In a game that was virtually decided after the first quarter, the Seattle Seahawks breezed past the New York Jets, 40-3, on Sunday.
It was a complete win in all three phases, but a special shoutout is in order for Jamal Adams who broke a 15-year-old single-season sack record for defensive backs in his first game against his old team.
“It’s a pretty cool feeling. When you put your mind to something because, I told myself and I told everybody last year when I did fail with 6.5 sacks that I was going to break the record, some people thought I was crazy,” Adams said. “Some people believed in me but the only thing that mattered is that I believed in myself and I knew that I was going to break the record. Without my teammates, the coaches, nothing would’ve been possible.”
As Adams casually noted, the Pro Bowl safety tweeted in May, shortly before being traded by the Jets two months later, that he planned to surpass the eight sacks logged by former Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson during the 2005 season.
With 7.5 sacks to his name entering Week 14, Adams’ moment, while perhaps not as thunderous as he would’ve liked, finally came early in the second quarter.
As former teammate Sam Darnold scrambled away from a collapsing pocket toward the left sideline, Adams charged toward him and got a hand on him as Darnold ran out of bounds. He was credited for the sack on the play, usurping Wilson like he previously declared he would.
“All my thanks goes to the man above because I’ve been through a lot this year with the trade and injuries,” Adams continued. “A lot of negative talk about me but, at the end of the day, I have an outstanding team … everybody’s just supporting me. On my bad days, they’re lifting me up, vice versa, whatever the case may be. It’s just one big family.”
Landing in Seattle appears to have been the best possible situation for the 25-year-old star after a tumultuous Jets tenure. Pete Carroll, who’s openly backed Adams from Day 1, said after the game that the DB received a game ball for his efforts, even though the team rarely hands those out.
“What a fantastic football player. And he’s not done yet. he’s going to get some more numbers before the season is over,” Carroll said, per SeattlePI’s Ben Arthur.
Adams’ unique skillset makes it likely that he’ll add to his sack total with three games remaining. There’s a good chance, though, that none of those would surpass the one he notched in New York.
