The Seahawks started the year 5-0 largely because Russell Wilson and the attack were showing insane numbers, but they are ending strong, and as division champions, because they are back to playing the kind of defense that was calling the teams card of Carroll in the past decade.
“There were times during the season when everyone had enough statistics to go ahead and take us down and as if we were worthless in defense, but this defense is good, and they showed it, and they declared it,” Carroll said. “This is the kind of defense we played in the last few years, when we really had good teams in the final stretch. Show it again, week after week after week, and show it again in the most difficult challenge we had, and did not give up on one touchdown all day, this is great. It was very consistent, the mindset was great, it didn’t matter who was making plays, it was just the guys playing football together in a very connected way, and it really came out. “
Jamal Adams, who came to Seattle in an off-season deal and lived up to his billing, making another Pro Bowl while recording 9.5 sacks, 80 tackles and 10 tackles for defeat in 11 games, took it a step further than his head coach , declaring Seattle’s defense is the best in the league.
“For everyone out there, they need to start putting respect in the name of this defense,” said Adams. “Because this defense is playing away from home. And for me, we are the best defense in the league. You can quote that, you can do whatever you want with it, but at the end of the day, I believe in these guys, I believe in this commission technique and what we bring to the table every day. I know how hard we work, so we will continue to improve because we haven’t even played our best football yet and that’s the scary part. “
And while superficially it may seem absurd to say that about a defense that was losing more than 30 points per game over half a season, Adams and company have really played as well as any defense in the league since their defeat in week 9 in Buffalo.
After this defeat to the Bills, the Seahawks were last in total defense (455.8 yards per game), last in defense of passes (362.1 yards per game) and 30th in score (30.4 points per game) . The following week, the Rams got off to a quick start, but Seattle’s defense showed signs of improvement in the second half and improved continuously throughout the second half.
Including the week 10 loss to the Rams, the Seahawks, in the last seven games, had the NFL’s best scoring defense (15.0 points per game), placing third in the total defense (302.1 yards per game) , sixth in defense of passes (203.0), third in the average of yards per opponent’s play (4.6), fifth in the classification of passer of the opponent (78.3) and registered 24 sacks, drawing the maximum in that period.