Seahawks search for right combo on D-line

Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett is a football connoisseur, and he can riff on stats, contracts and reputations of other teams and players.

So when Bennett looks at the history of successful teams, there’s one trend that jumps out, and it deals with the very task he is charged with: generating a pass rush without blitzing.

“Teams that have won the Super Bowl have all had a great front four,” Bennett said. “You see how they get off the ball and create pressure. That’s the reason why they win the Super Bowl.”

But while that was one of Seattle’s key ingredients last season, the Chargers offered a counterpunch in handing the Seahawks a 30-21 loss Sunday. San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers quickly got the ball out of his hands, neutralizing Seattle’s pass rush by not giving them much of a chance.

On the Fox broadcast, former NFL lineman David Diehl said Rivers attempted 351 passes last season in which he got the ball out of his hands in 2.5 seconds or less. He mostly operated in that same window against Seattle.

“Whatever four they put in there are probably as stout as any four guys in the league,” Rivers said. “That’s why they don’t blitz much. But they blitzed a little more in the second half, and I think that’s because we were obviously having some success.”

The task in front of the Seahawks’ defensive line doesn’t change much this week – or get any easier. The Seahawks play the Broncos in a rematch of the Super Bowl, and Denver’s Peyton Manning is one of the best quarterbacks in the league at getting the ball out quickly. But the Seahawks made Manning uncomfortable with their four-man rush in the Super Bowl, and that pressure forced him into errant throws and uncharacteristic mistakes.

Said defensive end Cliff Avril: “We hate for (coaches) to call blitzes because we like to get after guys.”

The implications are significant. Instead of using extra defenders to blitz, the Seahawks use those defenders in coverage. And when the Seahawks do blitz, they have the added advantage of surprise because it’s not something they have to do.

In the Super Bowl last year, the Seahawks consistently forced Manning to move in the pocket or forced him to throw the ball with defenders in his face.

The Seahawks want to use a combination of players along the defensive line. By a rough count, the Seahawks deployed 13 combinations of four-man defensive lines against the Chargers. That mixture of heavier vs. speedier lines is the equivalent of a pitcher mixing in a changeup with a fastball.

“You don’t want four of the same guys who do the same things,” Bennett said. “You don’t want four speed guys running around the edge and then you have an open pocket. You want to have a mixture of guys: a power rusher, a combination rusher, a speed rusher, a guy who knows what to do.”

The Seahawks had that last year when Avril (speed), Bennett (combination), Chris Clemons (knew what to do) and Clinton McDonald (power) formed Seattle’s best pass-rushing line.

That group was largely responsible for harassing Manning in the Super Bowl.

The Seahawks are tinkering with combinations this year, and Carroll said he is looking for the fourth pass rusher to pair with Bennett, Avril and Bruce Irvin. Defensive tackle Jordan Hill has received most of the playing time in the role left behind by McDonald’s offseason departure.