Seattle Seahawks Can Ride Shutdown Defense to Repeat as Champions
Not long ago something wasn't quite right with the Seattle Seahawks defense. As a unit the defense was merely great, and for the Seahawks great is normal.
By their standards the Seahawks defense was plain. Of course, it was still among the league's best defenses. But in 2013 it established an entirely new tier of excellence, and even the slightest fall from that perch felt dramatic.
But you may now crawl from your deep underground bunker and embrace the light of day again. The planet has resumed its proper rotational spin, and the Seahawks defense is delivering loud, jaw-realigning mouth punches, quickly getting close to one-punch Mickey territory (link NSFW).
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This new Seahawks defense is the old Seahawks defense. Returned from a brief, mostly health-related hiatus, the Seahawks defense we saw Sunday during a dismantling of the Philadelphia Eagles is the kind of defense that wins a championship.
Or in Seattle's case, defends one.
Before we dive deeper into that game and embrace the re-emergence of the world we know and love in which the Legion of Boom is indeed booming, let’s flash back a few weeks to understand why nails were chewed in Seattle.
The height of the Seahawks’ concerning departure from their core defensive brand came during a Week 11 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. That was also their last loss, sandwiched between a string of wins on either side (they’ve won six of their last seven games).
At the time, though, the Seahawks fell to 6-4 and were far behind the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals with playoff uncertainty ahead. But the result itself was less important than how the Seahawks went about their losing.
They were gashed on the ground thoroughly and repeatedly.
The Chiefs finished with 190 rushing yards, averaging 6.3 per carry. They ran around and over top of a defense that had been allowing only 79.8 rushing yards per game. Worse, prior to Week 11 the Seahawks had given up three chunk carries for 20-plus yards, and against the Chiefs they were trampled for two in a single game.
It was all pretty alarming stuff. There were significant injuries, but middle linebacker Bobby Wagner had already missed four games (Week 11 would be the fifth, and he returned for Week 12), and even with his absence the Seahawks were still allowing 3.2 yards per carry.
The real deep hurt against the run lay with the loss of defensive tackle Brandon Mebane for the season. He’s a core defensive pillar, and the Chiefs’ rushing outburst came only a week after Mebane tore his hamstring.
So given recent events it’s easy to see why the consumption of cheesecake comfort food may have risen among the Seahawks faithful after that loss to Kansas City. But when we jump back to present time there are no blaring alarms, and we’re still waiting on the apocalypse.
All is quiet, with yards of any kind difficult to collect against the Seahawks.
| Over last three games | 6.7 | 169 | 3.5 |
| Overall season averages | 18.1 | 274.5 | 4.8 |
Opposing offenses have mustered only 20 points against the Seahawks since Week 12, the fewest given up by any Seahawks defense over a three-game stretch since 2004. Yes, better than any three-game span during a championship season in 2013.
In two of those recent games they didn’t allow a touchdown, and of the 12 quarters in that stretch, the Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles have combined to go scoreless in eight of them.
That’s some serious defensive darkness regardless of the opponent. You may be thinking two of those opponents are struggling offensively, and you’re not wrong. But you should also stop caring much about that. As ESPN.com’s Terry Blount observed, the Seahawks defense has been uniquely crushing by holding three teams to "only 45 percent of their normal offensive yardage."
When we look closer at Seattle's most recent opponent, the realization that, yes, the Seahawks defense has overcome a brief blip of less-than-spectacular play is hammered home even further.
Under head coach Chip Kelly the Eagles have one of the most creative and dynamic offenses in the NFL. It’s often centered around getting defenders to commit in one direction through play action or a rollout, which creates space for a shot downfield.
The Seahawks saw Kelly’s tasty offerings and didn’t take a single bite. An offense that’s averaged 394.8 yards per game this season was held to a meager 139 yards, the lowest total during the Kelly era.
Even more astounding, quarterback Mark Sanchez passed for only 96 yards. How much of a fall was that from the Eagles’ overall per-game passing average? Oh, just 174 yards.
But it gets even better, because as Blount also noted the Eagles’ offensive production before Week 14 ballooned to greater heights. Over their first 12 games the Eagles fired at will, averaging 464 offensive yards. So Seattle sliced Philadelphia's normal production by over 70 percent.
Yards are the eternal enemy of the Seahawks defense. Any yards at all.
Improved health has certainly helped. Wagner’s return has solidified the run defense again, and cornerback Byron Maxwell is now fully functional to form a highly physical tandem alongside Richard Sherman.
But regardless of who is or isn't playing, aggressiveness and fundamental positioning are always central to any Seahawks shutdown. That’s true against both the run and pass, and a shining example came in the second quarter Sunday.
The Eagles had the ball on 2nd-and-7 right at midfield. They ran a read-option play with Sanchez keying on defensive end Cliff Avril. What followed was more grass-eating for running back LeSean McCoy (who averaged only 2.9 yards per carry on 17 attempts). As they did so often, the Seahawks found a balance between their trademark aggression and still playing patient defense while maintaining assignments.
As Sanchez reached and the mesh point formed between quarterback and running back, Avril didn’t crash to the middle. He closed in but still stayed to the outside, where he could make a play on McCoy—and Sanchez had he decided to keep the ball and roll to his right.
That was the patient part on this play. The aggression came from defensive end Michael Bennett on the other side. Before McCoy even took the handoff, Bennett had already launched himself nearly through the line, blowing up the gap between the tight end and guard.
When Bennett penetrated immediately he forced McCoy to hesitate, halting all forward momentum after his first step. When that happens the defense has already won.
One step and the play was over. McCoy did some backfield dancing and desperate searching before toppling for a two-yard loss.
The Seahawks set such a high defensive bar in their championship season that the most minor and temporary regression felt massive. That’s why even with their injuries, what we saw during Week 11 and for a time earlier in the season was like a Buster Douglas uppercut knocking down the heavyweight champ.
But now the Seahawks have five takeaways over the last three weeks, and Sherman hasn’t allowed a reception during the same stretch. They’re sizzling while in pursuit of the Cardinals and only a game back for the NFC West crown. If they catch them, suddenly home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and forcing the NFC to conquer CenturyLink Field are within reach too.
The title-wearing defense is back to its championship form and ready for more shiny Super Bowl jewelry.
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