Seahawks’ defense still looking to force its first turnover

RENTON – The Seahawks are one of only three teams that have yet to force a turnover through the first two games of the season, the lone hole on the resume of what has been the league’s stingiest defense so far.

Seattle has allowed the fewest points, the fewest yards and the fewest third-down conversions while ranking second in sacks, all of which makes it a bit odd to see that goose egg in the turnover column.

So what gives with Seattle’s lack of takeaways?

“They have not given us many chances,” coach Pete Carroll said, referring to the Dolphins’ and Rams’ offenses that Seattle has faced. “They’ve been pretty conservative because the score has been so tight; they’ve been able to. They’ve done a nice job of keeping the ball away from us.”

That’s one explanation. Playing from ahead can put trailing teams in the position of having to take chances in the passing game in order to catch up. But the Seahawks’ first two games have been decided by a combined 11 points. They never led Miami by more than three points in Week 1 and never led at all last week against Los Angeles as Seattle’s offense has stumbled badly out of the gates.

“We’ve got to get ahead of them so it’s harder for our opponents,” Carroll said. “It’s been kind of tight and close to the vest, and it’s worked out in their favor for the most part. I think this is going to flip like it does. It happens in bunches and we’re ready for that to happen.”

Are they ever, especially given the state of their offense. Turnovers help flip field position, which is part of the reason why Seattle’s has been so bad. The Seahawks’ offensive drives started on average at their own 22.5-yard line in Week 1. Last week, it was their own 17. Seattle’s average drive start through two games has been its own 20, the worst in the NFL, according to Football Outsiders. As hard of a time as they’re having sustaining drives and scoring points, the Seahawks could sure use some shorter fields.

“We had a 16-play drive the second drive of the game and we get a field goal out of it,” Carroll said, referring to Seattle’s only score against the Rams. “We’re down there, we should get a touchdown out of that drive. But other than that, it was hard to get even close because we were coming from the far end all the time.”

One reason to believe the turnovers will come for the Seahawks is that their pass-rush has been strong. Seattle’s eight sacks are one off the NFL lead through two games, and that total doesn’t count one from defensive end Cassius Marsh that was negated by facemask penalty. All that pressure on the quarterback can lead to errant throws or strip sacks.

And it may just simply be a matter of time before the ball starts to bounce their way. There’s a great deal of skill and effort that go into jumping a route for an interception or wrestling the ball away in a pile. But there’s also an element of randomness in turnovers in that some depend on factors as uncontrollable as the way the ball bounces on the ground. Or, as was the case on one play against Los Angeles, the way it’s tipped in the air.

In the fourth quarter, defensive tackle Tony McDaniel deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage. The ball hung in the air for 2 full seconds, which would have been long enough for a defender to come down with it had it landed anywhere near one of them. Instead, the ball fell harmlessly to the turf well behind the line of scrimmage.

“We’ve had a lot of tipped passes,” linebacker K.J. Wright said. “Those tipped passes eventually turn into falling right into guys’ laps, so it’ll come.”

The next chance will be Sunday against the 49ers, whose offense has turned the ball over four times in two games.

“We’ve been close but we understand that that’s a part of our football team and we have to do our part,” defensive coordinator Kris Richard said. “We’ve got to go out there, we’ve got to get that football and we’ve got to give our offense as many chances as possible. That’s our responsibility. That’s one part of our game to where we know we want to get better at. We’ve got to get the football.”