment for parents and children everywhere, but it also would’ve been plenty fun to see the final Seahawks drive with Mike Macdonald’s band of merry thieves needing to score six instead of three. Maybe some other day.
To the trackers, which now have permanent names.
Tracker 1
Standing out right off the bat, before you can say two-Mississippi, is the 100-yard decrease from season to season in yards allowed per game. The 2024 Seahawks are doing one full football field better than their predecessors.
Tracker 2
Oh thank Almighty Mike there’s something to work on (the tackling) because otherwise the ranks and improvement are still scary good. They’re top 11 in everything else. Is this a fever dream? Is Mike McDaniel, the evil offensive version name twin of Mike Macdonald, going to call the cops and bring this party to a screeching halt? No. That seems more like a Kyle Shanahan thing to do.
Tracker 3
Holding steady from 2023 here. No passes defensed against the Patriots brought down the average. Hunch is they’ll get more than zero against Skylar Thompson.
Zooming out, one thing I’m seeing in aggregate is a small drop in the Seahawks’ defensive rankings league-wide from last week. This makes sense, as they were utterly dominant Week 1 but can’t face Bo Nix every Sunday. For example, third down conversions. After the Broncos game, they were 10th-best and now they’re 17th. Which is extraordinarily deceptive. Seattle is allowing opponents to convert 32.35 percent of third downs, a mark that would’ve ranked second league-wide in 2023.
The Seahawks defense is not getting worse! Not yet, at least. But when you start top 5 or top 10 in many categories, there’s not a lot of direction to go but flat or down.
For example, defensive DVOA took a tumble from 2nd to 5th. Real talk: that’s a problem the 2023 team would’ve loved to have. Which is why we’re comparing 2024 to 2023, not 2024 to 2024 week by week! That being said, the tracker is getting an upgrade after Week 4: a trendline for the current season. Just doesn’t make any sense to include yet.
BONUS MATERIAL (just like Mookie’s Enemy Reactions. Always learn from the best):
The pass rush is ramping up.
These defenses have generated the most pressure through two weeks.
Pittsburgh’s pressure to blitz rate is so impressive pic.twitter.com/gqI0i1mKxS
— Jacob Gibbs (@jagibbs_23) September 16, 2024
You know who has the most pressures in the league through two weeks according to @NextGenStats? That would be #Seahawks OLB Boye Mafe. Highest pressure rate (min 20 pass rush snaps)? That would also be Mafe: https://t.co/FwqhGR5pEe
— John Boyle (@johnpboyle) September 18, 2024
Boye Mafe is the league’s most consistently dangerous pass rusher right now, though it would be criminal neglect to forget that Leonard Williams had 1.5 sacks in a game decided by three points.
Additionally! After the Dolphins game I’ll fold in two more components, by popular demand: YAC and three-and-outs. Cheer for less of the former and more of the latter on Sunday. If you like the Seahawks, that is. If you don’t, thanks for stopping by with your hate-click anyway.