Seahawks’ Coby Bryant picks up Kyler Murray for 69-yard TD

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  • Brady Henderson, ESPNNovember 24, 2024, 6:51 PM ET

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      Brady Henderson is a reporter for ESPN’s NFL Nation. Henderson covers the Seattle Seahawks. He joined ESPN in 2017 and covered the team for Seattle Sports 710-AM. You can follow him on Twitter @BradyHenderson.

SEATTLE – Defensive-minded head coach Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald went to that side of the ball when asked earlier this week about one area he’d like to see the Seahawks take a big leap forward.

“Let’s take the ball away more,” Macdonald said.

The Seahawks entered Week 12 ranked 20th in takeaways with just 10 through their first 10 games, but Game No. 11 was a big one.

In the third quarter of Seattle’s NFC West showdown with the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, safety Coby Bryant deflected a Kyler Murray fumble and returned it 69 yards for a touchdown. Bryant’s second interception of the season gave Seattle a 13-3 lead in the third quarter in what has been a defensive battle.

Bryant has been one of the Seahawks’ surprise standouts over the past month. He took over at safety alongside Julian Love after Rayshawn Jenkins hurt his hand in Week 6 and has played well enough to seemingly hang onto that starting job with Jenkins now back from injured reserve serving as the third safety vs. Arizona.

Jason Myers missed the PAT after Bryant’s pick-six, which was pushed back 15 yards due to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Devon Witherspoon. Seattle’s second score came on a Jaxon Smith-Njigba touchdown catch from Geno Smith in the first half.

A win would help Seattle gain ground on the division-leading Cardinals. The Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams all entered Week 12 one game behind Arizona in the race for first place in the NFC West.