One stat shows that Seahawks’ defense is well-equipped for postseason success

Next week, when the pool of 32 NFL teams officially cuts down to 14, the level of competition will get upgraded significantly. The bottom feeders will be cast into the offseason along with most of the mediocre offerings, leaving only the better squads to duke it out (with one or two possible exceptions). The margins between the best and worst shrink significantly.

Gone are the days where an elite team could farm not just wins, but big numbers off of bad teams that were there to roll over. How good you were at taking advantage of these lacking squads becomes much less valuable when (almost) everyone you play is at the very least good. So before the playoffs start, you want your team to have some worthwhile trophies on the wall.

The Seahawks most certainly do, with five wins against teams that are currently in the postseason. Carolina and Pittsburgh are both eligible to fall out of the bracket and reduce this number to three, but either way, Seattle has proven they can beat quality teams. But this number from Pro Football Focus puts their expertise against quality teams in a new light.

According to a statistic put out by PFF, the Seahawks allow opposing offenses to score on the lowest percentage in the league when facing current playoff teams. In these matchups, opponents score on a mere 28.2% of their drives, a tiny sliver better than second place Houston (28.3%). This shows that Seattle isn’t just feasting on their softer opponents.

Looking back on the season so far, when faced with tough opposition, Seattle has allowed 17 points to San Francisco, 17 to Pittsburgh, 12 to Jacksonville, 19 to Houston, 21 to Los Angeles, and 10 to Carolina. Only the Rams, in the second matchup, were really able to break through on Seattle’s defense, scoring 37 (although they put up 7 of those points in overtime).

In terms of raw points per game, Seattle is actually only slightly better defensively against non-playoff teams, allowing 17.3 points per game compared to 19 against the playoff squads. Other than the second Rams game, the most memorable defensive failure this season for Seattle was against Tampa Bay, who have since collapsed, so caveats abound.

But you couldn’t ask for a better statistic to indicate how ready the Seahawks are for the playoffs. They are not a team that anyone should expect to wilt against top competition, and they’re ready to prove they’re every bit as good defensively as the best the Seahawks have to offer from the Legion of Boom era.

They're celebrating a play made against a playoff team here. — Seattle Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) and linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence (0) celebrate. | Travis Register-Imagn Images

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