Boye Mafe steps up to a new Seahawks standard. But, man, do they miss Uchenna Nwosu
The longer-term question remains: What are the Seahawks going to be without Uchenna Nwosu?
But there is a pertinent one right now on Seattle’s defense, without Nwosu.
Where would these Seahawks be without Boye Mafe?
“He’s been ballin’,” safety and teammate Jamal Adams said. “Just consistently doing what he does best, (yet) he’s getting better.
“Obviously, this is year two for him, so the sky is the limit for Mafe.”
The outside linebacker and 2022 draft choice was about the only star of the Seahawks’ dark afternoon in Baltimore last weekend. Mafe sacked elusive Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and forced a fumble that he recovered in the second quarter. That kept the game 7-0 — temporarily.
Seattle lost 37-3. It tied the second-largest margin of defeat in Carroll’s 14 seasons as Seahawks coach.
“We’re really fortunate to have Mafe,” coach Pete Carroll said.
Mafe, who also had six tacklesd against the Ravens, tied Michael Sinclair from 1997-98 as the only Seahawks to have a sack in six consecutive games.
“Huge play. He continues to do stuff in every game,” Carroll said. “He’s really a good football player, and it shows.
“It’s hard to do what he just did in the last six weeks. He’s just getting warmed up. He’s just so young and so fresh, and he’s just getting started. It’s exciting to know that.
“I wish we could have had some more contributions like that.”
He and the Seahawks wish they could have Nwosu back.
Uchenna Nwosu a big loss
Nwosu was the team’s co-leader in sacks last season. He was fresh off a $59 million contract extension this summer.
Then Oct. 22 Nwosu tore his pectoral muscle in the first half of Seattle’s home win over Arizona.
The sack numbers are what got Nwosu paid. That’s what gets all outside linebackers and edge rushers paid in the NFL.
Yet the Seahawks are truly feeling Nwosu’s value in everything else with him gone. He is an every-down force, a strong edge-setter against the run. He’s stout taking on blockers and ball carriers, when he’s not fast enough to run down quarterbacks trying to throw.
In the two games Nwosu has missed so far, Cleveland has run for 155 yards and Baltimore romped for 298 on the ground. So much for the Seahawks improving from 30th in the NFL against the run last season to leading the league in yards allowed per carry and being top three in rushing defense. That’s what they were into mid-October.
Until Nwosu got hurt.
“There’s a reason that he was ‘that guy’ for us, and it’s not even just how he played,” Mafe said. “It’s also the mentality he had and the mental aspect of the game. Being out there with him, he’s one of those people that likes to give you tips and tendencies. Just being out there with him was easy.”
Six-time All-Pro Bobby Wagner plays middle linebacker inside Nwosu, and now inside Darrell Taylor. Taylor has been exploited by opposing offenses running the ball on the edge and off tackle for two seasons. Taylor often charges up the field at the snap, regardless if the play is a run or a pass. That has often opened an I-5-sized lane for blockers and backs to convoy through for big rushing yards.
In his rookie season as a second-round draft choice from Minnesota last year, Mafe replaced Taylor as the starting and early-down outside linebacker opposite Nwosu against the run.
Seattle’s defense is all the way down to 21st in the league in rushing defense (122 yards per game) entering Sunday’s game against Washington (4-5) at Lumen Field. The Commanders rank just 26th in rushing offense and have relied on the throwing of new quarterback Sam Howell. But that approach may change after Washington watches Seahawks game film of their defense without Nwsosu setting the edge.
“There’s really no way to replace that (production of Nwosu. He’s too unique,” Carroll said last month when Nwosu was heading to surgery.
Boye Mafe into lead role
So now it’s up to Mafe, Taylor needing to improve and rookie Derick Hall needing to develop. That process stopped Sunday in Baltimore when Hall left the game with a re-injury of a shoulder issue he had in the preseason two months ago. Hall’s status for the Washington game is in doubt.
It may take Mafe to make more plays with his speed and rapidly accelerating smarts for Seattle’s defense to rebound from Baltimore.
He’s been getting into backfields more easily than any Seahawk defender except Nwosu and, at times when he blitzes, cornerback/nickel Devon Witherspoon. Mafe’s quickness off the edge traps every quarterback not named Lamar Jackson.
Mafe credits an offseason of introspection, after a rookie year in which he acknowledges the NFL came at him hard and fast.
“As of last year it was one thing: I was a rookie coming in understanding the game,” Mafe said.
“And then all of a sudden, you’re going into your second year, you have a plan. You have a whole offseason, now I know what to expect and now I know how much time I have to prepare.
“Honestly going from last season to this season I took that time to really reflect on my game, reflect on what I need to, how to get comfortable out there, and I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve noticed. But definitely the biggest thing for me is the comfortability for when I’m on the field. And all of a sudden you hit an inside move, and then — boom — you’re there at the quarterback.”
Carroll loves to say the biggest growth in an NFL player comes between his rookie year and his second season.
This second season, Mafe’s growth has exceeded the norm.
“He exudes a different awareness, a different confidence he’s had, and that only helps,” Carroll said. “It just helps him play a little bit faster, have a little bit more edge, a little more physical. All of those things are showing up.”
Carroll and defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt have made Mafe’s plays regular film watching for the entire team in meetings. One reason is to show teammates, this is how you do it.
The other is to give Mafe confidence that he’s The Man.
Because with Nwosu out, with the rugged, run-heavy San Francisco 49ers also 5-3 with them in the NFC West and on the second twice in the next month, the Seahawks REALLY need him to be The Man.
“We’ve been making him aware of how much better he looks,” Carroll said, “so he can take advantage of what’s going on.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
