Seahawks defensive ends Avril, Bennett form formidable duo

RENTON — One is the life of the party, the bigger-than-life personality who’s not afraid to say what he thinks, no matter how brash that may come across.

The other is more reserved, someone who tends to remain out of the spotlight and do his job as quietly and efficiently as possible.

But while Seattle Seahawks defensive ends Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril may not have a lot in common in terms of their personalities, they have one very big thing in common when it comes to the football field: They scare the living daylights out of opposing quarterbacks.

Bennett and Avril are both in the midst of their most productive seasons for the Seahawks, and they’re turning Seattle’s pass rush into one of the most dangerous in the NFL.

“(Cliff) and Michael are really tearing it up and it’s exciting to see those guys feeding off one another,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “They were fighting for sacks last week, and it was cool that they were both involved so much.”

Just how involved were they in Seattle’s 20-3 victory at San Francisco last Thursday? Bennett was in the 49ers backfield all night, credited with 31/2 sacks. His efforts were acknowledged by the NFL on Wednesday as he was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week.

Meanwhile, when it wasn’t Bennett hounding Colin Kaepernick, it was Avril doing the honors. Avril had 11/2 sacks of his own as the Seahawks racked up a season-high six as a team.

And they celebrated their sacks in their own styles — Bennett’s flamboyant hip-thrusting dance and biceps kissing flirting with NFL fines, while Avril limited himself to understated fist pumps.

“We’re two different types of people, but we get along so well,” Avril said. “It’s like a brother relationship. He’s very outspoken and crazy, I’m more of the laid-back guy. I kind of mellow him out a little sometimes when he’s getting a little crazy, and he kind of brings it out of me a little bit when I need to.”

Said Bennett: “Cliff is just a good guy. He’s one of those guys who doesn’t say a lot to (the media) … but he’s one of my best friends on the team.

“He does everything right, he makes a lot of plays,” Bennett continued. “I think sometimes people look over him because we have so many big names on defense. If you look at our roster and look at the money our defense makes, there’s only one guy who’s not making over $5 million. It’s crazy that he gets overlooked, but he’s done a great job this year.”

Avril and Bennett joined the Seahawks just two days apart in March of 2013. Seattle, looking to add the final touches to a Super Bowl-caliber team, knew it needed to improve its pass rush. The Seahawks addressed that issue by picking up the two best free-agent pass rushers on the market, first snapping up Avril from Detroit, then landing Bennett from Tampa Bay.

Their first season with Seattle they both came off the bench, deferring to starters Chris Clemons and Red Bryant, though both saw plenty of playing time, especially on passing downs. Bennett led the team in sacks with 81/2, and Avril was just a half sack behind as Seattle went on to win the Super Bowl.

Now both are on pace for their most productive seasons with the Seahawks. Avril’s 26 tackles already surpass his season total from each of his previous two campaigns with Seattle, while Bennett’s 28 are closing in on the 38 and 31 he had the past two years. Avril is right on track to match his eight sacks from two seasons ago, while Bennett is on pace to blow past the 81/2 he had in 2013.

“We’ve been really great here together,” Bennett said. “We’ve obviously been to the Super Bowl twice since we got here. We work well together. We’re great friends off the field, our wives are friends, so we understand how to play with each other, we know about rushing and we understand how to rush together, so it make us work well together.”

At the start of games that means Avril rushing off the left side and Bennett rushing off the right. However, on passing downs Bennett tends to move inside, meaning the two often line up aside one another on the left, with Avril on the end and Bennett at tackle.

“I think the way he lines up kind of helps me out as far as how wide he is,” Avril explained about when the two line up beside one another. “It kind of makes the guards become tackles, and they don’t like space. For me, sometimes the tackle wants to help out on him, so it gives me an advantage as a speed rusher.”

Thanks to Bennett and Avril the Seahawks are tied for sixth in the NFL in sacks with 19 in their first 17 games. And they’ll continue to contribute in their contrasting styles.

“I’m not going to change who I am because he’s so crazy,” Avril said. “But it’s fun. He keeps the locker room fun, he keeps the meeting rooms extremely fun. Sometimes I have to pull him back in and tell him to calm down a little bit, but he’s a great dude.”

Extra points

Carroll said the Seahawks may have a full roster to chose from for Sunday’s game at Dallas. He already announced that cornerback Marcus Burley (thumb) and fullback Derrick Coleman (concussion) had returned to practice. Then Wednesday he added that defensive tackle Jordan Hill (quadriceps), defensive end Demarcus Dobbs (shoulder), linebacker Nick Moody (ankle) and center Patrick Lewis (ankle) would return to practice this week and that he expects them to be able to play this weekend. … The one remaining question mark is running back Thomas Rawls, who suffered a calf strain/bruise in last Thursday’s game. Carroll said he was unsure of Rawls’ status for Sunday, and that running back Bryce Brown was signed Tuesday specifically because of the uncertainty surrounding Rawls. … Dallas star receiver Dez Bryant returned to practice Wednesday in a limited capacity. Bryant has been out since the Cowboys’ season opener because of a broken foot, but his return to practice suggests there’s a possibility he may be able to play against the Seahawks.

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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