Why the Lack of a Pass Rush?

[SoulfishHawk]

Obviously, but I'll enjoy the 5-1 record, every second of it and won't apologize for it or downplay it.

 

[scutterhawk]

I also don't think I've once seen a coverage sack this season so there's that

^ This ^ There is a lot of telling in this ^
We don't have a secondary that scares ANYONE.....Take "Teddy Two Gloves" for example, he had minimal pressure because he either handed the ball off to Kamara or another RB, when he wasn't quickly getting rid of the ball to one of his unmolested Receivers....Rinse & Repeat.
I do believe that when Reed is back, and all the D-Linemen get in sync, the HURRIED pressures will force Quarterbacks out of their rhythm, and will have to throw the ball away to avoid being sacked or hammered.

 

[flmmkrz]

I chalk it up to a combination of getting up to speed, and being undermanned. Teams getting pressure up front have multiple players creating havoc, usually time with the system and training camps to prepare for the season. We've had none of that going for us. Its been largely Clowney alone, Ziggy came back but is just getting upto speed and is getting better week by week but not fully back to the level he can play at, Reed will help but he'll be a step behind most likely to start... Until all the guys are back and in game shape mentally and physically we are gonna struggle to get consistent pressure but when it all clicks it's going to be trouble for opposing qbs.

We're almost halfway through the season, how long do we need to wait for Ansah to do something?

All through camp Pete gushed about how far ahead of schedule Ziggy was, and how great he looked in his rehab and he was on schedule to be ready by week one.

Week three, week four, now we're into week six and the dude's terrible. So bad that Pete's taking snaps away from him.

It's affecting our entire pass rush, because Clowney's getting double teamed or having lineman and RB's shift to his side every snap because there's no threat of Ziggy doing anything.

Dude needs to step up, and step up now.

Agreed but this is nothing new, guys missing preseason and then games to start the season rarely come in and start balling immediately. I'm hoping he can turn it around cause we need him but he's been a flop thus far and it's killing anything positive Clowneys doing. I hope Reed is ready to go cause if he's behind Ziggys current form, this pass rush will be treading water for a while longer.

 

[Popeyejones]

Few reasons:

1. Ansah is not the rusher he was. Clowney never really was a sack artist. Lack of talent in this particular area at DE leads to poor sack numbers.

2. Clowney is a much more all around DE talent. And really in this regard, he's been pretty outstanding. He's managed to be highly disruptive despite commanding double team focus virtually all game. That means the other three guys aren't carrying their water. And it also accounts for why QJeff is having such a good start to his season since he's benefiting from the focus on Clowney lined up immediately to his left.

3. We've stayed in our base defense a whole lot more this season. It's been a distinct emphasis in these first 6 games. We've been staying in base and blitzing more frequently.

4. Our slot corner personnel has been a problem for us. We didn't have an answer for Coleman leaving. No developmental guy ready to step up. We took guys off the street UFA heap as our answer for our slot coverage. It's been spotty at best to brutal at worst. I believe this liability has directly influenced #3 above.

To be honest, Seattle has never truly valued the slot corner role. Basically throwing 6th and 7th round picks at it constantly, while also not keeping but ONE slot profile CB on the roster. We keep a lot of tall long "Seahawk prototypes", but not many quick/agile slot types.

I don't believe there is just one reason why our pass rush stinks. Consequently, I don't expect to see our pass rush really improve this season either. Seattle's defense is going to be frustrating to watch. Seattle sits comfortably in the 20th to 28th range in the league in things like yards allowed per play, first downs allowed, third downs allowed, Average yards per attempted pass. Basically all of the 'damnit, get off the field and stop letting them march on us' stats. Our eyes are seeing what we in fact are statistically.

But we're good in scoring and getting turnovers. Which of course are the best metrics. We aren't remotely dominant as a defense. Nor are we particularly foreboding. This is going to be a year where Russell has to outscore the other team.

Seattle is going to need to get a solid slot cover man. That role is what limits first down conversions. Then they need to look at upgrading the Ansah position. I think Clowney is definitely worth retaining and even without sack numbers will provide significant passing disruption (we've seen this repeatedly this year). I have no expectation that Collier will factor into the solution. He's basically a much lesser/similar version of Clowney. He's probably more likely to slide into a QJeff role on the interior in subpackages.

Great post.

 

[253hawk]

This is probably why...

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SethWalder/status/1184526758533648384[/tweet]


Just wait until Reed takes the field this week.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

If there was a stat for being held during a pass rush, he would likely be in the top 5 as well.

 

[chris98251]

This is probably why...

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SethWalder/status/1184526758533648384[/tweet]


Just wait until Reed takes the field this week.

Agreed, but it will be two or three weeks before his legs are under him to get enough plays to be a sustained impact.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

No doubt, I don't expect him to really get back to his top form for a few weeks. But what a great addition to have on that line finally. His energy will rub off on the other guys imo. Also, helping with a rotation of guys, keeping them more fresh in the 4th quarter.

 

[FinNasty]

...because you still won't let my boy Shaquem pin his ears back and just get after the QB.