Seahawks Star Rips Defense After Letting 1-10 Titans Hang Around

The Seahawks beat the Titans 30-24 and improved to 8-3, but Devon Witherspoon had to keep it real. Seattle’s star cornerback flat-out said the unit didn’t meet its own standard in Nashville, pointing to busted containment on Cam Ward and late-game breakdowns that let a 1-10 Titans team hang around far too long.

“I think we played all right,” Witherspoon said in a postgame press conference. “I mean, I don’t think we played to our standard. We gave up too many points, to be honest… we was letting the quarterback get outside, we wasn’t plastering, staying on our man, and they was able to create plays when they needed them.”

‘We Didn’t Play to Our Standard’: Witherspoon’s Honest Review

Even in a win, Witherspoon sounded more like a coach than a two-time Pro Bowler.

He kept coming back to the same theme: the defense didn’t do enough to close the door. Ward extended plays outside the pocket, receivers worked free late in downs, and the Titans kept hanging around despite Seattle jumping out to a big lead.

“In the end, it boiled down to all being a close game,” Witherspoon said. “So it’s like we got to be better on defense for sure.”

Head coach Mike Macdonald didn’t exactly disagree. He credited the team’s resilience but admitted they’d like to “close the game out earlier”, and he was openly frustrated about giving up a 90-yard punt return touchdown with no edge contain.

Praise for Nick Emmanwori and Macdonald’s ‘Crazy’ Defense

Witherspoon’s criticism didn’t stop him from hyping up a few teammates.

Asked about rookie safety Nick Emmanwori, he lit up. He said Emmanwori is doing “everything we wanted him to do,” calling it “hard to describe” how good he’s been and admitting his expectations for the 6-foot-3 safety are sky-high. In classic Spoon fashion, he joked that Nick is “big as [expletive]” for a rookie and that there’s basically nothing he can’t do.

On one of the game’s biggest hustle plays, Ward reversed field and looked like he might break free for a huge gain — until Emmanwori chased him down from the back side. Witherspoon called it a “great effort play” and said it was exactly what they’re taught: always race to the football, always have your teammate’s back.

He also tipped his cap to Macdonald, saying it’s “a testament to how Coach Macdonald’s able to cook up some crazy stuff and put us in the best position to win.” That’s coming from a player who’s been asked to wear multiple hats himself, bouncing between slot, outside corner and sometimes even safety looks in this scheme.

‘Mission Over Anything’: Why Seahawks Say They’ll Be Better

Despite the blunt critique, Witherspoon kept circling back to one big-picture idea: the “mission.”

“We always just put the mission over anything else,” he said. “No matter what happens or what the outcome may be… just stay the course of the mission. Don’t let it default to anything else.”

He admitted the Seahawks “could have played a lot better on both sides of the ball,” but emphasized how much better it feels to correct those issues after a win instead of a loss. That lines up with Macdonald’s own “defend a blade of grass” mantra and his constant messaging about resilience when things get weird late in games.

For now, the tape will show both truths: a defense that made enough plays — including a fourth-down stuff by Brandon Pili and a few key rushes late — and one that still left plenty of meat on the bone. 

If Witherspoon has his way, the next time the Seahawks let a struggling opponent back into a game, it’ll only be on film from this week, not something that becomes their new identity.

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