For four years it’s been the source of the Seattle Seahawks’ identity.
The Legion of Boom. The most intimidating secondary in the NFL. Big, strong, lengthy, hard hitting. It’s the unit that provided the swagger which propelled the Seahawks to each of the past two Super Bowls.
But will the 2015 version of the Legion of Boom be equal to the ones that came before?
That’s the $64 question as the Seahawks head into the regular season. A combination of injuries, holdouts and defections meant Seattle’s vaunted secondary was nowhere to be found during the preseason. Will they be able to bring it back around now that the games count for real?
“We’re still the same team,” All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman said. “We’ve been playing 11-man football and we’ll continue to play 11-man football. I guess we can show you better than I can tell you.”
Seattle’s defense led the NFL in both fewest points allowed and fewest yards allowed each of the past two seasons, becoming just the fourth team in league history to accomplish that feat. The secondary played a massive role in that stinginess.
However, that secondary has yet to be seen. Cornerback Byron Maxwell signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles and is gone for good, while nickel back Jeremy Lane is on the physically-unable-to-perform list with arm and knee injuries sustained during the Super Bowl.
That still leaves the three core members of the Legion of Boom, Pro Bowlers Sherman, Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. However, even they were absent during the preseason. Thomas, Seattle’s bulldog of a free safety, didn’t play a single snap as he recovered from offseason shoulder surgery. Sherman, who locks down the left side of the defense at corner, played sparingly in one game as he nursed a hip-flexor injury.
Then there’s Chancellor. The physical intimidator of Seattle’s secondary is in the midst of a contentious holdout that reached 42 days Thursday — far longer than anyone imagined when he failed to show up for the first day of training camp. Seattle coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday that Chancellor will not play in Sunday’s opener at St. Louis, even if he returns later this week, so no matter what Seattle’s secondary will look different.
“Everybody’s disappointed,” Sherman said about Chancellor’s holdout. “You expect to have him, but we have to go with the guys we have.”
Two of those guys are as good as it gets. Between them Thomas and Sherman have been to six Pro Bowls, and both were named first-team All-Pro last season. While injuries limited both during the preseason, both are now practicing at full speed and should be 100 percent come Sunday. Those two provide a base any secondary would love to begin with.
But the rest of the secondary is new to the Legion of Boom. Cornerback Cary Williams traded places with Maxwell, signing as a free agent with Seattle after spending the past two seasons as a starter in Philadelphia. He brings decent size to the position (6-foot-1, 190), but not as much as his predecessors opposite Sherman. Meanwhile Dion Bailey, an undrafted free agent who spent last season on Seattle’s practice squad, is charged with replacing Chancellor. Bailey, at 6-foot and 211 pounds, is dwarfed by the massive Chancellor (6-foot-3, 232), who forced receivers running routes over the middle to keep their heads on a swivel.
With Thomas and Sherman unavailable for most of the preseason, Seattle’s secondary had its struggles. That was particularly true in the preseason finale against Oakland as Raiders third-string quarterback Matt McGloin moved the ball effectively through the air.
However, Carroll expressed full confidence in his retooled secondary.
“We’ve worked really hard with our guys,” Carroll said. “It’s great to have Earl back. Our depth at corner helps us. Dion Bailey has had a great offseason and camp. He’s been in the position with us for quite a while where we’re very comfortable that he understands the principles and fits with all the things he has to do. He’s a playmaker and a very aggressive tackler, so we’re going to count on him to do the things he does well and hopefully fit him in with this group.
“(Williams) has done quite well,” Carroll added. “I think he’s great, he’s totally ready to go for the season. He had a good preseason, we worked him a lot, we used our best guys as much as we could and we tested him in every way. He’s consistent and confident and he’s a big guy out there who knows how to play the way we want to play, putting hands on guys and all that. I’m really excited to see how he does.”
What it may come down to for Seattle is this: Do the players make the Legion of Boom, or does the Legion of Boom make the players?
“What a lot of people don’t understand about this secondary is that it’s not about the personnel, it’s about the attitude and the philosophy,” Bailey said. “The LOB has no numbers attached to it, it’s just a philosophy and a way of thinking. You go out there and you play fast and physical, no matter who’s out there. (Brandon) Browner was out there and he’s a Pro Bowler, he was gone. Maxwell came out there and what did Maxwell do? I plan to just keep up the standard they upheld since they came into this organization.”
And that’s what Seattle’s defense is banking on.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/seattlesidelines, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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