Seahawks DT Leonard Williams Engineers History in Win vs. Jets

Balling out against his former team in the Meadowlands, Leonard Williams put up a stat line that hasn't been seen since at least 1982, if not longer.

Dec 1, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) celebrates his interception return for a touchdown during the first half against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Since breaking into the NFL as a top-10 pick in 2015, despite tallying nearly 550 tackles and 50 sacks in his career, Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Leonard Williams has somehow never been selected to an All-Pro team in 11 seasons.

Based on his historic production over the past two weeks alone, however, "Big Cat" may finally be heading towards a breakthrough earning the respect he deserves as one of the NFL's best all-around interior defenders for a surging Seattle defense.

Serving as the catalyst and the closer for a thrilling 26-21 comeback win over the Jets on Sunday, per NFL Communications, Williams became the first player since at least 1982 with multiple sacks, an interception returned for a touchdown, and a blocked field goal in the same game. It's possible the feat could be even rarer than happening once in the past 42 years, but the league first officially began charting sacks that season.

"He's playing at an all-time elite level," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said after the game, vouching for him to be Defensive Player of the Week after his teammate Coby Bryant won the award last week over him.

Coming through time and time again with game-changing plays at MetLife Stadium, Williams first made his mark by blocking an extra point after the Jets scored a touchdown on their second offensive possession. Two drives later, following a disastrous special teams fumble by Laviska Shenault, he dropped back into coverage on a zone blitz and picked off Aaron Rodgers, turning on the afterburners at 300 pounds to sprint 92 yards for a touchdown to cut the Seahawks deficit to 21-13 midway through the second quarter.

Following a touchdown run by Zach Charbonnet that gave Seattle its first lead with under six minutes to play, Williams took over as an unblockable force, recording a pair of sacks on Rodgers. The second one came deep in Seahawks territory as he caved in on the veteran quarterback after he initially escaped the grasp of edge rusher Boye Mafe, creating a third and long situation that eventually led to a game-ending fourth down incompletion out of the back of the end zone.

Crazily enough, Williams could have had a third sack on Seattle's second defensive possession, only for him to unfortunately grab a piece of Rodgers' face mask to prolong the drive. He amended to an extent for that mistake by blocking the point after moments later and more than made up for the miscue by putting points on the scoreboard with his first career pick six.

Putting Williams' performance into historical perspective, over the past two games, he has amassed 10 tackles, 4.5 sacks, six tackles for loss, an interception returned for a touchdown, two pass deflections, and a blocked field goal. Using Pro Football Reference's span finder, such a stat line has not been produced by any other play in a two-game span dating back to 1970. In other words, what he has done in the last two wins hasn't been done since the AFL/NFL merger at least, if not longer.

Prior to Sunday's game, according to Pro Football Focus data, Williams ranked in the top 10 among defensive tackles in pressures, sacks, and pass rush win rate. Following another elite outing where he wrecked the Jets game plan from the opening snap until the final fourth down failure, it's safe to say those numbers will look even better going into Week 14, pushing him in the discussion for All-Pro recognition that is long overdue.

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