The Seattle Seahawks are riding high into their Week 5 bye week. After a disappointing Week 1 home loss to their division foe, the Los Angeles Rams, the Seahawks have since won three straight, including an impressive come-from-behind victory on the road against the Detroit Lions in Week 2. After that game, the Seahawks handled business at home against the Carolina Panthers, and then the last time the Seahawks played, they dominated on the road against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. Despite Geno Smith briefly exiting the game due to a possible knee injury, the Seahawks ran roughshod over the Giants. Seattle sacked the Giants 11 times and held New York to 248 yards of offense. They also picked off Daniel Jones in a 24-3 road victory.

But the Seahawks haven't been perfect in these first four games. They still have areas they need to improve upon. One would be health. Both of Seattle's offensive tackles Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas have missed time due to injury, including their Monday Night victory in New York. Those injuries to Seattle's offensive line have meant more hits on Smith and more scrambles like the play that caused him to exit their last game. But there is an area of the field that Seattle really needs to fix up, and that's on the defensive side of the ball.

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Shoring up the Secondary

Seahawks, Bobby Wagner, Devon Witherspoon

Seattle has invested too much in their secondary to be giving up as much as they are on that end of the field. Quandre Diggs is one of the better safeties in the entire NFL and the Seahawks signed the underrated Julian Love in the offseason to pair with Diggs. Riq Woolen emerged as a fifth-round pick to become one of the better corners in the entire NFL. The Seahawks then paired him with Devon Witherspoon after drafting him with the fifth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Witherspoon broke out in a major way on Monday Night; he had seven tackles, two sacks, and a pick-six.

Yet despite all that talent, the Seahawks entered that game against the Giants with the sixth-worst EPA allowed per dropback. Only the Denver Broncos, Chicago Bears, New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders, and Los Angeles Chargers were worse in that metric heading into Week 4. The Seahawks had as many wins as those teams combined at the time.

Seattle improved in that EPA allowed per dropback metric, but they still rank in the bottom half of the league there. They're even worse in passing yards allowed per game. The Seahawks allow 280 passing yards per game, and that includes holding Daniel Jones to only 203 passing yards in Week 4. The Chargers, Broncos, and Bears are the only teams below the Seahawks. That can't happen with the talent the Seahawks have on their roster.

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GM John Schneider in the middle, Kris Jenkins, Cooper Beebe, Cedric Gray around him, and Seattle Seahawks wallpaper in the background

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A blank silhouette/outline of a person with the logo for the Seattle Seahawks in the middle. On either side of the silhouette/outline are University of Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell and University of Georgia tackle Amarius Mims.

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Former Mike Macdonald and Geno Smith mentor Pete Carroll with John Schneider

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It isn't like the Seahawks aren't getting pressure with their front either. The Seahawks rank fourth in ESPN's pass rush win rate metric. They just had 11 sacks against the Giants. That game could skew their standing in that metric; they did only accrue five sacks in their three other games. But the Seahawks were in the top half of the NFL in pressure rate before that game against the Giants too. That hasn't been the issue for the Seahawks. Their secondary has to play better and perhaps play a less conservative type of scheme.

Conclusion

The Seahawks have a very talented overall team and defense. The concern with their defensive unit was if they had enough of a pass rush. But that hasn't been the issue. Their secondary hasn't held their end of the bargain so far this season. It would be prudent for Seattle to sort out their issues during the Week 5 bye week.