Mike Williams has been a great story, as has Leon Washington. Lawyer Milloy and Red Bryant have been revelations in their own right. All of those player’s performances in 2010 have received a fair amount of attention locally, and some nationally. One of the best parts of the season, and biggest surprises, has been largely missed.
The Seahawks have had trouble recording sacks the past two seasons, both individually and as a team. Their top sack artist did not even eclipse 5.5 sacks the past two seasons.
Yet, without drafting a stud pass rusher, the Seahawks has multiple players blow by that mark this year. DE Chris Clemons tied for 10th in the NFL with 11.0 sacks, and DE Raheem Brock recorded 9.0, both were career-highs. Their combined total of 20.0 sacks was sixth in the NFL behind:
- NYG Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora (22.5)
- IND Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney (21.0)
- DAL DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer (20.5)
- GB Clay Mathews and Cullen Jenkins (20.5)
- PIT James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley (20.5)
Given that list of five pairs, do you think anyone would be able to pick out the sixth place duo? Big surprise, big secret, and big kudos to Dan Quinn, Gus Bradley, Pete Carroll and John Schneider for turning that part of the team around so quickly. As a comparison, the best combination on the Seahawks last year was Lawrence Jackson (4.5) and Patrick Kerney (5.0), or less than Clemons had on his own this season. The output from these guys helped propel the Seahawks from 28th in the NFL in sacks with a total of 28 sacks, all the way to 13th with their 37 sacks.
Time will tell if these totals are sustainable beyond a single season, but the results for 2010 are good enough to be anything but a secret.