NFL Week 17 analysis: Winners and losers from Seahawks 23, Jets 6

This is how the new year begins!

Perhaps all this will be in vain and Green Bay Packers He would get the last playoff spot, however Seattle Seahawks Guaranteed they’ll have something to play for in Week 18 vs Los Angeles Rams. win and some Detroit Lions Help and you have a playoff team. At least the Seahawks played spoiler by eliminating New York Jets in a comfortable 23-6 win.

Here are the first winners and losers of 2023!

winners

Darrell Taylor

It was a disappointing year for Taylor, after he lost his favorite to pick up the wire assignment at Darrell Johnson Jr. He came off the day recording 2.5 sacks, including a Mike White bar that led to a turnover to end the first half. Quietly he has 8.5 sacks on the season, but overall he hasn’t necessarily been impressive on a per-moment basis. On this occasion, Taylor played his best ball and looked more like what we’ve seen of him in 2021.

Quinton Jefferson

Not much has been said about Q-Jeff this year but he deserves his props. Jefferson finished with 1.5 sacks and was in a few stops. Believe it or not, Jefferson has 5.5 sacks per season, which is a career high.

Tarek Wollen and Michael Jackson

Tight coverage almost all day and had his first interception of the season, which put the game to sleep. He was bailed out by Tariq Wolin on the return, where he fumbled and Wolin had to retrieve it. Meanwhile, Wulin almost chose on his own, even teaming up with Boye Mafe to do good things. Did you know that Wulin’s speed is 4.26 by 40?

Quandre Diggs

The deep quarterback was an unchallenged straight, and Diggs caught his third interception of the season. It wasn’t Diggs’ best season, but this looked like one of his best games, and that pick prevented the Jets from getting at least a field goal opportunity. A tip to Jonathan Abram for helping him out with this wit, too.

Cody Barton

I thought Barton played very well, and honestly the fact that he turned a screen pass into a negative play would make him a winner in my book.

Kenneth Walker III

Nothing like starting the game 60 yards to set up a touchdown! He finished with 133 yards rushing and 9 yards rushing first, with some neat tackles to gain some difficult yardage. Walker now has over 1,000 offensive yards and is just 64 yards short of 1,000.

Deejay Dallas

Yes, Deejay Dallas! He had some furious runs and finished with 98 scrimmage yards (55 receiving, 43 rushing). His offhand pass on the second drive of the game set up a Jason Myers field goal. It’s crazy to watch Dallas run the way they do on normal offensive plays compared to his running back duties.

Colby Parkinson

With Tyler Lockett in and out of the lineup, Will Dissly of the Year, and Marquise Goodwin similarly on IR, Parkinson had a heavier workload than we’ve seen throughout his career. Parkinson caught five passes for 36 yards and the game’s opening touchdown. Here is his biggest role in this crime in 2023.

Tyler Mabry

First NFL catch, First NFL touchdown! Who made Tyler Mabry get the score in the penalty area? Congratulations to him on a great moment in his career and mainly the early dagger given the Jets attacking inefficiency.

Gino Smith

The numbers aren’t impressive: 18/29 for 183 yards, 2 TDs, but the Jets have an outstanding pass defense, and Seattle has been sorely lacking in a wide receiver. Smith had a few rough moments (including a hilarious touchdown at 20-6 and a bizarre fumble that he was able to recover from), but outside of that I think he did his bit against a tough defense. In the end, not only did he get the win, he knocked out the team that drafted him.

offensive line

Yes, Gino has been sacked four times, but I think at least two of those have been in Smith’s sacks/coverage. The Jets have a very good defense and Seattle has downed almost 200 of them, the most any team has managed against Robert Saleh’s set. There were some quality wins, and Quinn Williams was quieter than expected (while still getting 4 QB hits). Stone Forsyth has also taken a place of his own in Abe Lucas’ place.

Michael Dixon

Michael Dixon.

The second half to defend the run

The Jets were kind of pressed on passing with the score state but they mustered -1 yard drive after halftime. Slow start to running D in the first half but has been really good in back to back weeks.

losers

DK Metcalfe

No doubt DJ Reed and Sauce Gardner have developed into an elite linebacker tandem, but Metcalf really hasn’t made an impact in the passing game. He had one catch (on five targets) for 3 yards and had a drop on a deep third conversion when he had a step on Gardner. I’ve been vocal about how Shane Waldron used Metcalf as a giant possession receiver almost more than spammed his biggest strengths as a talented speedster, and that includes last season when Russell Wilson was the starter, but some of that is also in DK. There are a few errors and early drops he’s prone to that keep him from being there as an elite Tier 1 receiver like Justin Jefferson or Davante Adams.

Perhaps getting more receiver depth next season could mitigate some of these issues and the obvious attempts by defenses to limit DK. DK has to be better – and it’s already very good – but I think we’ve seen the limitations of Metcalf and the offense as a whole without other WRs deserving of respect.

Jason Myers

Miss ?! Miss ?! What is going on?! A 44-yard field goal goes wide right and his streak of made kicks is now ending. Blasphemy! silly! Unacceptable!

(Myers still does all his other kicks, but I had to play around here)

NFL television productions and fish throwing installation at Pike Place Market

We got it. Seattle has a place where the fish are thrown. The city has other interesting sights and attractions. At least use recent footage!

Final notes

• I don’t want to completely pour water on Seattle’s defensive performance because they engaged in destruction, but Mike White is almost certainly the worst quarterback the Seahawks have faced all season. Yes, worse than John Walford. It was pretty miserable, and wearing a rib guard likely affected some of his throws. He was wildly inaccurate all afternoon.
• Dareke Young looks like a promising blocker in running plays. No wonder he was used as a fullback last week at one point! He also dropped the kick half end of Michael Dixon in the 1.
• Shane Waldron did a reasonably good job of getting tight ends more involved in offense again, and he really had no choice. The Jets were such that they really started the game and left them in a hole they couldn’t come close to digging themselves out of.
• Pete Carroll kicking fourth and third at the Jets 40…not what I would have done. But in hindsight, the flow of the game may have justified that decision. He was still more aggressive than usual in the 4th down positions and that is a positive.
• Shout out to Xavier Crawford for rushing a Jets punter into a curve kick that everyone thought was deflected. More aggressive play by the Seahawks’ special teams.
• What a predicament for Jordin Brooks. There’s a really good chance his knee injury is serious and that’s a blow to this defense, who weren’t as deep as a fullback to begin with but are now losing their captaincy. Tanner Moss has stepped up impressively but if this injury is the worst case scenario then there could be concern for Brooks next season.
• It’s not over until it’s over. The Seahawks have a guaranteed Top 5 draft pick on their possession, all while winning and the Lions away from returning to the playoffs. We’ve been feeling down in recent weeks but it’s also been a lot of fun. Let’s hope the fun continues for at least another week. And you know what’s fun? Do the enemy’s reaction again.