The Seattle Seahawks were suffering from what appeared to be a Super Bowl hangover through the first two months of the season, but they have since turned it on. Winners of eight of their last nine, the Seahawks are dominating games defensively just like they did en route to a championship a year ago.
How good has Seattle’s defense been? They’ve held opponents to just 6.6 points per game over their last five. According to Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett, no defense in the history of the game has ever been better.
“We’re the best defense to ever play football,” Bennett told Omar Ruiz of the NFL Network, as transcribed by Pro Football Tall. “So when we play the way we play, the way we’re capable of playing, whatever [Ryan Lindley] did didn’t really matter. When we line up and play the way we are capable of playing, I don’t think anybody can play with us.”
I know some players from a certain four-time champion Pittsburgh Steelers team that might disagree with Bennett, but we’ll withhold judgment until after the season.
As PFT notes, the Seahawks could become just the fourth team in NFL history to lead the league in both yards and points allowed in consecutive seasons. Another Super Bowl victory just might make them the best defense in the history of the game.
The thing that could set Seattle above teams like the Steelers of the 1970’s — at least in my opinion — is the way the NFL rules have changed. The Steelers played in a much more physical era, where defensive backs could practically manhandle wide receivers without being called for a penalty. The Seahawks have somehow maintained their ferocious identity while playing within today’s challenging rules. That part of the argument can’t be understated.
