Seattle, WA
Daniel Jeremiah: What makes Seattle Seahawks' defense unique
With a dramatic midseason turnaround, the Seattle Seahawks’ defense has found its stride under first-year head coach Mike Macdonald.
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The Seahawks have allowed a league-low 14.8 offensive points per game since Week 9, having held each of their past five opponents to 19 offensive points or fewer. Seattle also has held four of those five opponents to fewer than 300 total yards in regulation.
The latest strong defensive performance came last Sunday, when the Seahawks shut down the Arizona Cardinals 30-18 to remain atop the NFC West with their fourth straight win. After watching the film from that game, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah described what stood out most about the Seahawks’ defense during his weekly conversation on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk.
“Every single play that you watched on the defensive side of the ball, it was a different player making the play,” Jeremiah said. “Like, just the depth of their front (and) the guys they’re rolling through there, they’re all making plays. … I don’t know there’s another team that’s getting as much contributions from as many different players.”
The stats bear it out.
Defensive lineman Leonard Williams has been on a tear, posting 4.5 sacks, six tackles for loss, an interception-return touchdown and two pass breakups over a recent two-game stretch. But it’s been far from a one-man show.
Over the past five games, the Seahawks have had seven different players record at least one sack, 12 different players with at least one tackle for loss, 12 different players with at least one pass breakup and five different players with at least one interception.
Even a player who hasn’t generated as many stats – rookie first-round defensive tackle Byron Murphy II – has been making a notable impact.
“I know Byron Murphy is not going to show up much in the box score, because Leonard is just playing out of his mind and doing what he’s doing,” Jeremiah said. “But (Murphy) is taking up two blockers. He’s kind of doing dirty-work stuff. And the linebackers are filling and playing aggressive. Ernest Jones was all over the field. … So they’ve got a really, really, deep, talented group there.”
Listen to the full conversation with Daniel Jeremiah at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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PEORIA, Ariz. – Seattle Mariners camp has been a flurry of activity since the return of the last group of players from the World Baseball Classic. There have been innings and at-bats to be found, schedules and lineups scrambled, whatever it takes to get in the work they need for what in just a few short days will be the 26-man roster.
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Somewhere amongst that flurry of activity, a long-awaited conversation was had, according to Randy Arozarena.
About about two hours before the Mariners’ Cactus League game against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night, Arozarena put out a statement via the team that addressed the WBC incident between him and teammate Cal Raleigh.
“I understand that with Opening Day a few days away, I don’t want it to be a distraction,” Arozarena said. “Cal and I have talked and I apologized for what I said after the game. Nothing in the WBC takes away from the fact that we are brothers and teammates. He’s family, and we are both focused on helping the Mariners win the World Series.”
The statement echoes much of the sentiment of Raleigh’s comments to members of the Seattle media the morning after he refused Arozarena’s handshake in the March 9 WBC game between the United States and Mexico, which prompted postgame comments from Arozarena that spurred unwanted attention on the Mariners.
“I love Randy,” Raleigh said back on March 10. “I have all the respect for him and Team Mexico. I already reached out to him personally to talk with him. And obviously, when we’re back in Seattle, we’re family, we’re brothers, and I’ll do anything for him. I’ll do anything for our team to win.”
Neither player would want anything within their control to put achieving the Mariners’ lofty goals they have set this season in jeopardy. It is likely those words alone from Arozarena would have helped close the door on the incident. The fact he said he apologized to Raleigh for his comments at the WBC in Houston hopefully helps lock that door and put the focus back on what happens on the field, as has been the case with the players in Peoria all along.
An unpleasant sidenote to the WBC should not be a season-changing episode for a team that has put itself in the position the Mariners have.
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Looking to extend the country’s longest non-conference home win streak to 66, Auburn (18-16) hosts Seattle U (21-13) Sunday at 5:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2 and the Auburn Sports Network (106.7 FM), where Andy Burcham and Randall Dickey will describe the action for listeners.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW:
- Auburn’s win over South Alabama extended the Tigers’ nation-best non-conference home winning streak to 65 straight games. It’s a streak that dates back to the 2016-17 season.
- The Tigers made a season high 16 3-pointers against South Alabama and tied a school record with 44 3-point attempts.
- Kevin Overton made seven 3-pointers (all in the second half) against South Alabama and now has 80 triples this season. He is four 3-pointers away from cracking the top 10 for single-season 3-pointers at Auburn.
- With 636 points this season, Keyshawn Hall is ninth on Auburn’s single-season scoring list. Hall notched his 18th game of scoring 20 or more points against South Alabama with 21 points against the Jags.
- Led by Will Heimbrodt’s 86 blocks this season, Seattle U ranks 12th nationally in blocks per game (4.9) and is also top 25 in scoring defense (66.6 – 23rd) and turnovers forced (14.94 – 21st). Heimbrodt is the WCC Defensive Player of the Year.
There’s nothing mid-major about Seattle U’s defense.
Auburn’s second-round NIT opponent, the Redhawks, rank No. 23 in the country in scoring defense, allowing fewer than 67 points per game.
“One of the better defensive teams we’ll have gone against all year,” Auburn coach Steven Pearl said. “Incredibly active, they really fly around and make what you do really difficult.”
After defeating South Alabama 78-67 on Tuesday in the opening round of the NIT, Auburn hosts Seattle U on Sunday. The Redhawks advanced to round two by defeating St. Thomas (MN) 67-52.
“Our guys are going to have to show up and be excited about playing because if we don’t, this is a team that is capable, defensively, of making you look bad,” Pearl said.
Seattle U ranks No. 12 nationally in forcing turnovers, causing nearly 15 per game while blocking almost five shots per game (No. 21) and holding teams to 41.5-percent shooting (No. 42).
“They play hard, and that makes your defense so much better when you give multiple efforts like that at all five positions,” Pearl said.
Against the Jaguars’ zone defense in round one, Auburn hit a season-high 16 3-pointers, with Kevin Overton swishing seven.
“He knows that every time he shoots the ball, we think it’s going in,” Pearl said. “We can’t change what we do a ton because what we do has been effective, offensively, but we also have to understand that this is a really good defensive team, and we have to be disciplined in a lot of things we’re doing.”
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Like Auburn, which earned high-profile victories this season over Florida, Arkansas, Kentucky, and St. John’s, Seattle U also has brag-worthy wins at Stanford and at home against Washington, Washington State, and Oregon State.
Representing the West Coast Conference, Seattle U would like nothing better than to end the season for a Southeastern Conference opponent on Auburn’s home court.
“I know this is going to be an important one for them,” Pearl said. “It’s an important one for us as well. Our guys, once we show them the film, they’re going to realize pretty quickly how real and how legit these guys are.”
“This game is an important one for both groups,” Pearl said. “We’re going to have to play well to beat them. It’s another great opportunity to compete against a really good team from a great conference.”
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Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer
The Seattle Mariners re-assigned outfielder Brennan Davis, right-handed pitcher Dane Dunning and left-handed pitcher Jhonathan Díaz to minor league camp on Friday.
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Seattle’s spring training roster is now at 38 players, with 33 from the 40-man roster, four non-roster invitees and one player on the 60-day injured list.
Davis, 26, had been one of the Mariners’ surprise standouts during camp after arriving on a minor league contract. The former top prospect went 12 for 34 over 15 games while producing a .353/.450/.824 slash line with a 1.274 OPS, four homers, four doubles, six RBIs and five walks to 11 strikeouts.
Dunning, 31, was also in camp on a minor league deal. He allowed four runs on five hits and five walks while striking out four over 6 1/3 innings in three appearances. The right-hander also pitched for South Korea during the World Baseball Classic, surrendering two runs over three innings in three apperances.
Díaz, 29, was a non-roster invitee to spring training. He pitched three scoreless innings, struck out two and didn’t allow any hits or walks in two spring outings. The left-hander was on World Baseball Classic champion Venezuela’s roster but did not appear in a game. Díaz made one appearance for the M’s last season, pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
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