Finesse and speed naturally draw the eye. A receiver tears past a cornerback. A quarterback zips a ball at high velocity. A safety knifes in front of a pass. Our primal instincts give us no choice but to pay attention when an object moves abnormally fast. Perhaps it was a survival instinct that led John Schneider and Pete Carroll to assemble a roster that is loaded with speed. Carroll talked openly about it during training camp. From D.K. Metcalf to Tariq Woolen to Marquise Goodwin to Kenneth Walker to Uchenna Nwosu and more, this Seahawks team can scoot. This season has been the latest proof that no matter how much the league moves to offense and passing and skill players, strength and toughness in the trenches is where most NFL games are won and lost. This Seahawks team has been the weaker team in almost every matchup this year. That was not the case Sunday, and they had their most complete and convincing win in months.
The New York Jets are an easy team to dismiss. They are a comically bad franchise with awful quarterback play. What they have not been this season is weak, especially on defense. Robert Saleh has started to craft a gritty group that features two great cornerbacks and a dynamic interior defensive line. They like to run the ball on offense. They came into this game knowing they needed to win or their playoff hopes were over.
Seattle knew the same was true for them. Both teams had struggled mightily the last few months. Vegas saw all these variables and had the Jets favored by 1.5 points on the road. It would have surprised almost nobody if the Seahawks got beaten by an inspired Jets team that simply pushed them around and showed more grit.
Instead, the Seahawks opened the game with a haymaker. Kenneth Walker III burst through a huge hole opened up by the Seahawks offensive line and raced 60 yards on the first play. Two plays later, the offensive line gave Geno Smith tons of time and a clean pocket to find Colby Parkinson for a touchdown.
Tight ends showed up again on the next series after a Quandre Diggs interception. Seattle brought in Jake Curhan as an extra eligible tackle, indicating a run play, only to have Geno Smith drop back and hit a wide open Noah Fant for 29 yards. They showed up again on the third series when Smith hit Tyler Mabry for his first career reception and touchdown.
This was a game that was going to be difficult for a Seattle offense that is so reliant on their top two receivers to move the ball and has struggled to run the ball with consistency. Shane Waldron did a wonderful job designing a game plan that allowed the offense to function through the tight ends and the running backs.
Walker, who has shown a penchant for home run plays, had one of his most professional games. Explosive plays are great, but effective offenses need backs who will get the 3-5 yards that are there on many runs instead of constantly hunting for the big play by bouncing outside or reversing course and risking negative plays.
Walker listened to Carroll after the first half in Kansas City last week, and became far more decisive and willing to hit the line and push the pile. I was curious if that would carry over to this week, and it did.
Walker had a number of runs between the tackles that had him and his line pushing ahead for 3-5 yards. He sprinkled in some big plays and 1-2 situations where he bounce it outside. That is the right ratio.
DeeJay Dallas had his best game as a pro as well, with nearly 100 yards from scrimmage and career highs in both rushing and receiving yards. His biggest play was a shovel pass from Smith for a huge gain, but his best plays were his runs up the middle that pushed the pile.
The offensive line had a better day. Even if the stats show 4 sacks of Smith, at least two of those were clearly on him.
Seattle was tougher than the Jets defense. That is not something to dismiss.
It was not just the offense. After a shaky first quarter that saw the Jets looking like they were going to break a long run on every handoff, the Seahawks defense held New York to just 19 yards on 11 carries. Seattle tackled well. They were physical.
They even had a pass rush. Darrell Taylor finished with 2.5 sacks, a career-high, which brought his season total to 8.5 sacks, also a career-high. He also had another strip sack, which brings his total to four on the year. All this after a miserable start to the season that saw him benched and barely getting snaps.
Taylor now has 15.0 sacks in his first two seasons of playing (he was a rookie in 2020 but did not play due to injury). Those 15.0 sacks are the most of any player from his draft class in their first 33 games.
Chase Young was selected second overall in that draft and has 9.0 sacks in 26 games. He missed games last year and this year due to injury. Taylor missed games to start his career. Taylor was selected 48th overall.
As much as Taylor has struggled as a run defender, and has been part of the speed versus strength issue, only the most obstinate fan would criticize the value of getting the most productive sack artist in a draft in the second round.
Only Jacob Green has had more sacks in his first two seasons as a Seahawk with 18.0.
It can only be seen as good news that Taylor is demonstrating his value as the season winds down. This team, especially this defense, needs as much talent as it can find. Even if the team decides he might not be the right scheme fit, his trade value is going up.
Taylor looks like a guy who can be a productive part of a rotational pass rush and who will only get better once the Seahawks have an interior defensive line that has anything to contribute in the pass rush. It is probably no accident that Taylor had his best game as a pro in the same game when Quinton Jefferson was productive as an interior rusher.
With the Broncos thankfully losing to the Chiefs yesterday, the Seahawks are guaranteed a top five pick in the draft, where they will hopefully find another great player to add to the defensive line.
A loss would have seen Seattle climb to 10th in the draft with their second first round pick. The win moved them to 19th. It is pointless to debate whether winning or losing is better for the team. Generally, I always prefer winning even if my heads knows a higher draft pick would be helpful. Winning and losing are habits. I would rather see these young players get used to winning than the opposite.
One thing that happened in this game that almost certainly will have offseason implications was losing linebacker Jordyn Brooks to what Carroll deemed an ACL injury in his comments Monday morning. Seattle was already thin at inside linebacker. This draft is not deep at that position and neither is free agency. Schneider will need to be wise about how he invests in that position as an injury this late in the year likely means Brooks will either be unavailable for most of next season or not likely to perform at his best.
Tanner Muse played well in relief. Cody Barton had one of his best games of his career. He even played a screen properly. Seattle would be very limited if they go into next season with those two as their starters.
All those questions can wait another week as the Seahawks playoff hopes are still flickering. They need to beat the Rams at home and have the Lions beat the Packers on the road. It is a very unlikely scenario that could be even less likely if the NFL schedules the Packers/Lions game for Sunday Night, which is the current rumor. Doing that would mean the Lions would know already if the Seahawks had won, thereby eliminating Detroit and reducing their reasons to play their best. I am holding out hope the NFL will prioritize competition over ratings, but I realize that is incredibly naive.
Seattle will, at worst, finish this season with 8 wins, a terrific rookie class that may feature either the offensive or defensive rookie of the year (or both), a Pro Bowl quarterback who has passed for more touchdowns this season than anyone not named Mahomes, Allen, or Burrow, and a top five pick.
It is not the ridiculous outlandish ending that they were on track for mid-year when they were looking to be in good shape to win the division over the most talented team in football in San Francisco, but it is in the top 1% of all possible outcomes.
If the Seahawks want to continue playing tough football this season, I would be happy to continue watching. They have a chance to sweep the Rams, which is never a bad thing. Let us cheer in unison for the Chargers to beat the Broncos and secure a top three pick, and just see where the other chips fall.