The eyes weren't deceiving.
When all the final numbers were in, it turned out that the Seahawks' tackling in Sunday's 30-23 loss to the Steelers was objectively as bad as it looked during the game itself.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Seahawks had 20 missed tackles against the Steelers, the second-most this season behind the 23 in the horrific 37-3 loss at Baltimore on Nov. 5.
Postgame coverage Steelers 30, Seahawks 23
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Cornerbacks Devon Witherspoon and Michael Jackson had the most on the team with three each. Twelve players had at least one, which was perhaps the biggest factor in the Seahawks losing a game that also pushed them into desperation mode to make the playoffs.
Seattle, now 8-8, needs to win at Arizona on Sunday afternoon and hope the Chicago Bears can beat the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. While Seattle is a 3-point favorite, so are the Packers, meaning that given the odds, the Seahawks will be on the outside looking in as the playoffs begin.
Before they worry about that, the Seahawks need to figure out how to quickly improve a run defense that gave up 202 yards against the Steelers. Arizona is just 4-12, but the Cardinals rank sixth in the NFL with 134.9 rushing yards per game and second with 5.0 yards per attempt. They have put in two great, fast-paced performances in the last three weeks. They rushed for 234 yards against the 49ers and 221 on Sunday in a surprising 35-31 win over the Eagles in Philadelphia.
“The main thing that happened was they ran the football and bounced the ball around, and we didn't handle it as well as we needed to,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday during his weekly radio show on Seattle Sports 710 AM. “We didn't tackle well, we didn't track some things properly, and we got exposed at the rim on some things, and so on [was] just shitty. It looked bad and we felt bad.”
The game continued what has been a season-long problem for the Seahawks, who have the third-worst tackling grade of the season, according to PFF.
The Seahawks felt like things were improving in that area – they had a total of 13 missed tackles in wins over the Eagles and Titans. Defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt said last Thursday that he believed one reason for that improvement was a postponement of some of the team's practices. Teams cannot hold full-contact tackling practices during the season and must rely on other options to work on tackling. Last week, Hurtt cited some drills the team did on heavy blocking sleds as making a difference.
“It’s more like hitting a ball carrier,” Hurtt said. “You have to get your hips down, ride for five minutes and wrap yourself up too. That's what we've been doing for the last few weeks. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
But on Sunday it broke.
The Steelers rushed for a season-high 284 yards in a 34-11 win over the Bengals on Dec. 23, with Mason Rudolph starting at QB in place of Kenny Pickett, and the Seahawks focused on limiting big plays in the passing game.
“I take full credit for that,” Carroll said. “I wanted to make sure these guys didn't have any explosive passing plays in this game because they had just won the game against Cincinnati the week before, which was so different than what they had played. I think maybe that was our first concern and it just crossed our minds and we didn't play right. We didn’t play the way we needed to.”
Carroll said the team adjusted in the second half, noting the Seahawks allowed just 57 yards on 22 carries in the second half, or 2.6 per attempt.
But Seattle defended the run better, allowing Rudolph to complete 9 of 11 passes for 154 yards in the second half (he was 18 for 24 for 274 in the game), helping the Steelers stay ahead.
Carroll said he knows games like Sunday's can give the impression that it's all about effort. He stated emphatically that he did not think this was a problem.
“It looks like the effort isn’t there, and that’s not the case at all,” he said. “If you miss a tackle a lot, it's because you're running so fast, you overrun it, run past things and lose control.”
PFF listed Witherspoon with just two missed tackles for the season until Sunday when he was rated with three fumbles. Carroll noted that Witherspoon, who had not played since his hip pointer against the 49ers on Dec. 10, missed a tackle in the first third of the game, causing a short pass that could have been stopped short of a first down End went for a 13-yard gain.
“First tackle in the open field in a month or whatever, and he just fell off the guy,” Carroll said. “…There are circumstances that make you look like you are not really who you are.”
The problem is that the Seahawks are now a team that needs a win and some help or the season could be over.
Lucas is still sickly, Brown is doing better
The Seahawks played most of the second half without two starting offensive players who left with injuries – center Evan Brown (concussion) and right tackle Abraham Lucas (knee).
Carroll made it sound like Brown had a better chance of returning than Lucas.
Brown left the team early in the third quarter and Carroll said he “had a good first few days coming back to us. We'll have to wait until game day.”
Lucas was substituted at half-time as he continued to struggle with knee pain. Lucas went on IR after the first game of the season, then returned for the Dallas game on November 30th and started every game since then before being ejected against the Steelers.
Carroll said Lucas' knee just wasn't “where he wanted it to be” and that in the last few games before he was taken out, “you could tell he wasn't able to drive the way he would have liked.” Speaking about this week, Carroll said: “I don’t know how this is going to go. It’s less likely to be able to respond.”
Rookie Olu Oluwatimi stepped in for Brown and Stone Forsythe for Lucas.
note
- The Seahawks completed their roster by signing nose tackle Matthew Gotel, defensive end Hamilcar Rashed and linebacker Christian Young to the practice squad on Monday. Those three filled three spots vacated Saturday when linebacker Patrick O'Connell, safety Ty Okada and tackle Jake Curhan were signed to the 53-man roster from the practice squad. These three were signed to fill holes created when the team waived outside linebacker Frank Clark and placed receiver Dee Eskridge and safety Jamal Adams on injured reserve.
Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or [email protected]; on twitter: @bcondotta. Bob Condotta covers the Seahawks for the Seattle Times. He reports on the team daily throughout the year.