One change that was evident in the Seattle Seahawks’ Week 1 win over the Denver Broncos was that Seattle’s tackling was much better than it had been in recent seasons. Seattle limited yards after the catch and seemed to swarm the ball in a way the Seahawks hadn’t seen in the previous decade. Cornerback Riq Woolen thinks he knows why.

Despite all the greatness Pete Carroll brought to Seattle and the excellent defenses he created over the past few seasons, tackling has been a major concern for the team and Carroll has been unable or unwilling to try to fix it. As a defensive-minded coach, you would expect Carroll to make tackling a priority, but Woolen said that hasn’t been the case.

According to Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic (paywall alert), Woolen suggested that the team is working on practice a lot more than it did under Carroll. Of course, new head coach Mike Macdonald is all about getting reps and then more reps. And then more reps. While practice may not make perfect, not practicing tackling means problems are bound to arise.

Dugar reported that Woolen said, “We practice tackling every day. That’s a big emphasis here. You can just tell it’s natural for everybody. Everybody just gets into it and we try to get guys down. On Sunday, it reflected how much tackling practice we’ve had.”

Some NFL coaches might assume that players have been learning how to tackle since elementary school and have been working on their form their entire careers until they reach the league. Woolen makes it seem as though Carroll didn’t think tackling needed much more work. Certainly not enough.

The Seahawks have been hamstrung by run-breaking run defenses in recent seasons, which have resulted in far too many splash plays. The problem wasn’t limited to any one position group. With the exception of linebacker Bobby Wagner, every Seahawks player was inconsistent in bringing down ball carriers. By Week 1, that problem had all but disappeared, which is one reason the Broncos were limited to just 3.3 yards per play.

Of course, one good game doesn’t mean the tackling problem is completely solved, but given the difference between what 12s saw in Mike Macdonald’s first game and Pete Carroll’s last few seasons, the Seahawks have clearly tried to address the issue. Let’s hope it’s not as big of an issue the rest of the season. Better tackling defense from Seattle could mean the team can make the postseason and be a threat there.

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