After allowing 41 points in a Wild Card loss last season, critics pointed fingers at the Seattle Seahawks defense as the source of team’s shortcomings. Well, second-year defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt has been working to change that narrative. Thus far, Hurtt’s scheme is yielding a 30% third-down conversion rate from opposing offensives this preseason and Seattle’s defense is playing with tenacity at all three levels.
Defensive highlights have been plentiful for Seattle, including a forced fumble against the Minnesota Vikings Aug. 10 and a pivotal fourth quarter interception against the Dallas Cowboys this past Saturday night. Hurtt appears to have a building rapport with his personnel and is often captured by the Seahawks social team engaging his leaders on defense such as Pro Bowl free safety Quandre Diggs.
Seattle seems to have built a collective staff that thrives under the leadership of head coach Pete Carroll. In spite of critics, Hurtt is being trusted by Carroll to improve a Seahawks defense that ranked No. 20 in points allowed last season.
With the assistance of defensive pass coordinator Karl Scott, Hurtt is deploying a mix of zone 2, zone 3, blitz and man coverages to confuse opposing offenses. As the season progresses, we’ll dive into the all-22 coaches film to illustrate these dynamic concepts for deeper understanding.
Check out this zone 2 coverage sack by rookie outside linebacker Derick Hall from Week 2 of the preseason (below).
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As Seattle prepares for Green Bay Saturday, we’ll wait to see if Hurtt deploys his defensive starters for quality reps. Undoubtedly, second-string quarterbacks have had little success against his strategies.
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