How good will the Seattle defense be this year? It's allowed fewer points than any other team in three straight seasons, but there are questions now. It slipped as a fantasy group in 2014, and Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas are coming off arm and shoulder injuries.
Those guys are key to what Seattle's greatest strength as been over the last four years: forcing interceptions. Since 2011, no team has more than Seattle. That's helped them finish as a top-8 fantasy defense in three of the last four years.
The table below shows team interceptions in each of the last four years, sorted by total. For Seattle to hold its lead over the rest of the NFL, it will need Sherman and Thomas to be back on top of their games.
TEAM INTERCEPTIONS, 2011-2014 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | Total |
Seattle | 22 | 18 | 28 | 13 | 81 |
Green Bay | 31 | 18 | 11 | 18 | 78 |
San Francisco | 23 | 14 | 18 | 23 | 78 |
Chicago | 20 | 24 | 19 | 14 | 77 |
New England | 23 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 76 |
NY Giants | 20 | 21 | 17 | 17 | 75 |
Buffalo | 20 | 12 | 23 | 19 | 74 |
Arizona | 10 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 70 |
Detroit | 21 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 67 |
Tampa Bay | 14 | 18 | 21 | 14 | 67 |
Atlanta | 19 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 65 |
Cincinnati | 10 | 14 | 20 | 20 | 64 |
Cleveland | 9 | 17 | 14 | 21 | 61 |
Denver | 9 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 60 |
Houston | 17 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 59 |
Carolina | 14 | 11 | 20 | 14 | 59 |
Miami | 16 | 10 | 18 | 14 | 58 |
Washington | 13 | 21 | 16 | 7 | 57 |
St. Louis | 12 | 17 | 14 | 13 | 56 |
Dallas | 15 | 7 | 15 | 18 | 55 |
Baltimore | 15 | 13 | 16 | 11 | 55 |
Tennessee | 11 | 19 | 13 | 12 | 55 |
Philadelphia | 15 | 8 | 19 | 12 | 54 |
Kansas City | 20 | 7 | 21 | 6 | 54 |
San Diego | 17 | 14 | 11 | 7 | 49 |
NY Jets | 19 | 11 | 13 | 6 | 49 |
New Orleans | 9 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 48 |
Indianapolis | 8 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 47 |
Oakland | 18 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 47 |
Jacksonville | 17 | 12 | 11 | 6 | 46 |
Minnesota | 8 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 43 |
Pittsburgh | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 42 |
--Andy Richardson