Seahawks overtake Jets for third straight year to maintain NFC West lead: Key takeaways
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Seahawks overtake Jets for third straight year to maintain NFC West lead: Key takeaways

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

By Michael-Shawn Dugar, Zack Rosenblatt and Lauren Smith

Zach Charbonnet’s rushing touchdown gave the Seattle Seahawks their first lead with less than six minutes to play, and Seattle’s defense held off the New York Jets’ final threat as the Seahawks cruised to a 26-21 victory at MetLife Stadium on Sunday .

After trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half, Seattle (7-5) scored the final 19 points of the game to secure its third straight victory.

The Jets (3-9) led most of the way, led by two touchdown passes from Aaron Rodgers and a 99-yard kickoff return from Kene Nwangwu for a touchdown. By the time they reached the Seahawks’ 9-yard line, the Jets appeared poised to go up by at least three points. Then the Seahawks began their comeback when Leonard Williams intercepted a pass from Rodgers on third down and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown.

Jason Myers made the first of his two field goals on Seattle’s next drive, cutting the lead to 21-16 at halftime.

The Jets maintained the lead well into the fourth quarter but were shut out in the second half. Myers added a second field goal early in the fourth before Charbonnet scored a game-winning 8-yard touchdown run late.

The Jets (3-9) have now lost three games in a row, including eight of the last nine.

Asked if he would consider benching Rodgers, Jets coach Jeff Ulbrich said, “Not as of today.” Ulbrich added that he would like to watch the tape before commenting on Rodgers’ performance.

Seahawks overcome short yardage issues

In Seattle, several games over the last month have come down to whether the offense can convert in short-yardage situations, and this game was no different. The Seahawks came up empty on a goal-line attack in the third quarter – which involved seven plays inside the 4 – and might have lost that game if the Jets hadn’t committed two-play penalties on Seattle’s go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter. The decisive score was Seattle’s best short-yard play of the day – an 8-yard run by Charbonnet on third-and-1. – Michael-Shawn Dugar, Seahawks beat writer

Williams leads Seattle’s defense

Williams said he should have been named NFC Defensive Player of the Week in Week 12 after recording 2 1/2 sacks against the Cardinals (teammate Coby Bryant won instead). Williams did his best to leave no room for doubt this week, delivering his second monster performance in as many weeks. Against the team that drafted him in 2015, Williams blocked an extra point attempt, returned an interception 92 yards for a touchdown and recorded two sacks on the final drive of the game, giving the Seahawks their third straight victory. – Dugar

The Jets score early and get shut out in the second half

For much of the first half, the Jets looked like the team they were supposed to be. The offense, defense and special teams all did their jobs – the offense had two scoring drives in the quarter, Nwangwu scored a 99-yard return touchdown and the defense played well. But everything changed with a second-quarter sequence in which Rodgers badly missed a wide-open Garrett Wilson in the end zone and then gave him a brutally poor throw that was intercepted by Williams, who returned it 92 yards for a touchdown. Rodgers has been poor overall, aside from a few nice throws to Adams, going 21 of 39 for 185 yards, two touchdowns and one interception – and it’s fair to wonder if he’ll even last in the final five games. — Zack Rosenblatt, Jets beat writer

Required reading

(Photo: Elsa/Getty Images)

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