Getty Seahawks DB Quandre Diggs (6), head coach Pete Carroll and DB Jamal Adams (33)
The Seattle Seahawks played a tough, hard-fought Week 13 game with the Dallas Cowboys and came away with a 41-35 loss.
Now, as the Seahawks get ready to play a crucial Week 14 NFL West showdown with the San Francisco 49ers, two Seattle defenders will take the field with lighter bank accounts than last week.
That’s because, after the Cowboys game, the NFL fined Seahawks defensive backs Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs for their role in a scuffle with Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson.
On Saturday, December 9, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero reported that the NFL fined Adams and Diggs $10,927 each for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Jamal Adams & Quandre Diggs Fined By the NFL
There were two bright spots for the Seahawks during their Thursday Night Football loss to the Cowboys. Geno Smith and the offense played better than they had in some time, and the whole team played aggressively and put up a fight, despite their now-three-game losing streak.
While that last part was a good sign that the team is still scratching and clawing for a playoff spot, two Seahawks took the “fighting” aspect a little too far, according to the NFL.
Toward the end of the third quarter, with the Seahawks nursing an eight-point lead, Dak Prescott hit tight end Jake Ferguson for a 14-yard gain to get Dallas to the Seattle 6-yard line. After the play, that’s when the pushing and shoving started.
Ferguson popped up and started signaling first down, right in the face of Quandre Diggs, who gave the TE a shove in the upper chest/head area. After teammates separated them, Jamal Adams kept after Ferguson, and after getting face-to-face, the veteran safety slapped the Cowboys player in the facemask.
The NFL fined #Seahawks safeties Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams $10,927 each for unsportsmanlike conduct on this play last week vs. Dallas.
Dallas TE Jake Ferguson was fined $5,812 for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Ferguson, who instigated the altercation and kept it going throughout, was fined as well, but only $5,812, likely because he didn’t throw a punch/shove/slap like the Seahawks’ defensive backs did.
The Seahawks Safeties Have Struggled This Season
Seattle has the 25th-ranked scoring defense in the NFL this season and has given up the 12th most passing yards (2,813).
That may be hard to believe as rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon and second-year Pro Bowl CB Riq Woolen get a lot of publicity for their excellent play.
However, the backend of the Seahawks’ defense has struggled at times because of the poor play of their safeties, Quandre Diggs, Jamal Adams, and Julian Love.
This safety trio is one of the lowest-ranked units in the NFL, per their PFF grades. Not a single one of these players shows up in the top 40 at their position. Adams is rated the highest at No. 43 in the league with a 64.7 overall grade. Love is only slightly behind Adams at 64.1, and Diggs is all the way down at 77 with a 53.9 grade.
The struggles on the backend of the secondary are a big reason the team hasn’t won since Sunday, Nov. 12. And it is what could ultimately doom the Seahawks in Week 14 against the 49ers.
If the safeties don’t efficiently balance helping stop the run (Christian McCaffrey rushed for 114 last game) and guarding against shots over the top (Brandon Aiyuk had a 28-yard touchdown catch), then the Niners offense could once again dominate.