As the Seattle Seahawks began their title defense in earnest on Saturday night at CenturyLink Field, it didn’t take long for Earl Thomas and the Hawks defense to send a message loud and clear to the Carolina Panthers and the rest of the NFL that they are locked in and firmly focused on accomplishing their championship repeat goal.

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On the very first play from scrimmage on Saturday night in Seattle, Earl let the Panthers know what kind of game they were in for when he stripped running back Jonathan Stewart of the ball. Carolina caught a break, as the ball bounced out of bounds, but the fumble was a sign of things to come in a game that the Seahawks vaunted Legion Of Boom absolutely dominated.

0112_ET2Led by Earl (11 tackles, a forced fumble and two pass breakups) and fellow safety Kam Chancellor (11 tackles, an interception returned for a touchdown and one pass breakup), defense led Seattle to a 31-17 win on Saturday evening that moved them one step closer to a return trip to the Super Bowl.

“We played together,” Earl exclaimed after the win. “You talk about fire, it’s like it’s burning in us. We love this. We love what we do. We love playing here at CenturyLink.”

The win sends the Seahawks to the NFC Championship Game, where they’s host Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in Seattle next Sunday afternoon.

The Seahawks are now 8-1 at home this season, with their only loss coming against the now-eliminated Dallas Cowboys. If things had gone differently on Sunday, Earl and the Seahawks would have gotten a chance at redemption against those Cowboys, but instead Green Bay pulled out the victory to set up a rematch of the opening night game of the 2014 season, a game the Hawks won 36-16 in Seattle.

ET III was asked after Saturday’s game, prior to Sunday’s contest between Dallas and Green Bay who he and his teammates would rather see visit CenturyLink Field with the NFC crown on the line. His response was unquestionably Earl.

Coming off another dominant, the Seahawks are clearly confident, and with good reason.

Seattle has won seven games in a row, including six straight to end the regular season and clinch home-field advantage through the playoffs, and each win has come by double digits.

The 17 points the Seahawks gave up to Carolina were the most they have allowed during the win streak, but ET III wasn’t worried about it.

Instead, he credited the Panthers offense for their execution, then heaped the praise on his teammates for their consistency and fundamentals.

“Every time we step out here, tackling is very vital,” he said. “We’re a great tackling group, we understand keeping our leverage, funneling the ball between each other, and we just have fun and fly around. Effort. You can’t coach effort.”

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From that very first play, Earl was everywhere in Saturday’s game. He helped bring down Stewart a yard short of the first-down marker the next play, then he almost made a diving interception on a deflected pass on third down.

As he laid on the ground for a brief moment following the dive, he showed disappointment that he hadn’t made the catch, which most safeties wouldn’t have even bothered attempting, before popping back up and moving on to make big play after big play throughout the evening.

That’s just how the Legion Of Boom plays football.

Earl, Chancellor and Richard Sherman, the three All-Pro members of the LOB were a force, combining to pile up 25 tackles, five pass breakups, two interceptions, a forced fumble and a touchdown.

The third down play on Carolina’s first drive wasn’t the only near-interception No. 29 had on Saturday. Late in the first half, ET III made what appeared to the naked-eye to be a spectacular leaping grab on a deep pass by Cam Newton, but after a replay review the officials eventually overturned the call, claiming Earl did not maintain possession throughout the catch.

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Despite that missed opportunity, the Seahawks still took a 14-10 lead into the break after their offense got rolling late in the first quarter. The two teams exchanged fruitless possession for most of the first half, Seattle broke through with under a minute to go in the half, with an assist from the dominating defense.

Five plays into Carolina’s fourth possession of the quarter, a blitz by the Seahawks defense forced a botched handoff between Newton and Stewart, which resulted in a fumble that was recovered by Tony McDaniel at the Carolina 28.

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Four plays into the ensuing Seattle drive, Russell Wilson connected with Doug Baldwin for a 16-yard touchdown to put the Hawks on the scoreboard first.

Newton and the Carolina offense responded with a 14-play, 79-yard drive that lasted well into the second quarter and ended with a seven-yard TD pass from Newton to Kelvin Benjamin that briefly tied the score.

That tie was broken just five plays into Seattle’s next drive when Wilson and Jermaine Kearse connected on a bomb down the left sideline that Kearse took 63 yards to the end zone to put the Seahawks in front for good.

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Carolina did manage a late field goal at the end of the same drive that Earl’s interception was overruled. Chancellor nearly blocked the kick, and although his presence was enough to force it wide, he bumped the kicker for a five-yard penalty that gave the Panthers another chance. Graham Gano then connected from 35 yards out to make it a four-point game at halftime.

After a scoreless third, the Hawks took over in the fourth, as they often do.

After wearing the Panthers down through three quarters, Seattle rattled off 17 unanswered points. A long drive by the Seahawks offense soaked up the final six-and-a-half minutes of the third and on the first play of the fourth, Steven Hauschka drilled a 37-yard field goal to restore Seattle’s seven-point lead.

Then, after a quick three-and-out by Carolina, the Hawks wasted little time putting the game out of reach. Wilson engineered a quick six-play, 58-yard drive that culminated in a 25-yard touchdown pass to Luke Willson to put Seattle firmly in control.

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The Panthers made some headway on their ensuing possession and even reached the Seahawks red zone. But on the eighth play of the drive, a 2nd-and-4 from the Seattle 13, Newton was picked off by Chancellor, who returned the interception 90 yards for a remarkable touchdown that essentially cinched a Hawks victory.

Following Kam’s pick-six, Earl had yet another near-pick of his own. He came out of nowhere on a pass intended for Jerricho Cotchery, flying in to break the pass up and almost snatch the ball right out of midair.

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Newton went on to hook up with Benjamin in the end zone for the score moments later, but it was far too little, far too late for Carolina. Seattle recovered the onside kick and killed the clock to lock up their berth in a second consecutive NFC Championship Game.

NEXT UP

As they attempt to defend their NFC crown next week, Earl and the Legion Of Boom will have their hands full with Green Bay’s explosive offense, led by likely league MVP Aaron Rodgers, but it’s a test they’ve aced in the recent past.

In the last meeting between the two teams on Thursday night September 4th at CenturyLink Field, the Hawks dominated the Packers on the way to a 36-16 victory.

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Earl had five tackles and a pass breakup, while the Seattle defense held Rodgers to just 189 passing yards and one touchdown. It was one of just four times all season that the Packers signal-caller didn’t throw for at least 200 yards. However, Rodgers is still recovering from a calf injury that limited his mobility, but seemed to only hinder him slightly in Green Bay’s narrow victory over Dallas in the divisional round on Sunday.

With a second consecutive trip to the Super Bowl on the line, the Seattle crowd will undoubtedly be as raucous as ever, and that’s something ET III is looking forward to. After the win against Carolina, Earl called the crowd “amazing” and said the fans’ excitement never ceases to impress him.

“It puts me in a trance every time. All I do is this,” Earl said, motioning for the crowd to get loud. “Just keep giving it to me, I love it.”

The game will be played at 12:05 p.m. PT on Sunday and will be broadcast nationally on FOX.

RELATED LINKS

  • Legion Of Boom sends Seattle to Conference Championship (ESPN, January 11, 2015)
  • Earl Thomas postgame interview (Seahawks.com, January 11, 2015)
  • Strange end to first half and other Seattle highlights (The Seattle Times, January 11, 2015)