Are the Seattle Seahawks the best defense in NFL history?
“I’ll let you guys decide that,” Seattle defensive end Cliff Avril told reporters earlier this week in Phoenix, where the Seahawks are preparing to face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday.
“I think our defense is pretty good, but I definitely feel like there’s more room for improvement. I feel like we can still be better at a lot of different things, but as far as comparing to the greats, you guys tell me.”
The Seahawks are on a stunning three-year run that makes the idea plausible. The final six weeks of this season assured that. Seattle allowed 39 points over that span, and none in the fourth quarter of those games, to become No. 1 in the league in points allowed for the third consecutive season. The Seahawks are the first team to do that since the “Purple People Eaters” worked for the Minnesota Vikings from 1969-71.
There’s more. Seattle led the league in yards allowed for the second consecutive season. They are the fourth team in league history to lead the league in points and yards allowed in consecutive seasons. The others are the 1954-55 Cleveland Browns, 1969-70 Minnesota Vikings and 1985-86 Chicago Bears.
The Seahawks do it with a blend of stars, role players and what they continually claim is a simplistic defensive scheme. Seattle has their cornerbacks play sides. They rarely assign a specific cornerback to a specific receiver. Richard Sherman holds left cornerback, or the offense’s right side. Byron Maxwell works the opposite side.
Seattle works with the best safety tandem in the league. Free safety Earl Thomas — only 25 years old, yet a four-time All-Pro — may be the fastest at his position. Strong safety Kam Chancellor, just 26, may be the fiercest at his position. Combined, they often allow the Seahawks to do things other defenses cannot.
Thomas’ closing speed gives the Seahawks a chance to constantly play single-high safety. That lets Chancellor move up near the line, often acting like a fourth linebacker, or drop into zone coverage, where most of his eight career interceptions come. In last year’s NFC championship game against the San Francisco 49ers, quarterback Colin Kaepernick thought he could clear a drifting Chancellor. He was wrong; Chancellor jumped up to pick off a floating pass.
“It’s clear cut,” Chancellor told reporters in Arizona of duties for the safety duo. “It’s basic. It’s simple. Whether it’s me playing in the box. Whether it’s me playing in coverage. Whether it’s me playing robber. Whether it’s cover-2. It’s just plain and simple rules. Beyond that, it’s just reading and reacting, studying film, it’s how teams are going to attack you. That’s it.”
They have a coverage-specific linebacker in long-armed K.J. Wright and a run-blasting middle linebacker in Bobby Wagner. Avril is among the game’s best pass rushers. Defensive lineman Michael Bennett moves around the line causing matchup problems.
Comparing eras is always difficult. One thing is clear when assessing the current Seahawks versus those old Vikings teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s or the Chicago Bears of the mid-1980s: League rules and the complexity of offensive schemes have made playing defense much more difficult.
But, let’s look back.
The 1975-76 Steelers may be the best comparison. In 1975, they allowed 11.6 points per game, had 27 interceptions in a 14-game season (hello, Mel Blount) and made 21 fumble recoveries. The following season, they allowed 9.9 points per game, picked up 14 interceptions and 42 fumble recoveries.
A staggering eight Steelers defensive players — cornerback J.T. Thomas, defensive end L.C. Greenwood, defensive tackle Joe Greene, linebacker Jack Ham, linebacker Jack Lambert, defensive back Glen Edwards, safety Mike Wagner, and Blount — made the Pro Bowl in 1976.
The 2000 Baltimore Ravens were No. 1 in points allowed, No. 2 in yards allowed and gave up just 20.4 yards per drive on the way to the Super Bowl title. The Ravens followed that by putting together a year that left them fourth in points, second in yards and tops in average drive distance. They finished 10-6 and gave up 27 points to the Steelers, the league’s seventh-ranked offense, in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Then, there are the dancing Bears. In 1985, Chicago was tops in points allowed, yards allowed, turnovers, first downs allowed, rushing yards allowed and interceptions. Richard Dent had 17 sacks. Otis Wilson put together 10.5. Seven players had at least three interceptions. The Bears allowed 12.4 points per game.
The next season Chicago was almost as dominant. They led in points allowed and yards allowed. The Bears were third in turnovers. They were second against the rush and the pass.
One point of reference the Seahawks will always have to back any claim they are the best is last season’s Super Bowl. No offense in the history of the league had performed at the level of the Denver Broncos under Peyton Manning. The Broncos averaged 37.9 points per game. They scored just eight in the Super Bowl.
If Seattle can undress the New England Patriots and Tom Brady the same way, they only bolster their case as the best.
“I am too young to be thinking about legacy right now, but sometimes you don’t have to say anything because your work speaks for itself,” Thomas said. “So we definitely have that on the table.”
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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