Seahawks ‘D’ must adjust
Losing Thomas to broken leg a major blow
For 119 games across 61⁄ seasons, including five postseasons and two Super Bowl trips, the Seattle Seahawks could count on Earl Thomas to provide the most punishing hits and emotional intensity for the NFL’s most feared defense.
Though Thomas’ streak of consecutive starts ended in Week 12, when he missed the Seahawks’ loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a hamstring injury, Seattle now faces life without Thomas for the immediate future — if not longer.
Thomas suffered a broken lower left leg during the Seahawks’ 40-7 win against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night. His season is almost certainly over. But could his career done, too?
Thomas tweeted Sunday evening, while the game was still in progress, that he was contemplating retirement: “This game has been so good to me no regrets. A lot is running through my mind including retirement thanks for all the prayers.”
Most likely it was an emotional, tweet-before-you-think moment from a player not accustomed to missing games. But it’s a thought that should terrify a Seahawks team that has thrived off Thomas’ elite play and intensity for years.
“When you get injured, it becomes very emotional. Sometimes you say things you might not mean. Sometimes you say things you might mean,” safety Kam Chancellor said. “It’s one of those things you just have to let him sit back and breathe. ... At the end of the day, he’s going to make the decision he wants to make, but right now it’s an emotional battle.”
The Seahawks rolled Sunday without Thomas, who was injured in a collision with Chancellor while trying to intercept a pass by Carolina quarterback Cam Newton in the first half, but the question now for Seattle is how it will fare without him during a playoff run.
Thomas is the rare type of safety who can impact every play. He can cover tight ends, chase down wide receivers and lay brutal hits on running backs. And he has unrivaled football instincts that have helped him amass 23 career interceptions, including two this year
Most NFL players are replaceable. Thomas is not, no matter how Seahawks coach Pete Carroll talks up backup Steven Terrell.
“You can’t make up for it,” defensive end Michael Bennett said. “You just try to find someone who can do half of what (Thomas) does. It’s hard to replace a great player, a Hall of Fame-type player. You can’t replace those, you’ve got to fit it where you fit in.”
To survive without Thomas, the Seahawks will need more nights like Sunday, when the opponent was in disarray.
The game started with Newton, the reigning NFL MVP, on the sideline, a brief benching as punishment by coach Ron Rivera for a violation of the team’s dress code.
Newton’s replacement, veteran Derek Anderson, threw an interception on the first play, setting up a Seattle field goal. Newton returned for the next series, but the Panthers could manage just one touchdown, a 55-yard bomb to Ted Ginn Jr. on the first play after Thomas left the game.
The Panthers defense gave up 543 yards to a Seahawks team that had been held to five points by the Bucs the previous week.
Seattle’s offense was aided by the return of starting center Justin Britt and the improving health of starting running back Thomas Rawls, who missed seven games this season because of a hairline fracture in his lower leg. Rawls rushed for 106 yards, his first 100yard game this season, and two touchdowns.
“I felt lighter on my feet. I felt like I could make some cuts that I wasn’t making at first,” Rawls said.
The challenge now for the Seahawks is to consistently play the way they did against the Panthers. That will be more difficult now without Thomas.
It will be unfamiliar making game plans and practicing without him. But the Seahawks have no choice. Not this weekend, and not for the indefinite future.
“We have to move ahead,” Carroll said. “Our guys are very mature about stuff like this. They’ll handle it. They’ll miss the heck out of him, but they’ll immediately start pulling for (Terrell).”