Special ‘Brotherhood’ Carrying Seahawks Back to Elite Heights on Defense
SEATTLE, Wash. - Nursing a 15-point lead inside six minutes left to play on Monday Night Football, the Seattle Seahawks had been backed against their own goal line with the Houston Texans having 1st and goal and needing just a couple of yards to find pay dirt and turn the prime time contest into a one-score game.
In the past, with four downs to defend a mere three yards, such a scenario likely would have resulted in a touchdown. But for coach Mike Macdonald’s defense, defending every blade of grass isn’t just lip service, it’s a mindset that has permeated throughout the roster. No matter who checks into the lineup, they will scratch and claw as a unit to protect every last inch.
Over the next four plays, the Texans learned that lesson the hard way, with a few unexpected heroes rising up to the delight of the hometown crowd. Starting the sequence, linebacker Drake Thomas made initial contact at the line of scrimmage on running back Nick Chubb’s first down run, allowing teammates to rally and keep him out of the end zone. On successive pass plays on second and third down, safety Ty Okada forced an incompletion to tight end Dalton Schultz and made a pass breakup at full extension that likely took away a touchdown to receiver Xavier Hutchinson, setting up a critical fourth and goal.
Following a false start on tackle Blake Fisher, Stroud dropped back with a swarm of rushers in Leonard Williams, Demarcus Lawrence, and Uchenna Nwosu all collapsing in on him, leading to a sailed pass over the head of receiver Jayden Higgins to finish off an epic goal line stand as the Seahawks ultimately prevailed 27-19 at Lumen Field to improve to 5-2 on the season.
While household names such as Williams came up big during that crucial sequence, it was the play of unsung heroes in Thomas and Okada that fueled the stop, shining as key cogs in a special group that has remained stifling even with multiple Pro Bowlers in Devon Witherspoon and Julian Love sidelined due to injury.
“I think it just comes down to a mentality that we play with on defense,” Williams told reporters following the game. “I was saying it on the sidelines to Murph [Byron Murphy II] and some of the other guys sitting next to me, that this has been the best defense I've ever been a part of. And it's not because of stats or anything on paper. It's just the type of mindset that we have, and it's just the togetherness, the brotherhood that we have on this defense is really special. And I think that allows the next man up to really take in his position and what he has to do on the defense, because he knows that everyone on the defense has his back.”
Going into Monday’s clash, the Texans received the vast majority of the national acclaim from pundits, entering play as the top-ranked scoring defense while allowing a paltry 12.2 points per game in the first six weeks. Coach Demeco Ryans’ squad lived up to the hype in some regards, forcing four turnovers, including a strip sack on quarterback Sam Darnold in the end zone that resulted in a Will Anderson fumble recovery for a touchdown in the third quarter.
But by the end of the night, even after Houston tacked on a late garbage time touchdown to made the object in the mirror look closer than it appeared, it was Seattle that looked like the part of the top defense in football. Holding Stroud and company to just 12 points, two third down conversions on 15 opportunities, and a dismal 3.7 yards per play, they suffocated the visitors like a python squeezing in on its prey with a ferocious pass rush that netted three sacks and seven quarterback hits and an immovable wall in the trenches that allowed just 31 rushing yards on 15 carries to Chubb and Woody Marks.
Behind that dominance, Williams made his mark, dishing out two quarterback hits on Stroud and decking Marks in the backfield on a key 3rd and 1 in the first quarter to force a punt, while Lawrence recorded a sack and a fourth down run stuff to force a turnover on downs and Uchenna Nwosu had a sack that nearly resulted in an early safety. Criminally underrated linebacker Ernest Jones also starred in the middle, racking up 11 tackles, a quarterback hit that forced a backward pass that nearly resulted in a touchdown for Seattle, and a highlight-worthy interception of Stroud after falling down in his coverage drop.
However, though the stars shined bright for Macdonald’s defense, it can be argued nobody keyed the Seahawks dominant effort more than Thomas and Okada, two veterans who weren’t in the starting lineup to open the season and have been thrust into action both by seizing their opportunities as well as injuries. Between the two of them, they stuffed the stat sheet with 14 tackles, a sack, two quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, and four pass breakups, doing their part and then some protecting every blade of grass in all three phases.
“I feel like we're just like one. We're a unit. We play together. We feed off each other. We all bring good energy,” Thomas said. “When one person gets hot, another person feeds off of it and wants to go make a play. We feed off of each other, and we build off of each other, and I feel like that's why you see so many different people making different plays.”
Now firmly entrenched as the starting WILL linebacker next to Jones after stealing the job from incumbent Tyrice Knight, who missed most of training camp and the preseason with a knee injury, Thomas left an imprint on Monday’s game in a variety of ways. Right out of the gate, he blitzed through the A gap on Houston’s second play from scrimmage to blow up Chubb for a three-yard loss. In the second half, he regularly got his hands on the football in coverage, including knocking away a deep ball to Marks on a wheel route along the sideline in the fourth quarter where he stayed stride for stride with the speedy back.
In addition, one week after registering a sack on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Thomas remained an effective weapon for Macdonald to deploy as a blitzer from the middle, generating three pressures and a quarterback hit on 13 pass rushes.
As for Okada, the former Montana State standout continued to show why Seattle has been patient with Love’s recovery from a hamstring strain, inspiring confidence with stellar play in all facets in his third start of the season. Along with finishing second on the team in total tackles and making the key pass breakup in the end zone to help engineer the aforementioned goal line stand, he also got in on the act as a pass rusher, rocketing through the line untouched on a third quarter blitz and promptly wrapping up Stroud for a drive-ending sack.
Following the game, echoing comments from Williams on Macdonald’s high football IQ and ability to put players in position to succeed, Okada credited his coach with a great play call at the right time to cut him loose and let him go after Stroud in a third and long situation.
“I’ll tell you what, Coach Mike dials it up,” Okada smiled. “It’s awesome when you can be a DB, a linebacker, a defensive lineman on this team and you can just let his call kind of speak to you. It’ll let you know kind of situationally what to expect just based on what he calls. And you know he’s always going to be dialed in. It’s awesome. And he is absolutely a mastermind back there.”
Set to enjoy a much-needed bye, Macdonald expects Witherspoon and Love to be back in action two weeks from now when the Seahawks travel to Maryland for a big Sunday night battle with the Commanders, further reinforcing a defense that already ranks in the top five in scoring. Unfortunately, with only 11 players on the field at a time, this means Okada and rookie Nick Emmanwori, who had two pass breakups of his own on Monday night, likely will see reduced roles moving forward.
With that said, though Emmanwori obviously has a better chance of staying on the field with his positional versatility and the elite athletic traits that warranted drafting him in the second round, there still could be room for both to see snaps in sub packages moving forward.
While some may see that as a problem given how well reserves have played, as Macdonald noted on Tuesday, it’s a good problem for Seattle to have, as the injuries they have endured have allowed other players to receive invaluable experience in regular season action, dramatically bolstering depth in the secondary. When healthy, Witherspoon and Love unquestionably bring a whole other level of talent to the unit, and if either would have been good to go on Monday, they would have started.
Regardless of who suits up each week, players have fully bought into Macdonald’s culture fostered by competition and elite preparation, further evidenced by the outstanding play on Monday night with multiple starters sidelined. With a chance to get back to full strength for the final two-plus months, it’s an exciting prospect for the coaching staff as the Seahawks continue chasing edges and seeking ways to improve in the second half of the schedule as they vie for an NFC West title.
