The Seahawks are going to continue to put the heat on quarterbacks via the blitz, Pete Carroll says.
Led by Bobby Wagner’s two sacks and four QB hits, the Seahawks blitzed on 23 of the 49ers’ 45 dropbacks (51%) — their highest rate since 2010, per ESPN Stats & Info. The Hawks had been blitzing about 24% of the time before that this season.
“I thought that the pressure we threw at them helped everybody,” Carroll said. “We just decided to take a little turn. Obviously, we’re trying to figure some things out to get better, and we just put it on the fellas. … With Jamal (Adams) coming back next, it’s going to happen some more.”
That’s good news.
The Seahawks still got very little pressure off the four-man rush. Even with Carlos Dunlap and Rasheem Green joining the D-line this week, that probably is not going to change enough.
Adams, Wagner and slot corners Ugo Amadi and D.J. Reed (and maybe Mychal Kendricks later) should offer some variety on blitzes. Ken Norton Jr. has to keep calling them, and Carroll said he will.
Despite the effective blitzing in this win and the return of Green and addition of Dunlap, it still would be a great move if the Seahawks somehow snagged another impact pass rusher. That would really turn this team into a Super Bowl favorite. The deadline is Tuesday.
Ryan Kerrigan and Aldon Smith apparently are not options. The Seahawks reportedly called Dallas about Smith, a once severely troubled guy who has four sacks in his first year back in the NFL after over four years out. He is cheap – just $2 million – which explains John Schneider’s interest.
Schneider likely won’t try for Kerrigan (Washington reportedly says he is not available) or Melvin Ingram because both are a bit spendy, even though Seattle could restructure Russell Wilson’s salary to fit either of them.
So Seattle likely will hope Dunlap, Green and Adams ramp up the rush to the level we saw against the 49ers.
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