Seahawks’ Carroll: Bobby Wagner ‘having a blast’ as D develops

After prevailing over division-rival Arizona 20-10 on Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks’ stalwart defense has allowed just 30 points over the last three games, with no team surpassing 250 total yards in that stretch.

Anchoring the defense’s transition – which has transformed from allowing 23.6 points a game last year (25th in the league) to 19.7 points now (12th) – is Bobby Wagner, a familiar sight among the team’s faithful 12s who’ve watched No. 54 orchestrate elite defenses on Lumen Field for the 11 of the past 12 years.

“Bobby’s been the top of the mark. I mean, he’s been on everything,” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said Monday during his weekly Seattle Sports show. “And he’s helped me in numerous ways. Communicating, taking pulse. His leadership is in so many different areas, and he’s playing good football. He loves the scheme I believe and he’s playing into it, and he’s helping others play well. That’s what great players always do, they help guys around them play well. I know that our guys can feel that.”

According to Pro Football Focus, Wagner’s play has him graded at 87.5, the second-highest score among Seattle’s defensive players, including team-high grades for tackling (89.9) and run defense (92.6). Wagner is currently the second-highest-graded linebacker in football behind New Orleans’ Demario Davis, with a minimum of 400 snaps played.

“I think (Wagner) is having a blast,” Carroll continued. “I think he’s having so much fun playing here and he can feel the defense grow, and there’s a momentum that’s truly underway and he’s right in the middle of it.”

The Seattle Seahawks host the Cleveland Browns (4-2) and its vaunted defense next Sunday. After allowing the fewest yards per game the league has seen in the last 50 years, the Browns scraped by in a 39-38 shootout win in Week 7 against Gardner Minshew and the Indianapolis Colts, who put up 456 total yards in the loss.