A little over a week ago, former Utah safety Marquise Blair worked his way into the starting lineup for the Seattle Seahawks.
Early indications from his increased playing time have been impressive.
Following an eight tackle, one pass deflection day in Seattle’s 30-16 loss to Baltimore on Oct. 20, Blair came up big for the Seahawks on Sunday in Seattle’s 27-20 over Atlanta.
The rookie Blair, a second-round pick in this year’s NFL draft, made a momentum-swinging play as the Falcons tried to rally Sunday, helping Seattle hold on for the win.
Atlanta had cut the Seahawks’ 24-0 halftime lead to 24-11 with a pair of third-quarter scores, and the Falcons were driving again, with a first-and-goal at the Seattle 8 early in the fourth quarter.
On the first-down play, Atlanta quarterback Matt Schaub threw to running back Devonta Freeman out of the backfield. Freeman caught the pass at the Seattle 3 then turned upfield, where he was met by Blair and Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright.
As Freeman tried to spin forward closer to the goal line, Blair got a hand on the ball and knocked it loose just before Freeman was down. Former Utah State and Seahawks All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner picked up the fumble and advanced it to the Seattle 6-yard line with 12:47 to play.
Video: Watch for Blair’s play at the 4:24 mark in this highlight video.
The Seahawks turned the takeaway into three points, driving 58 yards and eating up 6:50 of game clock to hit a field goal with 5:58 to play to make it 27-11 Seattle.
“It was really big. I saw the ball, I think it was Marquise who got the ball out, and I just picked it up — but got tackled before I could take off,” Wagner said in his postgame press conference about the play. “I was going to try (for a touchdown). Somebody had my legs, and then somebody started trying to grab the ball. I didn’t want to be the guy who fumbled it.”
Blair ended the game with a team-high 11 tackles in his second career start, including nine solo stops from his free safety position while playing 69 defensive snaps for the Seahawks — 86% of the plays Seattle’s defense was on the field.
“He’s tough, man. He showed his hitting ability. Really every game he’s played he’s made some hits that he jumps out. That’s what we loved about him when we drafted him and he continues to show that. He’s got a real knack for knocking the fire out of people and we love the style,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said of Blair in his postgame press conference.