Just 7 days prior, the Seattle Seahawks looked, frankly, cooked, melting down in a 35-38 W5 loss to the Bucs. Yet here we were, watching a banged-up secondary, missing Riq Woolen, Julian Love, Devon Witherspoon, and Derick Hall, throttle an ascending Jacksonville Jaguars squad.

The team had seemingly entered a strange new world overnight, a 20-12 victory secured despite the odds. The hinge point, oddly enough, wasn’t a sack or a third-down stop, but a quiet moment of offensive efficiency. On the drive where Cooper Kupp snagged his first TD of the year, QB Sam Darnold seemed less concerned with the spectacular and more with simple, agonizing competence.

Darnold, who had tossed a combined 6 INTs in his prior 2 starts in Jacksonville, spoke about the play. “They showed an all-up look,” he began, acknowledging a defensive setup he knew they had drilled endlessly. He noted that the execution of the offense often followed a frustrating “trend,” before clarifying that for this specific play, “Coop did a really good job of gaining outside leverage and just breaking to a spot I knew he was going to go to.” 

This was the crucial difference: a veteran passer playing smart and clean, throwing for 295 yds with 0 turnovers and 2 TDs, including the decisive one to Kupp.

The run game netted only 60 total yards, and they converted a soul-crushing one of 12 attempts on third down. It was almost a structural mistake, forcing the defense back out almost immediately. Still, Darnold, who fed Jaxon Smith-Njigba 8 catches for a whopping 162 yds, including a 61-yd burner on new Jags corner Greg Newsome, played a simple, turnover-free game that had been tragically absent the week before.

They were just one of 12 on third-down conversions, but they limited their errors, ensuring Jacksonville’s defense couldn’t get a single takeaway all afternoon despite leading the league with 14.

After the final whistle, HC Mike Macdonald reminded his players why the Hawks were back on track.

The Seahawks sacking masterclass

His words: “That is us, that is Seahawks football, man, okay? Look, defensively, guys, okay, you got your backs against the wall. I mean, you pick me up, we pick each other up, one drive after another, one play after another.”

Macdonald was giddy, and he had every right to be. This wasn’t some empty motivational speech; it was fully substantiated by a defensive performance that wh—-d a–,  as he put it, holding the Jags to just 273 total yds and an abysmal 4.0 yds per play. The coach hammered home the statistical brutality: “How many sacks? A lot. Seven sack, guys, seven sacks. That is Russian coverage working together.”

Indeed, they racked up 7 sacks on Trevor Lawrence, a season-high for the Jags, while holding them to just 4 conversions on 16 third-down attempts. When the locker room started chanting “Runnin’ and hittin’,” it meant that the defense embodied a brutal, physical mentality that overcame having 3 defensive starters on the sideline.

Now, Seattle turns its focus to Houston, but the message has been sent. Their defense is not giving away free passes anymore.