The Seattle Seahawks cannot stop the run. Seattle is 20th in the NFL in yards allowed rushing per game (128.0), but even that is misleading. The statistics are skewed by Seattle giving up just 65 rushing yards to a putrid Miami Dolphins offense in Week 3. The Seahawks have allowed 175 yards rushing twice already.
What hurt the team in Week 5 against the New York Giants is that New York was down their best running back, Devin Singletary, and the Giants should have been limited to throw the ball as well without rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers. Instead, head coach Mike Macdonald appeared to have no real plan as how to stop anything.
This was especially true of quarterback Daniel Jones who looked like a Pro Bowler against the Seahawks. Jones passed with efficiency and was used on several designed quarterback draws which Seattle mostly was powerless to stop. The greatest reason appeared to be that Macdonald could not adjust to what New York was doing. He was thoroughly out-schemed for the second straight week.
Daniel Jones sets Giants record in Week 5 versus the Seattle Seahawks
Jones ran 11 times for 38 yards, but they were extremely effective yards and kept Seattle off-balance. During the game, Jones was able to break a record for New York in terms of career rushing yards by a quarterback. Jones passed the 2,000-yard mark. One watching the game mighthave gotten the feeling that Jones could have run for much more than 38 yards had the Giants wanted him to.
Instead, there was no need because Jones - a quarterback with a career completion percentage of 64.2 and a career quarterback rating of 84.9 - completed 68 percent of his passes on Sunday and had a quarterback rating of 109.6, his highest rating in three seasons. Plus, Jones had open receivers on nearly every play, and receiver Darius Slayton simply abused cornerback Tre Brown.
Watching a healthier Seahawks defense get manhandled by a Giants offense struggling with injuries does not make one feel good about Seattle's chances of doing well against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday. San Francisco is not playing their best, but they still have the ability to throw and run well. The scariest part for Seattle has to be trying to stop the run.
Macdonald was supposed to be a defensive guru who could fix the Seahawks' long-term problems of run defense and tackling. He hasn't. Macdonald showed an inability to adjust to Jones running the ball. That does not bode well for high-end success for the rest of the season.