How does this Seahawks team compare to the 2013 Super Bowl team?
Dec 6, 2019, 3:35 PM
These Seahawks are very fun, but as a whole, where do they rank all-time in Seattle history? (Getty)
(Getty)
This Seahawks team is definitely one of the more interesting in recent memory. Heck, they may be the most interesting Seahawks team of all time.
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After a 37-30 win on Monday over the Minnesota Vikings, the Seahawks are 10-2. Seattle is tied for the best record in the NFL and can clinch a playoff spot this Sunday with a win or tie with the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football.
A win would put them in a league of their own, however, as they would be the first team in Seahawks history to win seven road games in a single season.
The 2019 team is tied with the 2013 Super Bowl champion team with six road wins. Additionally, both the 2013 team and the 2019 team were 10-2 through Week 13. Is this team in the running for the best Seahawks team of all time?
“I think we all in terms of Seahawks fans look at 2013 as the cream of the crop, best team in the history of this organization, right?” Bob Stelton of 710 ESPN Seattle’s Bob, Dave and Moore said Wednesday. “I don’t think there’s any debate to that and if there is, I’d be interested to hear why. That’s the standard. How far away is this team?”
While that team went on to beat the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers before blowing out the Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl 48, there are still four regular season games to go and the potential for four payoff games if the Seahawks earn a wild card berth and make it to the Super Bowl in Miami.
“That story is already written. We know how it ended,” Stelton said of the 2013 team. “We don’t know how this ends. But this team sitting here at 10-2 you could argue looking at them offensively – I don’t think they’re close defensively – but I think offensively you could argue they’re better. Is that fair?”
“Oh, they’re definitely better,” co-host Dave Wyman said. “This is a No. 3 offense right now. They’re averaging 390 yards (per game). I remember they weren’t that bad as far as offensive numbers in 2013, but their defense was just so much better. They were No. 18 (offensively). They were getting 339 yards per game and scoring like 26 points per game. The run game is probably comparable. Defense I just don’t think you can compare to that team. I think that’s the best defense there’s ever been.”
Not only was that Seahawks defense historically good, they took down the then best-ever offense in the 2013 Broncos. They held them to just one touchdown in the Super Bowl.
“(The Seahawks) entirely stifled them,” Wyman said. “I just think the numbers that they have, the takeaways and everything, I think that’s the best defense in the history of the NFL … if you don’t think that then the run that they had (from 2013-2016) …”
Added Stelton, “They had four years in a row leading the league defensively in points allowed, which to me obviously is the most important stat.”
Wyman said Wilson’s emergence as a top-tier quarterback puts this offense leagues ahead of the 2013 team.
“Back then it was like ‘well you know let’s just get the run game going and hopefully Russell can complete a couple passes’ and now of a sudden (they’re) No. 3 (in offense) with almost 400 yards per game,” Wyman said.
Co-host Jim Moore said something to keep an eye on is this year’s team can end with a better regular season record than the 2013 team if they win out.
“The Seahawks are this year in 2019 10-2 and they’ve got a reasonable chance of having a better record than the team in 2013,” he said. “Understanding you have to not only go to the Super Bowl but win it, to be considered the best (Seahawks) team of all time and that’s when we’ll get to it, but I think it’s fair to at least look at them as being in that neighborhood.”
But as many listeners and readers know, Moore is often a pessimist.
“The cynical part of me is just looking at the Seahawks going, ‘I can’t they’re 10-2 still, it doesn’t seem like they’re quite good enough,’” he said.
He referenced a quote from Jadeveon Clowney in a NFL.com story by Mike Silver, where the Seahawks defensive end said he has to remind himself how good the team really is.
“I feel like we’re going somewhere. This is a special group…,” Clowney told Silver. “Sometimes, even during games, I have to remind myself what we have here. I’m like, ‘Damn, are we that (expletive) good?'”
“Boy, these guys are so together and playing collectively so well,” Moore said. “I think this team is buying in and we’re seeing results of it on the field.”
Another area the 2019 team is similar to 2013’s is in turnovers. Currently, the Seahawks are +11 in takeaways. In 2013, they were +20.
They’re doing great in that category,” Wyman said. “I don’t think they’re going to reach that (number of 20), but man, it’s going good right now.”
Listen to the discussion at this link or in the player below at roughly the 14:47 mark.
Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s Bob Stelton and Jim Moore on Twitter.
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