Report Card: Top Performers in Seahawks’ 37-9 Road Win vs. Falcons
Keeping pace with the Los Angeles Rams both in the NFC West and the battle for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, the Seattle Seahawks overcame a sluggish first half to dominate the Atlanta Falcons in resounding fashion for a 37-9 road win.
Looking back at Seattle’s 10th win of the season - which matches its total from a year ago - who flashed the brightest in victory? Revisiting All-22 film and advanced statistical charting, here are my top five grades from Week 14 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium:
Nick Emmanwori
Overall Grade: 91.0 (Run Defense 92, Tackling 92, Pass Rush 86, Coverage 84, Special Teams 90)
While Emmanwori may not have scored a defensive touchdown as Ernest Jones did one week earlier or generate multiple turnovers, the rookie do-it-all defensive back basically did everything else in Seattle’s win on Sunday, including taking away points on special teams. Midway through the second quarter, moments after Sam Darnold’s interception set the Falcons up with great starting field position, the 6-3, 220-pound defender flew off the edge, dove with full extension, and blocked Zane Gonzalez’s 50-yard field goal, ensuring the prior turnover didn’t result in a score for the opponent. On the next series, he came crashing from the second level into the backfield to upend Bijan Robinson on a blitz, resulting in a two-yard tackle for loss.
Following halftime, Emmanwori took his game up another notch, continuing to stuff the stat sheet in a variety of ways. With the Seahawks starting to pull away in the third quarter, a deflected pass from Kirk Cousins bounced off of his chest, only for him to stick with the play and catch the first interception of his career as he tumbled to the turf, leading to a Jason Myers field goal. He would later add his first full sack as a pro in the final quarter, coming unblocked on the blitz through the B gap to blast Cousins, becoming only the second player to ever produce a sack, a blocked field goal, a tackle for loss, and an interception in the same game, staking his own case for Defensive Player of the Week honors as Jones did in Week 13.
Rashid Shaheed
Overall Grade: 89.0 (Receiving 86, Kick Return 95, Run Blocking 66*)
*Weighted for run blocking snaps
For most of his first four games in a Seahawks uniform, Shaheed had been a relative non-factor, catching a total of four passes for 37 yards on 11 targets. But the trade deadline acquisition had been so close to busting a couple of kick returns on special teams, and with coach Mike Macdonald calling his shot at halftime, the speedy receiver darted through a crease created by excellent blocks from Brady Russell, Cody White, and Mike Morris to pay dart, rocketing past the helpless Gonzalez as the last line of defense for a 100-yard touchdown return to open the third quarter and put Seattle in front for the first time all afternoon.
Offensively, Shaheed easily had his best game in a Seahawk uniform as well, including reeling in a pair of crucial third down receptions to move the chains in the second half. The first game on a quick dump off on 3rd and 2 that resulted in a six-yard gain, while he later turned a 3rd and 6 scenario into a 33-yard catch and run on a sail route when he came uncovered over the middle and Darnold hit him in stride. Adding in over 100 yards on kick returns, he finished with four receptions for 67 yards and produced three first downs, finally providing the complementary weapon for Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp that the team had been waiting for when they dealt two Day 3 draft picks to the Saints for him in late October.
Devon Witherspoon
Overall Grade: 89.0 (Run Defense 86, Tackling 90, Coverage 92)
In the vast majority of NFL games, Witherspoon would have easily been the star of the game on Sunday, as his efforts to an extent were overshadowed by Emmanwori’s historic performance. But the feisty third-year cornerback turned in an impressive stat stuffing outing of his own, wreaking havoc against the Falcons as a run defender and in coverage while putting together one hell of a second half. After the Falcons had marched inside the 20-yard line on the drive following Shaheed’s kickoff return, Demarcus Lawrence punched the ball out of Robinson’s hands as the back tried to plunge forward for a first down on 3rd and 1 and Witherspoon pounced on the fumble for a crucial recovery that led to a Jaxon Smith-Njigba touchdown catch.
On the ensuing series, Witherspoon got to work in coverage, undercutting a 3rd and 3 throw from Cousins to tight end Kyle Pitts on a curl route and reaching in front of the target for a pass deflection. The carrom wound up in Emmanwori’s hands for an interception, again leading to points for the Seahawks. After helping his teammate get a pick, ‘Spoon got one for himself early in the fourth quarter, coaxing Cousins into a rushed screen pass with a fake blitz before eventually getting his hands on the football following multiple deflections for his first interception since his rookie season. Enjoying one of the finest games of his career, he packed a mean punch with seven tackles, a quarterback hit, an interception, and a fumble recovery, only needing a sack to match Emmanwori for a rare box score achievement.
Anthony Bradford
Overall Grade: 87.0 (Pass Blocking 88, Run Blocking 86)
Since coming out of LSU as a fourth round pick in 2023, Bradford has often been the subject of criticism for fans, struggling with consistency finishing blocks, occasionally uncorking bad whiffs in space or on pulling assignments, and regularly drawing flags. But the third-year guard has been steadily improving under the tutelage of coach John Benton and may have played the most complete game of his career thus far in Atlanta. Picking up numerous blitzes and stunts without a hitch and locking down power moves with ease, he didn’t give up a single pressure on 35 pass blocking reps, helping prevent Darnold from getting hit once in the entire second half by one of the NFC’s top pass rushing defenses.
Even with Seattle not necessarily lighting it up on the ground on Sunday, Bradford also demonstrated solid progress in the run blocking department against the Falcons. He regularly knocked his opponent off the line of scrimmage with initial displacement, including teaming up with center Olu Oluwatimi for a strong block on Zach Charbonnet’s game-long 27-yard run and dishing out a quality kickout block on defensive end Arnold Ebiketie on a pulling assignment to spring Ken Walker III for a 10-yard gain in the red zone. He had a few blocks where his hand placement wasn’t quite on target and defenders were able to slip away from his grasp, but with a 100% Pass Block Efficiency Rate and multiple bruising run blocks at the point of attack, he played the cleanest game by far on Seattle’s offensive line in the win.
Sam Darnold
Overall Grade: 86.0 (Passing 85, Rushing 87)
For the better part of the first half, Darnold’s month-long swoon continued in Atlanta, as he found himself under siege by the Falcons’ pass rush taking a pair of sacks and threw an interception trying to fit a bootleg pass into a well-contested tight end Elijah Arroyo. But the veteran quarterback started to find a rhythm on Seattle’s final possession of the first half, spreading the ball around to four different receivers while also adding 15 yards on two scramble attempts to set up a game-tying field goal for Jason Myers before the half. From there, using his legs as a key ingredient of his success, he started to shred the secondary attacking the middle of the field with crossing routes.
In the final two quarters, Darnold finished 11 for 15 with nearly 200 passing yards and three touchdowns, spreading the ball around to all of his skill players. At center stage as usual, Smith-Njigba hauled in beautifully thrown 30 and 28-yard passes on Seattle’s first offensive possession of the third quarter, turning the latter reception on a crossing route into a touchdown. After sliding for an eight-yard gain on a scramble, the signal caller rolled out to his right and dumped off an easy 11-yard touchdown to Cooper Kupp. Putting an exclamation point on one of his better halves this season, he somehow avoided a trio of Atlanta rushers crashing down on him and stepped up in the pocket to hit Smith-Njigba again for a four-yard touchdown, putting the game on ice to finish with a 111.7 passer rating.
