The Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers, 37-27, on Sunday to improve to 6-1 on the season. The Seahawks have the best record in the NFC, and their only loss came on the road against Arizona (5-2) in overtime. They are, in short, a really good team.
But their defense remains a question mark. The Seahawks are allowing 28.4 points per game, which ranks 24th in the NFL. They also rank dead last in pass defense, allowing 358.7 yards per game.
Can the Seahawks win, or at least reach, the Super Bowl with such a leaky D?
“It’s such a fascinating year,” NFL Network analyst Steve Wyche said on The DA Show. “With no fans in the stadium, offenses have a tremendous advantage because of communication issues. Defenses are on the ropes. That’s how we’re seeing so many teams score a ton of points every game. Even the good defenses, none of them, I think, can be considered great. When you look at what the Steelers are doing and the Rams’ defense is really good, but they’re still giving up a lot of points at times.”
The Rams and Steelers rank fourth and sixth, respectively, in scoring defense. The Rams are allowing just 19.0 points per game, while the Steelers are allowing 20.3.
That’s a far cry from 28.4.
“That’s what really concerns me about the Seahawks,” Wyche said. “They ask more of Russell Wilson than any team asks of their quarterback to bail them out, to get them leads, to let them play a certain way. The Seahawks don’t have a pass-rusher who can win one-on-one, and until Jamal Adams gets back in their secondary, they’re vulnerable. That is a big-time issue in this season’s offensive explosion. I don’t think that the Seahawks' defense will allow them to win a Super Bowl.”
The Seahawks hit the road for each of their next two games. They play the Bills (6-2) in Week 9 and the Rams (5-3) in Week 10. This Sunday’s kickoff against Buffalo is slated for 1 p.m. ET.