Have no fear, the "D" has returned...

[the_12th_man]

The defense did a hell of a job today. Period. It seemed like I hadn't seen this defense since the last two minutes of the Denver game and man did I miss it. Now I know some will say we didn't face an offensive juggernaut in Carolina today. Yes, the Panthers oline was banged up and no outside of Benjamin and Olsen they don't really have playmakers, but Cam Newton is still capable of giving opponents fits just like our beloved Wilson does. But our defense really showed up today and the scary thing is the left ALOT of plays out there, for example...

-Simon let's a solid interception bounce of his chest. Not an easy play but still should of been more aware of it. I have high hopes for him just because he fits that B. Browner role.

-K.J. somehow misses the interception scoop that's basically just to him. I can't help but wonder if Wags would've made that play.

-Sherman and Thomas give up the big play Benjamin, but how many times is a ball going slip thru Sherms hands like that. 9 times out of 10 that's picked.

-Macolm's forced fumble on Dickson. Sherm is right there and we just get an unlucky bounce. Seriously more unlucky bounces is fate going allow this season?

-And finally, the painfully incredible missed safety by Bennett in the endzone. I have give Cam credit for his ability to escape but that totally should've been a sack and two points. Felt like we should've had at least 3 more sacks today.

All of those plays missed and we still hold them to 9 points. Yes they drove up and down the field but our "D" in our own territory really locked it up. 3 sacks, 1 Fumble Recovery, and 1 Interception was what we ended up with. I'm not saying that we're back to 2013 form but I think this game on the road was a great stepping stone. And overall does anyone else get the feeling that this is the turning point???

All in all, a much needed win.....GO HAWKS!!!! :thirishdrinkers:

 

[kearly]

It was a weird game for the defense. Their yards per play allowed was similar to the number they allowed versus the Chargers and Rams, but unlike those games the Seahawks remembered to play red zone defense. Carolina made some brutal mistakes that really helped our cause.

Probably would need to watch the game again to know for sure, but I liked the pressure Seattle got on Newton. He's a pain to tackle and Seattle made the mistake of trying to tackle him like a QB instead of a RB. Pretty sure Derek Anderson would have been sacked at least six times in this game.

 

[Rose City Hawk]

We played Bennett at DT, and Irvin on the end, that helped us tremendously in the pass rush from what I could see, especially in the second half, much more in line with what we saw last year with the hurries.

 

[idahohawk]

I'll have to rewatch, but I keep flashing back to huge running plays by the Panthers. I have no clue why they didn't keep running it because the Sea D was getting gashed, it seemed. They were a bit more opportunistic this week, and that's a positive, but still scare the crap out of me. Need to get healthy & gear up for the stretch run. But make no mistake, today's win, albeit fugly, was huge.

 

[vin.couve12]

There were some bright spots on D, but I don't know that you can proclaim the defense being back after playing an inconsistent Pathers offense, all things being relative. And like the previous post, I think the run D was gashed more than I'd like, but I've seen that coming since Wags first went out early in the Dallas game.

Lets get Wags, Max and Lane back and then we'll see.

 

[12thManHawkFan]

I think the defensive performance would have felt alot more dominant if the offense would have capitalized a few more times. Anytime you hold a team to 9 points in a game you have to consider it a good victory. When the game was as close as it ended up being it made their mistakes a little more glaring.

 

[Chawks1]

It was more like last year that's for sure. 3 sacks, 2 turnovers, not giving up TDs in the Red zone.....giving up 9 points on the road was stellar. I think we can all agree we should probably had at least 3 more turnovers too. They only gave up 114 yards rushing and 152 yards passing = total 265.....good game for the D.

 

[SalishHawkFan]

Panthers averaged 21 ppg going into this contest. This was:

the lowest point total of their season.

The lowest passing yds of their season.

The lowest total yds of their season.

So yeah, I'd have to agree. Our defense did a good job out there today.

 

[drdiags]

The run D was concerning to me. Stewart was getting some good runs up the gut much to my dismay. Cam's fumble was a blessing and wasn't caused by good D but rather mis-handling of the ball. Benjamin is a good young player and made some nice catches, but he has to catch that ball in the back of the endzone.

I think the D will get some bump from playing the Raiders unless Carr pulls a Mike Glennon next week. And playing Eli here in two weeks is an unknown because the Giants have been up and down, but I wouldn't want to overlook them either.

Too early to tell if the D has returned, it would help to get some of the injured players back as we turn to the second half of the season.

Hope the OP is right though. The NFC is a dog-fight and getting into the playoffs is going to be a brawl.

 

[Tech Worlds]

We got bulldozed in the run game. Our early season success against the run appears to have abandoned us.

We must play better to beat good teams.

 

[endzorn]

This team set a standard last year that we expect every week and it's just not going to happen. We were getting bulldozed in the run game early. I'd like to thank Cam Newton for continuing to be an overrated piece of garbage QB or we'd be 3-4 because they had every opportunity to go up big in the first half, but he Jay Cutler'd us into a close game.

 

[olyfan63]

David Carr looks like he could pull a Glennon on us.
As long as the final result is the same, it's OK with me.

 

[bbsplitter]

We played Bennett at DT, and Irvin on the end, that helped us tremendously in the pass rush from what I could see, especially in the second half, much more in line with what we saw last year with the hurries.

That combination only happened on a couple of snaps, I believe. But yes it was effective, when they decided to do it. Overall it was a better defensive showing than we have had in recent weeks, but I am not sold on an increase in overall effectiveness(longterm) quite yet.

 

[Scottemojo]

I don't agree at all.

Cam is remarkably bad at cover 3 beaters. The Carolina run game did pretty good against us. For those reasons, plus the missing linebackers, I am not saying we are somehow looking good.

Fortunately,we have a couple of easier games headed our way. Perhaps we can get some good reps headed into the most crucial part of our season, the last 6 games.

 

[northseahawk]

They played well the second half, but let's not forget, Carolina is soooo overrated. Absolutely horrible o-line, only 3 players on offense who deserve to be starters (KB, olsen, and Kam) and the Kam seemed more concentrated on his Gaterade than the game. Put a decent offense on today, this defense gets burnt like they have been all year long. Wagner is huge for this defense.