Good afternoon, 12s. Here's a look at what's out there today —Friday, October 13 — about your Seattle Seahawks.

The Seahawks defense continues to improve under defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt.

In 2022, Seattle went 9-8 to earn an NFC wild card appearance, but didn't play up to their standards on defense, ranking in the bottom 10 for total yards allowed (369.7) and rushing yards allowed (151.9) per game. Through the first five weeks of the 2023 season, defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt's defense continues to trend up thanks to intensity, grit and team-bonding.

Seattle's 2023 season got off to a disappointing start, falling 30-13 at home against the Los Angeles Rams. But Seattle has been red-hot since, winning three-straight games while the defense steadily improves. After ranking 30th in run defense last year, Seattle has quickly risen to be one of the league's best. Currently, Seattle's average of 87.5 rushing yards allowed per game ranks sixth best across the NFL, and Seattle's opponents are averaging only 3.2 yards per carry, the lowest total in the league. In March, linebacker and Captain Bobby Wagner returned to the Seahawks via free agency after a year with the Los Angeles Rams. Leading the way with 50-combined tackles through four games played, Wagner discussed fixing the run defense woes early and how he feels about the direction their heading as a unit.

"I feel good," said Wagner. "All offseason we were talking about stopping the run, I think we've been able to do that thus far. After that, it's 'How do you complement that with everything else?'. Last game, our rush did a really good job and it made things easier for the coverage. The more and more that happens, the more we'll put together games like that. I feel good about where we're at."

Seattle's pass rush got off to a slow start, with sack the first of the year coming from cornerback Tre Brown in Week 2's win over the Detroit Lions. But that changed quickly, going from three sacks in Week 3 against Carolina, to tying a franchise record with 11 sacks against the New York Giants in Week 4. As Seattle continues to produce - the team continues to demand more of each other. Linebacker Jordyn Brooks points out intense pre-game team meetings as an outlet for players to engage in tough conversations and get prepared for gameday. With a great blend of veteran leadership and budding talent, players can get input from each other in a safe space.

"The team meetings before the game," said Brooks. "The night before the game, they get pretty wild sometimes. You might have a chair thrown into the wall or something. They get pretty wild. It definitely gets guys fired up for the game. I think it's got a big impact."

Safety and Captain Quandre Diggs reflected on team discussions of upholding the standard of the franchise as the team plays through the 10-year anniversary of the 2013 Super Bowl XLVIII season.

"I think when you get people healthy and you get on the same page," said Diggs. "I think we're just learning who we are and trying to figure out who we are. Not saying that we won't have bumps down the road and things like that, but at the end of the day I think that we're playing the way we want to play. We talked about upholding the standard and for the last few weeks I felt like we've done that. Not to say that we might go out and have a bump, but at the end of the day it's how we bounce back, we know we can bounce back, we've done it before. For us we just want to stay on top of things, enjoy these moments, and those big guys eating up front like that, it makes everybody better."

Wagner discussed being back in the pregame meetings after a year away and the impact.

"I think it does a really good job of bringing everybody together," Wagner said. "I think he's done a really good job of honing in on whatever message for that particular game. I think it's something over a period of time, you appreciate the amount of effort that I'm pretty sure he puts in and the thought that he puts in to making sure those meetings are productive. I feel like as I've gotten older, I appreciate it more because I started to see how hard that possibly is to every single game come up with a different message, different theme for each game and try to execute that message, I think it's pretty cool."

Seattle prepares to face the 2-3 Bengals on Sunday, with an opportunity to move to four-straight wins. As the Seahawks continue to find ways to build amongst each other - their growing chemistry shines bright on the defensive end.

Social Post Of The Day

Dan Orlovsky breaks down two things the Seahawks offense does well for ESPN ahead of Sunday's matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals:

More from Around The Web

Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times: Seahawks notebook: Bye week was big help for Geno Smith to heal up.

Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times: What to watch for when Seahawks take on Bengals in Week 6, plus Bob Condotta’s prediction.

Seattle Times Sports Staff: Seattle Times staff picks for Seahawks at Bengals in Week 6.

Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic: How Jarran Reed has quietly been critical to the Seahawks’ defensive resurgence.

Mike Salk of Seattle Sports 710AM: Salk: Why this Seahawks defense is different than we’ve seen in years.