Wyman: Where the Seahawks’ struggling defense can make a fix

Oct 9, 2021, 10:11 AM

Wyman & Bob, 2-7 p.m. on Seattle Sports

Another week, another rough outing for the Seahawks defensively.

Against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 5 on Thursday Night Football, Seattle’s NFC West rival put up 26 points and over 450 yards on offense on their way to a 26-17 win at Lumen Field.

Dave Wyman, a former NFL linebacker who also serves as the Seahawks color commentator for all of the team’s games on the Seahawks Radio Network, knows a thing or two about defense, and he’s seeing some mistakes that the team is making defensively that can be easily remedied going forward.

In his latest Football 101, Wyman breaks down one play that shows just how the Seahawks can improve defensively.

It’s no secret that the Seahawks play a lot of zone defense. During a second-and-17 play in the first quarter (go to the 14-second mark of the video at that link) after a Darrell Taylor sack, the Seahawks dropped into a zone coverage with their two linebackers, two outside corners and their nickel corner, but the Rams were able to convert and pick up the first down.

How?

Well, while running a bunch formation, the tight end and one receiver ran shorter routes while receiver Robert Woods ran a deeper post route. The Seahawks’ linebackers, instead of staying 12-15 yards back like they should have, both jumped the shorter routes, allowing Woods to make an easy completion between the linebackers and the safeties. The result? A Rams first down.

You can see Wyman break down the play and share how that can get fixed either on the 710 ESPN Seattle YouTube page or at the video embedded at the top of this story.

And you can hear Wyman with Bob Stelton on Wyman and Bob from 2-7 p.m. Monday through Friday on 710 ESPN Seattle, as well as on The Huddle from noon to 2 p.m. Thursdays on 710.