Seattle Seahawks Kam Chancellor earns NFL Spin Zone Player of the Week

The Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos Super Bowl rematch on Sunday evening certainly lived up to the hype in ways the actual Super Bowl earlier this year never did. It was an epic battle between the best two teams in the NFL, with Peyton Manning sending things into overtime before Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch helped lead the ‘Hawks to victory. All week long, we heard about how the Seahawks could be vulnerable against star tight end Julius Thomas after Antonio Gates‘s big game in Week 2, but people forgot far too easily what the Seahawks secondary did to Vernon Davis, Tony Gonzalez, Jimmy Graham, and Thomas himself (among others), thanks to the elite coverage skills of the LBs and one Kam Chancellor.

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Earl Thomas and Chancellor easily form the NFL’s best safety duo, and while there’s little argument that Thomas is the best free safety in the NFL, people need to realize that Chancellor is the class of the league’s strong safeties (yes, he’s even better than T.J. Ward and Eric Berry). There’s simply nobody better at stifling tight ends one-on-one, and he only struggled against Gates the previous week because he wasn’t fully himself due to an injury that almost required surgery. Chancellor, however, looked so good on Sunday that those plans have been put on hold.

It was a dominant performance from a dominant player in a critical game, as Chancellor helped stifle the Broncos offense by playing some elite coverage next to Thomas, who was also phenomenal. But he also added playmaking ability in the passing and running game in addition to his standout work in coverage, as he led the team with the most tackles in run defense (three) to go with a clutch interception (he showed off his anticipation, instincts, and preparation on that one), an additional pass defended, and a forced fumble. It’s these big plays that help make Chancellor such an elite strong safety, because that’s what an SS is expected to bring to the table when playing next to a free safety like Thomas. Chancellor finished with nine tackles overall and was making plays all over the field.

Based on what he showed on Sunday, he certainly didn’t look like someone contemplating surgery to remove bone spurs on his ankles, nor did he look like the hobbled, surprisingly ineffective player against the Chargers. That game absolutely has to be chalked up as an anomaly, and it’s surprising how knee-jerkily shallow some reactions became after that game from Gates. This past performance against Denver? Now that’s what the Seahawks defense and our “Player of the Week” are really about.

To me, it’s telling that Julius Thomas, whom some thought would be a big part of the Broncos gameplan, was targeted just four times. That was fourth on the team behind 15 targets for Emmanuel Sanders and nine apiece for Demaryius Thomas and Wes Welker, who was ineffective when Chancellor was matched up against him.

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