Earl Thomas Comments on Legion of Boom's Struggles, Seahawks Defense and More

For the Seattle Seahawks, what once was the most feared secondary in the NFL, nicknamed the "Legion of Boom," has fallen on some hard times in 2015.    

Struggling to stay afloat in the NFC West with a 4-5 record, Seahawks safety Earl Thomas has an idea what is going wrong in Seattle. He spoke with the media on Thursday, per Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times:

"

I just think it’s an attitude, it’s a mindset. You’ve got to give it up for the next guy. It’s not showing up all the time like that.

[...]

Just people got to get out of their own way and give it up for the team.

[...]

But you are talking about grown men here so they’ve got to make up their own mind so they can bring their best to the ball club.

"

When you look at the stats on paper, though, things look just fine. The Seahawks pass defense is the second-best unit in the league, allowing just 202.8 yards per game and nine touchdowns.

But it's Seattle's latest performance that is bringing the secondary into question. It allowed 334 yards and three touchdowns through the air against the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday in a 39-32 defeat. 

With the loss, the Seahawks are three games behind those very same Cardinals with seven games to go. Thomas knows the team can still turn things around, but its Week 10 performance didn't help:

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We’re still there. We’re still playing good ball. We’re still able to have a chance to win at the end of the game. That’s all you can ask for. We know every year is going to get tougher. Everybody wants to beat us. We’ve just got to get that fire and that determination back, and that desire, that will to win back. ... When I think about all the mess ups that we had last game, it was all under our control. They just held us a little bit with our eyes and it kind of messed us up as far as the connection.

"

This is new territory for the Seahawks defense, which includes the likes of cornerback Richard Sherman and safety Kam Chancellor. In each of the past two seasons, the Seahawks secondary has allowed fewer than 200 passing yards per game, tops in the NFL.

While the statistics have increased minimally, it still is frustrating Thomas, who has 29 total tackles with a team-leading three interceptions:

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It’s kind of tough when you have had so much success like we have had and you are now this type of player,that type of player. Sometimes you are not who you think you are in some cases. But I just think overall we need to give it up for each other.

"

The Seahawks can start turning things around in Week 11 when they take on the San Francisco 49ers and their 30th-ranked passing attack on Sunday. A shutdown afternoon against one of the bottom-dwellers of the NFC could give the secondary some confidence moving forward. 

With the unit's experience and winning resume over the past two years, confidence is all one like Seattle's could need to mount a late playoff run. 

Stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com.