The Seattle Seahawks pulled off an epic, wild, heart-attack inducing overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football. The 27-24 win ended San Francisco’s undefeated season and pulled Seattle within one game of the division lead heading into Week 11.
The game had a lot of ugliness to it, from penalties, missed interception opportunities, stalled drives on offense, etc, but one player really stood out with his performance: defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.
Clowney finished the game with five combined tackles, five quarterback hits, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery, which he ran back for a touchdown early in the game.
That line is plenty good enough for him to earn player of the game honors, but Clowney showed up in ways that aren’t on the final box score. He frequently disrupted plays that resulted in sacks for other players, including forcing 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to pump fake and eventually take a sack from Poona Ford. Later in the game, he pushed Garoppolo up in the pocket and into the waiting arms of Al Woods for another sack.
Those two plays don’t go down in the books, but would not have happened had Clowney not been disruptive off the edge.
Seattle has struggled to generate an effective pass rush this entire season, but the defensive front stepped up in a crucial game, frustrating Garoppolo in the pocket all night long and leading to a season-high five sacks and eight quarterback hits.
This Seattle team will get a much needed bye week in Week 11, before taking on the Philadelphia Eagles on the road in Week 12.
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