Devon Witherspoon, Nick Emmanwori Get Big Defensive Stops To Fuel Seahawks' 31-27 Win

Four different passes defensed were large proponents of Seattle’s win and cornerbacks Devon Witherspoon and Nick Emmanwori led the charge.

Jan 26, 2026 at 12:35 AM

Ari Horton

Seahawks.com Writer

When it comes to naming some of Seattle's defensive leaders, a handful of names usually get brought up; Ernest Jones IV because he is the "quarterback of the defense," Jarran Reed for his veteran presence and pregame speeches and Devon Witherspoon because of his infectious energy.

"It was said early this season that he's just the heart of our defense," safety Julian Love said. "He just is the essence. Spoon is it. He plays with just such a raw energy and we love him for it. He plays with it. He lives with it. He walks down the hallway at the facility. I'm sure you guys hear him Spoon is Spoon and we feed off of that."

So, when Witherspoon made two fourth quarter stops to keep the Rams out of the endzone and keep them from potentially taking the lead late in the quarter, Love said it was, "pretty fitting" that Witherspoon was the one to make those stops.

On a third-and-four play at Seattle's six-yard line, Witherspoon broke up a pass in the endzone intended for receiver Konata Mumpfield. And on the very next play, a fourth-and-four play he had another pass breakup in the end zone.

"That's Devon Witherspoon, that's him," head coach Mike Macdonald said after the game. "We actually didn't even execute that play well on the fourth down, but he just covered his guy forever and just refused to let his guy catch the ball and that's who he is. That's who he is every day. That's who he is every day. So incredibly proud of him."

For Witherspoon personally, being able to make such game altering plays in the game was important to him, especially after missing a few key plays earlier in the game.

"It meant everything to me, especially when you gave up a couple of plays early on in the game, you can't let that throw you out your game," he said. "You gotta battle, man. It's a four quarter game. It's hard to play corner in this league. But you can't let it get in your head. You gotta make the plays that come to you, and that's what I did."

Witherspoon finished the game with six tackles and the two passes defensed.

"He's a dog," safety Coby Bryant said. "Everybody knows he's a dog. Nobody lost faith in him. We knew he was going to bounce back and make a play. We believed in him and it was exciting to see."

Despite the Rams offense being able to get big chunk plays throughout the game, Seattle's defense stood true to their "one-play-at-a-time" mindset.

"Like I said, not even a bend-not-break mentality, it's more like protect the blade of grass," Jones said. "We've said it all year, no matter if they take a 60-yard pass and they get down to the one, we feel like we can stop them. So, regardless of what's going on in the game, it's snap by the snap. That's what I kept telling the guys. Keep going. Push."

Along with Witherspoon's two big pass breakups, rookie Nick Emmanwori also came up with his own pair of passes defensed to keep the Rams from scoring heading into halftime.

On a second-and-five play intended for Puka Nacua, Emmanwori got his hands on the ball and forced the Rams to take a timeout. Then on the very next play, a third-and-five play, it was Emmanwori all over the ball again forcing a three-and-out and giving the Seahawks a chance to score before the half. He finished the game with three passes defensed and five tackles.

"Thought Nick played a great game, "Macdonald said. "A lot of plays on the ball. We're asking him to do a lot of stuff, playing near the line of scrimmage, playing both DB spots. That was awesome. And then because I think we had the drive earlier when we really didn't do anything and defense picked it up with the three and out, which I don't think we've done that, maybe except for the first drive."

Jones, who was part of the Rams Super Bowl winning team during his rookie year remembered what being in big moments like Sunday's game felt like as a first-year player, and he wanted to make sure he poured into Emmanwori.

"I spoke to the group maybe a couple of weeks ago," he said. "I was really speaking to Nick, because me personally, I'm out there with A.D. [Aaron Donald], a bunch of guys who were legends, and I just didn't want to mess it up, and I was playing timid, playing scared. I told Nick to be the reason why we go win, and Nick made some helluva plays tonight. To do it, to go through that team, and to do what we did today, I'm just thankful."

The moment wasn't too much for the rookie.

"He stepped up big," Uchenna Nwsou said. "That's just what he does. He's like that. We drafted him for a reason. He's really a first-round talent that we snuck in the second and shout out to Nick, he's that guy."

Witherspoon added, "Bro made all the plays that came to him. You can't ask for no better player than that. He's a freak athlete. There's nothing I can really say to it. And little bro be out there balling. Shout out to him. We need him. He's going to keep doing his thing out there for sure."

The defense as a unit held the Rams to just 114 rushing yards and came up with 1.0 sack, three quarterback hits, seven passes defensed, a tackle for loss and two forced fumbles, all against the league's No. 1 scoring offense.

Jones said, "I think it gives us confidence, one knowing that we can beat them, but two it was good those plays happen so that when we prepare for the Patriots we kind of know what we gotta stop, what we need to get better on, so honestly for me the plays that they made, they were also just learning moments for us."

And to top the entire game off, on the final defensive drive, Seattle's defense went out and stopped the Rams offense one more time for good measure.

"I think that just speaks to what we do every single day," Derick Hall said. "We eat, think, and breathe the death zone. That was a true death zone moment. We knew the game was on the line, we had to go out back. Put the guys out there, they just made plays."