Posted on by Jimmy Sullivan

You Left a Team No Option: The Seahawks Need Kam Chancellor in the Worst Way

You may have heard that Seahawks’ safety Kam Chancellor is holding out for a new contract.  Chancellor, one of the starting safeties on Seattle’s super bowl teams of the last two seasons, is making $5.65 million against the cap in 2015 and also has two more years left on his contract.  The hard-hitting stalwart of the Legion of Boom thinks he can get more than that, but his organization isn’t budging.

And while the Seahawks have been unwilling to pay Chancellor, they may soon be left with no other choice.

The Hawks, who led the NFL is total defense last season (with Chancellor) gave up 352 total yards to their opponent, the St. Louis Rams, on just 52 plays.  The L.O.B. gave up 276 of those yards to Rams’ quarterback Nick Foles; 37 of them came on a game tying touchdown pass from Foles to Lance Kendricks with 53 seconds to play.

To be completely fair, the Seahawks at least partially lost to St. Louis because of, well… themselves.  They tried to sneak an onside kick past Jeff Fisher’s squad at the commencement of overtime.  It was really meant to carry much further down the field, but kicker Steven Hauschska accidentally kicked it about the same distance as a typical onside kick would go; the Rams recovered and subsequently kicked a field goal.

After that, the Seahawks drove into Ram territory but were held to a fourth and one.  Needing a first down with one yard to get, Pete Carroll rightly decided to hand the ball to Marshawn Lynch, in a turn of events from the end of Super Bowl XLIX.  The result was… yeah, he didn’t make it.

And it’s true: the Seahawks didn’t lose on Sunday just because of Chancellor’s absence.  Bleacher Report’s Mike Tanier wrote to this point today:

Russell Wilson endured six sacks. Lynch rushed for 73 yards but needed to break about 63 tackles to do it. When you watch Lynch get stuffed in overtime, watch right tackle Garry Gilliam get shoved into the backfield by Michael Brockers.

Gilliam is one of the Seahawks’ pet projects. Instead of drafting a tackle in a fairly deep draft for offensive linemen, they tinkered with Gilliam, an undrafted 2014 rookie who started his college career at tight end. They talked themselves into naming Gilliam the starter when Justin Britt moved inside to guard. The Seahawks hadn’t bothered drafting a guard until the fourth round, either.

Even with the offensive line blocking like ushers at a free concert and the secondary operating at 75 percent capacity, the Seahawks still had a chance to avoid an upset at the hands of the Rams thanks to Nick Foles getting surprised by a shotgun snap, Isaiah Pead somehow getting meaningful carries that led to meaningful fumbles and Cary Williams making a spectacular defensive play and then pulling a Cary Williams by taking the rest of the afternoon off.

The Rams won the overtime toss and chose to receive, making the Seahawks’ path to victory clear: Pin the Rams at or inside their own 20, unleash the Legion of Boom, get good field position and either parlay that into a win.

Instead, the Seahawks onside-kicked, giving the Rams great field position for their cannon-legged field-goal kicker and a chance to win the game with their defense, the one the Seahawks couldn’t block at all.

Self-outsmartment.

All of this is true; it isn’t just because of Kam.  (Interesting side note: Gilliam’s claim to fame is catching a touchdown pass on the fake field goal in last year’s NFC Championship game.)  But the Seahawks absolutely need him, and this is why: their defense is a shell of itself without him.

Rookie Dion Bailey filled in at Chancellor’s position on Sunday, and he failed miserably, particularly on the most important play of the game:

On the play, Bailey fell down, leaving Kendricks open and giving the Los Angeles Rams new life.  While it is impossible to say for sure, it isn’t likely that something like this would happen to Chancellor, even considering the knee problems he suffered at the end of last season.

And there’s something else that Chancellor brings: physicality. Intimidation.  Demorilization.  A physical offense and a hard-hitting defense have been the hallmarks of this golden age in the Pacific Northwest, and Chancellor brings to the offense what Lynch brings to the offense: attitude, determination, and the will to destroy the opponent and rally the troops.  The Seahawks have missed both with him gone.

Consider this hit he made on Julian Edelman in the Super Bowl:

While Edelman holds on for the catch, his bell is rung and suspicions are aroused that he played the rest of the game with a concussion. The play turned the fortunes of the Patriots, but really only because Edelman survived the hit from the much bigger and scarier Chancellor.

The players are naturally taking notice of Chancellor’s absence, and while they aren’t saying boo in the press about it, one has shown his support.  That one is none other than the Kam Chancellor of the Seahawks’ offense: Marshawn Lynch.  He wore Chancellor’s jersey at practice for one day last week, but changed back into his usual jersey the next day; after all, he is really just there so he won’t get fined.

So the players (at least Lynch, anyway) are starting to understand; the Seahawks really need Kam Chancellor.  While it’s extremely difficult to blame him for, you know, trying to get more money (who has ever done that before?), it’s also understandable to feel empathy for the plight of the Seahawks here; one of their employees is basically refusing to come to work because of his salary (or lack thereof).

But no matter whose fault it is, the 12th man will assuredly be sleepless is Seattle, and here’s why:

Kam Chancellor has left the Seahawks no other option.  They have to bring him back.