After yet another dominating performance by the Seattle Seahawks’ defense in Week 16 of the 2014 NFL season, defensive lineman Michael Bennett made a bold proclamation, telling reporters in Arizona, “We’re the best defense to ever play football … When we line up and play the way we’re capable of playing, I don’t think anybody can play with us.”
On the surface, that seemed like an over-the-top statement, but when you consider the offensive-friendly era we’re in and look not just at what Seattle’s defense has done of late, but over the past two seasons, you realize Bennett may be on to something.
Here are a few of the numbers that illustrate Seattle’s defensive dominance.
267.1 — Yards per game allowed by Seattle’s defense this season, by far the fewest in the NFL. No other team held opponents under 300 yards per game. That’s a slight improvement over last year’s very impressive defense, which gave up 273.6 yards per game.
15.9 — Points per game allowed, another league-best for Seattle’s defense, though just off last year’s mark of 14.4 points per game.
4 — Teams this century (the 2001 Colts, the 2008 and 2009 Lions, and the 2011 Buccaneers) that allowed more points in a single season than the 485 points the Seahawks gave up in 2013 and 2014 combined.
39 — Points allowed by the Seahawks over the past six games, making Seattle the first team since the 1976 Steelers to win its last six games while allowing fewer than 40 points.
202.2 — Yards allowed per game during that six-game winning streak, with no opponent gaining more than 245 yards over the final month and a half of the season.
0 — Points allowed in the fourth quarter by the Seahawks during their six-game winning streak, the first time since 1940 that a team has won six in a row without giving up a fourth-quarter point.
2 — Consecutive seasons in which the Seahawks have allowed the fewest points and yards in the NFL, making them one of four defenses in history to accomplish that feat along with the 1954-55 Browns, the 1969-70 Vikings and the 1985-86 Bears.
3 — Consecutive seasons in which the Seahawks have allowed the fewest points in the league, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished since it was done by the 1969-71 Vikings. Only the 1953-57 Browns have led the league in scoring defense for more than three consecutive seasons.
10 — Consecutive quarters played by the Seahawks without allowing a touchdown.
3 — All-Pro selections from Seattle’s secondary for the second straight season: safety Earl Thomas, cornerback Richard Sherman (both first-team picks for the third straight year) and safety Kam Chancellor (second team). Since the Associated Press expanded the All-Pro selections to include a second team in 1972, four teams have had three defensive backs earn those honors in a season, and two of those teams are last year’s Seahawks and this year’s Seahawks.
1 — 300-yard passing performance allowed by the Seahawks this season, and it came in the third game of the year when Denver’s Peyton Manning threw for 303 in a Broncos loss.
76 — Explosive plays (defined as runs of 12 or more yards and passes of 16 or more) allowed by the Seahawks in 2014, the fewest in the NFL.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
