RENTON — A season of learning for Seahawks rookie cornerback Tariq Woolen ended with another new experience in Saturday’s 41-23 wild-card-playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers: being the object of criticism.
Woolen’s first NFL season has been a mostly charmed existence, as he tied for the league lead in interceptions with six and was named to the Pro Bowl.
But Saturday, he ended up on the defending end of a few plays that turned into big gains for the 49ers.
According to Pro Football Focus, he gave up four receptions for 88 yards on eight targets, earning a PFF grade of 43.6, by far his lowest of the season.
But speaking to reporters in front of his locker Sunday as players gathered one more time before heading into the offseason, Woolen said what people thought they saw against the 49ers might not have told the whole story.
Woolen noted Seattle was often in a cover-3 zone defense and not necessarily matching up man-to-man as might have been assumed.
“I could have played the routes even better, too,” Woolen said. “But that’s the thing about just seeing it from TV or seeing it from social media or just seeing it from the outlooks of the game, because we get a play call inside the huddle, but to the media they think it’s one-on-one coverage because they see a guy around the dude that catches the football. You know what I’m saying? So it’s pretty funny to me.
“But at the same time I don’t really care about it. I know what goes on on the field. I know what the coach called. I know what my teammates see and trust in me. So at the end of the day, those could have been plays I could have made, but, hey, that’s yesterday and today’s a new day.”
As coach Pete Carroll alluded to after the game, the Seahawks also came into the game with a plan to try to stop, at least contain, the 49ers’ running game. Nickel cornerback Coby Bryant played just 42% of the snaps, his lowest percentage of the season since becoming the starter in Week 2 other than when he played 38% against the 49ers on Dec. 15.
The Seahawks appeared to want to replicate the defensive success they felt they’d had in that game, a 21-13 loss in which they allowed no points in the final 29 minutes, and with one TD coming on a 6-yard drive following a fumble. The 49ers had 170 yards rushing in that game on 34 attempts, but 78 came on two plays. The Seahawks wanted to try that general plan again and force rookie Brock Purdy, making just his sixth start, to throw.
“We were geared up to stop the running game today in hopes that we would be able to do that,” Carroll said afterward. “It stayed with us. The preparation caught us a little bit because we were really gunning to make sure that we were there. The passes did get in behind us on a couple in some zone stuff.”
Woolen was hardly alone in giving up some big gains on a day when the Seahawks allowed 505 yards as Purdy threw for three touchdowns and ran for another.
PFF also assessed safety Ryan Neal as giving up five receptions on five targets for 97 yards, including being responsible for the 74-yard TD by Deebo Samuel, and linebacker Cody Barton as giving up five receptions on six targets for 70 yards.
Via PFF, Woolen hadn’t allowed more than 57 yards in a game all season, though it’s worth noting his passer rating allowed against the 49ers was a respectable 89.6 due to the four targets his way that went incomplete.
More important to Woolen than any of the blame that may have come his way was simply getting his first taste of the NFL postseason.
“Just keep your head high and just keep playing,” he said of what he learned in the game. “You know you’re going to make mistakes in the game, but you’ve just got to play through it because those are the moments when your team needs you the most. And especially in a playoff game.
“Those are type of games that you want and that you need — you’ve got to have experience in them, too. And I’m glad that it was one of my first ones, and it was early in my career so that in years to come I’ll know how it will feel. And we’re just going to make another run and have a chance at it again.”
Quandre Diggs eager for Jamal Adams to return
Safety Jamal Adams attended Saturday’s game and was on the field during pregame warmups and in the locker room after.
But the hope of everyone with the Seahawks is that the next time Seattle plays a game he’s back in his usual spot at strong safety. Adams suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second quarter of the opener against Denver.
In his absence, Neal emerged as the starter and as a player who can be viewed as a key piece of the team going forward. Neal can be a restricted free agent and said Sunday of his future only that “we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
But even with Adams expected back, the Seahawks also want to retain Neal. And if both Adams and Neal are available in 2023, that would allow the Seahawks to use the three-safety packages they spent a lot of time working on in training camp in which Adams plays as a de facto weakside linebacker.
Seattle continued to use three-safety sets throughout the year, but free safety Quandre Diggs said there were still some things the team had planned to use with Adams that went out the window when he got hurt.
But while the team undoubtedly missed Adams’ playmaking ability, Diggs felt they also must missed his presence.
“Just the energy, the passion, the level of play that he brings. It’d be a big boost for us, and I think everybody in the locker room is ready to get him back,” Diggs said.