SEATTLE _ Darryl Tapp was stopped in his tracks only one time Sunday, when he heard that teammate Julian Peterson had compared him to Dwight Freeney.
His eyes lit up, and a huge smile came across his face.
“That’s a big compliment,” Tapp said. “He (Freeney) is probably one of the reasons that guys my size and stature are in the NFL because he does so many things at that position. So, that’s a big compliment.”
Tapp had four quarterback sacks and forced a fumble from his defensive end position Sunday to help the Seattle Seahawks rout St. Louis 33-6 in an NFL game at Qwest Field.
The four sacks tied a team record shared by Jacob Green, Michael Sinclair, and Michael McCrary, and they impressed the heck out of Peterson, a three-time Pro Bowl linebacker who pretended to fan Tapp off after one of his sacks.
“He was hot, man,” Peterson said. “He got three in the first half, and it was good to see that. He’s been working hard getting his pass rushes in, and it was good to see him come out there and have the game that he had, because it is well deserved.”
“He reminds me a little bit of Freeney,” Peterson said. “He’s maybe not as quick a step on the initial get off the ball, but pretty much all the pass rush moves and the spins and the body size and everything, he just reminds me of Freeney.
“He’s got the pass rush moves. He could easily be one of the top pass rushers in the league if he continues to work the way he’s working,” Peterson said. “Hopefully he can get some more games like this.”
Freeney is 6-feet-1 and 268 pounds, and he has 58 sacks and three Pro Bowl selections in his six-year career with Indianapolis. His success has run contrary to the trend of 6-4 linemen, and it has helped players like Tapp, 270 pounds and also 6-1, get a more serious look from the NFL.
Tapp, Seattle’s second-round draft choice last year, said he tried to pattern his game after Freeney while at Virginia Tech, and he showed a Freeney-esque array of big plays on Sunday.
Two of his sacks came from the left defensive end position. Two came from the right side. On one of those, Rams left tackle Alex Barron nearly ripped Tapp’s helmet off and was called for holding. The fourth sack came in the third quarter after Tapp hurt his right hand and had it heavily bandaged in a club-like wrap at halftime.
“He was great,” Seattle coach Mike Holmgren said. “Unfortunately, he broke a little bone in his hand, and they put a big mitt on him.”
Holmgren said he didn’t yet know if the injury will require surgery, but he expects Tapp to continue to play either way when Seattle (4-3) faces Cleveland in two weeks after having an open date next weekend.
“It’s my understanding that he’ll have his fingers available,” Holmgren said. “If not, he’ll have to wear the big boxing glove.”
Tapp won the starting job this season from Bryce Fisher during training camp, but he was disappointed in his production in the first six games, in which he had one and a half sacks.
He said Sunday that he had been trying too hard to prove the Seahawks coaches right in naming him a starter and trading Fisher to Tennessee.
“Bryce Fisher is a great professional, and he’s the one who put me in this position now because he taught me how to do certain things on the field,” said Tapp, who had three sacks last season in part-time duty.
“They got rid of him because of what they saw in me and the things I possibly could do,” Tapp said. “I started pressing because I was now the starter. I just had to calm down and let things come to me.
“Every play you feel like you’ve got to make the play and you end up doing too much rather than just handling your responsibility,” Tapp said. “When I stop doing what I’m supposed to do and put my nose into what (my teammates) are supposed to be doing it throws things out of whack.”
Tapp said he started to rein himself in last week against New Orleans. Though it was a dreadful game overall by the Seattle defense, Tapp said that defensive line coach Dwaine Board told him it was his best game of the season.
The payoff showed up more clearly on Sunday, although it must be noted that the Rams (0-7) are a winless team whose offensive line is in shambles.
Two starters on the St. Louis line are out for the season, and center Brett Romberg left Sunday’s game with an injury. By the end of the game the Rams didn’t have a single lineman who was playing the same position he played in the season opener. Starting guard Richie Incognito wasn’t even on the active roster three weeks ago.
So it’s hard to know how much to make of Tapp’s breakout performance.
We’ll know more if opponents start paying him the ultimate compliment.
“Maybe they can start double-teaming him, and maybe I can get singled up again,” Peterson said.
Not so fast on that one, Tapp said.
“I still think they’re going to double-team the Pro Bowler before they double-team me.”
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