Commentary: Biggest reason Seahawks are atop NFC West? Just look at big Leonard Williams

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The following few paragraphs have been checked for hyperbole. None has been detected.

That pick-six by defensive end Leonard Williams in the second quarter Sunday was the play of the season thus far for the Seahawks. It very well may prove to be the reason that they end up making the playoffs.

Oh, and it was made by a guy playing the most dominant defense in Seattle since a prime Bobby Wagner. There are no fewer than 99 reasons why the Seahawks (7-5) sit in first place in the NFC West right now – but the main reason is No. 99.

Williams admitted that he was playing “with a chip on my shoulder” after being denied NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors last Wednesday. His two and a half sacks, three tackles for a loss, four quarterback hits and one pass defensed weren’t quite enough to convince voters to choose him over teammate Coby Bryant. So in Sunday’s 26-21 win over the Jets, Williams decided to step it up a notch and have the game of his career.

Now he might end up as the conference’s Defensive Player of the Month because of his host of highlights – the greatest being Sunday’s interception.

The Jets (3-9) looked like they were about to put the Seahawks away midway through the second quarter Sunday. They led 21-7, had the ball on Seattle’s 9 and watched receiver Garrett Wilson make himself wide open in the end zone on second down. But quarterback Aaron Rodgers overthrew him, and on the next play, Williams dropped into coverage, deflected Rodgers’ pass into his own hands and ran the ball 92 yards to the end zone. It was the longest interception return for a D-lineman in NFL history.

“He was going fast as hell,” cornerback Riq Woolen said of his 300-pound teammate. “He was flying. I think he ran 20 miles per hour.”

Officially, it was 17.84 mph – and the return exhausted Williams, who lay on the ground afterward as teammates jumped on him in celebration. It was the first touchdown of his NFL career, but hardly his sole standout moment in a game in which the Jets went scoreless for the final 39 minutes.

There was the 2-yard TFL on running back Braelon Allen early in the third. There was the 11-yard sack of Rodgers later in the fourth. And there was the 5-yard sack of Rodgers on third-and-10 with 1:22 remaining that all but iced the win. That’s two straight weeks of first-team All-Pro-worthy defense by a man whose team is 3-0 since the bye week.

The way you’re playing right now, how does that rank with some of the best stretches of your career?

“I think it’s up there. I can’t remember which season it was (2020), but there was a season when I had 111/2 and I think won Defensive Player of the Week two or three times that year, so it’s kind of close to that season, but even that season I don’t think was as dominant as what I’m doing right now,” said Williams, who has 71/2 sacks this season. “I don’t think necessarily that the stats always say the full picture, and I think now just being older, more mature, understanding my strengths and understanding the offense more just allows me to play fast. I just feel like I have more grown-man strength now, and feel like even when I’m not making a play, I feel like I’m more dominant on the field.”

The Seahawks have brought on a host of quality defensive players over the past few years, which include Pro Bowlers such as Woolen, Julian Love and Devon Witherspoon – all currently with Seattle. But they haven’t had a consistently menacing presence such as a Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor or Wagner. Williams isn’t there yet, but if the rest of the season resembles what he’s done over the past couple weeks, he is in that conversation.

“He’s playing out of his mind right now,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said.

The result of his recent feats are the Seahawks winning two games they might not have if he wasn’t on the field. Now they sit alone atop the NFC West with a playoff berth becoming increasingly likely.

A lot of players have contributed to the Seahawks’ success this season. Not yet mentioned in this space was the fact that quarterback Geno Smith led his third game-winning drive of the year.

But nobody in a Seahawks uniform is playing better than Williams right now. The man they call “Big Cat” is feasting on his foes.