Captain Al Woods, what must the Seahawks do to fix the run defense? ‘Kick somebody’s a**’

It’s the change in schemes.

It’s that the 3-4 has more gaps to defend up front.

It’s players not knowing or not going to their assigned gaps. They have poor run “fits.”

There are many theories, some valid, some debunked, about why the Seahawks have been so bad defending the run early this season.

Al Woods is having none of them.

The no-nonsense nose tackle is in the center of Seattle’s attempts to keep the Detroit Lions (1-2) from doing Sunday what the Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers have done to the Seahawks’ defense the last two Sundays: steamroll them with the run.

Woods knows what his defense must do to improve on surrendering 157 yards rushing per game, next to last in the NFL.

“Kick somebody’s ass,” he said.

That was the theme Woods said he took from the message defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt gave this week. That was after Atlanta romped for 179 yards rushing and San Francisco crunched Seattle for 189 yards on 45 carries the last two games, both losses for the 1-2 Seahawks.

“It’s simple,” Woods said. “You know me, man. I’m very simple. It’s easy. ...

“We have to get back on track.”

Al Woods showing out

At age 35, Woods is putting his $9 million contract he got this spring to re-sign with Seattle where his mouth is. He has 12 tackles in the last two weeks. It’s the highest total in consecutive games of his 12-year career.

The three tackles for losses Woods had Sept. 18 at San Francisco set a career high, in his 143rd career game.

That’s the game Hurtt called a “horror show of errors” for his defense, particularly in the first half when the 49ers took a 20-0 lead.

Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs agrees with Woods on the gist of the issue — though Diggs, six years younger, describes it in somewhat more G-rated language.

“We’ve just got to be more physical. That’s what I live to do. I mean, I live to be physical,” Diggs said. “It’s cool to go and get interceptions. But when you can set the tone and just hit somebody, that’s what it should be about, you feel me?”

Woods feels him.

The gruff Hurtt isn’t about to concede his defense isn’t tough enough with 14 more games left in the regular season. Coaches aren’t about to say, “Yeah, we’re soft” three games into a new defense.

Asked this week if lack of physicality is indeed the primary issue that’s allowing opponents to control and win games, Hurtt shook his head sideways.

“No. Guys were physical,” he said.

“It’s the technical part of the game where getting off of blocks is a big deal. It was our best game tackling (against Atlanta), but the problem is where those tackles are happening.”

The first scrimmage play after Seattle took a 23-20 lead last weekend, Falcons converted wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson ran for 40 yards. He cut off left tackle into the clear when outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu guessed wrong for a bootleg play further outside. On the next play, Patterson ran around the opposite end, at Darrell Taylor, for 18 yards. That set up Atlanta’s go-ahead touchdown pass.

While down 27-23 the entire fourth quarter, the Seahawks allowed Atlanta at least 5 yards before making the tackle on five of eight running plays. Same thing in the third quarter: Five of the Falcons’ eight runs gained at least 5 yards. Defensive lineman Poona Ford made a tackle on a screen play outside right — 10 yards down the field, past the line to gain.

“That is the issue,” Hurtt said.

Seahawks need to get lower

This week Hurtt and his defensive coaches have been drilling into the Seahawks’ linemen and linebackers the need to be lower out of their stances at the snap, to gain better leverage on offensive linemen blocking them. Better leverage provides greater chance to stand their ground — instead of getting plowed out of the hole like light snow.

It’s one of the simplest football adages: Low man wins.

“Being at pad level, again, getting off of blocks, and things of that nature, there are different levels everywhere where it can be better,” Hurtt said.

Seattle changing from coach Pete Carroll’s long-time 4-3 to the new 3-4 scheme hasn’t helped the run fits. There have been problems in communication. That’s led to issues with linemen not meshing responsibilities and calls with linebackers, who have then messed up meshing with the defensive backs on the defense’s third level.

“Part of the transition that you go with and change, the terminology changes and the system changes,” Hurtt said. “So the communication on where the help may be coming from on the second level when you are playing in post-high defense or when you are in split-safety defense, who is in the fit and whatnot, those are some of the growing pains that you go through.

“Even though you have spring practice, training camp, and all of those things going on, obviously when you get to the season things really get live and going. You have to work through those issues.

“It continues to get coached every day. But you are taking some lumps.”

That’s Woods’ blunt point. It’s about time the Seahawks did some lumping, instead.

Detroit is averaging 170 yards rushing per game, third in the NFL. Lead back D’Andre Swift is averaging 8.6 yards per carry, second in the league only to Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson’s 9.3.

But Swift is iffy to play Sunday. He has missed practices in Michigan this week with ankle and shoulder injuries.

As for the Seahawks, when asked if they are still adjusting to the 3-4 scheme, Woods said: “For me, not really. All of it is the same, so it comes naturally and easy.

“Playing the zero nose is as easy as breathing.

“We have to get better. It’s simple.”