Sweet Revenge: Master & Protégé Duel as Seahawks, Jets Face Off in Elimination Game
RENTON, Wash. - Playing in different conferences on opposite sides of the country, the Seahawks and Jets typically only meet on the gridiron once every four years. Given how rarely they play one another and the geographical difference, they would hardly be considered rivals.
But with Seattle set to host New York in a de facto playoff elimination game at Lumen Field on Sunday, this matchup will feel like anything but a normal interconference battle in the NFL. Starting with coaches Pete Carroll and Robert Saleh, who previously served on the same staff together in Seattle at one point, the two franchises know each other quite well and have a similar philosophical DNA.
"There are a lot of guys on that team that have played with us in the past, coaches that have been here, and all that kind of stuff, so there is a lot of familiarity," Carroll told reporters on Wednesday. "One of the things that they do really well is that they play really hard, and they are really consistent about that. That is something that I would like to think that has always been what we have hung our hat on. There’s nothing earth changing about that thought, but they definitely play like crazy and that’s why we have a lot of respect for them coming in here.”
As Carroll noted, a uncommonly large number of players and coaches will be squaring off against their former employer on Sunday. This includes Saleh, who served as a defensive quality control coach on his staff with the Seahawks from 2011 to 2013 before climbing up to the coaching ladder with the Jaguars and 49ers and eventually landing the Jets head coaching gig in 2021.
Now in his second season at the helm, Saleh's staff features several other former Seahawks assistants, including defensive backs coach Marquand Manuel and defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. While the scheme deployed by the Jets evolved during Saleh's time in San Francisco and isn't quite a carbon copy of Carroll's defense with its own wrinkles, it's still grounded in what he learned in his time as a disciple in Seattle.
“It’s really adapted," Carroll said of Saleh's scheme. "What we have done was adapted in the years in San Francisco and it’s more of the 49ers package than anything, but it’s very similar. The style and the approach and the mentality and all of that stuff is the same.”
Decades before he found his way to the Pacific Northwest and Saleh received his first shot as a head coach, Carroll himself earned his first head coaching opportunity with the Jets in 1994. But it wasn't smooth sailing in the Meadowlands, as his team stumbled after a promising 6-5 start and lost each of its final five games, including infamously losing to Dan Marino and the Dolphins on a fake spike touchdown pass, leading to his dismissal after only one season.
However, despite how poorly his brief tenure ended after four successful seasons as a defensive coordinator, Carroll vividly remembers the experience coaching in the Big Apple and used the lessons he learned through his failure to catapult him to future success down the road at USC and now in Seattle.
"It was a great experience," Carroll reflected. "To coach in New York is really something. It’s hard to imagine what it’s like when you drive back from the Meadowlands back in the day to Long Island, and you drive through all of those people. As we would go through the parkway going back and all of the lights that were on in all of those tall buildings knowing they just watched the Giants and the Jets play football and they were happy or pissed off one way or the other. It represented something really unique. I have never forgotten that and regard that really highly. It was really fun.”
Understanding of the immense pressures tied to coaching or playing in a cauldron like New York, Seahawks Pro Bowl quarterback Geno Smith also began his career with Jets as a second-round pick out of West Virginia in 2013. Like Carroll, his time with the team didn't unfold as planned, as he struggled mightily during his first two years as a starter with 25 touchdowns compared to 34 interceptions.
Then, just when Smith thought he was on the verge of a breakout, he suffered a broken jaw in a locker room altercation during training camp prior to his third season. Veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick opened the season as the Jets starter and never looked back, leading the team to a 10-6 record. One year later, Smith became a free agent and wasn't re-signed.
But sharing a similar tone to Carroll on Thursday, Smith had nothing but positives to say about his years in New York. With his focus solely on leading Seattle to the playoffs rather than putting too much stock into facing his former team for the first time, he thanked the organization for giving him the opportunity to play in the NFL as a high draft pick and their role in helping him grow as a player and a man.
“Obviously, there will be some speculation and talk about that, it comes with the territory. It is to be expected," Smith commented. "I have a lot of love for the Jets, the organization and the people that are still there that were there when I got drafted. For me and this team, it’s business as usual, another week to prepare and a tough challenge for us to go out there and try to get this win. We need it.”
With stakes incredibly high for two teams on the cusp of playoff elimination, Smith won't be the only player entering a "revenge" game against his former team. On the other side of the ball, cornerback D.J. Reed, who played for the Seahawks from 2020 to 2021, has turned in a fantastic first season with the Jets after signing a lucrative three-year deal in free agency.
Following two stellar seasons in Seattle, the 5-foot-9 Reed ranks 11th in the NFL among cornerbacks allowing a 55.1 percent completion rate and is tied for fourth with 10 pass breakups in coverage. In the shadows of star rookie Sauce Gardner in the secondary, he also ranks in the top 10 in passer rating against (73.9) and fewest yards allowed after the catch (102).
Having faced him on the practice field the past two years, Smith enters Sunday's showdown against his former teammate holding great respect for Reed's talents, lauding him for his football IQ, quickness, and ability to make plays on the football.
“I see the same player, scrappy dude, not the biggest in size, doesn’t have all the physical stature. He’s having a great year," Smith said of Reed. "He’s been locking dudes down. He’s a smart player. He’s very quick in his transition in and out of breaks, and he’s got ball skills. So, you have to be aware of where you throw the football when you are throwing at him. I appreciated the times that we had at practice, and I look forward to competing against him again.”
On offense, the Jets have several familiar faces returning to Lumen Field as well. After losing tackle Mekhi Becton to a season-ending knee injury in training camp, the team signed ex-Seahawks starter Duane Brown, who eventually took over as the starter on the left side after his own injured reserve stint to open the season. Another former Seahawk, George Fant, has started the past three games at right tackle since Alijah Vera-Tucker went down with a season-ending injury of his own.
Though pass protection has been problematic at times for New York, the 37-year old Brown has enjoyed a strong 15th NFL season, allowing only one sack on over 400 pass protection snaps according to Pro Football Focus. Across from him, Fant has endured an up and down season adjusting to the right side, giving up four sacks and 23 pressures on 321 pass blocking snaps.
At the end of the day, with both franchises' playoff hopes hanging by a thread, key players such as Smith, Reed, and Brown dueling against their former team will have a significant influence on the outcome on Sunday. Carroll and Saleh will certainly impact into the result as well, as the protégé will get his first crack at beating the master in an enticing chess match between two coaches who share many similarities and yet have many stark differences.
Understanding the uniqueness of the situation through his own prior experiences playing against teams he formerly coached for and the magnitude of the game itself, Carroll made sure to address the elephant in the room with Smith early in the week to ensure outside noise doesn't become a factor and focus remains where it needs to be on picking up a crucial late season win.
“Really, we are kind of going as partners in crime, that we were both there. It didn’t quite work out right at the end, so we are just sharing the experience a little bit, but it was such a long time ago that it’s not a factor. I’ve already mentioned it, so we are aware of it.”
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