The 2017 NFL season is fast approaching. My favorite team,
the Seattle Seahawks, is a very talented yet flawed team. Even so they look
like a favorite in the NFC yet again. If they do manage to win the conference
championship and represent the NFC in the Super Bowl again it will be because
of their defense.
During Pete Carroll's time as head coach and grand poobah of
the Seahawks the team has consistently been one of the best defensive units in
the league. They have led the NFL in scoring defense four of the last five
years. Their one miss was last year when they still finished a respectablethird at 18.2 points conceded per game. Matt Calkins describes the Seahawksstrategy well writing, "Seahawks football — at least for the past five
years — is keeping opposing offenses to single digits and driving them to madness."
The Seahawks defense is best described with one word, dominate.>
All of the key players from the Seahawks historic run of
defense dominance are back. Thomas, Chancellor, Sherman still man the Legion of
Boom. Wagner and Wright still fly around the field making crazy tackles. The
defensive line is still anchored by Bennett and Avril. Although all of these
guys are creeping up there in age, none of them have yet shown signs of
diminished skills. If they continue to avoid father times grip the team will
dominate yet again.
Personally I am excited for the return of Earl Thomas. The
small, but powerful safety proved how influential he is to the team's success
when he got hurt at the end of 2016. With Thomas the team went 8-2-1. Without
him they went 3-4, including the playoffs.
The team's defense never recovered from the loss of Thomas. The Falcons dismantled their defense in the playoffs. I don't think Falcons QB Matt Ryan
could have marched down the field so easily with Thomas lurking. Entering 2017
Thomas should be all healed and ready to return to his old dominate self.
The greatness of the defense is further augmented by the
addition of Sheldon Richardson. The Seahawks traded away mediocre wide receiver Jermaine Kearse
for Richardson, who is a Pro Bowl caliber defensive tackle. The knock on
Richardson is his off field behavior. Assuming he stays out of trouble
Richardson should turn the Seahawks great defensive line into a potentially
historic one. I would expect the Seahawks to stymie ever running back they face
up against.
The defensive line did lose to key contributors from 2016 in
Cassius Marsh and Ahtyba Rubin. Both played well in 2016, but are no longer on
the roster for different reasons. Rubin appears to be a straight up causality
of the NFL salary cap. He was getting paid too much money to keep both him and
Richardson on the team. Marsh, on the other hand, is a bit more surprising. He
was traded to New England for draft picks. I thought Marsh was progressing
nicely and added value to the d-line for a relatively cheap price.
Even with the loss of these two players I think the
defensive line should be amazing. Bennett, Avril, Clark, and Richardson are
proven NFL stars. All four could end up Pro Bowlers. Jarran Reed has been
progressing nicely and rookie Nazair Jones offers exciting possibilities with
his talent.
The Seahawks defenses under Pete Carroll will end up
legendary. NFL fans will be telling their children about the Legion of Boom.
Opposing quarterbacks will sing their praises on talk shows for years to come.
Despite getting another year older the end hasn't come yet for Seattle's
defense. This team still looks set to dominate the NFL and for that reason the
Seahawks have a legitimate chance to win Super Bowl LII.
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