The Seattle Seahawks are suddenly surging, sitting atop the NFC West after upending the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, largely riding the dominance of head coach Mike MacDonald’s defense.
Arizona entered Sunday afternoon’s tilt as the NFL’s sixth-leading rushing offense, averaging 140.3 yards on the ground per game, only to be stonewalled by the Seahawks’ defense which held the Cardinals to just 49 yards rushing in a 16-6 statement victory.
“They play downhill and are mean,” former Seahawks legendary linebacker Lofa Tatupu tells me is key to Seattle’s success on defense.
Sunday afternoon, Leonard Williams took up residence in the Cardinals’ backfield, posting 2.5 sacks on quarterback Kyler Murray, while logging six total tackles, including three tackles for loss.
However, the driving force behind the Seahawks’ run of success on defense has been the steady and disruptive play of linebackers Ernest Jones and Tyrice Knight.
Sunday, the duo of Jones and Knight combined for 19 total tackles, one sack, and one tackle for loss.
Knight, chosen in the fourth-round of this spring’s NFL Draft, has no logged 42 total tackles and one sack, Jones continues to be a one-man wrecking crew in the middle of the defense.
Sunday marked Jones’ fourth game in a Seahawks uniform, and he’s now posted 47 total tackles with one tackle for loss, while emerging as one of the defense’s stalwart leaders.
“Ernest Jones is absolutely insane,” Tatupu explains. “It’s not just his volume of tackles but its the quality of tackles in terms of at or behind the line of scrimmage. And, Knight is very impressive, was unheralded out of college and just has no apparent weaknesses.
“Their complementary attacking and aggressive style of ball has made the defensive line’s job much easier, and it was evident by Leonard Williams’ insane production today.”
MacDonald’s defense is finding its footing, having now won two consecutive games against NFC West opponents and sitting atop the division while building all kinds of momentum as the season’s closing stretch gets underway.
during the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
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