A fan on

In Seattle’s 26-21 win over the Jets on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, Williams, a first-round pick by New York in 2015, was a one-man force. He recorded four tackles, two sacks, a 92-yard interception for a touchdown, a blocked extra point and three tackles for a loss. He also had two quarterback hits.

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The performance allowed Seattle coach Mike Macdonald to call out his defensive leader unprompted and push for more recognition.

“I just want to officially join in, I don’t know how this works, but if we can nominate Leonard Williams for player of the week,” Macdonald told reporters. “He’s just playing at an absolutely elite level. To have a Pick-Six – I think they told me it was 17.5 miles per hour, which was pretty fast for a guy that size. He’s going crazy right now.”

According to ESPN, Williams’ 92-yard pick-six is ​​the longest of any defensive lineman in NFL history. And according to Next Gen Stats, Williams reached a top speed of 17.84 mph, the fastest game by a defensive tackle as a ball carrier in over five seasons (since Week 4, 2019).

Macdonald’s words might be making light of it. In Seattle’s 16-6 win over the Arizona Cardinals a week ago, Williams sacked QB Kyler Murray 2.5 times. He had six tackles (three for a loss) and four QB hits. He also defended a pass.

“Honestly, I feel like I played with a chip on my shoulder because I wasn’t named Defensive Player of the Week last week,” Williams told FOX in a postgame interview.

Williams has been traded by New York-area teams twice: the Jets traded him to the New York Giants for multiple picks in October 2019, and the Giants sent him to Seattle for multiple picks in 2023. With seven sacks, Williams is having his most dominant season since 2020 with the Giants, when he had 11.5 sacks.

Entering Sunday’s game, Williams’ 85.5 points were ranked fourth among interior defenders by Pro Football Focus and the best of his career. Elite, indeed.

New York fell to 3-9, while Seattle improved to 7-5 and remained firmly in the playoff picture.