This time the big fourth-quarter lead was safe.
After blowing leads in the final stanza the past two weeks, the Seattle Seahawks didn't let up their relentless pressure en route to a 20-3 blowout road win over the San Francisco 49ers.
The Seahawks' defense pummeled the 49ers, giving up 142 total yards while compiling six sacks of Colin Kaepernick.
"We just had to stay focused and not give up those fourth-quarter leads," Michael Bennett told NFL Media's Steve Wyche after the game. "We know where we should be at and our focus right now is it's a new season and keep grinding. Our motto is just keep chopping wood, don't look down until the clock ends and I think we're focused right now."
Last season the Seahawks started 3-3 before rolling off nine wins in the next 10 games. Now in a 3-4 hole in the NFC West, Bennett believes Seattle can make a similar run following their dominant performance Thursday night.
"I feel that vibe," he said. "We've got a lot of veteran players, man, everybody's come back healthy, Marshawn is running the ball really well, and we're just playing good as a team man. From the coaching on down, everybody is gelling right now."
Bennett has played at an All-Pro level the entire season, but Thursday night brought his play into another stratosphere. The Seahawks pass-rushing duo of Bennett and Cliff Avril is somehow overlooked, but has consistently disrupted offenses this season. Bennett compiled 3.5 sacks himself Thursday.
"Really four," Bennett interrupted. "Cause .5, I got the leg and (Brandon) Mebane fell on him, he think he going to get that, but that's not going to happen."
Many of the questions regarding the Seahawks' defense this season have resided in the back end. From Kam Chancellor getting worked back into the mix, to Cary Williams getting beat, to last week's miscommunication that cost Seattle the lead. The defensive front, however, has been as dominant as any team outside of Denver.
"We've been playing great defense and we just folded in the last couple halves, last couple quarters and we just finished today," Bennett said of Thursday's dominance. "That's what we need to keep doing."
If the defensive line keeps playing the way it did against a bad 49ers offensive line -- there are plenty of those bad blocking units left to face this season -- Seattle will be back in the post season race by the end of the calendar year.
