Dave Boling: Seahawks Carroll not so merry after another loss on Christmas Eve

Well, Merry stinkin’ Christmas.

That’s five losses in the past six games for the Seattle Seahawks, so it came as no surprise, and it supplied further proof that a team without enough willing and able tacklers is apt to lose most games in the NFL.

The 24-10 loss to Kansas City doesn’t look quite so bad if you choose to give Seattle credit for a minor rally once the game was out of practical contention.

Perhaps, as they fall to 7-8, you can be generous to acknowledge that Seattle’s defense bowed up in the second half, holding the NFL’s top-rated offense to just one touchdown.

The reality: The Hawks scored a mere three points in the first 57½ minutes of the game and never had a chance against the 12-3 Chiefs.

Coach Pete Carroll loves to say you can win any game in the fourth quarter. Sure, but only if you make enough tackles and convert a few third downs prior to that.

The Chiefs built what turned out to be an insurmountable lead in the first half by exploiting the weakness that plagued the Seahawks since their brilliant October faded into this winter of descent.

Simply, the Seahawks can’t or won’t tackle.

At one point during the Fox broadcast, a stunning statistic flashed on the screen claiming that Seahawks opponents have compiled more than 1,200 yards after the first contact by a defender. In 15 games, the Seahawks have given up 5,601 total yards, which means that more than 20% of that yardage is the result of the first defender missing the tackle.

And those numbers don’t account for opposing yards gained because Seahawks defenders are chronically unable to shed blockers.

How this must particularly disgust Carroll, who built his career on the strength of rugged defenses. And how much he has to critically question his own inability to find a cure.

Carroll’s best teams in Seattle featured historically unyielding defenses, with players who thrived on big-play opportunities, who lived to deliver punishing hits, who took seriously their vow to “defend every blade of grass.”

Now? Rookie cornerback Tariq Woolen again proved he was the steal of the 2022 draft and fully worthy of his Pro Bowl recognition, and would have been up to the challenge of lining up with the great secondary players of the past.

And defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson got some pressure on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, too. Otherwise, whew, not much.

How many times in every game do you see hits that make you gasp? It’s almost always tackles by opponents. How often does a team so clearly dominate the line of scrimmage? Almost always the opponents.

Tackling in the NFL, in general, may be affected by the shortage of preseason games (live action tackling) and limited live tackling in practices during the season. But that doesn’t account for the Seahawks being worse than other teams.

Tackling is a matter of technique, to some extent, and fitting the right gap. More often, it’s a matter of wanting to make the hit rather than merely bringing down the ballcarrier. Several Seahawks misses in recent weeks were from defenders trying to contain opponents with their arms rather than their body.

Arm-tacklers are ineffective and worthy of scorn. And when a receiver or running back shakes one of those kinds of tackles in the secondary, he’s apt to see nothing but open field ahead of him.

This all plays into the psychology of the game. For all the talk about Star Wars offenses, games are mostly decided by physical dominance. The Seahawks only have a few players who can pull that off every week.

On the up-side, rookie running back Kenneth Walker III, despite being listed as questionable with ankle and back injuries, rushed for 107 of the Hawks’ 133 total.

Carroll said after the game that he talked to his team about its good second-half play, specifically the improvement of the defense and the rushing attack.

He found that part of the game encouraging, and he wanted them, going forward, to focus on the feel of playing a high-quality team like the Chiefs toe-to-toe for 30 minutes.

But it was too little, too late.

And unless he can instill some defensive determination in the final two games, that might end up being a decent motto for the season.