Is Kelvin Benjamin a Matchup Problem for the Seattle Seahawks' Secondary?
The Seattle Seahawks’ divisional round matchup against the Carolina Panthers will revolve around strengths battling strengths, and one erasing the other.
The first such battle will take place in an area where large men rumble and often move backward against the Seahawks.
Over their last five games, the Panthers are averaging 197 rushing yards, which includes the 188 yards they posted during a first-round playoff win over the Arizona Cardinals. Meanwhile, Seattle had the league’s third-ranked run defense during the regular season, allowing only 3.4 yards per carry.
Let’s assume the strength of 11 men as a unit is able to overpower the muscle of one man on the other side, whether it’s Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart or quarterback Cam Newton rolling out on read-option plays.
That’s when the strength vs. strength fight becomes literal and shifts to the outside.
This brings us to a question that seems laughable at first before game film is consulted: Can Panthers wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin be the physical equal to Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman again?
The Panthers are traveling to a place where playoff dreams go to settle into a deep winter hibernation. The Seahawks have lost only two games at CenturyLink Field throughout the Russell Wilson era, and during the 2013 playoffs, the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints combined to score only 32 points in Seattle.
But what happens when a physically overbearing secondary meets a 6’5”, 240-pound brute?
You don’t need to answer that, because Benjamin already did back in Week 8 when the Panthers and Seahawks last met.
Yes, that game took place in Carolina, far away from the deafening, earthquake-inducing roar of CenturyLink Field. It was also played with Seahawks cornerback Byron Maxwell out. He’s healthy now and able to return Benjamin’s punches—figuratively, we hope.
But for our purposes, Maxwell’s absence led to a sort of experiment, and another question that was answered: What happens when arguably the league’s best cornerback shadows a towering presence like Benjamin all game?
The numbers show a lopsided win for Benjamin. The tape? It shows something else.
| Game(s) | Receptions | Yards |
| vs. Seahawks in Week 8 | 4 | 94 |
| Per-game averages throughout rest of season | 4.6 | 60.9 |
That’s a difference of over 30 yards between Benjamin’s production in Week 8 during a 13-9 Seahawks win and his output over the rest of Carolina’s season. He averaged 23.5 yards per reception against Seattle, nearly 10 yards higher than his overall per-catch average (13.8).
According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required) Sherman was targeted in coverage 65 times this year and allowed only five receptions for 20-plus yards. One was caught by Benjamin.
At a glance, then, it seems Benjamin delivered a firm and rare knockout punch to both Sherman and the Seahawks' secondary. Which is why doing more than mere glancing is always recommended when dealing with delicate matters like any potential Seahawks defensive weakness.
Benjamin didn’t dominate Sherman, or anyone.
But when the tape is rewound, we see something that’s legitimately frightening: A large man using his largeness and gaining access to highly contested balls even in the face of nearly flawless defensive positioning.
Let’s start with Benjamin’s longest reception of the season. A rookie anything having his longest anything against the Seahawks defense (best against the pass, allowing 185.6 yards per game) sounds like it should be illegal.
That really happened, though, and Benjamin’s 51-yarder in the fourth quarter is captured in video form above. Even a video that repeats to infinity doesn’t give you a true appreciation for both the exceedingly high difficulty level of this catch and why the two Seahawks defenders on the play need to just shrug and carry on with being great.
Try this view instead:
Newton launched a ball to Benjamin while backed up against his own end zone. Benjamin ran a deep post, with Sherman playing his assignment to the inside knowing he had help coming from deep safety Earl Thomas.
Then all four objects/humans met at the same time: ball, receiver, cornerback, and safety.
Sherman trailed Benjamin only slightly and had put himself in ideal position to leap over the top and make a play on the descending throw. Meanwhile, Thomas also had textbook positioning from behind and had an opportunity to either jolt the ball loose or disrupt Benjamin in the process of making the catch.
But Benjamin was still able to angle and contort his body, with that large frame creating just a sliver of space. It was enough, even with Sherman timing his jump almost perfectly and the ball barely whizzing between his hands:
There’s a razor-thin line between success and failure when facing the Seahawks defense. It can’t be tiptoed delicately because when an offense fears risks, the defense has won.
The fear for Seattle is Benjamin becoming a dividing force when, positionally, the defense has ensured a margin for error barely exists and a throwing window is only a peephole.
Earlier in the same game, Benjamin’s length was the difference again. In the final minute of the third quarter, Newton was flushed from the pocket and rolled to his right. Benjamin flowed with him and came back toward his quarterback, as receivers are taught to do in scramble situations.
Then Newton lobbed an off-balance throw high. His intended target always has unique access to spaces far above where any cornerback can reach. So once again, despite quality positioning, Sherman was helpless as the bounding giant used his wide catch radius to secure a 20-yard gain:
That’s a familiar pose for Benjamin, and he struck it in the second quarter after shedding Sherman on a comeback route:
That six-yard gain was the only time Sherman trailed Benjamin in coverage during one of his receptions. Even then, it was only by a half-step, and if the ball had been thrown lower, Sherman still would have had a chance to bat it away.
But it wasn’t thrown low, because throws in Benjamin’s direction are rarely low for a reason.
With both the height to loom over cornerbacks and the weight to keep them on his backside, he can maintain an advantage against even his most physical competition.
The problem for Benjamin is often the receiving part of being a receiver. His hands seem soft while calmly vacuuming up high and sometimes wobbly throws. Then, suddenly, there will be a loud thud on a far easier throw that's less contested, which led to Benjamin’s awful case of rookie drop-itis.
According to PFF (subscription required), his 11 drops were tied for the league’s second-worst total.
Maxwell’s health sways the matchup pendulum back in Seattle’s favor, too, with a second fresh body available to take Benjamin's physical abuse. Again, there’s also the home-field factor after Seattle gave up an average of only 15.4 points per game at home this season.
"Longest play of any opponent in C-Link this season: Romo to Williams, 47 yards. Opponents only had 6 plays over 30 yards in C-Link.
— haute takes (@KennethArthuRS) January 6, 2015"
Benjamin needs to have reasonably accurate throws in his direction. That’s become a rare occurrence from Newton, who completed only 56.3 percent of his passes against the Cardinals, a dwindling success rate caused by wonky footwork and poor fundamentals.
So there are strikes against Benjamin, even though he’s a legitimate threat and creates mismatches with his large-bodied presence alone.
If the Seahawks keep that margin for error thin and force reaching, diving catches and pinpoint throws from a quarterback who really doesn’t do pinpoint, a primary threat will be minimized.
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