Seahawks Rapid Reaction: Devon Witherspoon, Defense Bully Giants in 24-3 Win
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - Turning defense into points on the scoreboard to pick up an injury-rattled offense, Devon Witherspoon returned an interception for a touchdown and Jordyn Brooks recovered a fumble deep in opposing territory to help the Seattle Seahawks fend off the New York Giants in a 24-3 victory on Monday Night Football.
Playing through a knee injury suffered in the second quarter, Geno Smith hooked up with DK Metcalf for a seven-yard touchdown to start the scoring and Ken Walker III added a one-yard touchdown run late in the first half. Pacing a pass rushing clinic, four different Seahawks produced a sack while tying the team single game record and making life tough on Daniel Jones.
Here are five quick observations from Seattle's seventh straight victory at MetLife Stadium:
1. Stuffing the stat sheet in all categories, Witherspoon made a superstar turn in front of a national audience.
Taking a big step after a strong outing against the Panthers last weekend, Witherspoon showed why he deserved to be selected fifth overall by wreaking havoc in coverage, rushing the passer, and defending the run. Making a play for Defensive Player of the Week honors, the feisty rookie cornerback shot out of a cannon untouched on a slot blitz to sack Daniel Jones on New York's second drive and later added a second sack chasing down the elusive quarterback. In addition, he made several impressive hits stuffing Matt Breida out of the backfield, showcasing his physicality and toughness dishing out the punishment.
Dominating in prime time, Devon Witherspoon returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown and had seven tackles to lead a stingy Seahawks defense.
© Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK
Midway through the third quarter, Witherspoon delivered a game-changing blow to the Giants, who had drove all the way down to the Seahawks three-yard line. But Jones telegraphed a throw into the left flats and the cornerback baited him, jumping the route and evading a couple tackle attempts to return a 97-yard pick six, extending the lead to 21-3 and seemingly putting a dagger in a punch-less Giants offense. Overall, he finished with seven tackles, two sacks, three quarterback hits, and an interception, turning in a dominant Deion Sanders-like effort in prime time.
2. With Geno Smith and the offensive line banged up, the passing game lacked usual fireworks at MetLife.
Given the dominance of Seattle's defense all night long, Smith and his counterparts thankfully didn't need to be on their A-game. While the veteran quarterback completed six out of his first seven passes, holding penalties derailed a couple of drives and consistently put the offense behind the sticks, leading to punts on three of Seattle's first four drives. On the one drive that didn't end with a punt, the offense was gifted outstanding starting field position inside the 10-yard line after a strip-sack by Mario Edwards and Smith hit Metcalf for a seven-yard touchdown to take an early 7-0 lead.
Away from that drive, the Seahawks weren't able to get much going with Smith nursing a knee injury suffered after he caught a deflected pass and got hit late along the sideline. Not helping the cause, guards Phil Haynes and Damien Lewis also left with injuries, hurting protection in front of him. He left for a couple of series and Drew Lock performed admirably in his first game action, connecting with Noah Fant on a 51-yard completion that set up Walker's touchdown before halftime to extend the lead to 11. Overall, however, it was an ugly offensive performance with Seattle going 3 for 12 on third downs and putting up only 281 total yards.
3. After being a non-factor in the first half, Seattle's run game found traction in the second half.
For the first two quarters, the Seahawks looked ready to lay an egg similar to the one they did against the Giants last year, running for just 30 yards before halftime with 11 of those yards coming on a scramble by Lock. Bottled up most of the half, Walker rushed for just 19 yards on nine carries, barely averaging two yards per carry behind a banged up offensive line that couldn't create push off the line of scrimmage.
But coming out of halftime, Seattle re-committed to the run game, and though it didn't yield many points on the scoreboard, Walker and Zach Charbonnet helped chew up clock to seal the win down the stretch. Leading to the team's final field goal to push the lead to 21 in the fourth quarter, Walker broke free on a 31-yard run into the red zone and wound up finishing with 60 yards on just eight carries in the final two quarters. Charbonnet found a bit of a groove too, rushing five times for 31 yards while punishing defenders in his wake with physical running. The team finished with 121 yards and averaged 5.3 yards per carry, far exceeding last year's output against the same New York squad.
4. Playing a maligned offensive line, Clint Hurtt turned up the blitz heat and his defense responded with a sack party.
Going against an offensive line missing starting right tackle Andrew Thomas and breaking in a new starting right guard in Marcus McKethan, Hurtt dialed up the aggression by sending extra rushers all night long with great success. Racking up 11 sacks as a team, tied for the most in franchise history, the Seahawks harassed Jones all night long with rushers coming from all levels of the defense. In the first half, along with Witherspoon's two sacks, Mario Edwards strip-sacked the fifth-year quarterback and Brooks recovered inside the Giants 10-yard line, setting up Smith's touchdown pass to Metcalf.
Over the next two and a half quarters, Brooks and Bobby Wagner each registered a pair of sacks blitzing from their linebacker spots, while Uchenna Nwosu had a pair of sacks and Myles Adams also recorded his first career sack to further pad Seattle's historic total. By the time the final horn sounded, Seattle had amassed nearly half a dozen sacks by both defensive linemen as well as cornerbacks and linebackers, bringing an all-out assault to ambush a beleaguered offensive line. Even when they didn't sack Jones, they hit him constantly, including a crunching hit by Derick Hall that led to Quandre Diggs' first interception of the season in the fourth quarter.
5. While Jones broke free for a few big scrambles, Seattle's run defense remained rock solid throughout Monday night.
Entering Monday tied for first in the NFL allowing just 2.9 yards per carry on the ground, the Seahawks will see that average jump with Jones rushing for 66 yards on 10 carries, which much of that damage coming when the game was already locked up in the second half. Still, they took advantage of star running back Saquon Barkley being sidelined by locking down Matt Breida and the Giants run game, limiting their backs to 33 yards on 16 carries and barely over two yards per carry. They swarmed to ball carriers, tackling in droves to prevent yardage after contact and put New York into a bunch of second and third and long situations, leading to a dreadful 38 percent third down conversion rate on 16 attempts.
With tougher opponents looming in upcoming weeks after a much-needed bye to get the roster healthier, the Seahawks will still have to prove themselves stopping the run. But now four games into the season, it's abundantly clear that last year's 30th ranked run defense has improved dramatically with additions such as Jarran Reed, Dre'Mont Jones, and Wagner, a great sign as the team transitions into the meat of their schedule in October.
