2023 NFL season, Week 4: What We Learned from Seahawks' win over Giants on Monday night

Seattle Seahawks

2023 · 3-1-0

24-3

New York Giants

2023 · 1-3-0

FULL BOX SCORE

• READ: Jamal Adams’ Seahawks return ends after nine snaps due to concussion
• READ: Seattle QB Geno Smith plays through knee injury in win
• READ: CB Devon Witherspoon’s 97-yard pick-six highlights ‘Hawks rout
• READ: Seahawks tie franchise record with 11 sacks in blowout win over Giants
• READ: Brian Daboll on Giants’ blowout loss: ‘I’d be upset too if I was a fan’

1. Devon Witherspoon introduces himself to the NFL. Seattle’s rookie cornerback had a game for the ages on a national stage Monday night, starting it off by getting after Daniel Jones with two early sacks. He played with his hair on fire all night, flying around the field like a heat-seeking missile intent on blasting ball-carriers upon arrival, and he capped his night with the game’s most important play: a 97-yard pick-six that ended the Giants’ hopes of a comeback. Witherspoon’s Seattle career got off to a slow, if not concerning start, waiting until the end of July to sign his rookie contract, the last of the first-rounders to put pen to paper. He wasn’t able to play in the season-opening loss to the Rams due to a hamstring issue, but since he’s been out there, he’s done nothing but good things. He’s now on everyone’s radar after Monday night’s showing.
2. Giants still can’t finish the job. New York has now played a month’s worth of football, and has one half (the final two quarters of Week 2) of which it can be proud. The Giants have reverted to their old, pre-Brian Daboll ways, failing to convert in key moments and hurting themselves with mistakes too often. They’ve been outscored, 77-9, in first halves so far, and when they had opportunities to convert Monday night, they failed on a QB sneak in Seattle territory in the first half, then threw a pick-six on the goal line in the third quarter. We haven’t even mentioned their defense yet, either, which is quickly proving to be a fundamentally poor unit that misses far too many tackles. On Monday night, this reared its ugly head on Noah Fant‘s 51-yard reception that probably shouldn’t have gone for more than a first down. The frustration is evident in their play, too, with Monday night becoming a chippy affair before halftime. And there aren’t any signs things are going to get better any time soon.
3. Seahawks record a costly win. Seattle ran away with another victory Monday night, but it required the Seahawks to pay a price in the form of personnel. Seattle lost two offensive linemen to injury in the game, watched Jamal Adams exit due to a concussion suffered just nine snaps into his 2023 season, and was forced to play Drew Lock for a brief period after Geno Smith suffered a knee injury. Smith eventually returned, providing a silver lining to a tough night from a health standpoint, but as we all know, regular seasons are marathons. The Seahawks will need to get healthy in order to finish it in good standing.
4. Seattle starts to establish its identity. It’s one that should be quite familiar to Seahawks fans, who enjoyed the thrills of the Legion of Boom era that flourished a decade ago. This time around, Pete Carroll has found his comfort zone once again by working with general manager John Schneider to restock the defense with a number of young, talented, hard-hitting and hungry defenders. Last year’s standout was Tariq Woolen, and Witherspoon is quickly outdoing him in terms of rookie performance. In seemingly a blink of an eye, the Seahawks have created a new Legion of Boom, and they’ve rebuilt their offensive backfield into a group capable of relentlessly pounding it on the ground for positive gains. Add in a pass rush that feasted on Jones all night (10 sacks of Jones plus one sack credited on Parris Campbell), and you have a team that’s looking quite good on both sides of the ball.
5. The first year of Daniel Jones’ extension is becoming a nightmare. First things first: Jones once again has very little (if any) time to operate. He was under constant pressure, threw two ugly interceptions, and in a flashback to the difficult times of previous years, fumbled after being hit from behind. The best thing he did all night was make plays with his legs. Otherwise, it was little more than a pointless, blister-causing trudge through waist-deep mud. This Giants offense is lifeless, especially without Saquon Barkley, and there’s little reason to believe it’s going to suddenly improve. Last year’s feel-good journey from the cellar to the playoffs feels as if it happened a century ago, and the only detail that could possibly make it worse is the fact the Giants just extended Jones at a rate of $40 million per year. It looks worse with each passing week, even if it isn’t entirely his fault.

Next Gen stat of the game: Noah Fant’s table-setting 51-yard reception included the second-most target separation (15.3 yards) of any completion this season, and saw him gain +26 yards after catch over expected.

NFL Research: Devon Witherspoon became only the second cornerback since individual sacks were tracked (starting in 1982) to have two-plus sacks and a pick-six in a single game, joining Captain Munnerlyn (Week 15 of 2013).