In what seemed to be a matter of minutes, the Seattle Seahawks imploded in gruesome fashion on special teams at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, gifting the New York Jets 14 points with a pair of fumbles on kick returns as well as allowing a 99-yard touchdown in kick coverage.
Under such circumstances, teams rarely find a way to overcome such a litany of mistakes, especially against a team quarterbacked by future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers. After receiver Laviska Shenault coughed up a fumble after tripping over a turf monster on a kick return with New York already ahead 21-7 midway through the second quarter, the game appeared to be teetering on the brink of a blowout with Seattle poised to endure a devastating Week 13 setback against a three-win opponent on the road.
But 10 months after being hired as the successor for Pete Carroll, after being dealt several tough losses earlier in his first season at the helm, players have taken on the persona and mindset of Mike Macdonald, believing they are never out of a game. If the first half was a recipe for disaster, the final two quarters provided the remedy with a steady dose of resiliency and mental toughness.
Unfazed by self-inflicted mistakes and oozing with confidence even when not playing close to their best, the Seahawks rallied with 19 unanswered points, starting with an unforeseen 92-yard interception returned for a touchdown by Leonard Williams. Capping off the stunning 26-21 comeback with an eight-yard touchdown run by Zach Charbonnet and a fourth down stop on defense inside the final two minutes, they seized victory from the jaws of defeat to the delight of their new head coach.
"I think that's the first time that that ever happened in the NFL. The whole series of events in the first half," Macdonald told reporters after Seattle completed the furious rally. "But our guys were resilient, and we didn't bat an eye, we stayed the course. Had some crazy sequences of events that happened, but you have to stick to the plan, you got to stay together, and our guys did that. Then to be able to close it out was awesome for us, obviously."
Championship teams find a way to win when they aren't playing their best. But after two impressive victories over the 49ers and Cardinals launched them back into first place in the NFC West, the Seahawks certainly weren't humming at anywhere close to peak performance in East Rutherford.
Sleep walking in their final 10 AM Pacific time start on the schedule, a face mask penalty against Williams negated a third down sack of Rodgers on the Jets second possession, extending the drive and leading to a touchdown pass to Davante Adams. On the ensuing kickoff, rookie returner Dee Williams had the ball punched out of his hands near the sideline, allowing Brandin Echols to recover the fumble deep in Seahawks territory.
Four plays later, Rodgers connected with running back Isaiah Davis on a shovel pass for a four-yard touchdown and after Breece Hall punched the ball in for a two-point conversion, Seattle quickly found itself down 14 before the end of the first quarter.
While the Seahawks threw a punch back with Geno Smith rolling out to his left and answering Rodgers' second touchdown pass with one of his own to rookie tight end AJ Barner, the Jets responded in emphatic fashion with Kene Nwangwu rocketing through a large crease and using a pair of late blocks to find the end zone on a 99-yard kickoff return, pushing the lead back to two scores in a matter of seconds.
Two plays later, Shenault bobbled the initial catch at the goal line and then lost control of the ball when he hit the ground after tripping up, allowing kicker Anders Carlson to pounce on the fumble. Living out the ultimate nightmare between the lines, it would have been easy for Seattle fold at that point with Rodgers needing to drive his team just 38 yards for another touchdown to potentially ice the game before halftime intermission.
However, the Seahawks weren't about to let that happen. With their backs against the wall, as they have done several times over the course of the season, the defense rose to the occasion. After the Jets advanced inside the 10-yard line, Rodgers failed to see Williams dropping back into coverage on a zone blitz, and following an initial bobble, the veteran defender secured the unlikely interception and took off for the races behind a convoy of blockers, hitting north of 17 miles per hour as he sprinted nearly the full distance of the field for a game-changing six points.
"He was moving," safety Julian Love said of Williams. "I know we threw some great blocks, but I don’t think anyone would have caught him anyways. That’s the big cat man. He’s playing at such a high level right now."
With momentum changing sides in an instant, Seattle promptly stopped New York in its tracks on the next possession. Deciding to go for it on 4th and 2 near midfield, Adams couldn't haul in a deep ball from Rodgers after gaining separation along the sideline and failed to secure the pass as he fell to the ground, leading to a turnover on downs.
Though the offense couldn't sustain the drive after a Charbonnet 11-yard run, kicker Jason Myers booted a 54-yard field goal over the crossbar, sending the Seahawks into the locker room down just five points despite all of the aforementioned miscues. That made it easy for Macdonald to convey the message to his team to stay the course coming out of the break.
"It might have been the craziest first half of all time and we're down, you know, whatever amount of points it was like five points or something, and so, just kind of stick to the plan and let's go," Macdonald said.
Unfortunately for Seattle, the waters didn't suddenly become smooth sailing at the start of the third quarter with more adversity striking. After the defense forced a quick punt, Smith orchestrated a 12-play, 72-yard drive that ultimately ended with no points as New York stiffened up near the goal line and sacked the quarterback on a poorly executed 4th and goal sprint out pass, leaving the visitors empty handed and still trailing by five.
But following the missed golden opportunity in the red zone, Love came through in the clutch, punching the ball out of Hall's hands at the end of an 11-yard run, allowing linebacker Tyrice Knight to recover the fumble at the Seahawks 41-yard line. A 24-yard completion by Smith to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on 4th and 6 kept the drive alive, allowing Myers to connect on his second field goal and further trim the deficit to two points early in the fourth quarter.
Providing the opportunity to close out the comeback, Seattle's defense pitched forced another three-and-out after Myers field goal. Aided by a pair of costly fourth down penalties by New York, including a horse collar penalty on Solomon Thomas that wiped out a fourth down run stop in Jets territory, Charbonnet capped off a nine-play drive breaking multiple tackles and powering his way into the end zone for an eight-yard scoring run to jump in front by five.
The Jets wouldn't go quietly, as Rodgers turned a 3rd and 26 situation into a new set of downs in two plays and guided the offense all the way to the opposing 29-yard line with a chance to still pull off the upset. But Williams finished off a historic outing with his second sack of the drive and a hit by blitzing safety Coby Bryant led to an airmailed fourth down desperation throw out of the back of the end zone, securing a win that didn't seem plausible earlier in the afternoon.
As Macdonald reiterated several times after the game, the Seahawks will have to go back to the drawing board and clean up problems in all three phases, as they won't be able to withstand all of the gaffes they committed on Sunday against better teams with five games left. Playing to their dismal record, the Jets certainly did their part allowing a potentially season-saving win to slip from their grasp with seven straight possessions ending in a turnover or punt and a bunch of defensive flags.
Still, winning in the NFL isn't easy, and Seattle showed the rest of the NFL that it has the resolve required to compete for championships on Sunday. With another tough road trip to Arizona on tap next weekend for a key divisional rematch, as the stakes continued to be raised and the calendar moves towards January, these are the types of victories that could carry Macdonald's team to new heights entering crunch time.
"We talk about December football and this is when you want to be playing your best ball. I
wouldn't say this is our best game, but we won, and that's all that matters, so it's about stacking
those wins and you got to play a certain brand of ball to win in December and this is all you can
ask for, is a chance to take it home down the stretch."
