The Seahawks may not have punter Michael Dickson available to punt for the rest of Sunday’s game and that impacted their decision-making on a fourth down in the fourth quarter.
Dickson was called questionable to return with a back injury.
Seattle lined up to go for it on fourth-and-6 from their 33-yard-line, but didn’t have to run a play because the Jets got caught with 12 players on the field. They went for it on fourth-and-1 and Jets rookie cornerback Qwan’tez Stiggers was flagged for interfering with wide receiver DK Metcalf.
Stiggers is in the game because Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner is questionable with a hamstring injury. He later came up with a key tackle on Metcalf on third down to set up another fourth down on the Jets’ 33-yard-line. The Jets stopped running back Zach Charbonnet short of the line to gain, but defensive tackle Solomon Thomas was penalized for a horse collar tackle.
Charbonnet scored a few plays later and the Seahawks now lead 26-21 with 5:34 left to play. Dickson returned to the game to hold for the extra point.
There was a little bit of everything in the first half of Sunday’s game between the Jets and Seahawks at MetLife Stadium.
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers hit wide receiver Davante Adams with a touchdown for the 80th time in their careers, Kene Nwangwu returned a kickoff 99 yards for a score in his first game with the Jets, Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams returned an interception 92 yards for a touchdown, the Seahawks lost two fumbles on kickoff returns, and both teams have blocked extra points. It all adds up to a 21-16 Jets lead.
Rodgers’s touchdown to Adams opened the scoring and the Jets extended their lead to 14-0 on a Rodgers flip to rookie running back Isaiah Davis. They were up 21-7 after Nwangwu’s score and they were driving for more points after Laviska Shenault lost a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, but Williams corralled a tipped pass and scored for the first time in his NFL career.
Nwangwu also forced Dee Williams’s fumble on a first quarter kickoff, so it’s been a memorable debut for the former Vikings running back.
Rodgers is 10-of-21 for 91 yards and Geno Smith is 9-of-16 for 87 yards and a touchdown in his return to the first NFL stadium he called home. The Seahawks will get the ball to kick off the second half in Jersey.
The Seahawks special teams units did not travel well this weekend, but their defense came up with a big play.
Jets returner Kene Nwangwu took a kickoff return 99 yards for a touchdown after the Seahawks got on the board with a touchdown catch by A.J. Barner and Seahawks kickoff returner Laviska Shenault muffed the ensuing kick. Shenault tried to recover, but lost the ball again and kicker Anders Carlson recovered on the Seahawks’ 38-yard-line.
It was the second lost fumble on a kickoff of the half for the Seahawks as Nwangwu forced Dee Williams to lose the ball after the first Jets score of the game. The Jets scored a touchdown after that turnover and they probably should have had another touchdown as Aaron Rodgers missed a wide open Garrett Wilson on a second-down pass.
The Jets wouldn’t get any points as Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams picked off a tipped pass and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown. The special teams issues returned when Jason Myers had his extra point blocked, so it’s 21-13 Jets with 7:39 to play.
The Aaron Rodgers-Davante Adams connection has not been as fruitful as the Jets hoped, but it paid off in the first quarter against the Seahawks on Sunday.
Rodgers hit Adams for a seven-yard score with 3:25 left to play in the opening quarter to give the Jets a 6-0 lead. Kicker Anders Carlson’s extra point attempt was blocked, so that remained the score.
The touchdown came after an eventful couple of plays for Rodgers. On the first, he threw a block while out in front of wide receiver Malachi Corley on a reverse and the second saw him scramble for quite a while before delivering an incompletion to Corley in the end zone.
The Seahawks have punted twice and their third possession will have to wait because Dee Williams fumbled on the ensuing kickoff. The Jets recovered on the 27-yard-line and moved quickly for another touchdown. This one came on a flip from Rodgers to rookie running back Isaiah Davis for Davis’s first NFL score.
Breece Hall ran in for two points on the next snap and it is now 14-0 Jets with 1:47 to play in the first quarter.
The first scheduling domino for Week 17 has fallen. By not falling at all.
Per the NFL, Seahawks-Bears will stay put as the Thursday night game on December 26.
It’s a challenging weekend for the league, with eight standalone windows: two on Wednesday, one on Thursday night, three on Saturday, one on Sunday night, and one on Monday night.
The league still has to select three of five potential games to be moved to Saturday: Broncos-Bengals, Cardinals-Rams, Chargers-Patriots, Colts-Giants, and Falcons-Commanders. The NFL also has to decide whether to move Dolphins-Browns from Sunday night.
For now, Falcons-Commanders seems to be the best candidate to slide to prime time.
While that’s to be determined, the best news is that anyone going to the December 26th game between the Seahawks and Bears won’t have to change their plans to Sunday. Likewise, no one who’ll be attending a Sunday game has to worry about the game being moved to Thursday.
