Observations from Seahawks’ wild win over Jets

Dec 1, 2024, 1:58 PM | Updated: 6:26 pm

Julian Love (20) and Devon Witherspoon (21) of the Seattle Seahawks react against the Jets on Sunday. (Elsa/Getty Images)

(Elsa/Getty Images)

BY ZAC HERETH

Seattle Sports

There were plenty of up and downs, but the Seattle Seahawks remain on top of the NFC West.

Seahawks win | Instant Reaction | Stacy’s column | 5 craziest things | Stats

The Seahawks did just enough to survive and avoid a nearly disastrous loss with a 26-21 win over the struggling New York Jets on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

Here are five things that stood out from the wild win.

Defense wins the game: Seattle’s defense continued to trend in a positive direction and was the difference-maker in this one. The defense pitched a second-half shutout, had a pick-six for the second straight week, held Aaron Rodgers to just 135 passing yards, and came up with the stops needed to pick up a dreadful performance on special teams and a shaky day for the offense. No plays were bigger than Leonard Williams’ pick-six in the second quarter. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound defensive lineman rumbled 92 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-13 and avoid going down three scores in the second quarter after the Seahawks’ second fumbled kickoff return of the first half. Julian Love also came up big in the third quarter with a forced fumble that led that to a field goal.

FUMBLE. OUR BALL. pic.twitter.com/0wl3pYlXx2

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 1, 2024

Hawks saved by Jets’ mistakes late: The defense played the biggest in role in this one for the Seahawks, but the Jets also did plenty to help Seattle’s offense on its go-ahead TD drive in the fourth quarter. The Jets committed penalties on consecutive fourth-down plays to give the Seahawks 25 yards, an unnecessary horse-collar tackle with Zach Charbonnet already stuffed on fourth-and-1 run in Jets territory and an offsides call on third-and-6 a few plays later to set up Charbonnet’s go-ahead TD run. It all added up to 46 yards on a game-winning, 71-yard drive.

Short-yard struggles continue: There were some positive signs at times from the rushing attack, but the lack of ability to convert in short yardage showed up in a big way twice in the second half. With a chance to take the lead, the Seahawks had eight chances to score from inside the 5-yard line. They couldn’t do it, even with some help from a couple of penalties committed by the Jets. Seattle ran just three run plays for a grand total of one yard during the set of plays. That included just one run out of five plays from the 1-yard line, which showed an understandable lack of confidence in the short-yard run game. The Seahawks were also saved by a penalty on fourth-and-1 when the Jets were called for the horse-collar tackle on Charbonnet. Ironically, they finally broke through with Charbonnet’s go-ahead, 8-yard TD run on third-and-1 just a few plays later.

Charbonnet for the lead!! pic.twitter.com/Fc5TQiPpuN

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 1, 2024

Return game problems: Kickoff returns and kickoff return coverage were absolute disasters in this one for the Seahawks. Dee Williams and Laviska Shenault Jr. each fumbled away kickoff returns, with Williams’ leading to a short Jets touchdown drive to fall behind two scores in the first quarter. Shenault also muffed another return that he recovered, but it forced Seattle to start a drive at its own 12-yard line. Shenault and Williams now have a combined five fumbles this year. That’s unacceptable. Then there were the problems with the coverage unit. The Seahawks allowed a 99-yard kickoff return TD immediately after their first touchdown, and the Jets got another big return out to near midfield on their next kickoff return.

Kene Nwangwu returns the kickoff 99 yards for a Jets touchdown!

📺: #SEAvsNYJ on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/ow79ghEH2E

— NFL (@NFL) December 1, 2024

Another big game for Big Cat: Leonard Williams called last week’s performance against the Cardinals his most dominant game as a member of the Seahawks. He has another candidate for that title after what he did against the team that drafted him No. 6 overall in 2015. Williams blocked an extra point, had an incredible pick-six and came up with two big sacks late to help key a strong day for the defense. Williams’ pick-six was one of the biggest plays of the game and kept Seattle from falling behind by three scores in the first half. After producing a stellar stat line with four quarterback hits, three tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks last week, he posted three tackles for loss, two sacks, two quarterback hits and the pick-six against New York. The USC product played well early in the season but it didn’t show up much in the stat sheet. It’s definitely showing up now.