The style of play Seahawks should use against the Commanders

The throwing attack of the Seahawks could match up well against the Commanders defense.

The passing attack of the Seattle Seahawks has not been as effective this season as it was in 2022. After nine weeks, they rank 18th in terms of projected points added and team passer rating, 19th in terms of yards per game, and 23rd in terms of interception %. Their previous two games against the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns have highlighted these difficulties in particular. During that little period, Geno Smith has a 65.6 passer rating, a completion percentage of just 55%, and two touchdowns against three interceptions.

Fortunately for Geno and company, however, they face the Washington Commanders in Week 10 who have one of the worst pass defenses in the league. Washington is ranked 20th in interception %, 27th in yards allowed per game, 26th in projected points added, and 27th in quarterback rating allowed. Put another way, the Seattle aerial assault is poised for a classic get-right game. We’ll go over the Seahawks’ strategy for targeting a passing defense.

Washington starting corners

Even while having a strong pass rush—which Washington possessed before trading for Montez Sweat and Chase Young—or reliable safeties is crucial, a defense’s ability to stop the pass is dependent on its starting corners. To put it mildly, Emmanuel Forbes, a rookie, and Kendall Fuller, the starting cornerback for the Commanders this season, have not had an easy time. This season, Fuller’s quarterback rating against of 118.3 ranks 13th worst among qualified corners, while Forbes’ 10.8 yards allowed per target ranks sixth worst. Benjamin St. Juste, their second starting cornerback, has performed noticeably better, allowing only 7.2 yards per target and an 82.4 passing rating.

However, the primary focus of conversation around this defense has been Forbes’ difficulties, as he has been particularly exploited by A.J. Brown twice this season.

Forbes was seen as a prospect who might take some time to fully develop coming out of Mississippi State, but his athletic testing was strong, so there was appeal.

In a game when he gave up seven completions, 110 yards, and a passer rating of 127.1 against, A.J. Brown thoroughly burned Forbes on this play. After running around 8 yards in a basic stutter and go, Brown begins to break it down as though he were about to run a curl before breaking it up field on a go. Forbes sabotages the route’s stuttering portion, allowing Brown to get a great deal of separation and set up a simple touchdown toss for Jalen Hurts.

In this play, which took place during their second encounter of the season, Brown defeats Forbes with a deep curl. Forbes is using outside leverage and giving Brown a lot of space off the snap. Like he did on the previous play, Brown breaks it up field, reduces the space rapidly, then stutters. This time, though, Brown just needs to travel a short distance up field before snapping it back for a simple completion, leaving about five yards of separation at the reception spot.

Forbes was benched by the Atlanta Falcons a few weeks ago due to poor play, but he has now been reinstated back into the starting lineup.

How will Seattle attack them?

K. Metcalf ought to have a tremendous game. Although he lacks A.J. Brown’s receiving ability, he still possesses similar athleticism, catch radius, and overall deep threat potential. Therefore, anticipate that the Seahawks will make every effort to get Metcalf on Forbes, and when they do, expect Metcalf to try to attack down the field, which is where Forbes has had the greatest difficulty.