This might go without saying, but maybe DeMarcus Lawrence needs to score more touchdowns.
Every time he’s scored one in his career in either college or the pros, his team has won — a streak that he continued on Sunday by joining some rare company in NFL history.
A day of dominance by the Seahawks against Arizona seemed to be punctuated by Lawrence’s two fumble returns for touchdowns, both in the first half, in the 44-22 romp over the Cardinals.
They were the third and fourth touchdowns in Lawrence’s NFL career and his fifth going back to college after scoring once during his first season at Boise State. And while five total touchdowns over four games is a small sample size, there’s no arguing with his teams being 4-0 in those games.
“You can’t draw that up. (Tyrice Knight) did a great job repping the play exactly how coach Macdonald drew it up and I was the lucky recipient of two forced fumbles. I will take it every day,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence’s first touchdown came on Arizona’s third offensive play of the game and gave the Seahawks a 14-0 lead. The defense overloaded one side of the Arizona offensive line and brought Knight, Coby Bryant and Nick Emmanwori on the pressure.
Bryant and Emmanwori were picked up. Knight got to Arizona QB Jacob Brissett just as he was about to release the pass and the loose ball fell perfectly for Lawrence to scoop and score.
The second TD came in the second quarter and was almost identical. Knight blitzed and got to Brissett again just before releasing the pass. This time, the ball bounced so nicely for Lawrence he was able to snag it with just his right hand like he was grabbing a loose ball on the basketball court.
Twenty-two yards later, Lawrence was back in the end zone and cruised into a bit of NFL history.
“It just looked the same, that’s how (wild) it is. But it was two different blitzes,” Knight said.
Only three players before Lawrence had returned two fumbles for a touchdown in the same game, and only one of those was in the past 75 seasons.
The only others to accomplish that in league history were Carolina’s Jeremy Chinn in 2020 against Minnesota, who did it on back-to-back plays; Fred Evans in 1948 for the Chicago Bears against Washington; and Al Nesser in 1920 for the Akron Pros against the Wheeling Stogies.
You remember that heated rivalry between Akron and Wheeling, don’t you?
Knight being the instigator of both touchdowns came on the day he made his first start at middle linebacker with Ernest Jones IV out due to a knee injury. As Knight mentioned, they were different blitz calls but concluded with the same result — Knight hitting Brissett as he went to throw, the ball getting jarred loose and Lawrence ending up in the end zone.
They were the first two forced fumbles by Seattle’s defense this season.
“I couldn’t believe that (DeMarcus) got the second. I was like, ‘holy crap. It’s him again,’” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. “The way that he attacked the ball, (Tyrice) is just awesome. Haven’t forced any fumbles this year on defense and got two today. It’s awareness, just taking advantage of those opportunities. It was awesome.”
Knight’s second season in the league started with challenges. He suffered a knee injury early in training camp that included damage to his MCL and his meniscus. He also revealed after Sunday’s game that he dealt with a heart issue that kept him sidelined for part of August. Knight didn’t elaborate but said the issue was resolved and that his knee was the bigger concern.
“The knee was more than the heart at that time so I wasn’t really tripping about the heart. Everything got situated with that,” Knight said. “The knee, took some time to get back.”
Knight said it took until the Monday after the Tampa Bay game in Week 5 before he started to feel closer to normal.
“That first step out of bed, I just felt a little different and since then … everything just felt better,” Knight said.
The timing of Knight feeling closer to fully healthy couldn’t be better. Jones was doubtful for this week with no set timeline on when he’ll be able to return. Knight had started earlier in the season alongside Jones, but lost his spot to Drake Thomas.
Now it’s Knight and Thomas at a position that was already viewed as being thin with depth until Jones is able to return.
“Obviously want Ernest back as soon as possible, but he is showing he can go in and play great ball and execute,” Macdonald said. “Both of those were pressures we haven’t ran before and so to be able to go in and execute those things not getting all the reps was some high-powered stuff.”
Tim Booth: Tim Booth is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times, where he covers the Kraken and the ongoing story surrounding possible NBA expansion and helps with coverage of the Seahawks and Mariners.