Seahawks Instant Reaction: 710 ESPN Seattle on 31-7 win over Jags
Oct 31, 2021, 4:47 PM | Updated: 5:24 pm
Jamal Adams is airborne as Jacksonville's Carlos Hyde runs the ball at Lumen Field. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
(Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
The Seahawks picked up an important win Sunday afternoon before going into their bye week, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-7 to improve to 3-5 on the season.
Takeaways: Hawks lean on star WRs in much-needed win
As we do after each Seahawks game, we have collected the instant reactions of some of the voices of 710 ESPN Seattle. Read them below, and be sure to tune into the station all day Monday as the win is covered on The Mike Salk Show, Jake and Stacy and Wyman and Bob, as well as The Pete Carroll Show at 9:30 a.m. with the Seahawks head coach.
Mike Salk – The Mike Salk Show
As hopeless as things seemed a week ago, the Seahawks got exactly what they needed: a get-right game against a terrible opponent that keeps them in the playoff hunt and hopefully bridges the final gap before Russell Wilson can return.
This was a Pete Carroll football game through and through with offensive balance and the best defensive performance we’ve witnessed in years. Credit to the Seahawks’ defense – they grabbed control of this game right at the start and never relinquished it. They stopped the run, got off the field on third down, and took advantage of a rookie quarterback who didn’t look like he had a handle on how to stay patient nor how to take advantage of his opportunities.
I don’t know how much of what we saw will carry into their next few games, but it was what the Seahawks needed: a win that keeps postseason hope alive and hopefully gets their superstar back on the field.
The Groz – 710 ESPN Seattle host emeritus
A solid performance by Seattle in every facet of the game as they dominated Jacksonville. The Jags were coming off a bye following their first win in their last 20 games, and they had played well the two weeks before that, yet they were no match for Seattle on this day.
Mike Holmgren was inducted into the Ring of Honor and reports indicated Russell Wilson may be ready in two weeks, and the good news continued as Seattle rode a terrific first half by Geno Smith and a great all-around day by the defense. Travis Homer’s onside kick return touchdown put the cherry on top of a completely dominant 31-7 victory.
With the news that Wilson may be back for the second half of the season, the day the defense had loomed even larger. The defense has steadily improved the past couple of weeks and it was a big day for Jamal Adams and Carlos Dunlap, two of the stars who are going to have to continue playing well considering it’s Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in two weeks and Arizona after that.
To cap it off, it was a beautiful day as well, and for this week at least all seemed good for Seahawks fans.
Mike Lefko – Wyman and Bob
We knew going into this one that it would be tough to quantify what a win would tell us about the Seahawks because the Jaguars are a bad football team with a first-year NFL coach and a rookie quarterback, but that is a discussion to be had at some point later in the bye week.
What we do know is the Seahawks needed a win and they got a convincing one. The Jaguars entered the game as the 31st worst defense in the NFL against the pass, allowing nearly 300 yards per game, and the Seahawks took advantage of the porous coverage. For as much as Seattle wanted to establish the run against the Steelers and Saints, credit the coaching staff for putting Geno Smith in positions to succeed and to Smith for taking advantage of them. There were plenty of intermediate routes that made decisions easier when Smith was under pressure, and he was locked in for a sizzling 14-for-14 start the game.
Much was made of the lack of targets for DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett over the past couple weeks, and Sunday was the most involved both have been in a game all season. It doesn’t always have to be deep shots when you have star wideouts, and the Seahawks didn’t force anything yet were able to march down the field consistently in the first half behind numerous looks to their star receivers. If the focus last week was establishing the run due to the poor weather conditions, today was establish Tyler Lockett (12 receptions on 13 targets for 142 yards).
Hindsight also looks extremely favorable to Seattle after watching former Seahawks cornerback Shaquill Griffin struggle in coverage on Metcalf. He is getting paid top cornerback money in Jacksonville – $29 million guaranteed over three years, including nearly $14 million this season – and didn’t have any impact on slowing down Metcalf, who finished with two touchdowns. Tre Brown made his first start at CB for the Seahawks and what seemed like a revolving door at the position to start the year now has some stability with Brown and D.J. Reed.
The more intriguing questions for the rest of the season will start to percolate, but for today all we know is that it is a convincing win heading into a bye week.
