Matt Calkins: Seahawks defense had its doubters, but versus Jags it sacked them too

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Sam Darnold spun it, but it was the defense that won it.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba became the top receiver in the league, but the “D” is why the Seahawks came out on top.

You saw it. Play after play. Sack after sack. Stop after stop after stop. One week after its most putrid performance of the season, the Seahawks’ defense regained its elite status in a 20-12 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

A week ago, the 12s were justified in their concern that the first few games of the season were a mirage. Yes, the Seahawks (4-2) were among the top teams in the league in points allowed, but had they really played anyone?

Well, after Tampa Bay beat them 38-35 on Oct. 5, the answer appeared to be “no” — especially with the Buccaneers racking up 379 passing yards at Lumen Field. Sure, the Seahawks’ defense was injury-laden, but that’s football, no?

That was Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald’s view after the defeat in which his area of expertise — the defense — was exploited. The response this Sunday? Quite possibly the Seahawks’ best performance of the year.

“I thought the defense played a tremendous game. Played together, played complementary,” Macdonald said. “Some funky things happened there on fourth downs. We gotta give their quarterback (Trevor Lawrence) a lot of credit. He’s a really good player and made some plays there in critical moments, but we just kept rebounding and kept fighting.”

That’s one way to put it. Another is that the Seahawks’ defense saved an offense that went dormant for most of the second half.

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Don’t get it wrong — Darnold had another stellar performance in going 16 for 27 for 295 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He was already leading the league in yards per attempt at 9.1, and had 10.9 yards per throw Sunday.

And Smith-Njigba has asserted himself as a legitimate first-team All-Pro candidate, with the third-year receiver collecting 162 yards and a TD on eight catches Sunday. He leads the NFL in receiving yards with 696 — 134 more than second-place Puka Nacua.

But with seven sacks and three consecutive scoreless stops to end the game, it was the other side of the ball that stood out for the Seahawks.

For a minute, it looked as if the Seahawks were going to cruise by the Jaguars (4-2), who were fresh off a prime-time win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Thanks to Smith-Njigba’s touchdown, another TD by receiver Cooper Kupp, and two Jason Myers field goals, they established a 20-6 lead after their first drive of the second half. But then the offense went frigid in that north Florida heat.

There was a five-play drive which ended in a punt. Then consecutive three-and-outs. Then a four-play drive that ended in a punt. Jacksonville did manage to score a touchdown on its first drive of the fourth quarter to cut the lead to eight (linebacker Ernest Jones IV stuffed running back Bhayshul Tuten at the 1 on the two-point conversion try). But its next three drives? Nothing.

This isn’t supposed to happen to a team that came into the game averaging 342.6 yards per contest — especially on its home field.

However, on the Jaguars’ third-to-last drive, the Seahawks forced a three-and-out. And on their second-to-last drive, they forced a punt on a fourth-and-6 after a Lawrence incompletion from his own 41. And on their final drive, DeMarcus Lawrence and Uchenna Nwosu combined for a sack to force another punt from Jacksonville’s 28.

DeMarcus had 2 1/2 sacks on the day, and second-year defensive tackle Byron Murphy II had two.

Both knew last week’s performance up front was well below par. It wasn’t going to happen again.

“We were just talking about our details, getting back to the basics of training camp, playing four as one, and we came and did that today,” Lawrence said. “It showed on every third down every time we had a chance to rush the passer.”

Added Murphy, the brand-new father who sacked Lawrence on the first play of the game: “We just held ourselves to a certain standard … everybody being on the same page, communicating with one another. Everybody having the same mindset and the same goals.”

The Seahawks needed to dominate in the trenches defensively given how depleted they were on the back end. Cornerbacks Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen were inactive as was safety Julian Love. The key, Macdonald said, was controlling the Jaguars’ runs on early downs and forcing them to pass.

“When you buy an extra second, the rushing comes alive,” Macdonald said.

With Sunday’s victory, Macdonald became the fourth head coach in NFL history to win at least 10 of his first 11 road games. The other three are George Seifert, Sean McVay and Paul Brown, all of which won a Super Bowl or championship.

No, no — that’s not a prediction. But this is exactly why the Seahawks brass hired Mike. Two years ago, the Seahawks finished 30th in total defense. This year, they’ve held four of six foes to 17 points or fewer.

It’s probably only going to get better once everyone gets healthy. Soon there might be no stopping this team.

But Sunday, it was about the guys making stops.

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