Seattle Seahawks ~ I’m going to finish every play I get a chance to finish. #FINISH #SEAvsPHI Seahawks’ defense versus Eagles’ offense is strength versus strength seahawks Why is the Seahawks’ defense so confident going into Sunday’s showdown with the Eagles’ No. 4-ranked and up-tempo offense? Coordinator Dan Quinn points to one less-than-obvious play from last week’s win over the 49ers. Of all the good plays the Seahawks’ No. 1-ranked defense has made in the past two games, one stands out to coordinator Dan Quinn. One of cornerback Richard Sherman’s two interceptions in the 19-3 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Thanksgiving night? One of middle linebacker Bobby Wagner’s 10 tackles against the 49ers, which included two for losses? One of defensive end Cliff Avril’s two sacks in 19-3 victory over the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals the week before? Cornerback Byron Maxwell’s interception against the Cardinals? No, no, no and no. The play that Quinn really liked was the final play on Thanksgiving night in a game that was over before it was finished because the Seahawks had held the 49ers to 164 yards. “There are a lot of plays I like from the last game, but the very last play they checked it down to a back and there might have been two seconds left,” Quinn said, just the thought of the play bringing a smile to his face. “As the tackle was happening near the sideline, you really saw the intent of Kam going after the ball. “He put his hand in and was just trying to rip it. He didn’t get it. But that mindset of, ‘I’m going to finish every play I get a chance to finish,’ that attitude of finishing totally embodies Kam and I think our defense as well.” Kam, of course, is Kam Chancellor, the Seahawks’ All-Pro and Pro Bowl strong safety who was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts against the Cardinals. Despite the accolades that have come Chancellor’s way, Quinn strongly believes that he still does not get enough credit for what he does for – and what he brings to – the defense. “That one, although it wasn’t a game-changing play, it does embody the style, the attitude, the relentlessness that he brings to us,” Quinn said. “I liked how that finished. I liked how that feels. I like being a part of that.” Told of Quinn’s effusive assessment of that play and the effort involved in it, Chancellor looked puzzled. “That’s how you’re supposed to play,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about to be a part of this defense.” Sunday, the Seahawks’ resurgent defense will face quite the task in Philadelphia against the Eagles and the No. 4-ranked offense in the league. The Eagles feature the elusiveness of running back LeSean McCoy, who is third in the league with 1,018 rushing yard; the shiftiness of runner/receiver/returner Darren Sproles, who is averaging 6.6 yards rushing, has 29 receptions and leads the NFL with a 14.5-yard average on punt returners; and the deceptive speed of wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, who has 71 receptions for 1,088 yards and nine TD catches. But they also deploy all this, and more, in the up-tempo offense that coach Chip Kelly brought with him from the University of Oregon last season. The Eagles have run a league-high 875 plays during their 9-3 start – which includes a 6-0 record at Lincoln Financial Field. You’ll have to excuse Quinn and his players if they’re not intimidated by all this. Intimidated? They’re respectful, but not daunted. And that’s because they’ve faced some of the best up-tempo offenses in the league recently and twisted the tempo to their advantage. They faced the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning in Super Bowl XLVIII on Feb. 2, and came away with a 43-8 victory. They faced the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Rodgers in the opener to the 2014 season, and came away with a 36-16 victory. They faced the Broncos and Manning again in Week 3 this season, and had leads of 17-5 and 20-12 before winning 26-20 in overtime. “I really don’t know why, but I guess when the team is going fast paced they have to stick to certain things,” Chancellor said when asked about the Seahawks’ success against up-tempo offenses. “They can’t run but so many different things. On defense, it’s the same way. We sit out there and it’s like a chess match. “The same guys on offense are out there running the plays, they don’t switch personnel. Defense, we don’t switch personnel. So it’s just a battle of who’s going to go the longest.” It also helps that the Seahawks have the athletes on their fast, aggressive, physical defense to matchup up against the offense’s nickel personnel even when they’re in their base defense. “That’s big for us,” Chancellor said. “It just shows our depth, our size, the athletes that we do have. We can just adapt. We do a good job of adapting with different personnel with different teams.” It also helps that the Seahawks’ defense has been working against a no-huddle and up-tempo offense since the OTA workouts in the spring and training camp practices during the summer. “The fast-paced or no-huddle, whatever you want to call it, is something that’s popular with a lot of teams,” Quinn said. “So for us, having a chance to go against our own offense, which can go into no-huddle, was huge. We didn’t get in a defensive huddle the whole training camp knowing that there were teams that we’d have to be ready for. Not necessarily just Philly, but teams that we were going to play this year. “It was one of the areas of the game where we knew we would have to adjust and be ready to do. So we started way back even in the OTAs and into training camp to kind of prepare and simulate, so it kind of felt normal when those opportunities came.” Because of that, the Seahawks don’t just feel they’re ready for whatever the Eagles throw or run at them Sunday, they believe they’re prepared. The L.O.B. has a right to feel confident. They are playing Seahawks football again, and they have no peers. Go Hawks!!! :)
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 22:12:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015