After being a relative non-factor for most of the season, defensive end Ziggy Ansah had his most productive game of his Seahawks career Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Ansah was coming off a season-low 13 snaps played against the San Francisco 49ers in Seattle’s previous game. But with Jadeveon Clowney out due to a hip injury, Ansah was called upon for a larger role against the Eagles and made the most of the opportunity. Ansah had 1.5 sacks of Carson Wentz with four tackles and a forced fumble. Another sack was also negated due to a defensive holding penalty in the secondary.
Ansah had been struggling to find production after shoulder surgery this offseason that had led to a decrease in strength. Ansah has finally regained enough weight and muscle back to be a bit more productive for Seattle’s pass rush.
“He’s the strongest and heaviest he’s been since he’s been here,” head coach Pete Carroll said. “That just came about from the emphasis of the last three weeks, I’m glad to say that it’s going to keep going. We’re not going to back off on that. We’re just going to keep helping him, we have a lot of time here. There’s another month left of the regular season and hopefully more. He can keep improving.”
It was only the second game all season where Ansah recorded a sack as he has just 2.5 sacks on the year for Seattle. He has just 14 tackles on the season with a pair of forced fumbles.
The Seahawks have recorded eight sacks and forced eight turnovers over their last two wins against the 49ers and Eagles. If a pass rush that was dormant for the first half of the season can continue its recent form into December, the Seahawks defense may be able to reach a higher ceiling of defensive output. Ansah recapturing some of his old form would be a big boost in chasing that increased performance as well.