Getty Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams
The Seattle Seahawks defense was the driving force in the team’s 20-10 Week 7 win over the Arizona Cardinals. After the D held their NFC West rivals to just 10 points, safety Jamal Adams said the “sky’s the limit” for his unit.
The Seahawks offense and special teams struggled at times in the squad’s Week 7 win over the Cardinals. Geno Smith threw an interception and lost a fumble, while DeeJay Dallas coughed up the ball on a punt.
Seattle had a -3 turnover margin yet still won the game by 10 points. That is just the second time this has happened in franchise history, according to Brian Nemhauser of HawkBlogger. The other time the team pulled off a victory like this was back in 2003 when the offense had 4 turnovers (and the defense had 1 takeaway) in a 28-10 win over the Cardinals.
In the Sunday, October 22 contest, the defense held quarterback Joshua Dobbs and the Arizona offense to just 249 total yards. And they stepped up when it counted the most, limiting the Cardinals to 33.3% on 3rd-down conversions (5-of-15) and stuffing all three of their 4th-down attempts.
Jamal Adams Spoke About the Seahawks’ Dialed-in Defense
The Seahawks defense had an excellent afternoon in Week 7 on the strength of several standout individual performances.
Linebacker Jordyn Brooks filled up the stat sheet with a co-team-leading (with Bobby Wagner) 9 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 pass defended, 1 quarterback hit, and 0.5 sacks. Pass rusher Boye Mafe has 1 sack — his fourth in four games — while Jarran Reed and Darrell Taylor added a sack and a sack-and-a-half, respectively.
Veteran safety Jamal Adams had a solid performance as well, with six tackles and a pass defended. After the game, the All-Pro defensive back explained why the Seahawks defense is so dialed in and made a bold prediction about the potential of this standout unit.
“It’s just attention to detail. We understand our assignments. We understand where everybody else is at on the field. Just know our job,” Adams told reporters in his postgame presser. “We’re just feeding off one another. That just goes back to, through the week, communication. … If we keep that up, the sky’s the limit.”
Jamal Adams says sky is the limit for defense.
That’s some big talk from Adams, but when you look at what the D has done the last three weeks, it doesn’t seem outlandish at all.
Seattle D Has Dominated the Last 3 Weeks
You have to go back to Week 3 to find the last time Seattle gave up 20 points or more. In its last three games, the defense has allowed 3, 17, and 10 points.
In those three matchups, against the New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals, and Cardinals, the Seahawks have racked up 18 sacks, taken away 4 turnovers, and allowed just 426 passing yards. Seattle came into Week 7 as the 8th-best defense in the league for points allowed. When the dust settles on the slate, the team should be T-7 with the Buffalo Bills.
As Seattle prepares to move on to Week 8, the defense should have a chance to put up eye-popping numbers again next Sunday. That’s when they take on the Cleveland Browns, who may be without starting quarterback Deshaun Watson. He exited Week 7 after seeming to aggravate his shoulder injury.
If Watson can’t go, PJ Walker will be the starter. He did help lead the Browns to a 39-38 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, but he didn’t perform well. The backup QB was just 15-of-32 for 178 passing yards with an interception and no touchdowns.