ATLANTA—One of the biggest compliments Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald bestows upon a worthy player is to call him a force multiplier.

It's a term he has used so often to describe cornerback Devon Witherspoon over the past two seasons that now other players are catching on and borrowing their coach's phrase.

"Having him out there, you know he's going to be there, he's loud, but his play speaks for itself as well," cornerback Riq Woolen said.

"Ball-knowers know, football players know and people around the league know that he's a great player. When he's out there, he's a force multiplier. So, having him out there making those plays is amazing, and getting his first pick of the season is pretty cool."

Witherspoon, who has been selected to two Pro Bowls in as many seasons in the NFL, is unquestionably one of the Seahawks' best players, but his great play doesn't always show up on the stat sheet. In Sunday's 37-9 win over the Falcons, however, Witherspoon was all over the stat sheet.

Witherspoon totaled seven tackles, several of them impressive open-field tackles, one of which saw him chop down Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts on a third-down catch to force a punt. He also recorded his first interception of the season, had a pass breakup that led to rookie Nick Emmanwori's first career interception, got a hard hit on quarterback Kirk Cousins on a third-down blitz, and recovered a fumble in the red zone after DeMarcus Lawrence knocked the ball loose from running back Bijan Robinson.

Both the interception Witherspoon had and the one he helped create for Emmanwori were the type of high-level plays that made him the No. 5 overall pick in 2023. On his interception, Witherspoon crowded the line of scrimmage as if he were blitzing, then pealed back at the snap, quickly recognizing a screen. Witherspoon broke free of a block attempt just in time to put a hard hit into the back of David Sills, the intended receiver. That hit caused the ball to pop up in the air where it was then batted multiple times before somehow finding its way back to Witherspoon.

"I don't even know how I caught it," Witherspoon said. "I just know it ended up in my hand, and I'm glad I held onto the ball."

On Emmanwori's interception, Witherspoon drove on a short pass to Pitts, got one hand around the big tight end, and batted the ball in the air, with Emmanwori there to snag the pick.

"You had to have felt 'Spoon throughout that game," Macdonald said. "What a phenomenal player. The play on the (Emmanwori) interception is an incredibly difficult play to make. He played with anticipation and made an awesome play. Then on his interception, another just super high-level football play. Just an incredible football play. Understanding there's a lot of stuff going on in that play, and he just gets it and played with anticipation. The relentlessness to go keep attacking the football. I mean, that ball was alive there for a second. It was great."

For Witherspoon, the interception was just the second of his career along with the 97-yard pick-six he had against the Giants, so he enjoyed the moment, celebrating with his teammates with a dance in the end zone, but what matters to him most in all of that isn't that he got an interception, but rather than the whole defense had another chance to celebrate together.

"It feels good, but we really don't pay attention to the stat sheet, for real," Witherspoon said. "We just go out there and do our job. That's what makes us good, we don't really care about the stats, who made the plays. We all celebrate, because we're all out there as one. But it felt good."