When the Seahawks needed a big performance at this crucial point of their season, the run defense fell to pieces.
Going up against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in their home finale, the Seahawks had no answers for Pittsburgh's dynamic running back duo of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, as the pair gashed the Seahawks for 197 combined rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Harris finished the day with a team-high 122 yards on 27 carries with two touchdowns, while Warren scored once on 13 carries while gaining 75 yards. The Steelers outgained the Seahawks on the ground, 202 yards to 88, had 468 total yards to Seattle's 369, and won the time of possession battle, 37:33 to 22:27.
Harris' signature moment came early in the fourth quarter, when he stiff-armed Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen and threw him to the turf on an 8-yard first-down run. That drive-extending play eventually led to a 26-yard field goal that put Pittsburgh ahead by seven.
That first down was one of 25 for the Steelers on the day, 14 of which came in the run game.
"We weren't right on defense in the running game again, and so it's been repetitive," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "... We played better in the second half, we gave up like 40-something yards in the second half, but in the first half they had their way with it."
The Steelers' 202 rushing yards were the second most of any Seahawks opponent all season behind only Baltimore, which rushed for 298 yards in a 37-3 drubbing back on Nov. 5.
For Carroll, the Seahawks run-defense struggles seem to be a direct result of the team's inconsistent tackling, which has been an ongoing issue this season. In the past two weeks, the team's tackling seemed to improve from earlier in the season.
But on Sunday, the Seahawks seemed unable to take down Harris and Warren with any consistency.
"The tackling just seemed like it was really off," Carroll said. "It seemed like we just did not make the tackles that we had to, to knock the piles back like we'd like to. And we really need to see the film to see where it was happening to guys, other than scheme and make sure that we understand that, which we will. But the tackling wasn't good enough, and we weren't efficient enough. We had shots in the line of scrimmage, and we had opportunities and they won the battles better than we did."
It was the first time all season that Harris reached the 100-yard mark, as the Steelers third-year back dominated Seattle at the line of scrimmage and put the final nail in the coffin for the Seahawks with his 12-yard run that gave Pittsburgh the clinching first down with 22 seconds to go. His previous high on the season was a 99-yard effort against Cincinnati in Week 12.
Warren, meanwhile, gashed Seattle to the tune of 5.8 yards per carry.
"Harris, he's more well known since his college days," Seahawks safety Julian Love said. "He's a tough runner, a strong runner. And then 30 [Warren] just added a 1-2 punch for them this year, I thought. He's strong, that kid's a strong running back, great balance. ... I mean, they're two talented backs. We knew that going into the game and we just didn't execute well enough to stop them."
Seattle's run-defense struggles have been a glaring issue for much of the season. The team has allowed 162 rushing yards or more in five of its past six games, and has allowed the third-most rushing yards in the league ahead of only Denver and Arizona with 2,146 yards allowed.
Even in the past two weeks, when the Seahawks revived their playoff hopes with a pair of thrilling comeback wins over Philadelphia and Tennessee, the run defense gave up 178 yards and 162 yards, respectively.
To Love, the Seahawks' tackling problems and defensive struggles this season have been frustrating to watch.
"I can speak for our secondary, we pride ourselves and focus on things like stopping the pass, playing top down and all that kind of stuff. Sometimes, you can let the little things like tackling go, and it's fundamental football," Love said. "I mean, if you don't do that well and you don't do the simple things very intentional and well, bad results happen. Yeah, I wish I had an answer for how we do that better."
