CHICAGO — Two weeks ago, the New York Giants teed off on Jay Cutler, sacking the Chicago Bears quarterback nine times in the first half before knocking him out of the game with a concussion.
It’s safe to say the Seahawks took notice.
After missing last week’s game because of the concussion, Cutler was back in the lineup Sunday against Seattle, and quite frequently in the Seahawks’ 23-20 victory, he was back on his back.
Seattle blitzed early and often, sacking Cutler six times and hitting him three more, leading the way in a defensive effort that exceeded anything the Seahawks had been able to accomplish away from home this season.
“Obviously on tape we were licking our chops a little bit seeing the way the Giants had success,” said safety Lawyer Milloy, one of three defensive backs who had a sack. “… We got them in third-and-long situations and we brought the kitchen sink.”
A year ago, the Seahawks were one of the league’s worst teams when it came to pressuring quarterbacks, and had just 28 sacks. After five games, that total is already up to 17 this season. In previous games this season, most of that pressure has come from newly acquired defensive end Chris Clemons. But while Clemons did add another half sack Sunday, it was defensive coordinator Gus Bradley’s game plan of blitzing defensive backs that did the most damage against the Bears.
“Gus called a great game and just kept moving guys around,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “… It was a bunch of different guys, it wasn’t just one guy, so the scheme really worked well and Gus deserves a lot of credit for calling a great game.”
Of course the cornerbacks and safeties weren’t about to complain when they found out this week that they would get a chance to go after Cutler.
“We love it,” said cornerback Roy Lewis, who had the game’s first sack. “It’s a DBs dream to get a chance to blitz. … The DBs had a hell of a day in terms of attacking the quarterback and making him feel uncomfortable.”
The pressure the Seahawks put on Cutler made up for the fact that Seattle didn’t force a turnover, and the defense did manage to add two points when safety Jordan Babineaux sacked Cutler near the goal line, causing a fumble that the Bears recovered in the end zone.
Another key to Seattle’s victory was that the defense kept Chicago from converting on any of its 12 third-down chances. Third-down defense helped the Seahawks win their season opener, but turned into a liability in a pair of road losses. This time, however, the Seahawks got an inspired performance from the defense without the benefit of the 12th man.
“No matter what we do, it always goes back to, can we play Seahawks ball?” Milloy said. “And on the road so far this year, we hadn’t. One of the toughest things to do in this league is win on the road, and this is a big step in our development of our team.”
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more Seahawks coverage, check out the Seahawks blog at heraldnet.com/seahawksblog
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