BOB, GROZ AND TOM

K.J. Wright explains importance of Seahawks again leading the NFL in points allowed

Dec 1, 2016, 12:44 PM

Seahawks LB K.J. Wright says the most important stat is how many points a defense allows. (AP)...

Seahawks LB K.J. Wright says the most important stat is how many points a defense allows. (AP)

(AP)

LISTEN: Seahawks LB K.J. Wright on Panthers matchup, team defense

The Seahawks defense has shown a few warts at times this season, but it still has given up the fewest number points per game in the league. If that holds, it would be a record fifth time in a row. From outside linebacker K.J. Wright’s perspective, that’s been key for the 7-3-1 Seattle squad.

“That’ so big, man,” Wright told “Bob, Groz and Tom” Wednesday. “We’ve just been so consistent, so dominant. For us to do it once again, I don’t believe it’s ever been done in the history of the NFL and so we’ve got to keep it up, keep these teams to not scoring, keep creating turnovers to get our offense the ball back.”

Clayton: Key stats for the Seahawks as the regular season winds down

The Seahawks’ defense has been on an unprecedented run of unbreakableness. Since 2012, the group has stymied opposing offenses to the tune of 15.3 points per game in 2012, 14.4 in 2013, 15.9 in 2014 and 17.3 in 2015. As of Thursday, the team is allowing 17 points per game, a half-point average (five points total) better than the Vikings.

It’s this stat that Wright says is the most defining about the defense.

“It’s all about how many points you put on the board,” he said. “Of course, the yards allowed, you don’t want to be allowing 500 yards out there. But … at the end of the day, how many points are they scoring? How many points is our offense scoring? So that’s the main thing that I look at as far as a dominant defense.”

Here are some more highlights from Wright’s interview:

On Dave Wyman’s belief that Wright played one of his best ever games in Tampa Bay: “Definitely was not one of my best games as a Seahawk but, when you win, things feel better, when you lose, things feel bad. That’s just how it is. So you want to have a good game and win so you can count that as one of your best games. Personally, it’s not about me, it’s all about the team and how we perform.”

Kam Chancellor’s impact: “That’s my guy. We play so well together, we all communicate well together and just having him there is something I’ve been used to for the last six years now. You can’t really replace that with someone else. When you’re used to someone, that’s just what you’re used to. He’s been phenomenal. I believe he’s forced three turnovers since he’s been back in three straight games. He’s just big for this team, big for this defense. I’m glad he’s back and along with other guys that are gonna be coming back this week.”

On the rivalry with the Panthers, Sunday’s opponent: “These guys, we’ve faced ‘em. We’ve won some, they’ve won some. So it’s always a fun matchup whenever we face those guys. Two good defenses, two quarterbacks that are good – can run the ball and pass the ball. It’s gonna be an exciting game. I’m excited to get out there.”

On how the Panthers look: “They look the same. They are doing the same exact stuff. One thing that’s helping out their offense is having (Kelvin) Benjamin back. He’s just a big target out there that can catch all the deep balls, run across the middle, catch the slants, and so they added that dimension to their offense, and he’s really good. So they got another weapon we’ve got to deal with, but it all starts with stopping the run. We’ve got to stop the run first and handle business from there.”

On finishing strong: “We’re always preaching finishing. It’s crazy that we only have five games left; I thought we had a lot more. This season goes by fast. This is where teams get separated. Some teams make the playoffs, other teams don’t. We definitely want to be in that race, win our division of course and then just take it from there.”

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