Seattle Seahawks: 5 takeaways from dominant win over Jets

Jamal Adams was worth every single pick

When the Seahawks decided to pull the trigger on the Jamal Adams deal early in August, many were wary of it. The main reason being that Seattle gave up a lot of picks in order to acquire the all-pro safety. At the time, many were questioning the character of Adams as things seemed to be unraveling in the Jets locker room. But, he was simply a disgruntled player tired of the losing culture in New York.

Right when Seattle made the deal, I personally thought it was a great trade. Adams has shown over his short career that he is one of the best in the game. He is a hybrid safety that can play the linebacker position and blitz the quarterback better than anyone at his position. My belief was reaffirmed after Week 1 against Atlanta in which Adams just dominated from start to finish.

It’s quite funny how during Seattle’s losing skid, many thought Adams wasn’t a good fit because he was seen as a “linebacker” in their scheme. Well, let’s be honest. The Seahawks defense mightily struggled early on in the year. Their lack of pass rush allowed quarterbacks to sit in the pocket and slice and dice them. The Seahawks have actually been using Adams to his strength this whole time as we see him flying off the edge and making plays behind the line of scrimmage. Now, that the pass rush has slowly come along, the entire defense looks better and Adams feels like a “better fit”.

Against his former team, when he recorded his only sack of the game against former teammate, Sam Darnold, Jamal Adams made history.

This is why Seattle traded all those picks for him. He is a playmaker on the defensive side of the ball. In fact, he should have had a pick-six in this game too, if he didn’t drop the ball. Many that criticized the deal are now praising Seattle for it as Adams has clearly proven he fits in just fine with this scheme.

The NFL season is a marathon, not a race. There have been plenty of teams who struggled early on in the year, caught fire at the right time and ended up making a deep run in the playoffs. The Seahawks defense seems to be hitting their stride and a large part of it is because of the havoc that #33 causes each and every single week.

Oh, and one final note, Jamal Adams missed about a month of play with a groin injury this year. Imagine if he didn’t, what his sack total would be.