Kirk Cousins: What makes Seahawks’ defense so hard to face

The Seattle Seahawks’ run to the Lombardi Trophy this past season was powered by their “Dark Side” defense.

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Mike Macdonald’s crew was consistently dominant throughout the regular season, allowing an NFL-low 17.2 points per game. Along the way, the Seahawks became just the second defense in the past 15 years to surrender a league low in both yards per carry (3.7) and yards per pass attempt (6.0). And on the sport’s biggest stage, they capped their championship run with a smothering Super Bowl performance.

What makes Seattle’s defense so challenging to face?

This past week, four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins joined Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk to share his firsthand perspective on the matter.

Cousins, who is now with the Las Vegas Raiders, faced Macdonald’s Seahawks in each of the past two seasons during his time with the Atlanta Falcons. And like many QBs, he had his struggles against Seattle. Cousins went a combined 39-of-65 passing for just 394 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions in those two contests, both of which were losses.

Here’s a summary of what the 14-year veteran QB said about facing Macdonald’s cutting-edge scheme and Seattle’s defense as a whole.

Muddying the picture

Cousins said the biggest challenge is the Seahawks’ ability to make their coverages look similar – both prior to the snap and even during the play.

“I think it starts certainly with reading coverage, and they make it muddy,” Cousins said. “Late in the play, it can still look very similar, one coverage to another. If I know it’s gonna be single-high man, that may dictate that I work a certain place on the field. But if it’s a different coverage – quarters let’s say – then I may work a totally different place on the field.

“So if you can make single-high man and quarters – which are reasonably different coverages – look the same as long as possible in the down, the quarterback doesn’t know whether he should be going left or should be going right. And if you can create that unsettledness in the quarterback’s eyes and mind, then advantage defense.

“So I think Mike just has done a good job coaching his safeties, coaching his secondary, to maintain that unsettledness for the quarterback throughout the game and marrying different coverages.”

Getting to the right call

Cousins also praised Macdonald’s ability to get his defenders in the right call based on how the offense lines up.

“They do a great job schematically of giving the safeties, even the linebackers, the ability to get to the right call,” Cousins said. “So you may have two or three calls as a defense ready to go on any given play, and based on how the offense aligns, based on formation splits or shotgun or whatever, they’ll be ready to get to what they feel is the right call in that moment.

“Giving the players the tools to try to be in optimum calls at any given time in the game is where football is evolving, and I think Mike’s done a great job with that.”

Talent

Of course, it goes beyond just scheme. Seattle’s defense is filled with talent and depth at every position group.

“When you look at their roster, there’s a lot of high (draft) picks, first-round picks in the front, the nickel (Nick Emmanwori) is a really good player, the safeties are really good players,” Cousins said. “(General manager) John Schneider has done a great job building that roster, and I think at the end of the day, players do make a big difference also.”

Cousins added that Seattle’s wealth of defensive talent prevents offenses from keying on one or two specific players.

“If you start to say we’ve gotta get four hands on so and so, I think that’s how they beat you,” Cousins said. “(They’re like), great, you wanna forget about these other defensive ends? They can ruin your day too. That’s where you can really have a special defense – when, if you hone in on somebody, somebody else is gonna beat you.”

Cohesiveness

In addition, Cousins pointed to Seattle’s overall cohesiveness on defense. The Seahawks’ tight-knit culture was well documented this past season, and Cousins said that can be an X-factor.

“When you kind of peek behind the curtain in Seattle, they’ve done a really good job of building a cohesive unit where people care about one another,” Cousins said. “It’s not just independent contractors and mercenaries, but it’s guys who get to know one another and invest in each other.

“And it’s difficult to say that, hey, because we spend quality time together away from X’s and O’s, that’s gonna help us play better on third down. You can’t quantify that. But there’s something there going on, I think, where they do intentionally try to help players and coaches and staff get to all know one another on a deeper level. And I think in doing that, you do play better on third down. That’s just kind of how it works.

“It’s just a combination of getting the right players in there, having a great scheme and then being able to communicate it where everybody’s on the same page and playing together,” he added.

Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation with Kirk Cousins in the video at the top of this post. Tune into Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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