SEATTLE — To hear his teammates talk about it, you would think Kam Chancellor had three interceptions, two forced fumbles, 15 tackles, and maybe a touchdown or two.
Truth be told, he was almost invisible on the stat sheet as he was credited with only one assisted tackle — and nothing else — in the Seattle Seahawks’ 26-0 NFL victory over Chicago on Sunday at CenturyLink Field.
But his teammates said that Chancellor’s return had a lot to do with the Seattle defense recording a shutout after giving up 61 points in their first two games, both of which were losses.
“Just his presence out there,” Seattle free safety Earl Thomas said of Chancellor. “The biggest thing when you’re talking about being an elite secondary or an elite defense is the communication factor. He did an excellent job communicating.
“That just breeds confidence and trust,” Thomas said. “I don’t even have to look to see what he’s doing over there because I trust him.”
Chancellor was playing his first game Sunday after holding out of the preseason and the first two regular-season games. He reported to practice on Wednesday and played almost the entire game Sunday on three practices and one walk-through.
Chancellor sat out seven defensive snaps spanning the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second. Other than that he played every play until the final series of the game, at which point Seattle’s 26-point lead was more than secure.
“I was good. Stamina was fine. My body held up fine. No issues at all,” Chancellor said.
Chancellor did not fare well in the public eye during the holdout, especially as it continued into two regular-season losses.
But it appeared that all was forgiven as he received a rousing ovation during player introductions before the game.
“It was warming just to see the 12s roar like that. It was very warming,” Chancellor said.
He said he had the same feeling before the game that he always does.
“Any time we’re getting ready to play football, it feels the same every time. Rage. Calm rage. I’ve got a calm rage and I am ready to go,” Chancellor said.
He was asked to define calm rage.
“It’s a dark place,” he said. “On the inside there’s a lot going on, but I don’t want to show you. That’s calm rage.”
Opposing players have felt that from Chancellor for the last four years as he grew into one of the most physical and fearsome strong safeties in the NFL.
He didn’t have any noteworthy hits on Sunday, but the Seahawks made no bones about how helpful it was to have him on the field.
“He’s really important to us,” Seattle head coach Pete Carroll said of Chancellor. “He played good, tough football all day long. Play after play. I don’t know, but just to have him on the field and that personality and attitude that he brings is really special.”
Chancellor, Thomas, and cornerback Richard Sherman have started together for four years in a secondary dubbed the Legion of Boom, and each has made multiple Pro Bowls.
Thomas and Sherman both said it felt so right to have Chancellor back there with them even though the stat sheet would suggest he had little impact on the game.
“It’s just like any great player,” Sherman said. “Sometimes a great receiver won’t have a lot of targets but he’ll have double teams and open up the run game. I think he had presence out there. I think he made the right calls and put people in position to be successful.
“Back there a safety has a lot of calls and a lot of things to quarterback the defense, and I think he did a great job doing that, him and Earl,” Sherman said. “There was solidarity. There was continuity, kind of back to where we left off.”
Indeed. Chicago is likely to struggle offensively without starting quarterback Jay Cutler, who is out with an injury.
But the Bears came into the game leading the NFL in rushing, and in the first half running back Matt Forte had 15 carries for 64 yards. The halftime score was 6-0 and it was not out of the question that the Bears might grind out a couple of scoring drives in the second half.
But the Seattle defense tightened up at halftime, and Forte added only 10 yards on five carries in the second half. The Bears finished the game with only 146 yards of total offense.
A team that rode its defense to the last two Super Bowls looked a lot more like that team Sunday than it did the last two weeks.
A lot of the credit, they say, goes to Chancellor.
“It was exciting to have one of our playmakers back,” Seattle middle linebacker Bobby Wagner said, “and I’m really excited about how we played today.”
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