Seahawks' Legion of Boom Carries Seattle Back into NFC Playoff Hunt

The Seattle Seahawks' storied secondary has ended a lot of teams' seasons, but on the Week 4 edition of Monday Night Football, they brought their own back to life.

A long, ugly slugfest between two talented defenses and two woebegone offenses ended the only way that made any sense: a spectacular defensive play that turned a likely game-sealing touchdown into a game-sealing touchback the other way.

With the Detroit Lions driving for a go-ahead score in the game's final minutes, the Seahawks looked to be staring 1-3 in the face. Dropping a game to the previously winless Lions? At home, in the supposedly impregnable fortress that is CenturyLink Field? Thanks in part to a Seahawks offense that couldn't run, couldn't block and lost three fumbles? The unthinkable was minutes—and soon, inches—from reality.

When Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford put the ball in All-Pro wideout Calvin Johnson's hands, and Johnson turned toward the goal line, the whole world saw the back-to-back NFC champions falling out of the postseason in slow motion.

That's when Kam Chancellor, whose much-discussed holdout is already forgiven and all but forgotten, pushed the ball out of Johnson's outstretched arm and put the Seahawks back into the playoff race:

If Chancellor had not made that incredible individual play, Seahawks fans would rightly be tearing their hair out over their team's bumbling first four games and the shoddy play in this game in particular. Instead, the Seahawks are 2-2, just one game behind the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals, and star tailback Marshawn Lynch should soon return to get the running game back on track.

For two teams with so many premier offensive players, they kept finding new ways not to score: The Lions threw short of the sticks, the Seahawks ran on 3rd-and-22. With punts, fumbles, sacks and penalties, both offenses seemed determined to fall short, stall, even move backward.

With 11 minutes and 18 seconds left in the second quarter, Wilson made an astounding play when he Houdini'd away from the Lions pass rush and somehow found Jermaine Kearse for a 34-yard gain:

On the next play, he again eluded heavy pressure and zipped a gorgeous throw to Doug Baldwin in the end zone for the game's initial points.

The Lions answered with a field goal, and the Seahawks responded with one of their own. The Seahawks received the second-half kickoff, and on the subsequent drive, they got one more field goal out of kicker Steven Hauschka.

With 11:11 left in the third quarter, the score was 13-3. Sixteen combined points from the two offenses—and though nobody knew it at the time, neither offense would score again. 

The Lions got a new lease on life when returner Tyler Lockett—who, four games into his NFL career, had a career-high 58 yards receiving—muffed a punt, and the Lions' Don Carey pounced on it. Fitting the theme of the evening, a holding penalty set up a Lions three-and-out.

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

The Lions got another lease on life when Ziggy Ansah strip-sacked Russell Wilson, then recovered the subsequent fumble. Their ensuing drive was just four plays long, was set back by two offensive penalties and netted just one yard.

The Lions got another lease on life when Wilson was strip-sacked by James Ihedigbo, and defensive tackle Caraun Reid scooped it up and rumbled into the end zone. They forced the Seahawks into a three-and-out on the next drive, and Stafford led the Lions on their best drive of the night.

Taking over on the Lions' 9-yard line with 6:23 left in the game, Stafford led the Lions 80 yards in nine plays in about four-and-a-half minutes. That's when Stafford hit Johnson on the fateful pass, and Chancellor single-handedly saved the game—and maybe the Seahawks' season.

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

"That was huge," Wilson told the NFL Network on the field after the game. "He's been a spectacular player for so long; to add him back to us, it feels like the real Legion of Boom." 

Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com was the first to notice linebacker K.J. Wright batted the ball out of the end zone, committing a foul that should have returned the ball to the Lions. In a phone interview on ESPN's postgame show, NFL VP of officiating Dean Blandino admitted Wright's illegal bat should have been flagged as such and the ball spotted half the distance to the goal line from where Johnson fumbled.

"What can you do? We're not gonna cry about it," Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said in his postgame press conference, as aired on ESPN. "I'm not going to explain it. It's ridiculous. One of many."

Whether the NFL issues the Lions an official apology on behalf of its officials, the Seahawks will hang onto this hard-earned win.

Team	Record
Arizona Cardinals	3-1
St. Louis Rams	2-2*
Seattle Seahawks	2-2
San Francisco 49ers	1-3

Wilson was sacked six times, the running game averaged just 3.5 yards on 31 carries and collectively the Seahawks lost three of four fumbles. Yet with Chancellor backstopping that high-impact defense, they held one of the NFL's most talented (and expensive) offenses to a measly field goal.

The emotional home win should give the Seahawks a lift going into the meat of their schedule; they'll play the Cincinnati Bengals and Carolina Panthers before a run of three divisional games out of a four-game span. One of those three will be the Cardinals—whom the Seahawks are currently chasing in the NFC West. 

Of course, if Chancellor and the defense keep playing like this, Wilson and the offense might not even need Lynch to get past Arizona and back to the postseason—but getting him back certainly won't hurt.