RENTON — San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore was trying to describe why his team struggled so much to move the ball against the Seattle Seahawks on Thanksgiving when he came up with a pretty simple, albeit R-rated, explanation.
“No. 54, Bobby, he’s (expletive) fast as (expletive), man,” Gore said on a conference call with Seattle-area media.
Of course, No. 54 would be linebacker Bobby Wagner, who isn’t just the man in the middle of Seattle’s defense, but also the man in the middle of an impressive defensive turnaround.
It would be oversimplifying things to say that the Seahawks’ defense turned a corner just because Wagner returned from a five-game absence, but it’s also impossible to ignore how much he means to Seattle’s defense.
Two of Seattle’s worst defensive performances this season were the home loss to Dallas, in which the Cowboys gained 401 yards, and the loss in Kansas City that saw the Chiefs rush for 190 yards, the most by a Seahawks opponent this season.
Wagner was hurt in the Dallas game, and while he eventually returned to finish the contest, he missed part of it and was playing with a torn ligament in his toe and a broken bone in his foot when he did return for the second half. The Kansas City loss came during Wagner’s absence. Wagner returned from a turf toe injury for Seattle’s victory over Arizona, and in that game and the following two victories, the Seahawks held the Cardinals, 49ers and Eagles to season lows both in yards and points.
“He’s the heart of the defense,” cornerback Richard Sherman said of Wagner. “… He cleans up a lot of mistakes made by guys, and other guys clean up mistakes like Earl (Thomas) and Kam (Chancellor). We got a lot guys who are erasers out there, and he has such an instinctual game. He believes what he sees, he plays what he sees on top of the immense talent and speed that he has that he makes for a fantastic football player that I hope everybody recognizes.”
Or as defensive end Michael Bennett put it, “Him coming back has really changed our defense.”
Both before and after Wagner’s injury, Sherman has made a point of campaigning to get the linebacker his first Pro Bowl nod. Missing five games — almost one third of the season — would seemingly keep a player from earning such honors, but Wagner’s play this year has been so impressive he might be worth considering despite a long absence. Before his injury, Wagner ranked sixth in the NFC with 50 tackles, and since coming back he has 25 in three games, meaning another 100-tackle season is in reach despite a long layoff.
But Wagner’s value is in more than just those tackles. Getting him back in the middle of the defense frees up everyone to play a little faster, knowing that if they just do what they’re supposed to do, good things will happen, and that even if a mistake is made, Wagner or Thomas or Chancellor will be there to help.
“Everybody right now is just running around, playing ball, having fun,” Wagner said. “We play our best ball when we’re having fun. When you hear the music and all that stuff, especially in the CLink when we’re dancing and all that stuff, the (opposing) team is probably in for some trouble.”
When the Seahawks were struggling, it wasn’t just because of Wagner’s absence. Other important players were injured as well, and the defense just wasn’t playing as a cohesive unit as well as it does when everything is clicking. That has changed in a big way over the past few weeks.
“We’ve found the game speed that’s indicative of the way we can play,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “And we were just off that, on a consistent basis we weren’t quite right. We were thinking too much, trying to do some things instead of just playing football, and (defensive coordinator) Dan Quinn has done a great job of just making these guys come together and really start to draw on their best abilities.
“The last three weeks is the kind of style we’d hoped we could play since the last couple years. It’s fleeting — it doesn’t always stay. We’re trying to maintain a tremendous level of consistency that’s uncommon. So it’s about playing fast. It’s about trusting the scheme, trusting each other — the great trust that the players have so they’re not thinking ‘is the other guy in the right spot’ and they’re already a beat behind so it’s a lot that goes into that.”
Wagner’s return to health isn’t the only reason that the Seahawks defense is playing better, and yes, faster than it has all season, but it’s definitely a big part of it. Having a “(expletive) fast as (expletive)” middle linebacker tends to do good things for a defense.
Seahawks add defensive lineman
Seattle signed defensive lineman David King off of Cincinnati’s practice squad Wednesday and waived linebacker Allen Bradford. King, a seventh-round pick out of Oklahoma in 2013, has spent most of the past two seasons on the Bengals practice squad. The fact that the Seahawks waived Bradford to make room on the roster is potentially good news for defensive end Demarcus Dobbs, who is currently dealing with what Carroll described as a “legit” ankle sprain. There had been some thought that Dobbs would land on injured reserve this week, and while that could still eventually happen, the fact it wasn’t the move made Wednesday indicates the Seahawks at least think there’s a chance of getting Dobbs back.
Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com
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