Seattle, WA

Clint Hurtt: Seattle Seahawks’ D will be ‘significantly better’ in ’23

Published

2 years ago

May 13, 2023

Press Room

Clint Hurtt: Seattle Seahawks’ D will be ‘significantly better’ in ’23

The Seattle Seahawks’ defense needs to be better in 2023.

Bumpus: How Seattle Seahawks are prepared for ‘worst-case scenario’ on D

They will be better, Clint Hurtt clarifies.

The Seattle Seahawks’ defensive coordinator has a host of weapons to work with, including one of the more talented secondaries they’ve had in years, Pete Carroll and John Schneider’s highest draft pick ever (No. 5 overall pick Devon Witherspoon), their most expensive free agent addition (defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones), and a future Hall of Famer making his return (linebacker Bobby Wagner).

Having weapons doesn’t provide an immediate solution to a very big problem, though, which is why Carroll, Hurtt and this defense is facing a tough offseason of work ahead.

Seattle allowed the third-most rushing yards last season, including season-high performances for a host of starting halfbacks. The Seahawks were 25th in scoring. There were more explosive plays allowed — an ongoing issue, first against the pass in 2020 and 2021 and then more often in the front seven in 2022. Missed tackles on an 81-yard completion from Jarred Goff to tight end T.J. Hockenson in a Week 4 win against the Lions. Three hundred yards of total offense allowed to Raiders running back Josh Jacobs in Week 12.

It’s true that an ever-growing burden has been placed on the shoulders of quarterback Geno Smith, now under a new contract and granted even more offensive weapons, including a first-round wide receiver. The offense will need to sharpen up as well to avoid the second-half issues they had last season. But if defense wins championships, this team isn’t going anywhere until they pull themselves out of the bottom half of the league.

That started with offseason changes — lots of them. The team parted ways with much of the existing defensive line, whether through release or free agents moving on. All linemen in Hurtt’s 3-4 base defense will be new faces, as will both starting linebackers (“new” being used loosely here with Bobby Wagner, who made his return to Seattle after a one-year stint with the Rams).

While depth remains a concern up front, the additions that have been made to the entirety of the defense aren’t lateral, but an improvement. Jones totaled 6.5 sacks, 16 pressures and a 14.6 pass rush win rate in 13 games with a good Broncos defense last season. Wagner played on a struggling Rams squad but saw a career high in sacks, was stellar against the run, and was Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded linebacker. Also thrown into the mix is the still unproven but highly-touted Devon Witherspoon, who packs a punch and elite athleticism on the back end.

It’s the boost to talent in the secondary in particular that has Hurtt excited. Seattle adds Witherspoon to a group that already includes Tariq Woolen, Jamal Adams (currently rehabbing a torn quad), Quandre Diggs and Julian Love.

“I’ve always been a big believer that rush and coverage complement each other,” Hurtt told Bump and Stacy Friday.

“That was kind of rooted in me from the very beginning of when I got into football. In my Miami Hurricane days, we’d play Ed Reed and Phillip Buchanan. We had so many guys in the secondary. It helped us as pass-rushers because quarterbacks had to hold the ball because coverage was tight. And there are times where maybe there could be some challenging routes, but rush got there, so (the two phases) complimented one another. To the people who think rush makes everything so much better, there’s a lot of different ways you can neutralize pass rush. Whether it’s moving the pocket, cadence, chipping guys to knock a guy off, (but) you can’t eliminate a great cover guy.”

Of course, improvement won’t only need to come from the secondary. But it may start with changing coaching and execution rather than scheme.

“We will be significantly better,” Hurtt said when asked how much better the defense could be with stopping the run. “It has to. And that’s obviously two big points coming in (to the offseason): stopping the run game and eliminating the explosives that obviously we gave up last year. You do those things and then you continue to take significant jumps with what you want to accomplish defensively.

“A lot of people talk about how there was more two-gapping (in the 3-4 look). We actually did more two-gapping the previous two years. But because of the change the assumption is ‘well, they’re doing this more because of this change to a 3-4’. I’ve stated numerous times I think that’s really overstated and overblown. Fact of the matter is we needed to coach that better and we could’ve played that better than what we did, but it starts with us as coaches to get that stuff rectified and corrected. So in terms of the schematics (of the defense), it’s not that. It’s just playing blocks the right way and cleaning up our fits.”

Seattle Seahawks HC Pete Carroll talks defensive scheme, pass rushers, more

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Seattle, WA

Former Seattle Mariners Star Alex Rodriguez to Stay on Hall of Fame Ballot For Another Year

Published

2 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Press Room

Former Seattle Mariners Star Alex Rodriguez to Stay on Hall of Fame Ballot For Another Year

Former Seattle Mariners star Alex Rodriguez is set to stay on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for at least another year.

While it’s unlikely that A-Rod gets into the Hall of Fame this year, he has enough votes to take another run in 2026.

Thus far, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame tracker, Rodriguez has gotten 47 votes out of 104 ballots. He would need to appear on 244 more ballots to get in this year, which seems like a tall task.

It’s unknown if Rodriguez will ever get in, given his admission of performance-enhancing drug use, but he continues to hang around the conversation.

Drafted No. 1 overall in the 1993 MLB Draft, Rodriguez made his debut with the Mariners in 1994, staying through the 2000 season. He made the All-Star team four times with the Mariners and won a batting title in 1996. He also hit 42 homers and stole 46 bases in an incredible 1999 season. He helped the Mariners to the playoffs in the 1995, 1997 and 2000 seasons. The M’s got to the ALCS in that 2000 season, taking the New York Yankees to six games. He also played for the Yankees and Texas Rangers.

In addition to Rodriguez, former Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki is essentially a lock for the Hall of Fame. He’s currently on 100 percent of the ballots. Felix Hernandez is currently on 26 percent and Omar Vizquel is on 14.4 percent.

The Mariners have two true representatives in the Hall of Fame: Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez. Other players like Adrian Beltre and Randy Johnson spent significant time in Seattle but are representing other teams in Cooperstown.

You can follow the tracking here.

Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Teren Kowatsch and Brady Farkas on “X” @Teren_Kowatsch and @wdevradiobrady. You can subscribe to the “Refuse to Lose” podcast by clicking HERE.

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Seattle, WA

NFC Playoff Picture: Seahawks impact Wild Card schedule with win over Rams

Published

9 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Press Room

NFC Playoff Picture: Seahawks impact Wild Card schedule with win over Rams

While the Los Angeles Rams might have rested several of their key starters and limited the snap counts of those who did play against the Seattle Seahawks, you certainly can’t accuse them of not making a concerted effort to still win the game.

The Seahawks had to make a late red zone stand to win 30-25 in their season finale. Even if the Rams didn’t treat this game with the utmost importance in terms of playoff seeding, it did impact who they’ll play and potentially their road to the Super Bowl.

With the Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning the NFC South earlier in the day, the Rams needed to win to remain the No. 3 seed or else they’d drop to No. 4. That’s the difference between playing the Washington Commanders and the NFC North runner-up Minnesota Vikings, whom the Rams did defeat on a Thursday night back in October.

Seattle’s win has set up a Rams vs. Vikings rematch for next Monday night, while the Buccaneers will rematch the Commanders on Sunday night.

The Rams dropping to No. 4 means that unless the No. 2 seed Philadelphia Eagles and No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers both lose next weekend, the Rams would have to go on the road for the NFC Divisional Round. As a No. 3 seed, the Rams would’ve only needed a Green Bay Packers win over the Eagles to snag a second home game, much in the way the Detroit Lions did last season when the Packers thrashed the No. 2 seed Dallas Cowboys.

Maybe, just maybe, the Seahawks sent the Rams to a more difficult path for a Super Bowl run… or even to get out of the opening weekend. If Minnesota sends the Rams packing, I think we’d be all happy with giving LA a tougher matchup.

While you’re here, check out the full Wild Card schedule for next week.

Saturday, Jan. 11

No. 5 Los Angeles Chargers at No. 4 Houston Texans, 1:30 PM PT on CBS, Paramount+

No. 6 Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 3 Baltimore Ravens, 5 PM PT on Prime Video

Sunday, Jan. 12

No. 7 Denver Broncos at No. 2 Buffalo Bills, 10 am PT on CBS, Paramount+

No. 7 Green Bay Packers at No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles, 1:30 PM PT on FOX

No. 6 Washington Commanders at No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 5 PM PT on NBC, Peacock

Monday, Jan. 13

No.5 Minnesota Vikings at No. 4 Los Angeles Rams, 5 PM PT on ESPN/ABC

Byes: Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions

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Seattle, WA

Who the Seattle Seahawks will be playing in the 2025 regular season

Published

17 hours ago

January 5, 2025

Press Room

Who the Seattle Seahawks will be playing in the 2025 regular season

The Detroit Lions beat the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football to wrap up the NFC North and the No. 1 overall seed. It also means that the Vikings will not only be on the road as a 14-3 team playing in the Wild Card against the Los Angeles Rams next Monday night, but they’ll be returning to Lumen Field to play the Seattle Seahawks in the 2025 regular season.

Game 272 was the final piece of the puzzle for the Seahawks’ 2025 opponents list. Whichever of the Vikings or Lions finished second in the NFC North would be headed to Seattle next season. While it would’ve been cool to see the Lions finally play at Lumen Field again after three straight Seahawks-Lions meetings in Detroit, it’s not happening.

The schedule is formulaic, which means the NFC West will play the whole of the AFC and NFC South, as well as the same-placed opposition from the NFC North (home), NFC East (away), and AFC North (away). Next season will be the AFC’s turn to get an extra home game, so the Seahawks will have nine away trips.

Home

Los Angeles Rams (10-7)

Arizona Cardinals (8-9)

San Francisco 49ers (6-11)

New Orleans Saints (5-12)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7)

Indianapolis Colts (8-9)

Houston Texans (10-7)

Minnesota Vikings (14-3)

Away

Los Angeles Rams (10-7)

Arizona Cardinals (8-9)

San Francisco 49ers (6-11)

Tennessee Titans (3-14)

Jacksonville Jaguars (4-13)

Washington Commanders (12-5)

Atlanta Falcons (8-9)

Carolina Panthers (5-12)

Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)

The early returns on Michael Penix Jr and the late surge by Bryce Young could make the NFC South portion of the schedule much tougher than it looks right now. Never assume the league is so static that the teams that were good/bad now will remain the same the following season.

The NFL regular season schedule will be released at some point in May.

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