Suffocating Seahawks defense is crushing the competition in one key metric

Over the past two months, the Seattle Seahawks have dominated opposing offenses, and compared to other defenses, they are on a historic pace.

Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori (3) gets to Kirk Cousins, and Mike Morris (94) finishes him off for an 8-yard sack in the fourth quarter Sunday. | Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times

From Weeks 7 to 14, the Seattle Seahawks defense is averaging -0.34 EPA per play allowed. In case you need a refresher, EPA stands for Expected Points Added, and it is calculated by subtracting the expected points (EP) before a play from the EP after the play, considering context like down, distance, and field position.

Unlike simple yardage, EPA captures how the context of the play changes scoring probability: gaining 5 yards on 3rd and 4 is way more valuable (higher EPA) than gaining five yards on 1st and 10. For a defense, a lower (more negative) EPA is obviously better.

At -0.34 EPA per play, Seattle's ongoing streak of defensive dominance is not only the best in the NFL right now, it's the best eight-week streak of defense played in the last 25 years. (Yes, I checked the database going back to 2000.) Even the 2013 Legion of Boom Seahawks defense only reached a height of -0.23 EPA per play at their peak.

So how good is this 2025 Seahawks defense compared to the rest of the league right now? Well, the 2nd-best defense since Week 7 is the Cleveland Browns at -0.16 EPA per play. The LA Rams are the 5th-best defense at -0.10 EPA per play. The 10th-best defense right now, the Buffalo Bills, are averaging -0.04 EPA per play.

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald on the sideline against the Atlanta Falcons in the third quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Needless to say, the Seahawks defense is currently performing on an entirely different level than any other squad. Among all teams from Weeks 7 to 14 dating back to 2000, Seattle is 3.9 standard deviations above average. No other 2025 defense is above even 1.8 standard deviations. In other words, Seattle's defense is more than twice as good as the second-best defense and nearly four times better than an average defense.

The Seahawks defense could take a step back in the final weeks of the season and still shatter the record for best defense in the months of October, November, and December, which is currently held by the 2002 Buccaneers at -0.24 EPA per play. We could be witnessing the best NFL defense of the 21st century, and not enough people are talking about it.

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