Ernest Jones and Drake Thomas made Seahawks history together Sunday

Ernest Jones and Drake Thomas made Seahawks history together Sunday

Seattle beat the Chargers 30-23 Sunday to improve to 3-1, and two linebackers had a game the Seahawks defense had never produced before. Ernest Jones and Drake Thomas each intercepted a pass, hit the quarterback and made a tackle for loss, all in the same afternoon.

Thomas intercepted Justin Herbert on the Chargers' first offensive snap. He pressured Herbert into an incompletion in the second quarter and stopped Keaton Mitchell for a 3-yard loss in the fourth. Jones sacked Herbert for an 8-yard loss in the second quarter, a play that counts as both his quarterback hit and his tackle for loss, then intercepted him about three minutes later and returned it 20 yards.

No pair of Seahawks linebackers had an interception, a quarterback hit and a tackle for loss apiece in the same game before, in the years with complete data for all three. Across the whole NFL it has happened only twice since 2008: Sunday, and Karlos Dansby and Daryl Washington for Arizona against Carolina in 2013.

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Two Seattle linebackers intercepting a pass in the same game has happened four times since 1999, Sunday included. A single Seahawk piling up an interception, a quarterback hit and a tackle for loss in one game, at any position, has happened twelve times since 1999, counting both Jones and Thomas. The most recent before Sunday: Nick Emmanwori last December at Atlanta.

Sunday was the most penalized Seahawks game since 1999, and Seattle won anyway

Sunday's game had 30 accepted penalties for 280 yards between the two teams, the most of either in a Seahawks game since 1999. The next busiest: 24 penalties, which has happened five times, most recently against Buffalo in 2024.

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Seattle's own 150 penalty yards are its most in a game since 1999. The next highest, 148, came at San Francisco in 2018. Its 14 penalties tie for third, behind 16 against Washington in 2017 and 15 at the Giants that same year.

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Most of Seattle's 150 penalty yards came from personal fouls. Seven of its 14 penalties were 15-yarders: three for unnecessary roughness, two for roughing the passer (one of which erased a DeMarcus Lawrence sack), a face mask and a lowering-the-head call. The Chargers' 16 flags leaned the other way, on their offense: four false starts and three holds.

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Seattle won 30-23 anyway.

Seattle's pass protection had its worst game of the season against the Chargers

Personnel and down-and-distance both shifted from Seattle's season norms Sunday, and the offensive line had its roughest day yet. Here's what changed.

Seattle's defense allowed its worst red zone and third-down numbers of the season

Seattle's defense was its best of the season in coverage and still allowed its worst third down and red zone game of the year. Here's where the line was.

Seattle's pressure rate has climbed every week this season, and Sunday was its best yet

Four sacks and ten quarterback hits are both season highs. The pressure numbers underneath them tell an even better story.

Seattle's screen game keeps paying off, and Emanuel Wilson is the latest to cash in

A play that produced almost nothing for Seattle last season has turned into one of its better looks through four weeks. Sunday added a new name and a touchdown.

Seattle's pass-rush jump ranks 6th in the NFL this season

One defense has made the league's biggest jump in pressure rate. Seattle's own pass rush has risen too, about half of Cleveland's pace, the sixth-largest jump in the NFL.

Chicago has used three different quarterbacks in four games. Seattle sees them in Week 8.

Seattle doesn't play Chicago for another month, but the Bears already have a quarterback story worth watching.

San Francisco, 4-0 and the league's most efficient offense, visits Lumen Field next

Seattle hosts San Francisco next Sunday at 1:25 PM Pacific. The 49ers are 4-0 and lead the NFL in point differential and net EPA per play. Seattle is favored by 2.5 points at home anyway.

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San Francisco's offense ranks 1st in the NFL in EPA per play this season. Seattle's defense ranks 4th in EPA allowed per play.

nflverse play-by-play. On defense, lower is better, so rank 1 is the stingiest.