Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is known primarily as a pass rusher, but the Seahawks found out the hard way on Sunday that Clowney can be a handful in the run game as well.
Although quarterback Russell Wilson ran the ball effectively, when Wilson handed off the Seahawks couldn’t get anything going at all: Seattle finished with 17 carries for just three yards on Wilson’s handoffs. Asked on 710 ESPN what the problem was, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said the Seahawks struggled to block Clowney.
“We whiffed on 90. We really didn’t handle him like we thought we would. He was on fire,” Carroll said.
Carroll said the Seahawks hoped they could catch Clowney off balance because sometimes great pass rushers over-pursue and get beaten in the run game, but it didn’t work out that way.
“We thought we would catch him and we didn’t. So it was a really hard day,” Carroll said.
Although Clowney did not make the immediate impact some expected as the first overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft, he has developed into one of the most impressive defensive players in the NFL. He turned out to be even better than the Seahawks were expecting.