Things have gone so far south for the Seattle Seahawks during their three-game losing streak that even the guy who's been their best defensive player so far this season is blowing it. Seattle's defense suffered from a ton of errors in the team's Thursday Night Football loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but none were bigger than free safety Julian Love's whiffed tackle attempt on Deebo Samuel in the open field that resulted in a 76-yard touchdown.
In fact, the rep was so bad by Love that it's difficult to tell exactly what he was trying to do on the play. At least Love didn't try to duck the question when he was asked what happened and he took accountability for the mistake. Here's what he had to say about the big miss on Samuel after the game, per Brady Henderson at ESPN.
Julian Love on key missed tackle
The Seahawks have 10 turnovers — including three tonight — and only four takeaways though six games.
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) October 11, 2024
“Going minus-three against a team like this, you just put yourself in a giant hole,” said Julian Love.
He also talks about his misplay on Deebo Samuel’s long touchdown. pic.twitter.com/26Ssdmln5F
Love also took time to address the team's larger defensive issues and why they keep having the same problems for three games running now. For his part, Love thinks it's pretty simple: the Seahawks players have to execute the fundamentals better, per Kevin Patra at NFL.com.
Julian Love on Seahawks' fundamentals
"I think it's just fundamental stuff... We have to keep it black and white in the meeting room, and address what needs to be addressed in terms of simple stuff. And that's the good part, that's the promising part is that it is bread and butter things that we're not executing on. Mike's really dialing it up, or trying to dial it up, and we just have to find a way to mesh and catch our flow."
Love is right, but a team having to go back to the fundamentals heading after just six games is a pretty bad sign.
One can't fairly evaluate head coach Mike Macdonald's defense without mentioning all the pieces that are either missing or not playing at 100% right now. Still, three weeks in a row this unit has not looked properly-prepared. At least Macdonald has 10 days to figure something out before his next game. If he can't find a solution by the time they visit the Atlanta Falcons, this team will be in real trouble.
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