Leonard Williams 'Leading the Charge' in Seahawks' Defensive Resurgence

Playing up to the standard of a $64.5 million defender, Leonard Williams wrecked the Cardinals offensive line on Sunday, sending the Seahawks back into first place.

Nov 24, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Jarran Reed (90) and defensive end Leonard Williams (99) celebrate after a defensive play against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

SEATTLE, Wash. - When Leonard Williams woke up on Sunday morning, he had a strong premonition about how the Seattle Seahawks would perform in a critical NFC West matchup against the Arizona Cardinals with first place in the division on the line.

As it turned out, that foresight proved to be prophetic, especially for Williams himself.

Enjoying his best game since joining the Seahawks following a trade deadline deal last October, Williams tormented the Cardinals' interior offensive line and quarterback Kyler Murray all afternoon long. Stuffing the stat sheet, he racked up six tackles, 2.5 sacks, four quarterback hits, and three tackles for loss in an utterly dominant performance, helping lead his team to a 16-6 victory and jump back into first place in the NFC West.

"It was interesting because I woke up this morning with a great feeling and pretty much everyone I approached before the game, I told them I’ve got a good feeling about this game," Williams said. "It wasn’t directed toward my personal success, it was directed toward the team’s success. I just had a great feeling about it. I just had great energy out there today and it showed.”

At the center of a suffocating effort by Seattle's defense, which held Arizona to under 300 total yards, sacked Murray five times, and kept the opposition out of the end zone, as coach Mike Macdonald bluntly assessed, Williams played "out of his mind" on Sunday.

Living up to the $64.5 million contract he signed with the Seahawks in March, "Big Cat" wasted little time destroying the Cardinals game plan as a one-man wrecking crew. After making a pair of tackles on Arizona's first two possessions, he ripped past right guard Trystan Colon and struck Murray's elbow as he started to throw, causing the ball to squirt out of the quarterback's hands for a fumble that was scooped up by linebacker Tyrice Knight and returned for a touchdown.

While the replay booth ultimately overturned that call and changed it to an incomplete pass, the play served as just an appetizer for what Williams would do the rest of the day harassing Murray.

With just under 1:10 on the game clock before halftime, moments after Geno Smith threw a touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba to give the Seahawks their first lead of the day, Williams split left guard Evan Brown and center Hjalte Froholdt's blocks and devoured Murray in the pocket for an eight-yard loss, teaming up with teammate Jarran Reed for a partial sack. On the very next play, he beat his blocker again and pressured the quarterback from behind to coax an incompletion, leading to a fifth Cardinals punt for the half.

After halftime, Williams' one-man onslaught was taken up another notch. Shortly after safety Coby Bryant picked off Murray and returned the interception 69 yards to the house to extend Seattle's lead, the menacing defensive tackle read a pin and pull like a book pre-snap, adjusting his alignment before rocketing into the backfield behind two pullers to blow up James Conner for a four-yard loss.

How to obliterate a pin-and-pull sweep 101 with Professor Leonard Williams... #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/tMQUhtgYwH

— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) November 25, 2024

Calling the run stuff his favorite play of the game, Williams credited extra time studying film this week when he sat out practice on Wednesday and Thursday nursing a sore foot for being able to quickly diagnose what the Cardinals were running before the snap.

"That specific play I can tell when those two guys were pulling and it just like slowed down for me," Williams explained. "That’s one of those moments when you’re just in the zone, you’re letting people feed off of you, I was feeding off the crowd. The 12s were just really loud out there today, so it was great energy all around.”

Two snaps later, Williams showcased his rare versatility at 6-5, 300 pounds, bumping outside in a two-point stance off the edge in wide-9 alignment. After nonchalantly tossing the tight end's hands aside, he ripped past tackle Paris Johnson Jr. on a speed rush and collapsed down on Murray from behind for his second sack of the game, leading to yet another punt by Arizona.

Literally two plays after Williams makes four-yard tackle for loss - this is so unfair at 6-5, 300 pounds - he rips past Johnson on a speed rush from wide-9 alignment in a two-point stance for a sack.

Again, this is a cheat code being that size and doing this... #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/5PT8Er9FGU

— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) November 25, 2024

Immediately after finishing off Murray, Williams transitioned into a celebratory somersault roll, firing up the sellout Lumen Field crowd and leaving Macdonald gushing after the game.

"Not many like him walking the planet, and I'm glad he's on our team," Macdonald grinned. "He's a heck of a guy. He's leading the charge in the defensive front room as well with J. Reed [Jarran Reed]. J. Reed played really well. John Hankins, all the veterans are helping build the camaraderie in that room. They're playing together and rushing together and coaches are doing a great job leading as well."

Putting a bow on a pristine performance, Williams tacked on a third sack of Murray early in the fourth quarter, working off two blocks to take an excellent pursuit angle outside chasing the speedy quarterback before he slipped up three yards behind the line and the defender tapped him down. Considering the amount of space he covered to prevent Murray from turning upfield, that wasn't a cheap sack by any means either.

When general manager John Schneider traded a second and fifth-round pick to the Giants for Williams and then handed him a contract worth north of $20 million per year, many questioned those decisions with the veteran only having two seasons with more than six sacks in his career and approaching his 30th birthday. But those critics certainly are eating crow right now, as he has been outstanding all season long and proven himself worth every single penny.

Per Pro Football Focus charting, Williams ranks sixth among defensive linemen with 36 pressures, 10th with five sacks, and third with 10 quarterback hits. Digging deeper into advanced stats, out of 50 qualified defenders at his position, he ranks seventh in Pass Rush Win Rate (13.1 percent) and fifth in the Pass Rush Productivity metric (7.7). He also has PFF's third-best run defense grade (75.7) with 12 stops and an average depth of tackle of just 1.8 yards.

Considering those numbers and Williams' obvious impact beyond what shows up in a box score playing in a scheme that continues to maximize his positional flexibility and overall talent, Schneider's bold move to land him and extend him now look like bargains. As teammate Devon Witherspoon remarked, his play speaks for itself, and the entire team has fed off of his energy with the Seahawks defensive finding their groove at the perfect time.

“I really don’t think I can talk about it. I just think he just do what he do. His energy out there, the stuff he brings to the table. He’s Big Cat. He’s Leo. I don’t think there’s a word to describe it, I just know we appreciate him.”

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