The Seattle Seahawks picked up a huge victory on Sunday afternoon, defeating the New York Jets 23-6 in dominant fashion. Seattle set the tone early and jumped out to a lead, blitzing New York from the opening snap and not allowing them to get comfortable.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak, keeping Seattle alive in the playoff race for the final Wild Card spot in the NFC. The Seahawks are now 8-7 and they will need to defeat the Los Angeles Rams in Week 18 coupled with a Detroit Lions victory to secure the seventh and final spot in the postseason.
Handling business for Seattle got a little tougher as their defense suffered a huge loss against the Jets. According to head coach Pete Carroll, via Adam Schefter, linebacker Jordyn Brooks tore his ACL on Sunday, ending his season.
That is a big blow to a Seahawks defense that has struggled at times this season to get the job done. Brooks was a nearly every down player for Seattle, playing at least 96 percent of the snaps in all but one game heading into Week 17, where he played only 37 percent before suffering the injury.
A first-round pick out of Texas Tech in 2020, Brooks was one of the players tasked with helping fill the void at the second level with long-time Seahawks Bobby Wagner being released and moving on. In 16 games this season, the former Red Raider had 161 combined tackles, three tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, five passes defended, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
Without Brooks in the lineup, Darrell Taylor, a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, will likely see his role increase. Taylor played 61 percent of the defensive snaps against the Jets, the most playing time that he has received since Week 3.
Rookie Boye Mafe, the team’s second-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, could also see an increase in playing time as a result of Brooks’ injury. It is certainly unfortunate timing as the Seahawks need all hands on deck to push for a playoff spot this season, but an injury of that nature could also keep him sidelined for a large chunk, if not all of the 2023 season.
