PITTSBURGH – There were a lot of moments to celebrate for the Seahawks as they flew back across the country following their 31-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
There was the happy wonderment at scoring one of the more bizarre touchdowns in the franchise’s 50-year history, watching the rebirth of the running game and the emergence of the offense as a whole, and turning former Seahawks superstar DK Metcalf almost irrelevant in his supposed revenge game against his old teammates.
But what happened at the end of the Steelers’ longest gain of the day – a short pass that Pittsburgh running back Jaylen Warren turned into a 65-yard gain – that may have resonated most with Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald.
After Warren broke at least three tackles and zigged and zagged his way down the left side of the field to almost within reach of the end zone, Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen raced through traffic from the other side of the field – where he had begun the play at the 32-yard line matched up at the line of scrimmage defending receiver Roman Wilson – to make the tackle.
The same Riq Woolen who’d given up two receptions in the final four minutes that allowed the 49ers to steal a 17-13 win over the Seahawks last Sunday at Lumen Field.
The same Riq Woolen whose job Macdonald publicly put on the line, saying as late as Wednesday that “we’ll see” if he stays in the starting lineup.
“Riq had a tough week,” Macdonald said. “And I thought he played a tremendous football game. … Riq is the guy that chased him down from the backside. Talk about ultimate effort, committed to the process, having your teammates’ back, playing with shocking effort.’’
In the moment, it seemed like Woolen was just delaying the inevitable when he stopped Warren at the 5 with the game tied at 14.
But two plays later, the Steelers faced a third-and-goal at the 4 and Aaron Rodgers tried to thread a pass into the back of the end zone to tight end Pat Freiermuth, who appeared momentarily open.
Only, Steeler receiver Calvin Austin III, who’d wandered into the area, reached up to try to grab it, with the ball going in and out of his hands and into those of the Seahawks’ Derion Kendrick for an interception that kept the game tied with 4:12 to play in the third quarter.
“Just doing my job,” said Kendrick, who was claimed off waivers from the Rams on Aug. 27 and was thrust into action as the nickel back with Devon Witherspoon out with a knee injury. “Austin ended up tipping the ball and (it was) my opportunity to cash out.’’
The Steelers never did take the lead as the Seahawks scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to run away with a win in a game they dominated statistically throughout.
Macdonald and other players pointed to keeping the Steelers out of the end zone there as a defining moment in the game – and for how they want their defense to be known.
“We defended a blade of grass,” Macdonald said. “And Riq was the guy that deserves a ton of credit on that front and helped us win that game.”
Woolen called the play no different from drills the Seahawks practice all time, constantly preached to run to the ball until the play is dead.
“I just seen it and I did it,” he said. “It wasn’t a big deal. I was just out there having fun.”
Safety Julian Love called the play “huge. That’s just the mindset of our defense, I think, is that series. They hit a big play, their player makes a hell of a play to get himself down there, and then we get the pick. Shout out to Riq for getting him down and making them snap it again.”
Until that point, the Seahawks had been dominating statistically. They would hold Metcalf to just three receptions for 20 yards, Aaron Rodgers to just 18 of 33 for 203 and the Steelers to just 72 rushing.
But for most of three quarters they couldn’t shake the Steelers because in part to mistakes of their own – two Sam Darnold interceptions in the first half (one that the Steelers returned to the Seahawks’ 21 and led to their only TD) and a missed field goal of 36 yards by Jason Myers.
But the Kendrick interception and goal-line stand appeared to finally break the Steelers.
A little later, with 12:46 left in the game, Myers hit a 54-yard field goal to put Seattle ahead 17-14.
Then Myers booted the kickoff to about the 12-yard line where it bounded through the hands of returner Kaleb Johnson. Johnson thought the ball was dead once it rolled into the end zone and walked away.
It wasn’t. George Holani won a race with a couple teammates to recover it for a Seahawks TD and a 24-14 lead on a play on which no time elapsed.
“Heck of a play by George, understanding the situation and then staying inbounds and recovering it,” Macdonald said.
The Steelers got a field goal on their next possession.
One more time, the Seahawks displayed the dominance they had most of the game, driving 73 yards in seven plays capped by a 19-yard run by Kenneth Walker III on third-and-goal.
The key plays were a 19-yard pass by Sam Darnold to AJ Barner on third-and-nine and a 43-yarder to Jaxon Smith-Njigba as the Seahawks finished with 395 yards to the Steelers’ 267.
That included 117 on the ground, all but 39 in the second half.
The win improved the Seahawks to 1-1 and allowed them to keep pace in what so far has been a hot NFC West.
It also improved Seattle to 8-1 on the road under Macdonald and restored any faith that might have been shook by the 49ers’ loss.
“We knew there would be times where our backs were against the wall,” Macdonald said. “… (but) our guys didn’t flinch.”
Macdonald and players said it was relatively calm at half even though they trailed 14-7 because of the two turnovers despite a 188-69 edge in yards.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t say frustration,” said linebacker Ernest Jones IV of the mood at the break. “It was just (let’s stay) consistent and keep a level head.”
Jones said the Seahawks understood the urgency not to fall to 0-2.
“For sure this win is big,” he said. “I’ve always said the first win (of the season) is the toughest in the NFL because that’s the one that it’s like, ‘All right, now we see what it takes’ and you move forward. And against a good team like this, you take anything you can get.”
A raucous postgame locker room had mostly cleared out an hour after the game ended.
But Woolen lingered, chatting amiably with a few other teammates and staffers.
If Woolen wanted last Sunday to end as quickly as possible, he seemed to want the feeling of this Sunday to last as long as it could.
“I just continued to be myself,” he said of this week. “Had my head down. I play cornerback – that’s one of the hardest positions there is to play, So I just kept my head down. My teammates got all the faith in my and I’ve got all the faith in my teammates. So I’m not worried at all.”