Good morning, 12s. Here's a look at what's out there today — Thursday, December 16 — about your Seattle Seahawks.

Matt Calkins: Seahawks' Defense Is 'Unconventionally Good'

The Seahawks' defense has seen steady improvement as the 2021 season has gone on. After surrendering 365 passing yards to Matthew Stafford and the Rams in Week 7 — a comeback win for Los Angeles in which they scored 23 points in the second half — the unit has buckled down, allowing an average of just 17 points per game.

That includes back-to-back second half shutouts of the 49ers and Texans in the past two games. Just a few weeks before that, the group held Aaron Rodgers and the Packers to just 17 points. The defense is once again led by future Hall of Famer Bobby Wagner, who is on pace to lead the NFL in tackles for the third time in his career — he currently has 152 total tackles on the season.

Second-year linebacker Jordyn Brooks has stepped up big in his first full season as a starter, ranking third in the league in tackles with 135. Quandre Diggs has been a stalwart in the defensive backfield as well, leading the team with four interceptions and ranking fourth on the team in total tackles (75).

While the Seahawks are last in the league in stats like total yards (394.9) and pass yards (278.9) allowed per game, and rank 25th in turnovers forced (13), the Seattle Times’ Matt Calkins went deeper to show why those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

"Somehow, despite all these eyesore statistics, Seattle is fifth in the league in points allowed per game at 20.2," Calkins said. "Incredibly, despite being last in the NFL in time of possession, the Seahawks (5-8) have allowed fewer touchdowns than all but three teams.

There's bend but don't break, and then there's get twisted like a balloon animal but don't pop. That's the Seahawks defense. You'll rarely see anything quite like this."

So how can the defense continually give up chunks of yardage without giving up points? Calkins says it comes down to solid red-zone defense and stopping the run.

"The Seahawks are the fourth-best in the league in opponent touchdown percentage once their foes cross the 20, giving up TD's 48.98% of the time," he said. "The game-saving goal-line stand against the 49ers two Sundays ago reflected such efficiency.

Much of this can be attributed to the Seahawks' run defense, which has given up just 3.8 yards per carry this season — second only to the Saints. If teams can't pound the ball when the field shrinks, they're going to have trouble finding the end zone."

Click here to read Calkins’ full piece on the Seahawks’ unconventional-yet-effective defense.

Social Post Of The Day

Apparently Quandre Diggs does not pass the height requirement needed to make it onto Nick Bellore's "Between Two Bellores" show…

More From Around The Web

At Seahawks.com, reporter John Boyle on Al Woods showing himself to be a special talent more than a decade into his career. 

Also at Seahawks.com, Boyle on Bobby Wagner taking nine students to Silicon Valley for an educational trip. 

710 ESPN's Jake Heaps looks at how Damien Lewis has fared so far in his second season. 

Adam Jude of the Seattle Times on the Seahawks feeling encouraged by Chris Carson’s progress following neck surgery.