Bengals smoked them early. How ‘grateful’ Jamal Adams, Seahawks defense then changed
Jamal Adams had been waiting more than year for this sigh and affirmative shake of his head.
“Grateful,” he said Sunday afternoon. “Just grateful, man.”
The Seahawks’ three-time Pro Bowl and $70 million safety completed — finally, from start through finish — his first game in 13 months. No more torn quadriceps tendon. No more concussion.
Back to ball.
He had four tackles, one for a loss, plus a hit on quarterback Joe Burrow blitzing in Seattle’s 17-13 loss at the Cincinnati Bengals.
How the Seahawks used Adams in their three-safety looks represented the change that resulted in Seattle’s defense going from ransacked by Joe Burrow and the Bengals on the first two drives to regal the rest of Sunday.
The game began with coach Pete Carroll and defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt playing Adams with safeties Julian Love and Quandre Diggs — and blitzing Adams, plus rookie Devon Witherspoon from nickel back. It was as Seattle began its previous game, Oct. 2 at the New York Giants before a bye. Adams got concussed nine plays into that game, his return from 13 months away following leg surgery.
Sunday, Burrow completed 17 of his first 19 passes and Cincinnati easily scored touchdowns on its first two possessions for a 14-7 lead. The Bengals had Burrow throwing so quickly on such short patterns by his receivers, the Seahawks’ blitzing defensive backs couldn’t affect the quarterback.
“Joe was getting the ball out quick, obviously. We figured that out early on,” Adams said. “He wasn’t allowing our pressure to get there.”
So Carroll and Hurtt changed. They had Adams and Witherspoon play more coverage, and close to the line. Witherspoon broke up two passes to Pro Bowl receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Adams had a third-down stop on a 1-yard pass outside right.
Adams punctuated that with a high-step march toward the south end zone, irritating the Bengals fans but delighting the smattering of Seahawks fans there.
“We switched it up, scheme-wise,” Love said. “It was going to be tighter in coverage and make plays.”
How Seahawks changed on defense
The Seahawks blitzed linebackers Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks more than Adams and Witherspoon. Edge rushers Dre’Mont Jones and Boye Mafe plus nose tackle Jarran Reed, starring for a fifth game in a row, got sacks of Burrow.
After the first two drives, the front seven did the pass rushing. The back four (or five) did what defensive backs typically do. They covered. Burrow began spraying passes like a lawn sprinkler. Cornerback Tre Brown made an exquisite interception anticipating Burrow’s back-shoulder throw deep to Ja’Marr Chase one one one down the right sideline early in the third quarter.
The Seahawks stopped Cincinnati on the Bengals’ final eight possessions. That kept Seattle in a game when it looked like it might allow 50 points in early on.
“Phenomenal,” Adams said of the defense’s uprising.
“We got started really slow, kind of putting ourselves in a hole as far as penalties and killing ourselves. But I felt like we finished the game strong.”
They showed what Adams is known for, what his teammates love about him.
“We felt like we came out there and we had swagger,” Adams said. “We had juice.”
In the end, the only points Cincinnati scored after its second offensive drive came after Geno Smith’s second interception. Seattle allowed zero yards in three plays and the Bengals kicked a 51-yard field goal for a 17-13 lead early in the fourth quarter.
“I thought the guys played about as good as they could play on the defensive side of the ball,” Carroll said. “They lit it up in the second half with pressure. Didn’t make a yard on the turnover they got, and forced the field goal.
“The defense gave us every chance.”
Smith and the Seahawks offense wasted all of them, including four chances from inside the Bengals 10-yard line. Those produced just three total points.
That — and, for a change from recent Seahawks seasons — is why Seattle’s three-game winning streak is over entering its home game next weekend versus Arizona.
“I think guys were a little bit rattled coming out the gate,” Brooks said. “I think once guys got comfortable we started to get a lot more nastier and a lot stickier. We pretty much limited them in what they wanted to do.”
Brooks said as the game went on Sunday, the Seahawks defense believed they were going to win it — perhaps by themselves.
“I mean, we came into the game with that attitude; we always feel like it’s going to be on us,” Brooks said. “It was this game.
“The first half we didn’t get off to a good start. The second half we played excellent. Just wasn’t enough to win the game in the end.”
All Seahawks finally together
Sunday was the first time this season the Seahawks played with all 11 of their defensive starters healthy for an entire game. Holding Burrow and the Bengals to three points in the final 42 minutes and 52 yards after halftime has Seattle’s defenders thinking they are on their way to where they want, and need, to be.
“I feel like we’re just getting started,” Adams said. “Obviously, just having everybody out there, that’s the key. Just flowing and understanding where everybody’s going to be, communication-wise, playing as one.
“The sky’s the limit.”
Sunday, their offense was.
“It makes it more frustrating, of course. That was a game to win, right there,” Carroll said. “We came out here on the road, their crowd going crazy, and we’re right there. We’re inside the 10 a bunch of times to win the game.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t get it in.”
This story was originally published October 15, 2023 at 4:28 PM.
