Seattle Seahawks Report Card: Top Performers in 23-20 OT Win at New England Patriots

Stars shined bright for the Seahawks in Foxboro on Sunday, starting with a gem of a performance from Geno Smith and two of his top receiving weapons.

Sep 15, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) reacts with linebacker Boye Mafe (53) after a sack against New England Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) during the second half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images / Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Passing their first road test in the Mike Macdonald era, the Seattle Seahawks overcame a sluggish second half on offense to secure a 23-20 road victory over the New England Patriots and take sole possession of first place in the NFC West two weeks into the season.

Leading the charge, Geno Smith threw for 327 yards and completed a career-high 33 passes, while Jaxon Smith-Njigba and DK Metcalf became the first pair of Seahawks teammates to eclipse 10 catches and 100 yards in the same game. After reviewing All-22 film from Sunday's tough road opener in Foxboro, here are my top five grades and other notable performances from Week 2.

Geno Smith

Overall Grade: 91.0 (Passing 93, Rushing 85)

Even with pass protection being passable at best for most of the afternoon and his receivers letting him down with five drops, Smith turned in one of his finest performances steering Ryan Grubb's offense. In the first half, he nearly completed 85 percent of his throws, dicing up the Patriots at all three levels of the defense, including taking advantage of a coverage mishap that allowed DK Metcalf to come wide open on a 56-yard touchdown in the first quarter. He exquisitely moved the pocket throughout the game to evade rushers and create throwing windows, with his most impressive pass coming early in the third quarter when he slid to his left to buy just a split second extra time to complete a 24-yard missile over the middle to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

At his best in the short game, he connected on 22 out of 25 passes that traveled fewer than 10 yards and he did so while burning New England when it blitzed, throwing for 206 yards and completing 75 percent of his throws with extra pressure coming. Adding to his growing legacy, he executed his ninth game-winning drive over the past two seasons in overtime, coming through in the clutch once again.

Leonard Williams

Overall Grade: 87.5 (Pass Rush 90, Tackling 84, Run Defense 88)

Continuing to live up to the massive contract he signed to stay in Seattle back in March, the Patriots didn't have much of an answer for Williams regardless of where he lined up. Creating disruption from his traditional 3-tech alignment as well as 5-tech "big" end and out of a two-point stance out wide, he made several impactful plays over the course of Sunday's win, starting with a timely pressure and hit on Jacoby Brissett on third down in the red zone in the second quarter to force a field goal. On that particular play, he worked off of three different blockers and hustled outside to meet the scrambling quarterback, hitting him as he unloaded the ball to coax an incompletion.

Leonard Williams has been playing with his hair on fire in the first two games. Moves so smoothly for a player of his size and this is teaching tape effort working off multiple blocks to chase down Brisssett for a QB hit on scramble. #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/QGPFeOKJWt

— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) September 17, 2024

Fast forwarding to the third quarter, Williams overpowered guard Michael Jordan with an overwhelming bull rush off the snap on 3rd and 10, allowing him to gobble up Brissett after the quarterback tried to step up in the pocket for a sack. He would later tack on a second partial sack, pairing up with Byron Murphy II for a crucial third down stop that pushed New England backward and set up Julian Love's blocked field goal on the next snap. Overall, he finished with five pressures and hit Brissett a grand total of four times while also contributing a run stop that netted two yards in a dominant effort up front.

Boye Mafe

Overall Grade: 86.0 (Pass Rush 88, Tackling 80, Run Defense 85, Coverage 90)

For the second straight week, Mafe made the act of sneaking into the backfield off the edge look routine, opening the game with a bang by chasing down Brissett from behind for a third down sack to force a quick Patriots punt. He frequently pestered the veteran quarterback for the rest of the game, and while he wasn't able to tally a second sack on six total pressures and also had a bad whiff on a potential tackle for loss that turned into a 45-yard run for Antonio Gibson, his efforts led to big plays from teammates on several occasions and a second quarterback hit midway through the third quarter led to an incompletion right before Brissett's knee hit the ground.

Check out Boye Mafe with the coverage on Austin Hooper... #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/bU3OjyaQAt

— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) September 17, 2024

Where Mafe deserves serious props, however, won't show up in the box score. The third-year pass rusher has been working hard on improving in coverage playing in a defense that asks him to take on that responsibility more often than he has done in the past, and as evidenced on one particular play on Sunday, he has answered the bell. With the Patriots in the red zone and threatening to score, he wound up matched up on athletic pass catching tight end Austin Hooper and looked like a natural in man coverage, sticking to his hip pocket throughout an out route and taking away one of Brissett's primary options on an incompletion.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Overall Grade: 85.0 (Receiving 87, Run Blocking 64*)

Coming off a quiet season opener where he only had two receptions, Smith-Njigba wasted little time making an impact against the Patriots, equaling his previous week total on the first drive alone with a pair of catches and a first down. After several short catches, the second-year wideout started to produce chunk plays in the second quarter, taking a quick curl route and turning back to the middle of the field for a 19-yard gain and hauling in a 16-yard catch to set up a Zach Charbonnet touchdown run, finishing the half with a team-high six catches for 57 yards.

Geno Smith wasn't fazed at all when the Patriots sent five or more rushers on Sunday. Pass pro here holds up for most part and he delivers quick strike to JSN from pocket, letting the receiver go to work creating YAC. #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/fYbU6lomu8

— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) September 17, 2024

Though Smith-Njigba did have an awful drop on a back shoulder throw in the fourth quarter that would have netted a first down on 2nd and 20, he made several big plays in the second half on the way to a career day. His longest catch came on the first drive of the third quarter when Smith hit him on a deep in-breaking route for 24 yards and he later caught a pair of short passes to aid Seattle's game-winning drive in overtime, wrapping up with 117 yards on 12 catches while adding 42 yards after the catch and forcing two missed tackles with the ball in his hands.

DK Metcalf

Overall Grade: 83.5 (Receiving 85, Run Blocking 60*)

Not to be outdone by Smith-Njigba, Metcalf set off some mid-September fireworks at Gillette Stadium when he rocketed past two defenders on a go route without any safety help, allowing Smith to loft an easy 56-yard touchdown to put the Seahawks on the board midway through the first quarter. He caught three other passes in the half, including a nine-yard catch right before halftime to set up Jason Myers for a short field goal, finishing up with a team-best 78 yards in the first two quarters.

Great job by Geno Smith evading untouched blitzing linebacker, completing a difficult throw along the sideline to DK Metcalf, who did a fine job keeping his feet inbounds for first down to set up game-tying field goal. pic.twitter.com/gInKTPIHcO

— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) September 17, 2024

Like Smith-Njigba, Metcalf wasn't perfect on Sunday, having two catchable passes in the third quarter slip through his hands, and he was penalized for offensive pass interference to wipe out a successful bubble screen. But he redeemed himself in the closing moments of the game, catching 14 and nine-yard receptions on the final drive of regulation before Myers split the uprights to send the contest to overtime. In the extra period, he showed off some toe drag swag on a 10-yard catch along the sideline for a first down, capping a strong performance off with 129 yards receiving while catching 10 out of 14 targets thrown his direction.

Other Notable Performances

Once again dominating in pass protection while not allowing any pressures, Charles Cross narrowly missed out on the top five for the week due to a subpar day run blocking, finishing with an 82.0 score. None of Seattle's other starting offensive line finished with better than a 72.0, with Anthony Bradford being the only other blocker who didn't allow at least two pressures. In particular, center Connor Williams had a challenging afternoon, giving up three pressures, a sack, and a second quarterback hit to score a 70.0 overall. Though he averaged under three yards per carry and didn't benefit from much blocking in front of him, Zach Charbonnet came through with several clutch receptions down the stretch and also balled picking up blitzes in pass protection, finishing with a 78.0 overall mark. Noah Fant endured a difficult afternoon, dropping two passes and struggling the blocking game, including getting blown up on a failed 4th and 1 run play, earning a 68.0 grade.

Enjoying his first breakout game of sorts, Byron Murphy II racked up frequent flier miles getting into the backfield, racking up four pressures, a sack, and a tackle for loss while nearly making the top five with an 83.5 score. Quietly off to a stellar start to his Seahawks career, safety Rayshawn Jenkins didn't give up any catches in coverage and tallied nine tackles, including four run stops netting two or fewer yards to receive an 81.0 grade. Fellow safety Julian Love gave up two first down catches to Hunter Henry and missed a tackle, but he still had a solid performance with seven tackles, a pass breakup, and a blocked field goal to earn a 79.0 overall mark. Cornerback Riq Woolen let a potential sack slip from his fingers, but he only allowed two catches for 14 yards and played lockdown coverage, earning an 80.0 overall mark. Rookie linebacker Tyrice Knight had his share of mistakes in his first extended action, including getting blocked on a 35-yard screen play, but he also had five tackles resulting in two or fewer yards for the Patriots, earning a 76.0 score.