Hawks’ stingy defense flopped

The Seahawks did not come up short this season. Not on offense, anyway.

They scored enough points to reach the NFC championship, only to have the defense that was supposed to be this team’s bedrock let that lead – not to mention a few opposing passes – slip through its collective fingers.

Again. Just like that game in Detroit. And in Miami. And nearly in Chicago. Noticing a trend?

“That’s an issue,” coach Pete Carroll said. “Just finishing it off, that last drive.”

So when is Seattle going to have a defense that can close out the games its offense has won?

Sounds weird to say that, doesn’t it? It’s nothing short of shocking from a big-picture perspective, considering what this team looked like early, scoring fewer than 20 points in four of its first five games. More than three months later, the Seahawks head into this offseason feeling confident about the offense’s future but uncertain about just what happened to that defense.

Not just because Seattle scored 150 points in a three-game span in December. Not just because Russell Wilson passed for more yards Sunday than any NFL rookie in a playoff game. Not just because Zach Miller – finally – was featured as a receiving threat with a career- high 142 yards Sunday.

It’s because of the way this defense finished. Not only this season, but four different games as it allowed the opponent to score in the final minute to either tie the score or take the lead.

“There’s four more games sitting there,” Carroll said. “That’s a big-time season.”

And now it’s a big-time question for this defense that is truly puzzling.

You can’t say that Seattle’s defense was bad this year.

The Seahawks allowed the fewest points in the league. They went two straight road games without allowing the opposing offense to score a touchdown, and they weren’t entirely unable to finish out games. The Patriots got the ball back with more than twice as much time as Atlanta had, and the Seahawks closed Tom Brady and his teammates out in four plays. Seattle had strong second-half showings against Minnesota and Buffalo, too.

But those four blown saves were enough to constitute a trend that is fairly alarming. It wasn’t just that Seattle allowed points late, but the shocking ways it found to cough up the lead.

“I’m not worried about figuring it out,” Carroll said. “It’s just a snap here or there, but it did happen this year. You can’t ignore that.”