Matt Hasselbeck sees 2 positive signs from Seahawks’ defense

The one thing the 3-6 Seattle Seahawks can hang their hat on coming off their Week 10 loss to the Green Bay Packers is the play of their defense.

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Though Seattle had a very rough start to the season on that side of the ball, the defensive unit has turned things around over the past six games. That was especially evident last Sunday when the Seahawks held the Packers to just a field goal through the first 50 minutes of clock time, and don’t forget that Green Bay is led by three-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, who just so happens to be the reigning winner of that award.

Though Green Bay came up with two rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the fact that the Seahawks’ defense held the Packers to just 17 points while being on the field for 39:09 of the game’s 60 minutes was remarkable. Is it a sign that the defense will be a strength for Seattle in the second half of the season?

At the very least, there were two positive signs that Seahawks Ring of Honor QB Matt Hasselbeck saw from the defense on Sunday. He shared them during this week’s edition of The Matt Hasselbeck Show, which airs from 9-10 a.m. every Wednesday on 710 ESPN Seattle.

Here’s a look at what Hasselbeck had to say during his conversation with Mike Salk.

Defensive disguises

Though the Seahawks only sacked Rodgers once, they still were able to pressure him regularly, which played a big role in keeping the Packers from finding the end zone until the fourth quarter.

“You saw what I thought were some great disguises by the Seattle defense,” Hasselbeck said. “I was really impressed with the Seahawks’ defense for the most part – maybe taking away some of the discipline things after the snap. I was really, really impressed with some of the blitzes that they had, just timing up the disguises.”

Rodgers still threw for 292 yards, but Hasselbeck had a good explanation for why that didn’t really show up on the scoreboard.

“The irony is Aaron Rodgers handled (Seattle’s disguises and blitzes). Aaron Rodgers and (Packers wide receiver) Davante Adams had an answer for every little nuance. It was like almost like hot routes or blitz pickups or just getting the ball out quick with blockers. But it doesn’t kill you. That stuff doesn’t necessarily kill you like like a big play or an explosive would.”

A Seahawks LB coming along

Jake Heaps of 710 ESPN Seattle’s Jake and Stacy detailed on Monday that second-year linebacker Jordyn Brooks had one of his better games at the WILL position on Sunday, and he wasn’t alone in making that assessment.

Related: Three young Seahawks key in defense’s strong turnaround

Hasselbeck also pointed to Brooks as a key contributor, explaining that Brooks is starting to show a bit of what Seattle was missing earlier this season due to K.J. Wright’s departure in free agency.

“I think the biggest difference in this game that I noticed at the linebacker position was Jordyn Brooks,” Hasselbeck said. “… K.J. Wright, the savvy of him in some zone coverage situations or some veteran situations, there’s some growing pains that you have going with a younger player (instead), and I think some veteran quarterbacks took advantage of that (with Brooks). But I thought he came on and had some outstanding plays in this past game.”

You can listen to the full Matt Hasselbeck Show, including his thoughts on Seahawks QB Russell Wilson’s decision making in his first game back from injury, at this link or in the player below.

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