Seahawks Defense Puts On Another Strong Performance In Week 2

The Seahawks’ defense for the second week in a row finished the game with a pair of interceptions.

Sep 14, 2025 at 05:31 PM

Ari Horton

Seahawks.com Writer

PITTSBURGH—As he walked down the aisle of the Seahawks' plane, looking for his seat, Derion Kendrick was beaming a wide grin and proudly holding the ball he intercepted on Sunday.

Kendrick saw playing time on defensive side of the ball for the first time as a Seahawk in Sunday's 31-17 win. And he helped Seattle's defense put together a game that showed off its depth at secondary, which was playing without cornerback Devon Witherspoon and rookie safety Nick Emmanwori, who were both inactive due to injuries.

The Steelers were all but ready to score after a 65-yard reception by Steelers running back Jaylen Warren. They were sitting on the Seahawks' 5-yard line, thanks to a Riq Woolen tackle that kept Warren from making it to the endzone.

"Riq is the guy that chased him down from the backside," head coach Mike Macdonald said. "Talk about ultimate effort, committed to the process, having your teammates' back, playing with shocking effort, he does that, and he got hit down and we ended up leaving that drive with no [Steelers] points. We defended a blade of grass and Riq was the guy that deserves a ton of credit on that front and helped us win the football game."

That tackle by Woolen helped set up Kendrick for an interception in the endzone. As the game was all tied up at 14-14 and on a third-and-four play, Aaron Rodgers rolled out to his left, and attempted to pass to Steelers tight end Patrick Freiermuth when his teammate, Calvin Austin III tipped the ball causing it to bounce into the air. Kendrick then made a play on the ball

"Just doing my job," Kendrick said. "I was in man to man, my man ended up going to the back of the endzone, I tried to push him out and he ended up rerouting. I got my eyes back. They had two receivers in the same spot. Calvin Austin ended up tipping the ball and [it was] my opportunity [to] cash out."

Ernest Jones IV said, "To see [Kendrick] come in, Spoon's down, and come in and make a big play for us. That's what we needed, and I was glad it was him."

Despite not having Witherspoon and Emmanwori, Seattle's secondary managed to keep Steelers star receiver, DK Metcalf contained for most of the game, with Metcalf finishing Sunday's game with three catches for 20 yards and one touchdown. Last week, Metcalf had four catches for 83 yards.

"Our coaches deserve a lot of credit getting Derion Kendrick ready to go and D Bell [D'Anthony Bell]," head coach Mike Macdonald said. "It's hard to learn our system in two weeks and D.K. [Kendrick] I thought played a really good game. Obviously had the interception, which was a tremendous play, a game-changing play and the rest of the defense – I think right now we're playing really, really hard. And I think the details came to life more this game."

Along with Kendrick's interception, safety Coby Bryant also had an interception late in the fourth quarter.

"It was a great game," Bryant said. "A hard-fought game. They're a great team, obviously. We just wanted to go out and be better than last week and compete."

The action from the secondary was just part of what made Seattle's defensive performance stand out. Despite registering just one sack in Week 1, three players were able to get a piece of Rodgers on Sunday, Byron Murphy II leading the way with 1.5 sacks, Jarran Reed with 1.0 sack and Leonard Williams with half a sack.

"We work hard for this, so I'm not surprised," Reed said. "We have to keep going. This is two games in, and this has to be every game. This has to be the standard that we set for ourselves."

Macdonald, who wanted to see more from the pash rush on Sunday, said, "You know me and sacks. It's rush and coverage working together. You need time to get to the quarterback. And those are team sacks, but our guys are playing really hard and playing together."

Byron Murphy II said, "No matter what, through adversity, throughout the ups and downs we just stuck with each other. We kept telling each other it was going to be alright. We're going to push through, continue to make plays and we did that."

The Seahawks managed to keep Pittsburgh out of the endzone all but once, which ended up being a Metcalf two-yard touchdown. They also held the Steelers to just 72 yards on the ground and Seattle tallied nine quarterback hits, five passes defensed, and a pair of tackles for a loss.

"[That's] part of our identity on defense," Kendrick said, "Bend don't break. Saying '12 as one.' Just doing what we have to do to keep the other team out of the endzone."

Seattle's defense knew what they were capable of heading into Sunday's matchup, but having a win to show for it is reassurance they are moving in the right direction.

"The first win is tough in the NFL because that's where you can [say] 'OK that's what it takes," Jones IV said. "Now we have seen what that takes and just keep moving forward."