Unfazed by self-inflicted mistakes and brimming with confidence even when they weren’t playing nearly their best, the Seahawks rallied with 19 unanswered points, starting with an unforeseen 92-yard interception that Leonard Williams returned for a touchdown. They capped the stunning 26-21 comeback with an eight-yard touchdown run by Zach Charbonnet and a fourth-down stop on defense in the final two minutes, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat to the delight of their new head coach .

“I think this is the first time something like this has happened in the NFL. The whole series of events in the first half,” Macdonald told reporters after Seattle ended the furious rally. “But our boys were resilient and we didn’t bat an eyelid, we stayed the course. Some crazy things happened, but you have to stick to the plan, you have to stay together, and our boys did that.” . Then of course it was great for us to be able to finish it.”

Championship teams find a way to win when they don’t play their best. But after two impressive wins over the 49ers and Cardinals lifted them back into first place in the NFC West, the Seahawks certainly weren’t close to peak performance in East Rutherford.

Sleepwalking in their final 10 a.m. Pacific time start on the schedule, a facemask penalty on Williams prevented a third down sack by Rodgers on the Jets’ second possession, extending the drive and leading to a touchdown pass to Davante Adams. On the ensuing kickoff, rookie returner Dee Williams had the ball knocked out of his hands near the sideline, allowing Brandin Echols to recover the fumble deep in Seahawks territory.

Four plays later, Rodgers hit running back Isaiah Davis with a shovel pass for a four-yard touchdown, and after Breece Hall punched the ball in for a two-point conversion, Seattle quickly trailed by 14 before the end of the first quarter .

While the Seahawks struck back with Geno Smith rolling left and answering Rodgers’ second touchdown pass with one of his own to rookie tight end AJ Barner, the Jets responded emphatically with Kene Nwangwu firing through a wide scoring crease and him used a few late blocks to find the end zone on a 99-yard kickoff return, increasing the lead back to two points within seconds.

Two plays later, Shenault failed his first catch at the goal line and then lost control of the ball when it hit the ground after stumbling, allowing kicker Anders Carlson to pounce on the fumble. Given the ultimate nightmare between the lines, it would have been easy for Seattle to give up at this point, as Rodgers only had to drive his team 38 yards for another touchdown to potentially put the game on ice before halftime.

However, the Seahawks weren’t going to let that happen. With their backs against the wall, as they had done several times throughout the season, the defense mastered the situation. After the Jets advanced inside the 10-yard line, Rodgers couldn’t see Williams dropping back into coverage on a zone attack, and after an initial back-and-forth, the veteran defender secured the unlikely interception and made his way behind a convoy of Blockers on the way to the races. He reached speeds of more than 17 miles per hour and sprinted nearly the entire distance of the field to score a game-winning six points.

“He was moving,” safety Julian Love said of Williams. “I know we threw some great blocks, but I don’t think anyone would have caught it anyway. This is the big cat. He’s playing at such a high level right now.”

With momentum changing in a flash, Seattle immediately stopped New York on its next possession. Adams elected to go for it on 4th-and-2 near midfield, but failed to field a deep ball from Rodgers after separating down the sideline and failed to secure the pass as he fell to the ground fell, resulting in a turnover on downs.

Although the offense was unable to sustain the drive after an 11-yard run by Charbonnet, kicker Jason Myers blasted a 54-yard field goal over the crossbar, sending the Seahawks to the locker room trailing by just five points despite all of the aforementioned mistakes . That made it easy for Macdonald to send the message to his team after the break to stay the course.

“It was maybe the craziest first half ever and we’re down, you know, no matter how many points it was, five points or something, and so we’re just going to stick with our plan and let’s go,” Macdonald said.

Unfortunately for Seattle, things didn’t suddenly calm down early in the third quarter as more adversity arose. After the defense forced a quick punt, Smith orchestrated a 12-play, 72-yard drive that ultimately ended with no points when New York stiffened near the goal line and called the quarterback after a poorly executed 4th-and-goal sprint. Out-Pass sacked and left the game The visitors came away empty-handed, still trailing by five.

But after missing a golden opportunity in the red zone, Love came through in the clutch and knocked the ball out of Hall’s hands at the end of an 11-yard run, allowing linebacker Tyrice Knight to recover the fumble at the Seahawks’ 41-yard line . A 24-yard completion from Smith to Jaxon Smith-Njigba on 4th-and-6 kept the drive alive and allowed Myers to connect on his second field goal and further cut the deficit to two points early in the fourth quarter to reduce.

With the opportunity to complete the comeback, the Seattle defense forced another three-pointer after a field goal by Myers. Aided by two costly four-down penalties by New York, including a horse-collar penalty on Solomon Thomas that negated a four-down run stop in Jets territory, Charbonnet capped a nine-play drive, breaking several Tackles and fought his way powerfully to the finish in front of the end zone for an eight-yard scoring run to take the lead by five meters.

The Jets didn’t want to take it easy, as Rodgers turned a 3rd-and-26 situation into a new series of downs in two plays, leading the offense to the opposing 29-yard line with a chance to pull off an upset. But Williams capped a historic outing with his second sack of the drive and a hit from speedy safety Coby Bryant on an airmailed fourth-down desperation throw from the back of the end zone, securing a victory that had previously been implausible seemed in the afternoon.

As Macdonald reiterated several times after the game, the Seahawks need to go back to the drawing board and fix kinks in all three phases because they won’t be able to withstand all the blunders they made on Sunday against better teams with five games left. The Jets’ dismal record certainly played their part in preventing them from missing out on a potentially season-saving win, as seven straight possessions ended in a turnover or punt and a series of defensive flags.

Still, winning in the NFL isn’t easy, and Seattle showed the rest of the NFL it has the resolve to compete for championships on Sunday. With another tough road trip to Arizona next weekend for an important divisional rematch, the stakes further raised and the calendar heading towards January, these are the types of wins that could take Macdonald’s team to new heights at a crucial time .

“We’re talking about December football and that’s when you want to play your best ball. I

I wouldn’t say this is our best game, but we won and that’s the only thing that matters, so it comes down to stacking

Those wins and you have to play a certain brand of ball to win in December and that’s all you can do

If you ask for it, it’s a chance to take it home along the way.

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