Tag: pass rush

Shaquem Griffin just getting into rhythm as pass rusher

Seattle Seahawks edge rusher Shaquem Griffin is just getting started as a pass rusher, despite immediate results.

The Seattle Seahawks decided a few weeks ago to unleash Shaquem Griffin, who at the time was contributing only on the special teams, as an edge rusher in pass rushing situations.

The results have been excellent, as Griffin’s speed off the edge and experience getting to the quarterback from his time at UCF have made him a formidable presence on the defensive side of the ball.

Griffin has racked up three quarterback hits in his limited role off the edge in the last four games, and according to teammates, he’s only just getting started.

“When he got to the league and you saw him pass rush for the first time, you knew he had the ability to do that,” linebacker Bobby Wagner said of Griffin on Thursday. “We had him off the ball for a while, and the moment he got back to being on the ball, you see the potential that he has. He’s so quick, and he’s able to get around people, and he’s able to use his speed to get to the quarterback. I think he’s just getting into his rhythm. It’s going to be fun to see what he does.”

Griffin excelled as a pass rusher in college, but his lack of size is what kept him on the special teams and as a backup outside linebacker for the first 1.5 years of his NFL career.

Eventually though, his work in practice and the relative lack of pass rush the rest of the team was generating gave Pete Carroll the idea to let him try rushing in games, and while he hasn’t posted huge numbers it is evident he has given this unit a much-needed boost down the stretch.

Griffin will be counted on again on Sunday, when the Seahawks take on the Panthers in North Carolina starting at 10:00 a.m. PT.

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5 takeaways from Seattle’s 28-12 blowout road loss in Los Angeles

Five takeaways from the Seattle Seahawks 28-12 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on the road during Week 14’s “Sunday Night Football” matchup.

The Seattle Seahawks (10-3) suffered one of their worst losses in recent memory to the Los Angeles Rams (8-5) Sunday night and fell back to second place in the NFC West after the San Francisco 49ers’ (11-2) victory over the New Orleans Saints (10-3).

The Seahawks also dropped their first road game of the year, fell back to the No. 5 seed in the NFC and were denied from clinching a playoff spot. Running back Rashaad Penny sprained his ACL and the team as a whole looked terribly unprepared and outmatched. Here are a few additional takeaways from the game.

Wheels fell off offensively after the opening drive

The Seahawks managed a field goal on their opening drive and did not score offensively again until the fourth quarter when they kicked another field goal. They were held without an offensive touchdown for the first time all season. Russell Wilson and his cohorts never established a rhythm and often found themselves punting away. Wilson was under duress from the Rams’ ferocious pass rush and his receivers could not consistently get open and had a few drops as well. Penny’s injury may have played a factor in the results, but the Seahawks offense could not capitalize on the opportunities given to them. They will have to return to form to compete in the postseason and fast.

Almost no pass rush whatsoever

The Seahawks’ pass rush reverted to their inept form that was on display for most of the season before Week 10. The defense landed no sacks on Jared Goff, and this contributed significantly to the hefty production of the Rams’ offense. There were a few moments of pressure, but not nearly enough to even keep Seattle in the game, let alone win it. The Rams offensive line kept their signal-caller clean and he made plays when he needed to. The same cannot be said for Seattle’s pass rush. Speaking of the defense…

Defense gave up three touchdowns in the first half

This is not a recipe for success. The secondary was routinely gashed for big gains by the Rams’ receivers and looked thoroughly outmatched for the majority of the game, but this was especially evident in the first half. All three of the Rams’ first-half TDs came from sustained, high-yardage drives and the third one came right before halftime. The Rams received the second-half kickoff and largely controlled the game from there thanks to the sizable lead they built up.

Quandre Diggs was the lone bright spot on defense

Diggs had two interceptions of Goff, the first being a pick-six when Seattle was down 21-3. Jason Myers missed the extra point, but this play had the potential to be a massive shift in momentum for the Seahawks. Unfortunately, the offense could not take advantage of the big picks from Diggs and the rest of the defense certainly did not help matters. This was a solid game from the veteran safety and it could provide something for him to build on even more.

This was one of the ugliest Seahawks losses of the Pete Carroll era

Seattle could not establish a run game, sack the quarterback or consistently cover the Rams’ offensive weapons. Pete Carroll prides his reputation on his teams being able to execute in these situations and Seattle was poor in all categories tonight. Not even Wilson could provide many heroics, and this team just looked wholly unprepared for one of the most important games of the season. It is not uncommon for Carroll’s teams to lose, but they rarely get blown out. It is even rarer to see them get blown out on primetime in December. They did Sunday night against a division rival, and they must recover from it and defeat the Panthers (5-8) on the road next week.

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Pro Football Focus credits Saints pass rush with 41 QB pressures vs. Falcons

The New Orleans Saints defense started and ended their game with the Atlanta Falcons by sacking Matt Ryan, but the story is larger than that

The Atlanta Falcons did everything they could to take the New Orleans Saints defense out of the game on Thursday night. They forced the Saints defenders to remain on the field for a season-high 93 plays, expecting the heightened workload to tire them out down the stretch.

It didn’t happen. If anything, the prolonged playing-time hurt Atlanta’s own blockers. The Falcons allowed 5 sacks in their last 15 snaps (one of which was wiped out by a Saints defensive penalty) and 9 on the day as a whole, leading coach Dan Quinn to take aim at specific players for mistakes in his postgame media availability — a rarity in their troubled season. Quinn has largely avoided singling out struggling players, but he was left with no choice after the beatdown they suffered on Thanksgiving in front of a national audience.

Quinn told Falcons team reporter Kelsey Conway that two of the sacks were at fault of starting left tackle Jake Matthews, the team’s first-round pick back in 2014. Two more sacks were put on rookie first-rounder Kaleb McGary at right tackle, while big free agent signing Jamon Brown and star running back Devonta Freeman each allowed a sack of their own. Quinn chalked up three other sacks to lockdown coverage by New Orleans.

However, there was more to the Saints’ success than just their takedowns. They pressured Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan relentlessly, as seen in their game grades from the analysts at Pro Football Focus. The Saints pass rush was credited with 41 total quarterback pressures on the day, including all of those sacks, often moving Ryan off of his spot and hurrying him through his reads. Three different Saints defensive linemen received grades above 90 (defensive ends Cameron Jordan and Marcus Davenport, and rookie nose tackle Shy Tuttle) as did rookie slot defender C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

When the Saints are getting after quarterbacks this well, there aren’t many passers who can hold up to such repeated pressure. The Saints played one of them already this season in Seattle Seahawks MVP candidate Russell Wilson; if things keep going the way they have so far, New Orleans might not see the other one until Super Bowl LIV, if Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens can go the distance.

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Pass rush competition opening up opportunities for Seahawks defense

Seattle Seahawks Shaquem Griffin is making a push to compete with Jadeveon Clowney and Ziggy Ansah to rush the passer.

The Seattle Seahawks have seen the emergence of two of their defensive weapons over the last couple of outings. Defensive end Jadeveon Clowney has his breakout game against the 49ers and Ziggy Ansah impressed last Sunday in Philadelphia.

The goal, however, is to have both impact players on the field together.

“It’s what we kind of hoped for going into the season,” coach Pete Carroll said Monday of their recent production. “You can see the results of what the pass rush factor is. It just makes it really hard on the offense to function at a high rate. Their quarterbacks numbers are in the 60s and 70s in ratings and stuff like that. That’s playing the kind of football that allows the ball to be available to you. That’s eight turnovers in the last two weeks. Those guys will just contribute more to it.”

Clowney was inactive Week 12 in Philadelphia after receiving treatment for what is believed to be a sports hernia. Surgery is not required at this time and Carroll is hoping he’ll be available Monday night when the Vikings come to town.

Ansah has finally put some weight back on in time for the second half of the season with Carroll calling him the “strongest and heaviest” he’s been in Seattle.

But Clowney and Ansah aren’t the Seahawks’ only options to rush the passer.

“They’ve got a little competition there, Griff’s making a move on them,” Carroll said of Shaquem Griffin. “He looks like he’s got some stuff that we can incorporate and keep developing that he can be a factor as well. You can see that when those two guys are going, we’ll be at our best. With Griff’s addition, too, with the things that he can bring, the speed that he injects is really valuable to us. I think it’s obvious when you watch the film or watch the games that he’s a factor.

“They’ve got to be careful, or he’s going to get them. Competition is a beautiful thing.”

The Seahawks resume practice Wednesday to prepare to face the Vikings Monday night.

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Seattle Seahawks’ pass rush is finally coming together

The Seattle Seahawks’ pass rush efforts got off to a slow start this season but things are improving in the second half of the year.

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The Seattle Seahawks got off to a slow start this season as far as the pass rush is concerned despite the offseason additions of Ziggy Ansah and Jadeveon Clowney.

Things changed dramatically against the 49ers in primetime, when Seattle was finally able to make an impact.

Defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. isn’t worried about the Seahawks production going forward.

“You just know, any time you play this game for a while, at some point, it’s going to all come together,” Norton told reporters Wednesday. “The guys have been working really hard at it. Hard work pays off. The main thing you’ve got to do is just keep on hitting it. You don’t know when it’s going to happen, but all of the sudden, it comes in bunches and they really put it together. The guys, they played well.”

Clowney, in particular, had himself an impressive outing, logging five tackles, five hits on the quarterback, a forced fumble and a defensive touchdown – earning him the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week.

“He was disruptive,” Norton said. “You just want to see that on consistency. You don’t want to be one of those hash in the pan nights. You want to consistently effect the quarterback. Consistently make the guys around you better. Let’s bottle that up and do that every week.”

The Seahawks hit the road this weekend to face off against the Eagles and Carson Wentz – who Norton and the defense will be eyeing closely.

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Seahawks to expand Shaquem Griffin’s role on defense

Seattle Seahawks edge rusher Shaquem Griffin will continue to see his role expanded this year, likely at the expense of veteran Ziggy Ansah.

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The Seattle Seahawks finally unleashed Shaquem Griffin on the defensive side of the ball against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 10, giving him 14 snaps as a pass rusher off the edge.

Although he did not record any statistics, Griffin performed well enough to earn more opportunities, according to coach Pete Carroll.

“The thing that he really brings is a whole level of speed and activity that we like,” Carroll said on Monday. “We’ve been working him in practice. We just want to continue to expand that and see how that goes. We have to use him better. As we see him, we’re learning more about what we can do with him. He was a good addition, I thought.”

Griffin’s expanded role will almost certainly come at the expense of veteran Ziggy Ansah, who has struggled mightily in his first season with the Seahawks.

Ansah and Griffin tied with 14 defensive snaps apiece against San Francisco, and Ansah never returned to the game after committing a neutral zone infraction late in the contest. His poor showing this season is starting to catch up with him, and Carroll made it clear his playing time is no longer guaranteed.

“We’ve got to look at Shaquem and make some time,” Carroll continued. “It’s just about reps and competing.”

Griffin and Ansah will likely both get opportunities to rush the passer on Sunday against the Eagles, and how they perform will dictate their playing time going forward.

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