NFL

Seahawks' Leonard Williams returns pick-six 92 yards vs. Jets

  • Brady Henderson, ESPNDec 1, 2024, 01:00 PM ET

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      Brady Henderson is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Henderson covers the Seattle Seahawks. He joined ESPN in 2017 covering the team for Seattle Sports 710-AM. You can follow him via Twitter @BradyHenderson.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Leonard Williams had bittersweet feelings about not winning NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his 2.5-sack, three-tackle-for-loss showing in the Seattle Seahawks’ win over the Arizona Cardinals last Sunday.

He was happy that teammate Coby Bryant got the nod but wanted to win it himself after his most dominant performance since joining Seattle, midway through last season.

Maybe this will be Williams’ week. The 310-pound, 30-year-old defensive tackle caught a tipped Aaron Rodgers pass in stride and returned it 92 yards for a touchdown. It was the longest pick-six by an NFL defensive lineman since at least 2000, per ESPN Research.

According to NFL Next Gen stats, Williams hit a top speed of 17.8 MPH on the return, the fastest by a defensive lineman on any play since Week 18 of 2022.

In keeping with the theme of awful special teams play, the Seahawks’ PAT after Williams’ touchdown was blocked.

They lost a pair of fumbles on earlier kickoffs, with Dee Williams and Laviska Shenault Jr. both coughing the ball up. Seattle also allowed a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, though they did block a Jets PAT and Jason Myers hit a 54-yard field goal to cut New York’s lead to 21-16 in what’s been a wild first half.