Getty The Seattle Seahawks have a lot of questions to answer on defense.
The Seattle Seahawks sustained their second straight loss and the team’s secondary is under a lot of scrutiny after allowing Kirk Cousins to complete 30-of-38 passes for 323 yards and three touchdowns. After the team’s second straight loss, Seahawks starting cornerback D.J. Reed did not hold back, noting the Vikings “schemed our a** up.”
It was a not-so-subtle shot at the Seahawks coaching staff, implying the defense was not prepared for their Week 3 matchup. The News Tribune’s Gregg Bell reported the majority of Seahawks veterans declined to speak to reporters on their way out of U.S. Bank Stadium, with the exception of Reed and Tre Flowers.
“S***, they schemed our a** up,” Reed told reporters, per ESPN’s Brady Henderson. “It ain’t nothing else to say. We got schemed up. It felt similar to the Bills game last year. We couldn’t get off the field. They were driving from their 25 all the way down the field. At the end of the day, the players, including myself, we’re on the field. We’ve got to get the job done. No matter what’s called, we’ve got to get the job done.”
Through the first three games, Reed has earned a 66.6 grade from Pro Football Focus and fellow starter Tre Flowers scored much lower at 51.2. Henderson provided his translation of Reed’s pointed comments feeling that it was directed at the Seahawks coaching staff.
“D.J. Reed on the Seahawks’ defensive issues: ‘They schemed our a** up.’ Translation: their coaches put them in position to beat Seattle’s defense,” Henderson tweeted.
Carroll on Defense: ‘We’ll Utilize All the Ways That We Can’ to Get Better
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll indicated that everything is on the table to help improve the defense moving forward. Carroll emphasized that he plans to “utilize all the ways that we can” to improve the defense.
“We’ll take a look at everything, we’ll look at everything we have to,” Carroll admitted in his postgame media session. “We got to get better, we just got to get better. We’ll utilize all the ways that we can go about that.”
Carroll was asked what has changed in the second half of games as the Seahawks struggled to close out for the second straight contest. The Seahawks coach noted the defense has to figure out how to “finish and [get] off the field.”
“Finish and getting off the field,” Carroll added, per Seahawks.com. “Can’t give them too many opportunities. Teams have the opportunity to cause as many plays as they’re calling because they’re putting together these long drives and have to be on top of your execution even more.”
Dunlap: ‘Coverage & the Rush Collective[ly] Has to be Better’
There was clearly frustration among the players after the game but no one called out another individual teammate after the loss. Bell reported the Seahawks held a players meeting following the game. Reed’s blunt comments appeared directed at the coaching staff rather than his teammates. Seahawks pass rusher Carlos Dunlap indicated the defensive line has to do a better job getting to the quarterback to help the secondary.
“Well, we had a couple sacks but we didn’t get home enough but coverage and the rush collective has to be better in order for those things to happen,” Dunlap explained in his postgame press conference. “I can only control what I can control from my perspective and or my group. We got to try to get our hands on some of those balls bat them up in the air some more and then when they do hold it we gotta get home.”