The Seattle Seahawks have won four in a row and are looking like a legitimate contender in the NFC, and they have done all this despite Richard Sherman labeling them a “middle-of-the-road” team about two weeks ago. Following his team’s latest win, defensive end Frank Clark had some strong words for his former teammate.
After the Seahawks beat the Minnesota Vikings 21-7 to improve to 8-5, Clark was asked about Sherman’s assessment.
“At the end of the day, ‘middle of the road,’ that’s just Richard Sherman being Richard Sherman,” Clark said, via Gregg Bell of The News Tribune. “He’s not in this locker room no more, so his opinion really doesn’t matter. They’ve got some problems over there in San Fran that he needs to be worried about.”
In fairness to Sherman, the Seahawks were 6-5 at the time he shared his thoughts. It isn’t exactly a hot take to call a 6-5 team “middle-of-the-road,” but he knew it would create headlines given how poorly things ended for him in Seattle.
Seattle dominated Sherman’s 49ers in a 43-16 win just days after Sherman’s remarks were published, and Clark said he is looking forward to doing it again when the Seahawks visit San Francisco on Sunday.
“So at the end of the day, this is my team now. This is my defense,” Clark said. “Richard Sherman, his era is over here. If he’s got anything to say about our defense, he can say it on the field, at the end of the day.”
Clark has been arguably the Seahawks’ best defensive player this year. He has 11 sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception in 13 games. He looked like an unstoppable force at times during Seattle’s win over the Vikings.
While it would be premature to say the Seahawks can take down teams like the New Orleans Saints or Los Angeles Rams on the road, no one expected them to be where they’re at after all the turnover they had on defense. Some people laughed when Pete Carroll seemed so confident in his defense during the offseason, but this may be his best coaching effort yet in Seattle.
