Seahawks defense continues to improve
RENTON, Wash. – As much as Pete Carroll preaches the importance of treating every game the same, the Seahawks coach couldn’t help but wonder if the excitement of a Super Bowl helped his defense take its game to a higher level.
After all, the Seahawks spent four quarters last February pummeling what had been the highest scoring offense in NFL history, holding the Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos to just eight points. Even Carroll, Mr. “We Treat Every Week as a Championship Week” himself was curious if that kind of effort could possibly be replicated.
He got that answer on Sunday, when Manning and the Broncos came to Seattle and for 59 of 60 minutes, the Seahawks again dominated one of the NFL’s best offenses, holding Manning and company to 12 points prior to that 80-yard, 41-second drive that tied the game. Prior to that drive, which saw the Seahawks concede a touchdown basically because of two coverage breakdowns, the Broncos had scored nine of their 12 points largely because of their defense and Seattle’s offensive miscues, most notably a safety and an interception in the fourth quarter.
In the week leading up to Sunday’s game, linebacker K.J. Wright said of the Super Bowl performance, “I believe that was the best game we played. I didn’t see any missed tackles, I didn’t see too many explosive plays. We were on it from the first play to the last.”
Yet this defensive performance, save one admittedly bad final drive, was even better, according to Carroll.
“We played really hard on defense,” Carroll said. “I was anxious to see if we would play and look like we did back in the Super Bowl against these guys as far as breaking on the ball and running and hitting, and I thought we did better.
“I thought we played routes better, and some things they threw at us, the perimeter screen game that’s really just phenomenal for them, we just really eliminated it. The guys just did a fantastic job and gave us chance to really play a dominant day of defensive football, and unfortunately we had the last drive that we gave up. But I was really excited about that, because we weren’t happy with what we did the week before, and we came roaring right back against a fantastic defense.”
As Carroll notes, it was a night and day difference between what his defense did against the Broncos and what happened on a hot afternoon in San Diego, when Philip Rivers picked the Seahawks apart on the way to a 30-21 victory. And what those contrasting performances shows is just how fine the line can be between a good and bad day for the Seahawks defense, and really any unit, offense or defense, in a parity driven league.
Throughout Sunday’s game, a common complaint voiced by Denver fans or just fans of exciting football was that the Broncos were being too conservative. Manning wasn’t taking shots down field, he was checking down or handing the ball off. Well sorry folks, that’s exactly what Seattle’s defense does to teams. With Earl Thomas patrolling the middle of the field, and with Richard Sherman and Byron Maxwell on the edges, teams just don’t take shots deep. Seattle’s scheme is specifically designed to stop those big plays. What Seattle will concede are short passes, and the Seahawks do so because they trust Thomas and Kam Chancellor and their linebackers to quickly make punishing tackles that limit the gains. Dink and dunk successfully enough, and sure you’ll get some yards and points, but you’re not going to score on big plays or put together touchdown drive after touchdown drive if the Seahawks are doing things right, not to mention that eventually the defense is likely to force a turnover or two along the way. In San Diego, those short passes turned into big gains. In the Super Bowl, then again last weekend, they went nowhere.