Seahawks defense has been dominant vs. the run throughout ongoing win streak
The Seattle Seahawks were struggling mightily to defend the run earlier this season. Approximately just one month ago, Mike Macdonald’s inconsistent unit entered their Week 9 contest versus the Los Angeles Rams allowing a 29th-ranked 148.4 rushing yards per contest. They were also allowing the fifth-highest yards per carry average (4.9) in the league.
Things have changed drastically in recent weeks. In Sunday’s Week 13 victory over the New York Jets, their third consecutive triumph, the combination of Breece Hall and Braelon Allen were limited to 71 rushing yards and zero touchdowns via 17 carries. The Jets were ultimately held under 100 net rushing yards.
Seattle’s run-stopping metrics have drastically improved since that Week 9 update. Macdonald’s disciplined run defense now ranks 22nd in the league, allowing 127 yards per outing. They are surviving their lackluster early-season start, and are consistently climbing the charts.
In fact, the Seahawks have faced four outstanding running backs over the previous four weeks. The list includes Hall, Kyren Williams, Christian McCaffrey, and James Conner. The results? Macdonald’s defense has allowed 216 rushing yards and zero touchdowns via 60 carries. That equals just 3.6 yards per carry.
The turning point for Seattle’s run defense was arguably swapping out linebackers Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson for Ernest Jones IV and Tyrice Knight. Jones has been a tackling machine since being acquired in a trade with the Tennessee Titans. Seattle’s improving run defense is peaking at the right time.
Seahawks DT Jarran Reed reaches milestone in Week 13 win
The Seattle Seahawks claimed their third consecutive victory on Sunday, defeating the New York Jets 26-21 in Week 13. It was an absurd game that featured multiple special teams gaffs by the Seahawks, and a historic 92-yard pick-six touchdown by 300-plus pound defensive lineman Leonard Williams. Lost in the craziness was some team history made by veteran defensive tackle Jarran Reed.
Reed appeared in his 100th career contest for Seattle on Sunday, according to Seahawks PR. Over 1,200 players have played for the Seahawks. Reed became just the 50th to play in 100 games for the franchise.
Reed made his usual impact for a Seahawks defense that was stout versus the Jets offense. Reed played a total of 35 snaps, accounting for 51 percent of Mike Macdonald’s available plays. He consistently supported a dominant Williams on the defensive line.
Seahawks general manager John Schneider originally drafted Reed with a second-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. The former Alabama standout played out his entire rookie contract with the franchise before joining the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021. He later played a single season for the Green Bay Packers before re-joining the Seahawks in 2023 via a two-year contract worth $9 million.
Reed has totaled 31 tackles and 2.5 sacks throughout 2024. He made heartwarming history for the Seahawks on Sunday. Reed is an underrated performer that deserved Sunday’s accolade.
With its 35-10 loss at Buffalo on Sunday night, the 49ers have now dropped three straight to sink to 5-7 on the season.
The blowout loss also marked the first time since 2015 and just the fourth time in franchise history that San Francisco has lost back-to-back games by 25 points or more.
San Francisco entered Week 13 just a game outside first place in the NFC West, but the 49ers exit the week in the division’s cellar.
The Seattle Seahawks used a 92-yard pick-six from defensive end Leonard Williams to flip an early 21-7 deficit into an eventual 26-21 win at the New York Jets. The Seahawks improved to 7-5 with the win.
Seattle has now won three straight dating back to its 20-17 Week 11 win at San Francisco.
Thanks to Minnesota‘s rally over Arizona, Seattle now owns sole possession of first place in the NFC West.
Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold connected with running back Aaron Jones for a 5-yard score with 1:13 left to play. Then, Vikings cornerback Shaquill Griffin sealed the 23-22 victory with his interception of Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray on the ensuing possession.
The loss drops Arizona to 6-6 on the season and one game out of first place.
The Los Angeles Rams stayed within striking distance thanks to a 21-14 win at the New Orleans Saints. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford tossed a pair of touchdown passes to Demarcus Robinson and Puka Nacua in the fourth quarter to help Los Angeles improve to 6-6.
Sitting in the cellar and now two games out of first place, San Francisco will close its 2024 season with games versus Chicago, versus the Los Angeles Rams, at Miami, versus Detroit and at Arizona.
On Sunday, that trend continued when Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams scored the first touchdown of his career on a 92-yard pick-6 against the New York Jets, where he spent the first four-plus seasons of his career before getting traded to the Giants.
Williams added 2.0 sacks and three tackles for a loss in the game.
Williams’ big day just adds to the optics of former Giants thriving with their new teams — most notably, the team’s two biggest free agent departures, Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney.
The Big Cat was, of course, acquired from the Jets back in 2019 by former general manager Dave Gettleman and spent roughly four years with Big Blue before being traded to the Seahawks in late October of last season.
Williams had his best season with the Giants in 2019, racking up 11.5 sacks on the year, and served as a team captain in 2022 and 2023.
Sunday’s 92-yard scamper by the 290-plus pound veteran was the longest by a defensive lineman in NFL history. The ironic part of the touchdown by Williams is that the Giants have not recorded an interception in 11 straight games, which is an NFL record.
Williams also now has more interceptions than the entire Giants secondary.
Also, Leonard Williams is an onion and Aaron Rodgers reigns over a kingdom of emptiness.
Week 13 was a weird one for young quarterbacks.
Bryce Young and Drake Maye each shined in heartbreaking losses. C.J. Stroud struggled in defeat. Trevor Lawrence entered the concussion protocol thanks to a late hit at the tail end of a scramble. Aidan O’Connell gave the Kansas City Chiefs all they could handle despite throwing 25 of his 34 passes to the Las Vegas Raiders’ two trustworthy targets.
On the other side of the spectrum, Aaron Rodgers shambled one step closer to the worst season of his illustrious NFL career. What else did we learn in Week 13? Let’s talk about it.
[Please bear with me for any Twitter embed issues. Our editing software has become a whole problem on that front the past couple weeks. Rest assured, if there’s a play alluded to in the text it’s worth clicking through to see if it didn’t make it into the article itself.]
1. Drake Maye is so much better than Mac Jones ever was (already)
Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
Mac Jones was a Pro Bowler as a rookie for a playoff-bound New England Patriots team. Drake Maye will not make the playoffs in 2024. Barring a litany of no-shows, he probably won’t be winging passes at drones in the Pro Bowl Games.
But he’s been meaningfully better than Jones in more than one way.
Maye presented the best possible outcome for a Patriots squad with no realistic shot of a playoff berth coming into Week 13 (and zero actual shot following it). He looked like a franchise quarterback finally worthy of succeeding Tom Brady in Foxborough. And he lost in the process, pushing New England another step closer to a premium draft pick it can then use or trade to rebuild a talent-deficient roster.
How’d Maye look like “the guy” instead of just “a guy?” Look at the factors behind his first half touchdown throw to Austin Hooper. The play itself is questionable, dragging two targets and three defenders into the same cramped corner of a compressed field. But Maye rises above this. He’s confident enough to take the throw and skilled enough to pull it off.
More importantly, he shined despite the lack of blocking help around him. New England gave up four sacks in 34 dropbacks Sunday. On top of that, Maye’s linemen were called for holding five times before halftime. Still, the Patriots moved the ball despite these “and long” situations. Per The Athletic’s Jim Ayello, New England’s 279 yards in the first half were the most Indianapolis has given up before halftime since 2022.
While Maye did throw an interception, it was one for which he can be absolved. It’s another tight window throw to Hunter Henry for a quick pickup to set up first and goal. But it’s slightly off target and Henry can’t corral a catchable ball. It bounces off his hands/knee and then chest before settling into Julian Blackmon’s hands to erase a scoring opportunity late in a tight game.
Maye’s defense couldn’t protect that seven-point lead. It gave up a fourth-and-goal Anthony Richardson touchdown pass before allowing the beefy quarterback to run for a game-winning two-point conversion with 12 seconds to play. Even so, the rookie finished his day with just under 300 total yards while completing 80 percent of his passes. Granted, that’s at least partially because he didn’t attempt a single throw that traveled more than 16 yards downfield:
via nextgenstats.nfl.com
but given the Pats’ limitations, that’s a pretty reasonable gameplan! Maye threw 16 passes that traveled between five and 15 yards downfield. He completed all but four, and one of those misses was the Henry drop above.
It’s difficult to quantify how different this is compared to the Jones era. Jones wasn’t just failing to complete deep balls due to a lack of personnel; he was failing because he lacked the arm strength to zip throws into tight windows, instead thriving on lofted passes to schemed-open wideouts. On Sunday, Maye made those passes happen not because he saw a receiver without a defender nearby but because he knew right where to put the ball where a defender couldn’t get it.
Maye’s completion percentage over expected (CPOE) vs. Indianapolis was a robust 8.9 percent; Jones’s average as a Patriot was 0.0. Jones was an average quarterback making the plays you’d expect from someone at his level. Maye is creating plays with his arm, legs and confidence and looks like a future star in the process.
That’s the bright side of another lost season in New England. The Patriots are a bad team. They’re low on exciting talent and are not particularly well coached (though Jerod Mayo is learning on the job). But Drake Maye looks better than any quarterback the franchise has employed since 2019. If he can keep looking great and losing games, the Pats’ rebuild won’t take nearly as long as it seems.
2. Aaron Jones is having a weird, uncharacteristic winter
Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images
Jones remains a valuable RB1 in his eighth year as a pro. From 2016 to Week 10 of the 2024 season, he’d touched the ball 1,619 times with just 16 total fumbles — a fumble rate under one percent.
Since Week 11’s win over the Tennessee Titans, the Minnesota Vikings’ top running back has handled the ball 48 times. He’s put the ball on the turf four times in that stretch (8.3 percent), including this fumble that briefly moved Cam Akers into top tailback duty.
Jones has been a spark for Minnesota in his first season away from Green Bay. But his inability to be trusted in Week 13 was a detriment to the Vikings’ offense. Jones had only four carries against the league’s 24th-ranked rushing defense.
This was in part because his team trailed most of the afternoon, but also because of ball security issues. Sam Darnold tied for the team lead when it came to rushing and the Vikes’ 68 rushing yards stands as their second-lowest output of 2024.
These issues weren’t limited to handoffs. A Darnold pass caromed off the hands of a diving Jones late in a 19-13 game, forcing the Vikings to settle for a field goal rather than take the lead. Fortunately, redemption lay ahead.
His next target was a considerably easier one, hauled in for a game-winning touchdown. Jones’s 28 total yards are his lowest output as a Viking. But he found his place when Minnesota needed it most which, in the end, is pretty true to Aaron Jones.
3. George Pickens had an extremely characteristic day
This has made Pickens the NFL’s random event generator. On Sunday, with a chance to effectively scuttle the Cincinnati Bengals’ postseason hopes, he fired up that engine and had one of the most George Pickens games of all time.
First, Pickens stumbled coming out of his break. This allowed Cam Taylor-Britt to dispatch him to the turf with minimal effort before taking an interception back the other way for six points.
On the next drive, Pickens showcased his RAC again with a slow-motion spin move to pick up an extra five yards and move the Steelers into Bengals territory. Then, he marched them right back with a 15-yard taunting penalty.
George Pickens nearly drops the ball, picks up the first, adds 5 extra yards with the world's slowest spin move on a 1-on-3 situation, then gets a 15-yard penalty for taunting the Bengals bench
That wound up not mattering as Wilson led Pittsburgh on a 70-yard touchdown drive anyway. Halftime came and went and Pickens continued his wildly characteristic game.
4. Cam Heyward is 35 years old and still feasting against the Cincinnati Bengals
Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports
Cam Heyward is Pittsburgh royalty. In 14 seasons as a Steeler, he’s been a leader on the field and in the locker room. He’s a six-time Pro Bowler and four-time All-Pro destined for the franchise’s Hall of Honor.
At 35 years old, he’s nearing the end of his career. When it comes to playing AFC North rival Cincinnati, however, he’s capable of throwing it back to 2017 to thoroughly destroy the Bengals in every facet of the game.
When Chase Brown tries to run at the goal line? Cam Heyward.
Heyward finished his day two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, one sack and one pass defensed. He helped one drive end in a field goal rather than a touchdown and ended another by tipping Burrow’s third quarter throw. After an injury-marred 2023, he’s playing at a Pro Bowl level once more — and he’s a big reason why the Steelers defense is so scary, even on a day where they allowed 31 Bengals offensive points.
5. Aaron Rodgers failed the New York Jets once more
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
It’s official. For the ninth straight season, the Jets will finish with a losing record.
This wasn’t supposed to be how things turned out. New York opened the 2024 season with the top odds to win the AFC East. The four-time MVP they’d traded for in 2023 was ready to rewrite his legacy and chase down the second Super Bowl he believes could validate his place among the greats. But Aaron Rodgers hasn’t looked like anything resembling the league’s most valuable player. He looks like a guy who turns 41 on Monday.
The Jets led 21-7 when Rodgers overthrew a wide-open Garrett Wilson in the end zone. The next play, he blanked Leonard Williams dropping into coverage and managed to throw a 91-yard pick-six to a defensive lineman. This sounds impossible, but through Aaron Rodgers all things are possible.
Everything gets worse if you unwind from there. Rodgers had an early 80-yard touchdown drive to start Sunday’s scoring, but was only bailed out of a drive-killing third down sack by a Leonard Williams facemask. New York’s other two touchdowns came on a Kene Nwangwu kickoff return and after a short field created by a Seahawks fumble on another kickoff.
Rodgers, facing what’s been a fairly average Seattle defense, managed zero points once the first quarter ended. Williams flattened him on a key third down late in Seattle territory, then the veteran’s all-or-nothing fourth-and-15 heave with the game on the line was another overthrow to Wilson, this time covered, in the end zone.
On its face, 185 yards and two touchdowns isn’t a bad passing line. Dig deeper and you see a quarterback losing an ongoing battle against the hands of time. Rodgers averaged just 4.7 yards per pass attempt. Factor in sacks and his average dropback was good for just four net yards. He attempted 14 passes that traveled more than 10 yards downfield.
He completed *two* of them.
via nextgenstats.nfl.com
Rodgers’s beauty was his ability to escape pressure, extend plays and whip darts downfield in a way no other quarterback could. He still believes he can do all these things, even as his body begins to decay like spent uranium. After years of staving off his half life, it’s clear he no longer has the potency he once did.
The Jets would have been fine knowing he was no longer great — that’s the risk of trading for a quarterback approaching his 40s. This version of Rodgers, however, isn’t good or even average. This was a terrible performance from a disjointed offense that was gifted early points and failed to capitalize.
Fortunately for the Jets, Rodgers took the blame for Sunday’s loss. Kind of.
Aaron Rodgers on why his stats didn't go up despite his health getting better
Yes, this man is exhausting. That’s also the entire vibe of New York Jets football. It’s a wonderful fit because it is a terrible fit. That is the Jets’ way.
6. C.J. Stroud and Trevor Lawrence staged a battle of what could be
Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union
In early 2023, Stroud and Lawrence looked like worthy rivals who’d compete over the next decade to stake their claim as the rising playoff team no one wants to face out of the AFC South. In 2024, they’re… rivals. Sort of.
Stroud is leading the presumptive South champion Houston Texans but failing to inspire confidence after winning last year’s rookie of the year honors. Lawrence is struggling once again for a Jacksonville Jaguars team about to fire its head coach. In Week 13, Houston escaped Florida with a win — but it wasn’t anything about which either team should feel good.
Stroud played a tidy and ultimately unimpressive game, continuing a concerning trend that’s lingered through his sophomore campaign.
Tank Dell WIDE open… he had to wait for it. Broken up by Darby. He got there a tad early but too close for the refs to call. pic.twitter.com/KfSDuiRTCQ
Stroud was… fine. He completed nearly 65 percent of his passes and threw one touchdown without an interception. He connected on three of five deep balls. But his 0.0 CPOE continues a trend where he’s less of a franchise quarterback and more of “a guy.” He’s had twice as many games where he’s failed to find the end zone (six) than games where he’s scored multiple touchdowns.
Lawrence faced similar struggles. He completed just four of 10 passes for 41 yards. He traded a touchdown for an interception on what could have been a walk-in bomb for rookie wideout Brian Thomas Jr.. Instead, it cleared the way for a Texans field goal.
Lawrence did his damnedest to make the Jacksonville offense explosive. His average pass traveled 17 yards downfield. But he completed as many deep balls to his own wideouts as Texans’ defenders. A late hit from linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair ensured he wouldn’t have the chance to adjust after halftime.
Mac Jones arrived in relief and played better than expected, winging a pair of touchdown passes but going 0-for-4 on deep throws in his own right. The fact Jones, a quarterback discarded by a needy Patriots team, came in and was Sunday’s most valuable passer in a game between a former No. 1 overall pick and the reigning rookie of the year is a brutal statement on the fortunes of both Stroud and Lawrence in 2024.
vis habitatring.com
Stroud has the playoffs to look forward to. Lawrence will have a new coach in 2025. Both players have a path back to prosperity. But Week 13 was an example of how each continued to fall below expectations this season, even before a late hit knocked the Jaguars’ QB1 out of the game.
7. Leonard Williams contains multitudes
Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Look, I know we talked about this earlier. But let’s appreciate this one more time. Leonard Williams’s beautiful pick six wasn’t just about a massive human being running a very long way. It was about a 300-pound man athletic enough that his coach trusted him to drop back into coverage on a pivotal third down:
This wasn’t your typical tip-drill lineman INT. This was Williams putting himself in position to swat down a slant even before his teammate made it easier to pluck out of the sky.
This was his biggest highlight of the game, but far from his only one. How about that time he effectively squashed New York’s late comeback hopes by squashing Rodgers.
Leonard Williams feasting against his former team 😤
Williams is 30 years old. He hasn’t been a Pro Bowler since 2016 or an All-Pro ever. But this winter he’s leveled up from good to great as an absolute headache for opposing offenses in every phase of the game. He’s got seven sacks and 20 quarterback hits in 12 games. He’s also got 10 tackles for loss. His 16 percent pass rush win rate is third-best among interior linemen despite getting double-teamed on nearly two-thirds of his snaps.
Head coach Mike Macdonald is treating him like a special attraction and it’s maximizing Williams’s peak. His 66 percent snap share is his lowest ever over a full(ish) season. Despite this, he’s still on pace for career highs in QB hits and tackles for loss. A little bit of rest has gone a long way in saving his best for the field — and giving him the energy for the biggest big man touchdown of the millennium in the process.
Leonard Williams's 91-yard touchdown is the longest return touchdown by a player 300+ pounds since at least 2000.
8. The Philadelphia Eagles defense is the NFC’s biggest concern
Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images
The Eagles rolled south for a game with the NFL’s top offense by yardage and second-best scoring offense. They left with a 24-19 victory that was a garbage time touchdown away from limiting the Baltimore Ravens to their lowest scoring output of 2024.
Granted, some of this was thanks to Justin Tucker aging like someone found and destroyed a haggard copy of his game tape preserved in his attic. Tucker came into the 2024 season as the most accurate kicker in NFL but has aged all at once at 35 years old. He missed three kicks — two field goals and an extra point — to give him 10 total misses on the season. That’s three more than his previous career worst and Baltimore still has four games left to play.
The bigger culprit, however, was Philly’s defense. Sunday’s game wasn’t as cut and dry as the final score made it out to seem. The Ravens out-gained the Eagles by 120 total yards. But the Eagles clamped shut when it counted, and that made all the difference.
Philadelphia held the Ravens to only two touchdowns on six red zone drives — it was one of five before Baltimore scored with three seconds left to cut the lead to five points. The Ravens converted just three of eight third downs between taking a 9-0 lead in the first quarter and driving for points that didn’t affect the final outcome of the game in the final minute. Two of those stops forced long Tucker field goal attempts that split wide of the goal posts.
This was a familiar sight for the Eagles. Since their Week 5 bye only the Detroit Lions have fielded a better offense.
via habitatring.com and the author
Lamar Jackson still played well, but Philadelphia went on the road and hounded the MVP favorite into a merely “above average” game. Jackson came into Week 13 averaging a sublime 9.6 expected points added (EPA). The Eagles held him to 3.6 EPA Sunday afternoon, turning him from one of the league’s most valuable players to the rough equivalent of Derek Carr.
If this defense can turn Jackson into a mobile version of Carr, it can do it to anyone in the NFC. Last year’s Eagles team was falling apart by this point in the season. This year’s version is playing better than ever, riding an eight-game winning streak and grinding opponents into dust on both sides of the ball.
The secondary that plagued last season’s spiral has been fixed. Quinyon Mitchell has allowed a single touchdown in 50-plus targets this season. Fellow rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean is out here doing stuff like this to Derrick Henry:
We’re still a ways away from a potential Lions-Eagles playoff showdown. But if we get it, it could be a rock fight instead of a shootout thanks to how these two defenses are playing.
9. Bryce Young isn’t fixed but is fixable
Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
Before November, Young had never known an NFL winning streak. As December kicks off, he’s one Kansas City Chiefs buzzer-beating field goal and one Chuba Hubbard fumble away from winning four straight games.
Young was granted the opportunity to re-enter the Carolina Panthers’ starting lineup after Andy Dalton injured his thumb in a car accident. In that stretch, he’d engineered two game-winning drives and what looked like a third Sunday night thanks to this touchdown heave to Adam Thielen with 30 seconds left on the clock.
That 23-20 lead didn’t hold up over the final 30 seconds, but that’s OK. This talent-deficient Panthers team has far more problems than just wins and losses this fall. But getting Young back on track to be a franchise quarterback would be the biggest and best possible answer to the questions they face.
Each week, we’re seeing Young’s confidence grow after being eclipsed by bad plays and self doubt. The back-foot throws haven’t entirely dissipated, but he’s shown more comfort stepping up into the pocket and throwing downfield in the face of traffic. Head coach Dave Canales has challenged him to freestyle when his pocket breaks down. On Sunday that worked wonders through the air:
Young completed two of five deep throws Sunday evening, which isn’t incredible but significant for a player who’d only completed 23 percent of such throws as a rookie and had only attempted 17 deep balls in eight games this fall. He’s becoming more comfortable in Canales’s offense. That’s not manifesting in the tough throws over the middle that remain the missing link in his game, but it’s still an important development!
via habitatring.com
Young isn’t fixed, but he’s playing more confidently and willing to open himself up to reasonable risks in the pocket as a result. He couldn’t connect with Xavier Legette on third-and-10 late in the fourth quarter trailing 17-16, but he stood in the pocket and took a wallop from a free rusher to deliver an accurate pass to a covered target. It was far from perfect, but it wasn’t a case of happy feet or an interceptable throw. It gave Carolina the best chance to win with what he had.
There’s a long way to go before the Panthers can be satisfied with their young quarterback. Still, the growth he’s shown in the last month should be enough to keep Carolina from drafting a first round passer this spring. That’s faint praise, but given where this franchise was in October, it feels like monumental progress.
10. Fantasy team you absolutely didn’t want to field in Week 13
Brett Davis-Imagn Images
QB: Justin Herbert, Chargers (147 passing yards, one rushing yard, five sacks, one two-point conversion, 8.68 fantasy points)
RB: Chuba Hubbard, Panthers (43 rushing yards, one fumble lost, 2.3 fantasy points)
RB: Gus Edwards, Chargers (32 rushing yards, one catch, one receiving yard, 4.3 fantasy points)
WR: Cooper Kupp, Rams (three catches, 17 yards, 4.7 fantasy points)
Smith didn’t need words to roast his former team, just a perfect meme.
Geno Smith only thrived as an NFL quarterback after he escaped the swirling vortex of garbage known as the New York Jets. Smith went 12-18 as a starter after being New York’s second round pick in 2013. It was a tenure better known for the former West Virginia star getting his jaw broken by a teammate than any on-field success.
Smith was forced to take the long route back to relevancy, only thriving once he arrived in Seattle as Russell Wilson’s backup, then successor for the Seahawks. He’s been an above average starter in the years since, going 25-22 in three-plus seasons atop the team’s depth chart.
The 25th win on his resume came in Week 13 over the Jets. Like seeing the obituary for one of his biggest haters in the newspaper, Smith knew he had to show up.
That’s Smith, embracing the “RIPBOZO” meme on Twitter to tell the world he had to attend his hater’s funeral just to ensure he was dead. Seattle’s win Sunday ensured a ninth-straight losing season for the Jets — a streak that began, coincidentally, in Smith’s final season with the franchise. New York is once more on its way to the cemetery of playoff aspirations. Smith was there, dressed in black, to make sure it was true.
Leonard Williams makes history in Seahawks victory over Jets
Going into the Seattle Seahawks’ Week 13 showdown against the New York Jets, one of the biggest talking points was quarterback Geno Smith’s “homecoming” against the team that drafted him back in 2013. But a lesser talked about storyline was another “homecoming” for star defensive lineman Leonard Williams.
Of course, we at Seahawks Wire were well aware of the significance of Williams returning to face the team that picked him No. 6 overall during the 2015 NFL draft.
Big Cat reminded the Jets faithful why their team spent such precious draft capital on him, and why they should have found a way to keep him a lot longer than they did. Williams was an absolute terror in Week 13, sacking Aaron Rodgers twice, snagging an interception and returning it for a touchdown. In fact, his dominance was quite literally historic!
For the record, 1982 was the first year the NFL started to tack sacks as an official statistic. So as far as the official league record books are concerned, this could very likely be the only time this has ever happened.
The Cardinals now trail the Seahawks by a full game after losing on Sunday and the Seahawks beating the Jets.
The Arizona Cardinals entered Week 13 tied with the Seattle Seahawks at 6-5 atop the NFC West, although Seattle held a head-to-head tiebreaker to be the leader.
After games in Week 13, the Cardinals lost ground.
They blew a 13-point second-half lead on Sunday, falling 23-22 to the Minnesota Vikings, falling to 6-6.
What made things worse was seeing the Seattle Seahawks rally back from 14-0 and 21-7 deficits to beat the New York Jets 26-21, improving them to 7-5.
The Cardinals are now a full game behind Seattle in the division and have a critical game home against them next week. Win and they eliminate the tiebreaker. Lose and they will be essentially three games behind because of the two-game lead and head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Cardinals can’t afford to lose three in a row after winning four straight.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTubeor Apple podcasts.
Seahawks escape from New York with a 26-21 win over the Jets
The Seattle Seahawks just escaped from New York in one of the most bizarre, sloppy, and confusing games we’ve seen in quite some time. But as I’ve always said, style points don’t matter in the NFL… only wins do.
The Seahawks are now 7-0 when playing at MetLife Stadium, which has become a home away from home.
It certainly was not easy for Seattle to get this win. The Jets may have been only a three-win team, but they put up a fight, especially in the first half. Thanks to special teams miscues by the Hawks, New York capitalized for 21 points. But the Seahawks defense clamped down after intermission and suffocated the life out of the Jets. New York only had four possessions, and they went as follows:
Punt
Fumble
Punt
Turnover on downs
Part of the limited opportunities for the Jets in the second half was the fact the Seahawks controlled the clock to close out the game. They had drives of 12, 10 and 9 plays. Their first drive of the second half ended in frustrating disaster. After eight tries at the goal line, Geno Smith’s sack on 4th and goal turned the ball over on downs and Seattle came away with nothing. Thankfully, the Hawks forced a fumble which was recovered by rookie Tyrice Knight.
Smith then marched the team 39 yards to connect with another successful Jason Myers field goal to cut the lead 21-19.
However, the true miracles took place on the next possession. Trailing by two points, it was happy hour at the Last Chance Saloon for Seattle. It likely should have been lights out for the Seahawks, but the Jets continued to give Seattle more and more opportunities. New York was flagged four times on the Seahawks’ game winning drive – three of which were on 4th downs where Gang Green actually had Seattle stopped. The Jets were flagged 12 total times – 10 of which were in the second half alone.
The Hawks took advantage of those continued opportunities and capped it off with a go-ahead touchdown run by Zach Charbonnet. After Aaron Rodgers’ pass on 4th-and-15 fell incomplete, Seattle officially completed the comeback and Geno Smith earned his 11th game-winning drive since the start of 2022.
Aaron Rodgers was held in check, completing 21-of-39 passes for only 185 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Meanwhile his counterpart on the other sideline, Geno Smith, was his usual efficient self, completing 64% of his passes for 206 yards and a touchdown.
The Seahawks are now 7-5 and extended their lead in the NFC West thanks to Arizona losing to Minnesota 23-22 earlier in the afternoon. Seattle will once again take on the Cardinals next week, but will do so in the Valley of the Sun.
First half highlights and analysis: Seahawks trail Jets 21-16
The Seattle Seahawks have literally never played in a normal game, and this adage continues into Week 13 against the New York Jets. It has been a bizarre, sloppy, and explosive affair between these two teams. What started to look like another defensive battle quickly devolved.
New York found the end zone first, but Leonard Williams blocked the PAT. Little would we know, it was only the start of horrendous special teams play.
On the ensuing kick off, Seattle’s return man Dee Williams fumbled the ball. Williams has been a liability in the return game all season long, and it reared its ugly head once more, as his muffed return was recovered by New York at Seattle’s 27-yard line. The Jets quickly found the end zone for the second time today four plays later to extend their lead to 14-0 thanks to a successful two-point conversion.
The Seahawks were finally able to answer, as they engineered a 10-play, 83 yard touchdown drive. Seattle was backed up further than they should, as Laviska Shenault fumbled the kick off, but was able to recover it. Geno Smith found rookie AJ Barner for the touchdown.
Well, Seattle’s momentum was quickly robbed as Jets running back Kene Nwangwu returned the ball 99-yards for a touchdown to go up 21-7. Unfortunately, the special teams disasterclass would continue…. as after the touchdown, Laviska Shenault fumbled again. Only this time, New York would recover at Seattle’s 38-yard line.
Just to quickly recap, here is what the Seahawks special teams situation has been in the first half alone.
Seahawks special teams disasterclass
-Dee Williams kick off fumble, Jets recover
-Laviska Shenault kick off fumble, Hawks recover but backed up deep in their own territory
-Jets 99 yard kick off return touchdown
-Laviska Shenault kick off fumble, Jets recover
However, I wonder if the Jets social media admin might regret tweeting out “Football is fun!” because six plays later, quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ pass was picked off by defensive lineman Leonard Williams, who promptly returned the ball 91-yards.
Leonard Williams scores the first touchdown of his career… and he does so against the team that selected him No. 6 overall in the 2015 NFL draft pic.twitter.com/fHQyEnsGrl
The Seahawks’ special teams woes continued, as the PAT attempt was blocked, keeping the score 21-13. However, Jason Myers did have redemption as he nailed a 54-yard field goal to cut the lead to 21-16, which is where it lasted into halftime. Myers’ field goal was his seventh from 50+ yards in a single season, breaking his own Seahawks franchise record he set last year.
New York will get the ball to start the second half. Be sure to follow @TheSeahawksWire and @KoleMusgrove23 on Twitter for more live updates, analysis and highlights!
