Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is not happy with his defense right now, and that amplified and multiplied after his team’s 28-16 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. It’s the second time in three weeks that the 49ers have shown the Seahawks exactly who owns the NFC West these days, and as Seattle now sports a four-game losing streak for the first time in the Carroll era (which goes back to 2010), you can understand why the coach is a bit greased about how everything is going. The Seahawks have dropped from 18th to 31st in Defensive DVOA since Week 7, and the efforts of Kyle Shanahan and those darned 49ers have a lot to do with that tumble.
One of the most notable plays for Seattle in that loss was Brock Purdy’s 54-yard touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel with 8:26 left in the first half. At this point, Seattle was up 10-7, but neither Purdy, nor Shanahan ever since Purdy became his quarterback, are averse to explosive attempts in high-risk situations — it was third-and-11 here.
It was also notable because Purdy specifically targeted safety Jamal Adams on this play, and Adams hasn’t exactly been making a lot of friends lately.
“I saw Jamal Adams, he didn’t come down like really, really hard, but I sort of saw his feet coming down,” Purdy said. “He was sort of flat-footed, and I was like, all right, with Deebo moving, I was like, we can get over the top here. And so, I took my drop. He wasn’t necessarily the number one guy in the read, it was actually [WR] Jauan [Jennings]. But the way Jamal Adams came down, I was like, this could be a big one, so let it rip and let Deebo get under it.”
The Seahawks were playing Quarters coverage in the back, with linebackers Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks rushing Purdy in a mug look through the A-gaps. San Francisco handled that perfectly, which gave Purdy the opportunity to not only identify Adams as a liability in coverage, but also to read through his progressions and make the right throw. Safety Quandre Diggs was playing deep to the other side to handle Brandon Aiyuk’s vertical route, and it looked as if both Adams and cornerback Tariq Woolen were set to jump Jennings on his comeback route. Once that was taken away, and Purdy threw the ball to Samuel, all Adams could do was to try and catch up.
So, the real heroes of this play were San Francisco’s interior offensive linemen — center Jake Brendel, and guards Aaron Banks and Jon Feliciano. Left tackle Trent Williams and right tackle Colton McKivitz could also help because Seahawks edge-rushers Darrell Taylor and Boye Mafe dropped into coverage on the play. With tight end George Kittle chipping before he released into his route, this was six-on-four in San Francisco’s favor.
Adams didn’t play the ball well, but it’s also clear that the Seahawks expected either Wagner or Brooks to get through, forcing Purdy to throw to a hot route. As it was third-and-11, that would have been an optimal strategy.
“I was sitting,” Adams said about the play, via Gregg Bell of the Tacoma News Tribune. “I was waiting on the dig [route, a stop-and-comeback pattern], because I kept seeing the dig behind me. And they went… Deebo over the top.
“I was too short. I was sitting flat-footed. And, you know, you kind of expect the ball to come out a little quicker. Obviously, it didn’t happen. Obviously, I take that heat. For sure.”
In this case, Adams wasn’t the only guy who didn’t get the job done.
