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Former No. 1 Overall Pick Explains What Makes Seahawks’ Defense So Lethal

Unfortunately for Bryce Young, the starting quarterback of the NFC South champion Carolina Panthers had to deal with the Seahawks' fearsome defense this season.
Russell Baxter|
Dec 28, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) throws a pass against Seattle Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) during the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
Dec 28, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) throws a pass against Seattle Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) during the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

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Seattle Seahawks

Only five teams in the league this season gave up fewer total yards per game, and no team in the NFL gave up fewer points. The Seattle Seahawks surrendered just 29 offensive touchdowns in 17 regular-season contests, and just three more in a pair of playoff wins.

Back in Week 17, the Carolina Panthers hosted Mike Macdonald’s team in a battle of division leaders. The clubs battled to a 3-3 halftime tie, but the NFC West champions pulled away after intermission. Seattle outscored Dave Canales’s club 24-7 in the second half for a convincing 27-10 victory.

It wound up being a humbling afternoon for Panthers’ quarterback Bryce Young. While he scored the team’s only touchdown via a 10-yard run early in the fourth quarter, he finished the afternoon with only 54 yards through the air after completing just 14-of-24 passes. He was intercepted once, sacked twice, and the Carolina offense managed a mere 139 total yards.

The three-year signal-caller recently spoke about Seattle’s talented defense on The Pat McAfee Show. He used words like "tenacious" and "aggressive" when it came to coordinator Aden Durde’s unit.

There’s no lack of talent on this side of the ball when it comes to Macdonald’s squad. Outside linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence (in his first season with the club), cornerback Devon Witherspoon and defensive tackle Leonard Williams were named to the Pro Bowl Games. Williams, linebacker Ernest Jones IV, and Witherspoon earned Second-Team All-Pro honors.

Young spoke about the Seattle defense in terms of being tenacious and aggressive. That’s something to watch when Patriots’ second-year quarterback Drake Maye takes the field in Super Bowl LX. The 2025 Pro Bowler was sacked 47 times during the regular season, and was dropped a combined 15 times (5 times in each contest) in their playoff wins over the Chargers, Texans, and Broncos.

And after committing just 11 turnovers in 17 regular-season outings in 2025, Maye has thrown a pair of interceptions and lost three of his six fumbles this postseason.

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Russell Baxter
RUSSELL BAXTER

Russell S. Baxter has been writing and researching the game of football for more than 40 years, and on numerous platforms. That includes television, as he spent more than two decades at ESPN, and was part of shows that garnered five Emmy Awards. He also spent the 2015 NFL season with Thursday Night Football on CBS/NFLN.