For the first time in a month, the Seattle Seahawks finally looked like the team we all know. You know, defense, a running game, big plays through the air. As always, it takes studs to pull out a win like this. Surprisingly, some of these players were not the usual cast of Hawks heroes.
It's pretty great to finally be able to celebrate a Seahawks win after a month of oh-my-god-not-another one of those games, isn't it, 12s? It took the Hawks a while to get going - and by a while, I mean 58 minutes and 36 seconds. But what matters is that they did get it going. They pulled out the win with huge plays on both sides of the ball. Hopefully, it won't be the biggest win of the season, not with three games left. But it was certainly the most thrilling win of the year.
The win came about in no small part with some big names out of the game for Seattle. No Devon Witherspoon, a top candidate for defensive Rookie of the Year. No Jamal Adams, and for the most part, no Riq Woolen. Most notably, the Seahawks took the field without starting quarterback Geno Smith for the second straight week. Surprisingly, their replacements were largely responsible for the Seattle win.
The Seattle Seahawks got big plays from backups across the board
No need to be coy here. Drew Lock came up big when the team needed him the most. I will say I'm not very comfortable proclaiming him as a stud, though. Yes, he made some fine plays on the final drive. But as Bob Condotta wrote in his grades for the game, Lock's play looked forgettable for most of the night. I'll emphasize that Condotta also wrote that "Lock was at his best when Seattle needed it most." Yes, he engineered what will known heretofore as The Drive if the Hawks make the playoffs. He was also 5 of 10 on the drive, and was saved on two of those five completions by miraculous catches by a gentleman I'll get to later.
Oh, I agree, the winning touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba was a thing of rare beauty - at least, for Drew Lock. That inconsistency has been the issue with Lock and Geno Smith as well. Let's not overlook the fact that Lock had just 116 yards passing for the game until that final drive.
Take a close look at some of the receptions made on that drive. Lock dialed the degree of difficulty up to 11 on a few of those balls, and it was because he was off-target. He deserves the credit for putting the ball in the air, absolutely. But he was bailed out by great catches. He made big plays, but don't overlook the fantastic job by the players on the receiving end of those not-so-guided missiles.