I will say Earl Thomas is the heir apparent to Kenny Easley

Yep. After reading the topic but before hitting the link that brought me here, the 1984 Hawk defense immediately came to mind. That defense was very good, very opportunistic and was devastating when they were forcing turnovers. But what I like more about this defense is the fact that I think it's better in just stalling offenses than the '84 team was. The '84 team got torched in the end by the Super Bowl-bound Miami Dolphins and Dan Marino and showed that as good as they were in causing turns it was something that couldn't be relied upon. The word on the '84 Hawks D was, if you take care of the football you can score some points on them. Easier said than done the vast majority of the time and it was a great defense overall but based on early returns so far I like this year's defense better. And if they start causing their own share of turnovers (which they haven't done yet so far) they will be even more lethal. I'm hoping it will because this year's D seems made for causing them and I have no idea why it hasn't happened yet.

They had Kenny Easley, the DPOY who had 10 picks and my favorite Seahawk of all time. He was the straw that stirred the drink on that defense and the '12 Hawks lack the caliber of impact player that Easley was. As a matter of fact, although Easley didn't have the longevity or the Super Bowl rings that Ronnie Lott had, he was probably the better of the two and from 1983 to about '86 or '87 he was possibly the greatest safety in NFL history until his health failed him. So I have no bias favoring the modern squad and the argument for the '84 defense being the better of the two is definitely legit. But still the season didn't end well for that '84 squad and I'll amend my earlier post by saying I think the '12 defense can POTENTIALLY be better than the '84 squad. It might be better to wait until the season is over and then do a comparison.

was like trying to sandpaper a bobcats sphincter in a telephone booth.

We went 12-4 WITHOUT the services of Curt Warner. He suffered a season-ending injury before the season even started. Or is my memory fogged?

No, you are correct. I believe Warner's injury was in Week 1 against the Browns so yeah, we had to go the entire season without him. If he had been able to play it's possible the Hawks could have been an even match with the Niners that year imho but I guess there's no way of knowing for sure. Krieg and Co. adapted nicely, becoming a highly pass-oriented offense but without Warner there was no way around having to shoot it out with Marino in the playoffs which had little chance of succeeding. Losing Warner definitely could have cost them a trip to the Super Bowl that year.

It is great that we are now talking Defense. I like what I am seeing. But do not forget the man in the Green Seahawk jacket that was the guy who got players like Jeff Bryant,Joe"air" Nash,Jacob Green,Rufus Porter,Kenny Easley,Tony Woods,Robert Blackmon,Micheal Jackson,Fredd Young, Eugene Robinson, an Manu to get-r-done!

Although I started watching the Seahawks back in 1977, it was the teams of "Ground Chuck" that made me a fan of the game. As kids we would flag down the local Police, not to cause trouble but to collect the trading cards of the team! Now fast forward to 2012, I'm watching in my living room to a very simular team with my daughter and she is getting excited about the brand of Football Coach Carol is putting on the field. So "Leadgon of Boom!" keep it up turnovers will happen soon and the kids will be grinning from ear to ear and the dads will be chearing all across the PNW!

Tight end was used more back then. The Seahawks would put Easley on the tight end. Pretty soon offenses would send the tight end in motion to the opposite side of the field from the play to get Easley away from the play. Knox never seemed to catch on that opposing offenses were taking the best Seahawk player out of the game.

I believe 710's own Paul Moyer was part of that defense and an integral part of that great secondary they had. What would he have to say about this discussion? It would be cool to have him chime in with his qualified opinion, either on here or in a future radio broadcast.