Now that the Seahawks' defense is making a name for itself, doesn't this turnover-creating, run-stuffing, gang-tackling group deserve a nickname?
Yeah, that's what I thought, too.
The Vikings had the "Purple People Eaters." In Dallas, it was the Cowboys' "Doomsday Defense." Pittsburgh had its "Steel Curtain." In Denver, the Broncos went by the "Orange Crush."
They even dubbed the Seahawks' defenses of the 1980s "The Blue Wave."
That's what these Seahawks need. Something with alliteration. Something that plays off the color of their uniforms. Something hip, happening and now.
So who better to ask for suggestions than the players who have been making the plays, staking the Seahawks to a 3-0 start and two-game lead in the NFC West?
Maybe not.
"I don't think it's necessary," linebacker Chad Brown said yesterday. "It could be fun. But it's definitely not necessary."
Perhaps they were just fresh out of ideas after coming up with so many answers in Sunday's exhilarating 24-23 victory over the St. Louis Rams at raucous Seahawks Stadium.
Someone who goes by "Labman" and hangs out on Fanstop.com has come up with a moniker for the Seahawks secondary -- "The Twilight Zone."
He even concocted this little ditty that is a play on the intro to the old TV series: "You are about to enter a different dimension. A dimension of pain and frustration.
"An unorderly place that will leave you feeling alone and vulnerable. An area where forward motion comes to a screeching halt, and leaves you gasping for breath."
"Where you can be turned around and going the wrong way in the blink of an eye.
"A spot in the universe that can leave you wondering what you did to deserve such punishment.
"You are about to enter the defensive area of the Seahawks, an area known as The Twilight Zone."
Do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do.
"`The Twilight Zone?' Why's that?" strong safety Reggie Tongue said.
These guys are obviously too young to remember Rod Serling.
I took a stab at it after the game, using "Seattle Swarm" to describe, well, the way the defensive players were, well, swarming to the ball -- especially when it was being carried by Marshall Faulk.
You had to see what Faulk did against the Seahawks in St. Louis last October -- 235 yards rushing and receiving, and four touchdowns -- to truly appreciate what the Seahawks did to Faulk on Sunday.
The elusive one gained just 37 yards on 16 touches before leaving the game early in the third quarter with two fractured bones in his left hand. Faulk carried the ball five times on the Rams' first six plays, but totaled just 12 yards.
That's because every member of the defense was running to the ball whenever Faulk had it, and seemingly everyone played a role in stopping him -- linebackers Anthony Simmons, Randall Godfrey and Brown; defensive linemen Antonio Cochran, Cedric Woodard, Chike Okeafor, Rocky Bernard and Brandon Mitchell; cornerbacks Marcus Trufant and Ken Lucas; safeties Ken Hamlin and Tongue.
They stopped Faulk behind the line of scrimmage three times and for no gain three other times. That's six plays where he didn't crack the line of scrimmage -- or one more than the Seahawks were able to register in St. Louis last year, when Faulk had 39 touches.
"When anybody gets the ball -- anybody -- that's how you're supposed to play defense," Tongue said.
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