Stopping big plays becomes Seattle focus
KIRKLAND, Wash. – During the final 12 games of the 2006 football season, the Jacksonville Jaguars gave up just four touchdowns of longer than 35 yards.
Three of those were defensive returns by the Tennessee Titans in a Week 15 game. The other was an 82-yard punt return by Buffalo’s Roscoe Parrish.
Free safety Deon Grant, who was on the sideline for all four plays, is not experienced in the art of allowing big plays. When he is on the field, Grant makes it a priority to prevent big plays from happening.
“That’s definitely something I pride myself on,” the Seattle Seahawks’ new free safety said. “I don’t try to gamble too much and give up anything over my head.”
The 2006 Seahawks defenders might have tried not to let any passes go over their heads either, but it still happened far too often. Of the 35 touchdowns Seattle’s defense allowed last year, nine were from longer than 35 yards.
“For the most part, we would stop teams and people would be like, ‘Wow, the Seahawks’ defense can really stop teams,’ ” linebacker Julian Peterson said. “And then there would be a little letdown. We can’t let that happen.”
In an effort to break that habit, the Seahawks brought in two new safeties (Grant and former Cleveland Browns starter Brian Russell) along with a new secondary coach (former Atlanta head coach Jim Mora) and a bigger emphasis on not giving up deep passes and long runs.
“That happened too many times for us,” team president Tim Ruskell said this week. “When we assess the team in the off-season, we look at all the areas where we could improve and get better. That was an area we could get better, so we attacked it head-on.”
Mora is also making big plays a defensive priority, having seen his Falcons give up two long touchdowns during a three-game losing streak to end the 2006 season.
“You just have to play sound, fundamental football,” Mora said. “And we’re very fortunate in that we have a very smart defensive football team.”
Two of the smarter players are the newcomers. In Grant and Russell, the Seahawks found defensive leaders who make sure to keep every play in front of them.
“That’s just our mentality,” Grant said. “That’s (Russell’s) mentality, and that’s my mentality. That’s something he’s been doing all of his career, and it’s something I’ve been doing all my career, too.”
The 2006 Seahawks not only gave up big plays, but they let them happen at crucial times. St. Louis receiver Torry Holt caught a 67-yard touchdown reception off a deflection from Seahawks safety Michael Boulware to temporarily give the Rams a lead 1:44 left in a Week 6 game. Brandon Marshall’s 71-yard reception with 2:37 remaining helped tie the score of a Week 13 game at Denver.
While the Seahawks came back to win both those games on Josh Brown field goals, the Week 16 loss to San Diego was the most devastating of all. Minutes after Brown had kicked a field goal to give Seattle a comfortable four-point lead over San Diego, the Chargers’ Vincent Jackson sneaked past Boulware and the rest of the secondary and caught a 37-yard, game-winning touchdown pass in the final minute.
Months later, the images were still vivid in the minds of many Seahawks players and coaches.
“It was disappointing,” Marshall said, shaking his head. “It was jaw-dropping.
“Like in the Denver game, that was missed tackles. You look at it, we go ahead with (5 minutes) left in the game, and then all of a sudden they’re in the end zone. You’re like: ‘How in the heck did that happen?’ “
Much of the off-season was spent trying to answer that question. In addition to personnel changes – the signing of defensive end Patrick Kerney could also help because it should bolster the pass rush – the Seahawks dissected some of the breakdowns that happened last season.