Seattle Seahawks Have Best Defense In NFC Again
Seattle Seahawks playoff tickets should be coming out soon. Once again, the Seattle Seahawks defense is the best in the NFC. In the updated NFL defensive numbers, the Seahawks rank behind only the Denver Broncos for the best defense in football. Thanks, in part, to destroying the Minnesota Vikings in Week 13, the Seahawks are back among the elite teams in the NFL.
The Seahawks allow only 308.3 yards per game, compared to 314.3 by the Carolina Panthers and 322.4 by the Arizona Cardinals. The Seahawks also only allow 19.1 points per game, ranking the team as the best in the NFC in that regard as well. Regarding the debate about which team has the best secondary in the NFL, the Seahawks actually come in just behind the Chicago Bears in passing yards given up. Both teams are far ahead of the ninth ranked Cardinals in that regard.
Despite some early-season struggles, the Seahawks have found momentum on both sides of the ball. In four consecutive weeks since having a bye, the Seahawks have scored at least 29 points in every game. That, coupled with a defense making key stops, has helped the team to improve to 7-5 on the season. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, it also has the Seahawks as the second wild card team in the NFL playoff standings. The team can take over that first wild card slot by beating the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, December 13.
In the next three games, the Seahawks play against three offensively challenged teams. The schedule presents a road game against the Baltimore Ravens before home games against the Cleveland Browns in Week 15 and the St. Louis Rams in Week 16. The Seahawks finish off the regular season with a Week 17 game against the Arizona Cardinals. If the Cardinals wind up clinching the NFC West and the No. 2 seed in the 2016 NFC Playoffs, the team may rest Carson Palmer. That could lead to some terrible offense coming from the Cardinals.
Some of the defensive leaders for the Seattle Seahawks include K.J. Wright and Bobby Wagner with 89 combined tackles each. Wright has also forced three fumbles and posted one sack in 2015. As a team, the Seahawks have posted 31 sacks, 13 forced fumbles, and nine interceptions. The sack leaders are Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett with 7 1/2 each, Bruce Irvin with 5 1/2, and Frank Clark with three. The interceptions belong to Earl Thomas (4), Kam Chancellor (2), Jeremy Lane (1), Richard Sherman (1), and Ahtyba Rubin (1).
It’s clear that the current Seattle Seahawks defense may be one of the best in NFL history. The team was ranked No. 1 in 2014, No. 1 in 2013, and No. 4 in 2012. That 2012 mark was also second in the NFC, behind only the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers made it to the Super Bowl that year, followed by the Seahawks making it in two successive years. If the Seahawks are able to finish off the 2015 season strong and make it deep into the playoffs again, it would certainly put the team right at the top of the debate for the best defense ever assembled in the NFL.
In an offensive oriented league, it is very tough for a team to remain ranked as one of the best defenses in the NFL year after year. It appears that the Seahawks are on a path to being the best defense in the NFC for the third-consecutive season, with a chance to catch the Denver Broncos as the best overall. The Broncos have games against the Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals, and San Diego Chargers to finish out the regular season. Those offenses could help push the Seattle Seahawks to being the best defense in the NFL again.
[Photo by: Peter Aiken/Getty Images]
