Whatever it is, Seahawks defense has rediscovered it

SEATTLE – Whatever it is that the Seahawks have rediscovered over the past two games – some players call it a feeling, others an attitude – the trick now is not to lose it before taking the field again on Dec. 7 at Philadelphia.

“It’s easy to have two games and play well,” said defensive end Cliff Avril after a 19-3 win at San Francisco Thursday night. “The hard thing in the NFL is to be consistent. That’s what we’ve got to do.”

But in the happy aftermath of the easy win over the 49ers – as players gnawed on pieces of the turkeys given by NBC to the victors – there didn’t seem to be much doubt that the sky is again the limit for the Seahawks.

“We are back to the feeling (the team had in 2013),” said receiver Doug Baldwin after what was a second win in five days against an NFC West rival – the other coming against Arizona. Each victory was by a 19-3 score, properly illustrating the dominance of the wins.

Players continued to cite the soul-searching of the previous week, including one meeting after an argument during a walkthrough that erupted when safety Earl Thomas objected to some teammates eating sunflower seeds.

Coach Pete Carroll, though, had already set the wheels for attitude readjustment in motion following a 24-20 loss to Kansas City on Nov. 16 that dropped Seattle’s record to 6-4. Early that week, Carroll sensed that the team needed a little reminding that there was too much ability on hand to not be fully committed to the task and had meetings with team leaders. Players later met among themselves.

“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Pete for feeling out the locker room and figuring out what we needed,” Baldwin said.

While the team’s psyche was improving, so was its health. The two-game sweep of Arizona and the 49ers coincided with the return of middle linebacker Bobby Wagner and the return to form of strong safety Kam Chancellor.

After allowing a season-high 190 yards rushing at Kansas City, Seattle allowed just 128 total against the Cardinals and 49ers.

The return of Chancellor and Byron Maxwell also solidified a secondary that has now gone three games (and 15 quarters overall) without allowing a touchdown pass.