The eyes didn't deceive.
Once all the final numbers were in, the Seahawks' tackling turned out to be as objectively bad in Sunday's 30-23 loss to the Steelers as it looked during the game itself.
Via Pro Football Focus, the Seahawks had 20 missed tackles against the Steelers, their second most of the season behind the 23 in the hideous 37-3 loss at Baltimore on Nov. 5.
Cornerbacks Devon Witherspoon and Michael Jackson were charted with three each, the most on the team. Twelve players had at least one in what might have been the biggest factor in the Seahawks losing a game that also pushed them into desperation mode to make the playoffs.
Seattle, which is now 8-8, has to win at Arizona on Sunday afternoon and hope that the Chicago Bears can beat the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. While Seattle is a 3-point favorite, so are the Packers, meaning that if the odds hold, the Seahawks will be on the outside looking in when the playoffs begin.
Before worrying about any of that, the Seahawks have to figure out how to quickly improve a run defense that gave up 202 yards against the Steelers. Arizona is just 4-12, but the Cardinals rank sixth in the NFL in rushing yards per game at 134.9, and second in yards per attempt at 5.0. In the last three weeks they turned in two great rushing performances. They rushed for 234 yards against the 49ers and 221 on Sunday in a surprising 35-31 win over the Eagles in Philadelphia.
"The main thing that happened was just them running the football and bouncing the ball around and we did not deal with it as well as we needed to," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday during his weekly radio show on Seattle Sports 710 AM. "We did not tackle well, we did not pursue properly on some stuff, and we got exposed some on the edge, and it [was] just crappy. It looked lousy, and we felt lousy about it."
The game perpetuated what has been a seasonlong issue for the Seahawks, who have the third-worst tackling grade for the season from PFF.
The Seahawks felt like things were getting better in that area — they had a combined 13 missed tackles in wins over the Eagles and the Titans. Defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt said last Thursday he felt one reason for that improvement was a shift in some of the team's work in drills. Teams cannot hold practices featuring full-contact tackling during the season and have to rely on other ways to work on tackling. Hurtt last week credited some drills the team had done on heavy blocking sleds as making a difference.
"It's a little bit more similar to striking a ball carrier," Hurtt said. "They have to sink their hips, drive for five, wrap up as well. We've done that the last few weeks. If it isn't broke, don't fix it."
But Sunday, it broke.
The Steelers threw for a season-high 284 yards in a 34-11 win over the Bengals on Dec. 23 with Mason Rudolph starting at QB instead of Kenny Pickett, and the Seahawks focused on limiting big plays in the passing game.
"I'll take full credit for it," Carroll said. "I wanted to make sure that these guys did not have explosive pass plays in this game because they had just won the game the week before against Cincinnati which had been so different than they had been playing. I think maybe that was our first concern and it just got into our heads, and we didn't play right. We didn't play the way we needed to."
Carroll said the team adjusted in the second half and noted the Seahawks allowed just 57 yards on 22 carries in the second half, 2.6 per attempt.
Still, in defending the run better, Seattle allowed Rudolph to complete 9 of 11 passes for 154 yards in the second half (he was 18 for 24 for 274 for the game) to help the Steelers stay ahead.
Carroll said he knows games like Sunday's can make it seem like effort is the issue. He stated emphatically he didn't feel that was a problem.
"It looks like the effort isn't there, and that's not the case at all," he said. "When you miss a tackle a lot of times it's because you run so fast, you over run it and you run past stuff and you are out of control."
PFF charted Witherspoon with just two missed tackles for the season until Sunday, when he was assessed with three. Carroll noted Witherspoon, who hadn't played since suffering a hip pointer against the 49ers on Dec. 10, missed a tackle on the first third down of the game, allowing a short pass that could have been stopped short of a first down to go for a 13-yard gain.
"First open field tackle he's had in a month or whatever, and he just fell right off the guy," Carroll said. "... There are circumstances that draw you into looking like you're not really what you are."
The problem is that what the Seahawks are now is a team that needs a win and some help, or the season could be over.
Lucas still ailing, Brown improving
The Seahawks played most of the second half without two starting offensive linemen who left with injures — center Evan Brown (concussion) and right tackle Abraham Lucas (knee).
Carroll made it sound as if Brown may have a better chance of returning than Lucas.
Brown left early in the third quarter and Carroll said he has had "a good couple first days coming back to us. We have to wait and see all the way to gameday."
Lucas was pulled at halftime while continuing to deal with soreness in his knee. Lucas went on IR following the first game of the season, then returned for the Dallas game Nov. 30 and had started every game since before being taken out against the Steelers.
Carroll said Lucas' knee is just not where "he wants it to be" and that on the last few plays before he was taken out "you could tell he wasn't able to drive like he would like to." As for this week, Carroll said, "I don't know how that's going to go. It's less likely that that can respond."
Rookie Olu Oluwatimi filled in for Brown and Stone Forsythe for Lucas.
Note
* The Seahawks filled out their roster by signing nose tackle Matthew Gotel, defensive end Hamilcar Rashed and linebacker Christian Young to the practice squad Monday. Those three filled three spot that came open Saturday when linebacker Patrick O'Connell, safety Ty Okada and tackle Jake Curhan were signed from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. Those three were signed to fill openings created when the team waived outside linebacker Frank Clark and placed receiver Dee Eskridge and safety Jamal Adams on injured reserve.
