We’ve already looked at what the Seahawks need to do on offense — from their shaky situation at wide receiver to an “out of the box” option for Russell Wilson’s contract to the need to determine the future of the unit this offseason.
The defense does not need nearly as many major renovations, but they certainly have some work to do on that side of the ball. Here’s a look:
One of the most anticipated matchups in the Super Bowl is Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski vs. Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor: Gronk vs. Bam Bam.
But that’s obviously an oversimplification of the matchup. The fact is the Hawks are going to focus their entire defense on all of New England’s offense, and Chancellor will interchange with K.J. Wright and other teammates in coverage against the Patriots’ best receiving target.
The Seahawks allowed just 17 passing touchdowns all season — second fewest in the NFL behind Buffalo’s 16. But 11 of those went to tight ends, making some think the Hawks have a weakness in that part of their defense.
Continue reading Super Bowl matchup: Gronk vs. Bam Bam & Co.
It was only appropriate that Kam Chancellor had perhaps the best game of his career on the day Kenny Easley raised the 12th Man flag.
Just as Easley was once Seattle’s best player, Chancellor — who, like Easley, is from Virginia and once dated Easley’s daughter — has been this team’s MVP the past two years.
Yeah, that’s a loaded statement on a team that includes so many star players — fellow Legion of Boomers Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman, linebackers Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright, defensive linemen Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril, quarterback Russell Wilson, running back Marshawn Lynch.
Everyone likes to say Lynch is the heartbeat of the team — embodying the tough, relentless style Pete Carroll wants his guys to play with.
But the defense is the backbone — the reason Wilson has won more games than any quarterback in his first three seasons — and Chancellor has been the heart and soul of that unit for the past two dominant years.
Continue reading Like Easley, Chancellor is heart of defense
The Seahawks’ deals for Cliff Avril and K.J. Wright had been in the works pretty much all year, so it was no surprise they got them done before the end of the season.
It takes away the top two players from Seattle’s sizable 2015 free-agent list and means Seattle now has all but one starter from the league’s No. 1 defense under contract next year (two if you add Kevin Williams to Byron Maxwell).
Wright and Avril join Legion of Boom stalwarts Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman, plus defensive lineman Michael Bennett, as the keys to a defense that could reign over the NFL through 2017.
Continue reading All rainbows: Defense set to dominate through 2017
K.J. Wright’s $27 million contract extension is the latest proof that John Schneider and the Seahawks are willing to pay a premium to keep their favorite players.
The Seahawks paid Wright more than they really needed to — he admitted he had a lower figure in mind. We recently projected they would offer him $4 million a year, which was their original goal, per ESPN’s John Clayton, who said Wright wanted $5.5 million.
Instead, they made him the highest-paid 4-3 outside linebacker in the NFL, according to OverTheCap.com. The only outside linebackers with better deals are the guys who rush the passer.
The Hawks obviously value Wright’s versatility — he can play inside or out. But they seemingly overpaid him, just as they did Red Bryant when they gave the run-stopping end $7 million a year.
Continue reading Paying a premium: How Wright’s deal affects Wagner and the rest
Over the last three weeks, the
Seahawks’ defense has gone on a tear
unlike anything it has done under Pete Carroll and the Hawks have
re-established themselves as the Super Bowl repeat threat we all expected them to be.
Assuming the rejuvenated Seahawks maintain their dominant play and take it to the same conclusion as last year, the big question will become: How do they keep this going to create that dynasty we all projected?
Continue reading Hawks got it together and can keep it together after this season, too
With Malcolm Smith out for a couple of weeks and K.J. Wright moving back outside, Brock Coyle will start in the middle.
And Kevin Pierre-Louis figures to get much more playing time as well.
Here’s a look at the Hawks’ new 280-pound fullback.
The 14.5-point line for this game is tied for the third-highest home spread in Seahawks history. They covered the first two but needed OT to beat Tampa Bay, also 14.5-point underdogs, last year.
Derek Carr, Will Tukuafu and Brock Coyle are among the players to watch from Seahawks.com, The Seattle Times and the Seattle P-I.
Here’s the team-by-team comparison. Guessing that turnover margin difference will be a big factor.
Percy Harvin’s contract was an albatross from the ill-advised moment the Seahawks decided to guarantee him $25.5 million in a deal that included salary cap hits north of $12 million from 2014 through 2017.
It seemed farfetched that he would last that long at those numbers; thanks to his alleged anti-team antics, the Hawks just ended up cutting ties much earlier than anyone thought they would.
Even though he will still count $7.2 million in proration in 2015, the Seahawks divested themselves of the remainder of his $11 million salary this season and his $10.5 million salary in 2015.
With the trade official, the Hawks are not paying his $647,000 salary this week, so they will recoup $7.1 million this season. Add that to their net savings of $5.7 million in 2015, and the Hawks pulled an extra $12.8 million in cap space for next offseason.
That gives the Hawks a lot of wiggle room to re-sign some of their key free agents, if they choose.
Continue reading Harvin trade gives Seahawks $12.8 million more next offseason
Richard Sherman jinxed Bobby Wagner.
At his media session last week, Sherman stumped for the middle linebacker to be voted into the Pro Bowl — and now it looks like Wagner will have no chance to make it.
Coach Pete Carroll said Wagner is likely to miss several games with a sprained toe suffered in the loss to Dallas on Sunday.
It’s the second straight year Wagner has suffered a significant injury that has cost him games. Last year, he missed two games with a high ankle sprain, which affected him for a couple of games beyond that.
Wagner has played very well ever since he got over the ankle injury, and his 50 tackles this season are 13 more than No. 2 tackler Kam Chancellor and 15 more than K.J. Wright, who will now take over Wagner’s spot in the middle.
Malcolm Smith will start at weakside linebacker, with Bruce Irvin at strongside. Both of them have been off to slow starts after offseason surgeries.
One of the big mysteries surrounding Seattle’s overtime victory against Denver on Sunday was just how that game ended up in overtime anyway.
Yeah, we know Peyton Manning and the Broncos pulled off a nearly impossible task, marching 80 yards in 41 seconds with no timeouts and converting the two-point conversion to force overtime.
But how did it happen?
Pete Carroll provided the answers Monday.
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 