Seahawks Week 13 Team Profile

The identity of our #1 team in the league should surprise no one who has taken the time to watch a few games or print off some box scores. The Seattle Seahawks have taken the spot and deservedly so. Since they were taken over early this season by new management there has been a real sense of commitment to excellence and winning football games on all sides of the ball. It’s quite the cliche to say about a team that’s running on all cylinders, but it’s entirely accurate. Of all 32 teams the Seahawks place Top 6 in 8 offensive categories (TDs, Yards, etc), Top 3 in 5, and #1 in 3. As if that’s not enough, let’s make it known that the Seahawks place top 3 in 7 tracked categories (INTs, Yards, etc) for the defensive side. They place #1 in 5 of these and in many cases are a very respectable distance ahead of their next competitor. We could continue to pile on accolades by heading into deep analytics involving special teams, conversation rates, red zone success, and so on. Let’s just stop here and say the Seahawks are a really good team. Let’s take a bit of a better look of what we did mention in slight detail, the offense and defense.


The start of any conversation regarding the ‘Hawks needs to start with their offensive repertoire. It’s impossible to look past Marshawn ‘Skittles’ Lynch when discussing anything related to the team and that is exceptionally true with his place in particular in the offense. Lynch has always been an elite running back in the league frequently in the Top 5-10 in various pertinent categories year in and year out. Those years have not just been continued this year, they’ve been put to shame. This year he has just gone off the deep end in that he’s quite literally taken the league by and make it look silly. It took Marshawn a mere 12 weeks, twelve weeks where his team went 12-0, to break the NFL’s record for rushing with 2,117 rushing yards. Note: That’s more than most teams have in a year all by itself. There are two more rostered running backs with 600 yards in addition. That’s nearly 3,000 yards between 3 running backs through 12 weeks. Marshawn has gone a step further hurtling himself into the record books doing what no currently-active running back has done and only 12 retired RBs have accomplished at least once - Rush for 19 TDs and counting! While it seems improbable that Ladainian Tomlinson’s record of 27 in a season will be achieved or surpassed, Lynch would need to average 2 TDs a game (8 total) through the last 4 weeks of the season to beat it by 1, it would be improper to count out a man with 19 TDs already. As long as the Seahawks continue to run the football in volume there is always the chance for greatness. It’ll be exciting to watch going forward.

Now, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about the running back that makes headlines, but it might just be time to give the Quarterback who handles the ball every offensive snap some love. He can’t put up a wild stat cheat with Skittles doing all he’s doing, but his impact can’t be denied. He is right the definition of average when it comes to passing yards, but this is easily explained away by Lynch’s eating up of yards. What sets him apart from just being an average quarterback being carried by his run game is his 3rd best in the league passing TD total, 28, that has ensured the continued standard of excellence. Though Skittles can, and seemingly does every week, he doesn’t need to be a game breaker. He merely needs to rumble into a position where his quarterback can put the ball in the end zone without him. Russell has done this and incredibly well making use of his favorite weapon Percy Harvin whom the Seahawks traded a small bundle in exchange with the Vikings for his services. Seems like that investment is paying dividends in the regular season, but let’s see how the stock does come playoff time. It’s sure to be a show.

The defense is a broadway show all on its own. The offense has Russell, Harvin, and Skittles, but the defense has the Legion of Boom along with all its deadly, ancillary pieces. In total the defense has given up roughly 200 yards per game. Divide it into passing and running you get a rounded 140 and 60 YPG respectively. The points per game reflects this low yardage total - a rounded 11 PPG. Put all together it’s a rather stunning line for a multitude of reasons considering the high volume offenses that are in the league today and the number of those the Seahawks have faced this season. It’s hard to overlook marquee wins such as those over the juggernauts that are the Indianapolis Colts and the Carolina Panthers. Both teams rate very highly, just not as highly as the Seahawks. Aside from them there are no great others teams to mention, but there are many above average bubble teams that the Seahawks handled their business with.


The Legion of Boom lives up to its namesake with flying colors. 13 different players (Mind you only 11 are on the field at any time) have forced fumbles. This is also the case for the team’s interception total. 13 different players have interceptions. These players for both fumbles and interceptions are not merely one fumble/INT wonders. For the forced fumbles category the Seahawks have 3 with 2 or more to their credit. Impressive. Now let’s look at the interception column once again. 8 players with 2 or more, 5 with four or more, and 1 monster in the middle (Bobby Wagner) hauling in 9 takeaways.

It’s really just an unfair proposition to have had the Seahawks on your schedule to date and in the future. All this has taken place in the regular season and in a season where there has been little urgency. The division and the NFC as a whole is not what it was a year ago. The Seahawks locked down a playoff spot a number of weeks ago and are now in the process of coasting into a first round bye as the top NFC seed. It should terrify coaches around the league that the Seahawks have done what they have with nearly nothing on the line. When the playoffs come and everything is on the line their attitudes and level of play will get even harder and even more resilient. That just serves to put the imagination on a roller coaster trying to comprehend what might be.

If I lose first round of playoffs I'm solely blaming you.

^lmao

thank god i'm in the afc

I welcome the challenge