The (6-5) Seattle Seahawks looked to maintain their division lead as they traveled to New York to play the (3-8) New York Jets, who have not played to their full potential thus far this season. Though it is historically difficult for a West Coast team to travel to the East Coast and play the early Sunday game, the Seahawks extended their winning streak to three games with a come-from-behind victory over the New York Jets 26-21 at Met Life Stadium.
The Seahawks dug a deep hole for themselves in this contest due largely to poor special teams’ play. Laviska Shenault Jr. and Dareke Young each fumbled kickoff returns. The kickoff coverage allowed a touchdown from Jets returner Isaac Davis, and placekicker Jason Myers missed an extra point.
“Yeah, it seems like it’s just a comedy of things on each one. A couple missed tackles here and there we had a miscommunication on another one,” head coach Mike Macdonald said addressing the special team miscues. “We got to take a look at that and make sure we’re on the same page and we’re going in the right direction.”
Fortunately, the Seahawks defense was able to bail the team out thanks to the play of all-world defensive tackle Leonard Williams. Williams had two sacks, three tackles for loss, a blocked field goal, and a 92-yard interception returned for a touchdown. The pick-six set an NFL record for the longest interception returned for a touchdown by a player 300+ pounds.
“He’s just playing at an elite level,” an impressed Macdonald said of Williams. “He’s playing out of his mind right now!”
Statistically, the offense was sluggish and managed, only 259 yards of total offense. In an embarrassing sequence of events, the Seahawks ran eight consecutive plays inside the five-yard line and came away with no points.
“Yeah, we’ve got to get better at that. If I was to be critical of anything, I think that’s the main thing. We’ve got to be better in the short yardage game area and that’s on all of us. It’s on all of us,” Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith said of their short-yardage execution. “Those are the situations where you can really punch it in and dominate a game. If you can dominate short yardage and you can get all those, you’re going to be a really good team.”
The Seahawks eventually took a 26-21 lead in the 4th quarter on an eight-yard rushing touchdown by Zach Charbonnet after three drive-extending penalties by the Jets defense. Had it not been for the Jets’ inability to play disciplined football, the brilliant performance turned in by Leonard Williams and the Seahawks’ defense would have most likely been all for not.
Next up for (7-5) Seattle is a road game against the (6-6) Arizona Cardinals. I suspect the Cardinals will be looking for some payback following their 16-6 loss to the Seahawks two weeks ago. Winning divisional games on the road is a tough proposition, so we’ll see what this team is truly made of. Stay tuned.
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