Accepting a backup job doesn’t mean that the player has accepted that he’s a backup, and it’s safe to assume that Drew Lock came into the season with that belief in himself to become a starter again. Now it looks like Lock is getting his chance much sooner than anyone expected.
Lock entered the game on the second drive and helped lead the Seahawks to a 13-10 win over the New England Patriots on Wednesday night, as he finished 16-of-22 with 187 yards and a clutch fourth down pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba that tied a game that felt like it would never break in Seattle’s direction. It wasn’t an earthquake, but you could feel a collective sigh from the crowd as the Seahawks escape the first game with a 1-0 record.
Lock wasn’t a player that anyone expected to see tonight, but the result is just as sweet.
Sam Darnold’s indefinite absence
Six plays into the season, the Seahawks lost Sam Darnold to an apparent hip injury and as of this writing are awaiting test results to assess the severity of the damage. In the interest of avoiding speculation, the only thing that felt “good” about it was Darnold’s ability to walk off of the field under his own power, but he was immediately ruled out and had to leave the stadium to get tests done off-site.
If Lock isn’t starting against the Cardinals in Week 2, it would come as a major surprise. If Seattle’s offense, defense, and special teams play as well as they did on Wednesday — minus the penalties — the Seahawks shouldn’t have much to worry about.
Smith-Njigba had eight catches for 122 yards. He had 10 games with at least eight catches last season, six games with over 122 yards. JSN is off to the expected start and this time he proved he’s still an elite weapon with either quarterback.
Brian Fleury strong debut
As if calling plays for the first time in your career isn’t enough pressure, Fleury had to do so with the surprise announcement that Lock was going to play 95% of the game. The score doesn’t do him justice because Fleury passed with flying colors. This fourth-and-1 call to Smith-Njigba is just one example of numerous highlights:
Jadarian Price had a successful debut as well with 10 carries for 52 yards and two catches for six yards. George Holani had eight carries for 29 yards.
Brady Russell had two catches for 20 yards, the first touches of his career, which is what I predicted would happen. Sure enough, Fleury plans to use Russell as his “Kyle Jusczcyk” for the time being.
Nehemiah Pritchett, Rodney Thomas II pick up the slack
It was a star turning night for Pritchett, coming up with two huge pass breakups (including one against A.J. Brown that resulted in an unlucky ankle injury for New England’s top receiver) and a concentration interception.
Pritchett was a strong tackler also, stopping the Patriots late in the fourth quarter to force a third-and-1 instead of giving up a first down.
Thomas assisted on the interception and was flying around the field in his Seattle debut, elevated from the practice squad just hours before the game.
Finally, Josh Jobe intercepted Drake Maye on the final play, sealing the 13-10 win. It was called a “bad decision” by everybody and I’m not too surprised that it happened. I like Maye, but he finished last season as the most overrated quarterback in the NFL. Not that he’s bad, he’s just not as good as “second in MVP voting” and “second in the Super Bowl”.
If you think that I’m underrating Maye, and that’s fine if you do, then the Seahawks defense is even better than they were last season: Maye had 178 yards, 5.4 yards per attempt, one touchdown, and three interceptions with a passer rating of 54.9.
They did that without Nick Emmanwori and Ty Okada.
Elite run defense
The Seahawks were better against Maye because they were ELITE against the run. Seattle held New England’s running backs to 62 yards on 24 carries (2.58 YPC), as Maye had almost half of the Patriots rushing yards. That kind of run defense moving forward will keep the Seahawks atop the defensive standings, and will be key against Arizona’s duo of Jeremiyah Love and Tyler Allgeier.
Uchenna Nwosu was Seattle’s most obvious front-seven player, snuffing out New England’s plays practically before they even called them.
Nwosu had five tackles, one TFL, and one batted pass. Ernest Jones led the team with 13 tackles. Drake Thomas had a tackle and a sack. Julian Love had two tackles for a loss. Derick Hall and Leonard Williams each had a sack. Rylie Mills and Byron Murphy each had a tackle for a loss.
Michael Dickson gives Patriots a show again
After a field-tilting performance in the Super Bowl, Dickson was just as good on Wednesday, punting five times with an average of 45.4 yards per punt and three punts landing inside the NE10. In a low-scoring game in which Seattle’s offense had to rely so heavily on Seattle’s defense to give the Seahawks a chance to win, the importance of an elite punter and coverage unit can’t be overstated.
Jason Myers shook off the preseason, making all three kicks, including a PAT.
Cooper Kupp is quality, not quantity
Midway through the third quarter, it wasn’t hard to notice the players we weren’t noticing, specifically Cooper Kupp and Rashid Shaheed. Both players had zero catches at that point. Then Kupp did this and it was huge:
Kupp had two catches for 35 yards. Shaheed had one catch for four yards. A.J. Barner had two catches for 13 yards. I don’t think I saw Elijah Arroyo one time.
Penalties a problem
10 penalties for 98 yards. If the Seahawks had lost, penalties would have been a big reason why. I’m not the type to call for conspiracies and I won’t start tonight. I just think some of the calls on Seattle, and non-calls on New England, were wrong. It would have sucked to lose after feeling that way, but I don’t think there’s a conspiracy behind it. I just think some of the questionable calls hurt the Seahawks more than they hurt the Patriots.
Ultimately, there were some sloppy penalties on Seattle that they deserved. Possibly related to Lock being inserted into the game unexpectedly, and because it’s Fleury’s first season/game. If Fleury installed some new pre-snap motion plays, those are the kinds of calls that get the most flags because they require so much discipline.
I do expect fewer penalties next week. But based on tonight, expect the unexpected.
Mike Macdonald sounds "optimistic" about Sam Darnold injury:
https://x.com/TomPelissero/status/2097895177423597760?s=20
Lock was slow processing the play calls and it led to a few penalties, but I feel he will speed up next week with a week to work with the 1s and go over the game plan. He really iis an outstanding back up. He will play better against the Cards, and Commanders if that becomes necessary. We’ve won 11 in a row and 15 out of the last 16 games. Go Hawks!