Is Hawks #1 Defense a "Blue Mirage"?

[olyfan63]

...Waiting to be Exposed by Goff, Lions, and More?

Seattle's D hasn't yet played a good QB and good offense at full strength. Is their defense so far a "Blue Mirage"? Defense has only faced Rookie QB Bo Nix, Career backup Jacoby Brissett, and two different backup QBs for the Dolphins,

The Lions and Goff are the first good QB the Seahawks "#1" defense will face in the MacDonald era. Is the Hawks D actually that good after a 1-year turnaround on Pete Carroll's years of defensive suckitude, or is the #1 D a "Blue Mirage" just waiting to be exposed by Lions, 49ers twice, Rams twice, and even sucky Kyler and the Cardinals? Asking for my gambling friends.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Nah, good defense is good defense.

 

[olyfan63]

Nah, good defense is good defense.

Does anyone "miss" how Pete Carroll's defenses used to routinely make backup QBs look like All-Pros? Nick Mullins comes to mind, among many others; there were so many it's hard to remember them all.

Why will this year's MikeMac defense match up with and slow down offensive powerhouses, why will it be different this year against the 49ers, Rams, Lions, Bills, Packers, and Rodgers Jets?

 

[Raifers]

Well if it was last year it would have been exposed already, so improvement regardless

 

[Mizak]

Bills are still an elite team as long as they have Josh Allen. Seahawks have to play them and the surprisingly good Vikings team.

 

[mistaowen]

They are fundamentally sound, tackling is miles better, DB's are absolutely blanketing receivers so far, and finally getting good pressure using some creative looks. I've heard each team give MM kudos for some of the exotic looks he's dialing up without requiring 5-6 man rushes. Emergence of Mafe and Hall speaks to the defensive brain-trust elevating these guys too.

Biggest question mark this week is health IMO. Lions OL mauls teams, have to be stout against the run to win. Really hoping the banged up DL guys can play, similarly Lions might be missing their stud center too.

 

[CalgaryFan05]

Seattle's D hasn't yet played a good QB and good offense at full strength. Is their defense so far a "Blue Mirage"? Defense has only faced Rookie QB Bo Nix, Career backup Jacoby Brissett, and two different backup QBs for the Dolphins,

The Lions and Goff are the first good QB the Seahawks "#1" defense will face in the MacDonald era. Is the Hawks D actually that good after a 1-year turnaround on Pete Carroll's years of defensive suckitude, or is the #1 D a "Blue Mirage" just waiting to be exposed by Lions, 49ers twice, Rams twice, and even sucky Kyler and the Cardinals? Asking for my gambling friends.

We were #2 in pass rush IIRC going into Sunday's game.

I think we're good. And if we're not, MM will be ON it. His comment on: "Run defense made me sick to my stomach" speaks volumes about his approach. If it's broken - we're gonna FIX it. Unlike recent years watching people whiff and amble around the field missing tackle after tackle.

I have a feeling that MM is actually about "Always compete" - and not just as a slogan.

Lions game will be a benchmark, no doubt. NFC West isn't looking so scary this year Not to get a big head, and I understand the Lambs are not crippled, but definitely down a couple players.

 

[Chukarhawk]

not if the injuries dont stop piling up.

 

[Slick]

I think with a challenge like Detroit's offense coming up past history (Pete Era, which I love) is that if things weren't working adjustments didn't happen until the 3rd or 4th quarter. I'm waiting to see if adjustments are more "real time" with our new coaching. The old saying I guess "chess, not checkers" is what I'd like to see.

 

[pmedic920]

Seattle's D hasn't yet played a good QB and good offense at full strength. Is their defense so far a "Blue Mirage"? Defense has only faced Rookie QB Bo Nix, Career backup Jacoby Brissett, and two different backup QBs for the Dolphins,

The Lions and Goff are the first good QB the Seahawks "#1" defense will face in the MacDonald era. Is the Hawks D actually that good after a 1-year turnaround on Pete Carroll's years of defensive suckitude, or is the #1 D a "Blue Mirage" just waiting to be exposed by Lions, 49ers twice, Rams twice, and even sucky Kyler and the Cardinals? Asking for my gambling friends.

We will know the answer come about 10:00 PM Monday night.

*depending on where you are

I’d like to think this is a solid top 5-6 defense, and that nobody is going to trounce us.

 

[Ruminator]

We were all marveling at actual tackles during preseason and after the Week 1 game vs Broncos. Especially after years of bacon-greased one-armed slip-offs. If they continue to make actual tackles all season long, they'll finish top-10 at season's end.

 

[Ozzy]

If Williams and Murphy are out its going to be a tough task to hold Detroit's offense at bay. But I do think we have a good defense and expect it to stay that way the rest of the year.

 

[Torc]

Tackling isn't a mirage, and doesn't matter who is playing QB. I'm very confident in our secondary no matter who the QB is. I'd expect a more experienced QB to deal with the pressure better and our numbers might go down there. The defense has been doing well for the most part against runs on the edge. My concern is runs right up the gut, we seem to be more vulnerable there. As CalgaryFan noted, Macdonald seems very interested in improving that area and I don't doubt that he will. But if I were an opposing OC and had a quality RB, I'd be attacking the Seahawks there.

 

[Rat]

Playing a little over their heads? Maybe.

"Blue mirage"? No.

It's difficult to imagine Mafe and Hall keeping up this level terrorizing QBs, but Nwosu back should help regardless. I guess it depends. Some players will improve, others will either regress or get injured; there's an element of luck sure, but the talent and coaching are good enough where I feel confident calling them fringe top 10 at absolute worst.

 

[AROS]

Bruh, chill with the long thread titles please.

 

[olyfan63]

Tackling isn't a mirage, and doesn't matter who is playing QB. I'm very confident in our secondary no matter who the QB is. I'd expect a more experienced QB to deal with the pressure better and our numbers might go down there. The defense has been doing well for the most part against runs on the edge. My concern is runs right up the gut, we seem to be more vulnerable there. As CalgaryFan noted, Macdonald seems very interested in improving that area and I don't doubt that he will. But if I were an opposing OC and had a quality RB, I'd be attacking the Seahawks there.

Lions have the RB to attack Seattle up the middle, David Montgomery gets the tough yards. If Byron Murphy plays and is 100% I'd hope we'd be stronger against the run there. Jahmyr Gibbs is very speed to the outside, so will test the edge run defense.

Lol, someone mentioned my reference to "Lady Luck" perhaps it should have been, "Lady Luck, and injuries". I'm hearing rumors of injuries in Lions OL.

 

[Welshers2]

Does anyone "miss" how Pete Carroll's defenses used to routinely make backup QBs look like All-Pros? Nick Mullins comes to mind, among many others; there were so many it's hard to remember them all.

Why will this year's MikeMac defense match up with and slow down offensive powerhouses, why will it be different this year against the 49ers, Rams, Lions, Bills, Packers, and Rodgers Jets?

Yes they made colt mcoy look like a hall of famer

 

[olyfan63]

Bruh, chill with the long thread titles please.

View attachment 67537

I was trying to keep it reasonably short, but it was challenging. Can you suggest an alternate thread title that would have gotten the ideas across?
Maybe... "Hawks defense: #1, or Blue Mirage? Lions, 49ers, Rams to expose?" That's 64 char vs 84 for the original. I don't post a ton of threads. Is there a generally preferred thread title character limit?

I also did a boo-boo a couple weeks ago and posted what I intended to be a PM as a "Profile Message" seen by all visitors to a member's profile. Oops. Trying to be a good citizen and not screw up, but that one somehow got me clicking the wrong thing.

Thank you for the gentle reminder, and I'll do shorter in the future.

 

[AROS]

No worries, I already edited it. Check it out. Basically kept the first half and extended the second half into the opening of your post.

All good.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Does anyone "miss" how Pete Carroll's defenses used to routinely make backup QBs look like All-Pros? Nick Mullins comes to mind, among many others; there were so many it's hard to remember them all.

Why will this year's MikeMac defense match up with and slow down offensive powerhouses, why will it be different this year against the 49ers, Rams, Lions, Bills, Packers, and Rodgers Jets?

To be really honest, there's very little I miss about Pete. Nice guy. It was way past time.