NFL Insider: Bennett helps Seahawks’ defense round into form
Michael Bennett is back. The Seattle defense is back. The Seahawks are back.
Coincidence?
The Seahawks have won their past three games over NFC contenders Arizona, San Francisco and Philadelphia, allowing only 507 total yards and 20 total points while getting 10 sacks. Bennett has eight tackles and two sacks the past three games.
“I always call it at the beginning of the season the pretenders, and the contenders usually happen toward the end of the season,” Bennett said in a phone interview. “I think our team is just starting to get that momentum where we really want to defend what we already do have. Right now, everybody’s just turning it on at a high level, and everybody’s just playing together. A lot of teams play for themselves. On our team, we really just play for each other.”
The Texas A&M product made only three starts for the Seahawks last season in their defensive line rotation, but he was an integral part of their success. He had 8.5 sacks and a forced fumble he returned for a touchdown in the regular season and 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and two recovered fumbles in the postseason.
Bennett has showed off his Super Bowl ring to his brother, Martellus, a tight end with the Chicago Bears. But mostly, his wife keeps it stored safely away in their house.
“He wants to win, too,” Bennett said. “I think the Super Bowl ring is something every player wants, but not everybody gets a chance to play in a Super Bowl. I think that’s what makes people really, really want the ring. I try not to show it too much, but whenever I do, it’s, ‘Hey, take a look at this.’”
It’s the reason he returned to Seattle in the off-season.
Bennett was a free agent with two higher offers than the Seahawks’, including one from the Bears. But he took Seattle’s four-year, $28.5 million deal, with $16 million guaranteed.
“It’s hard when you have to choose between family,” Bennett said. “The Bears offered me more money, and if everything is the same, then I’d go over there. But my heart is still here. So that’s hard. My brother understood why I wanted to stay here. This is like a college-type atmosphere, and teams that are really close are the teams that typically win a lot of games.”
With Red Bryant and Chris Clemons having departed in the off-season, Bennett has become an even bigger part of the Seahawks’ defense. He played only 57 percent of the team’s snaps last season. This season, his snap count is eighth highest among defensive linemen, according to FootballOutsiders.com.
Bennett has played 83.7 percent of the Seahawks’ defensive snaps.
He has a team-leading six sacks, three shy of the career high he set in Tampa Bay two years ago.
“I think I’ve been playing really good this season,” he said. “I could have a couple more sacks, which would be even better. But I think overall I’m having one of my best seasons. I’m making plays and doing what the coaches ask me to do.”
Bennett has plans to finish the season exactly the way he and the Seahawks did last season. Before hanging up, Bennett had one last thing to say:
“I’ll see you in Arizona,” he said, referring to the site of the Super Bowl.
Packers are favorites
The Green Bay Packers have the best odds to win the Super Bowl, with one online oddsmaker listing them at 13-4. New England has 7-2 odds and Denver 9-2.
Former Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston, now an analyst for Fox, sees it the same way.
“I picked Green Bay at the start of the season and got a ton of jokes when they were 1-2,” Johnston said. “So I was very happy when Aaron Rodgers came out and said, ‘Relax, we’re fine.’ …They’re in that position right now that we always felt we were in. How are you going to defend us, and if you do, we’re going to make you wrong. There are not a lot of teams that can do that in the NFL. I think Green Bay is probably in the best position to do that, and Rodgers is just unbelievable. He’s absolutely playing as good as I’ve seen anybody play the position.”
As for the AFC, Johnston believes whichever team gets home field will earn the trip to Arizona.
“Does Denver have to go to Gillette or does New England have to go out to Invesco? I think that becomes your decider,” he said.
Sanchez the starter
Mark Sanchez went 33-29 in five years with the Jets. He didn’t find much of a market for his services in the off-season, signing a modest one-year, $2.25 million deal with the Eagles to back up Nick Foles.
But things happen, and Foles has missed the past five games with a broken collarbone, giving Sanchez another starting job.
“I never doubted [I would re-establish myself as a starter],” Sanchez said in a conference call. “I think this has given people an opportunity to see that I can definitely compete at this level and start for a team at this level. I don’t know what that means down the road, and quite honestly I’m not too worried about it right now.”
Sanchez should find a better deal this off-season if he can get the Eagles to the playoffs. He is only 3-2, but a victory over Dallas would give Philadelphia a one-game lead in the division — and the tiebreaker — with two to play.
Charean Williams, 817-390-7760
This story was originally published December 13, 2014 at 5:20 PM with the headline "NFL Insider: Bennett helps Seahawks’ defense round into form."