Perceived friction between the offense and defense in Seattle was a popular topic of conversation around the Seahawks this offseason with cornerback Richard Sherman playing a starring role as one of the leading figures in the rift.
Sherman denied there was any resentment about how offensive struggles have increased pressure on the defense at points in the last couple of years. After the first two games of this season, though, Sherman isn’t arguing that the defense has to do a lot of heavy lifting in Seattle.
The Seahawks lost to the Packers 17-9 in the opener and then slogged their way to a 12-9 win over the 49ers last Sunday, Sherman said that a defense led by him, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Michael Bennett, Bobby Wagner, Cliff Avril and Sheldon Richardson knows that they are expected to lead the team to success.
“We’ve got a lot of highly paid guys on our side of the ball, a lot of guys who played the game at a high level. And there’s a certain standard that’s expected,” Sherman said, via the Tacoma News Tribune. “We expect it from ourselves. We expect that, regardless of what happens on the other side of the ball. At the end of the day, it’s really on us.”
Thanks to their defense, the Seahawks know that they don’t need the best offense in the league in order to win games. An average unit will get the job done, although Seattle still has some work to do to get to that point.