Devon Witherspoon Draws Rave Reviews from Fans as Geno Smith, Seahawks Rout Giants
Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacek
Featured Columnist IVOctober 3, 2023
Welcome to the spotlight, Devon Witherspoon.
The No. 5 overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft stole the show not far from Broadway and helped lead the Seattle Seahawks to a 24-3 victory over the New York Giants in Monday's NFC showdown at MetLife Stadium.
Seattle has now improved to 3-1 overall with its third consecutive win and seems much more likely to return to the playoffs than the 1-3 Giants, who were without star running back Saquon Barkley.
Witherspoon was all over the field from the cornerback position and finished with seven tackles, two sacks and an interception he returned 97 yards for a touchdown in the biggest play of the game. New York was on the doorstep of scoring and making it a one-possession deficit heading into the fourth quarter when the Illinois product stepped in front of a terrible Daniel Jones throw and took it to the house.
Social media was loving the rookie:
Witherspoon was the star, but it was far from a one-man effort for Seattle's defense.
The visitors' first touchdown of the game—a strike from Geno Smith to DK Metcalf—came on a short field caused by a Mario Edwards Jr. strip-sack of Jones. The Seahawks' defensive front also terrorized Jones and the Giants offensive line throughout the game and ended up with a stunning 11 sacks.
While Jones made multiple critical mistakes, including another interception to Quandre Diggs, there was no time for routes to develop downfield as the offensive line turned into a conveyor belt for Seattle pass-rushers.
The defensive showing was important because there was some offensive uncertainty for stretches for the Seahawks. Smith temporarily exited with a knee injury in the second quarter before returning in the third, and there weren't many explosive plays outside of Drew Lock's connection with Noah Fant to set up a Kenneth Walker III touchdown run.
The offense didn't have to do anything special thanks to the play of Witherspoon and the rest of the Seahawks defense, and the team has plenty of momentum going into the bye as a result.