It was hard to imagine that the Seahawks’ retro helmets could be an even bigger hit than they already were in the first 58 minutes of Sunday’s game, as they gleamed in the sunlight of the most beautiful fall day in Seattle.
But when it counted most, they delivered the biggest hit of all: Jamal Adams lowered his helmet as he rushed toward Cleveland quarterback PJ Walker to intercept a third-down pass thrown by teammate Julian Love at the 43- Cleveland’s yard line was intercepted with 1:57 remaining.
And in the face of unexpected hope, a Seattle offense that had done nothing but wilt for most of the last three quarters suddenly came to life, Geno Smith completing four quick passes to move the team 57 yards, the last Nine came through a catch and run by rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba, giving the Seahawks the decisive touchdown in a 24:20 victory over the Cleveland Browns.
Postgame: Seahawks 24, Browns 20
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“A fantastic example of persevering and hanging in there, keeping the faith and giving yourself a chance to win a football game,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said.
And when time finally expired, Seattle not only improved to 5-2 with its fifth win in its last six games, but had also moved into first place in the NFC West ahead of the struggling 49ers, who were suffering their third straight loss suffered. against the Bengals, 5:3.
“At the halfway point, we’re in pretty good shape,” Carroll said. “That’s good.”
Things looked great for a while on Sunday as the Seahawks – wearing uniforms reminiscent of the team’s 1976-2001 era for the first time – jumped out to 14-0, 17-7 first-quarter leads as Smith scored 136 yards threw.
But then the offense stalled – five punts and two interceptions in the next seven possessions – while the defense gave up just enough to give up the lead.
When Cleveland, clinging to a 20-17 lead, got a first down on a third-down play with 3:30 left on an illegal hand use penalty by Riq Woolen, the uniforms seemed to be the only thing that mattered would be worth it I remember that day.
But the defense forced another third down at the Cleveland 41 – this time a third-and-3. As the clock ticked down to 2:04, the Browns called time.
Many of the Seahawks assumed the Browns, who rushed for 155 yards — the most against Seattle this year — would stick with the run.
“Their identity is kind of ground-and-pound football,” Love said.
But perhaps because the clock would stop at the two-minute warning anyway, the Browns decided to surprise the Seahawks with a quick slant pass from Walker to Amari Cooper.
The Seahawks decided to be aggressive as well, sending Adams on a blitz down the left side.
“Something had to happen,” Adams said.
When the right guard pulled, Adams said, “I jumped as high as I could.”
At the last moment he also tried to throw his arms in the air. He pulled in his helmet. Walker threw, and the ball hit the crown of Adams’ silver helmet and then flew high into the air.
Adams said he didn’t try to intentionally hit the ball with his helmet.
“I just tried to raise my hands,” he said. “It just fell off my helmet.” Adams later called it a “Messi” game, a reference to the famous soccer player Lionel Messi. Love preferred another football star.
“He was like the first [Cristiano] Ronaldo right there,” Love said. “This piece is an honor for ‘Mal. The way he plays, the passion, the energy, the physicality. If he doesn’t apply as much pressure, that play will never happen and who knows what will happen at the end of the game.”
Love said he didn’t see the ball when it was first deflected, but was eventually able to track it down and intercept it as a Seahawk for the first time.
“Oh my God, this has been in the air for forever,” Love said. “At first I wondered how it got there. That’s not usually the rebound of a hand.”
Walker took the blame and said he should have thrown the ball somewhere else.
“We thought it was a good decision and we just had options and they just played a great game as a defense,” he said. “…They cracked the nickel. We threw double throws onto the field from the inside. I was just trying to get the ball to Coop and drop it on first down. Was tipped into the air. This is simply out of our control.”
Asked if he was surprised to see the Browns’ pass, Love said, “A little bit, especially the concept of the pass.” … I think it was slanted, then flat, and then flat to the boundary. Unusual, and it was definitely a change.”
Still, it was a Seattle offense that had conceded just five first downs in the previous 45 minutes and needed to at least move the ball enough to score a game-winning field goal.
As the offense took the field, receiver Tyler Lockett, who caught a Smith TD pass in the first quarter, gave a little pep talk.
“The biggest thing was telling everyone to breathe,” he said. “I tell everyone to relax because I think we had about three threes in a row. Sometimes you push yourself and try to get mentally out of the element because you’re just like, ‘Brother, what’s going on?’ ‘We’ve got to figure this out.’ So it’s just a matter of making sure we get everyone back.”
Lockett caught the first pass of the drive for 7 yards to the 50, and the Seahawks were off the field. Smith then hit DK Metcalf for the 9, then threw one to tight end Noah Fant, which rolled 27 yards down the Cleveland sideline to the 9.
After an incompletion, the Seahawks called a run-pass option play – meaning Smith can give it up or throw it. Smith saw the Browns blitzing from the edge and quickly threw to Smith-Njigba in the flat, where only two Cleveland defenders were standing. Metcalf stayed in front of Cleveland cornerback Martin Emerson and Smith-Njigba maneuvered to the sideline and into the end zone.
“They raided the slots,” Smith said. “Jaxon made an adjustment to his route and he did great. Was able to get the ball out to him in space.”
Carroll praised Metcalf as much for the play as Smith-Njigba.
“The winning touchdown play was a fantastic block by DK,” Carroll said. “Clean. The guy [official] looked directly at him. That’s the call [penalty] they do sometimes. I thought he did it perfectly.”
All that was left were four wasted plays by the Browns.
“At the end of the day, we’re 5-2 with 10 games left,” safety Quandre Diggs said. “We are enjoying the moment. It was good though because at the end of the day we lost the Rams game [in the season opener] the whole world was affected. So if we can come out and bounce back, play like we’ve been doing and continue to improve, that’s awesome.”
Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or [email protected]; on twitter: @bcondotta. Bob Condotta covers the Seahawks for the Seattle Times. He reports on the team daily throughout the year.