EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey—Rarely does an injury help a team, and that’s especially true when the player in question doesn’t have a backup, as is the case for a punter.
But in a round about way, Michael Dickson’s back spasms late in the Seahawks’ 26-21 actually worked out well for the Seahawks.
With Dickson unavailable to punt early in the fourth quarter, the Seahawks were facing fourth-and-6 in their own territory looking at the option to either use kicker Jason Myers for a punt, or to go for it.
The Seahawks took the aggressive approach, and converted after a pair of Jets penalties, first an illegal substitution penalty that made it fourth-and-1, then a pass interference penalty that gave Seattle a first down. And after those Jets penalties gave the Seahawks life, they took advantage, finishing out the drive with the go-ahead Zach Charbonnet touchdown run that proved to be the game-winner.
“We nominated Dicko as the honorary player of the game for not being available for us having to go for it on fourth down,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald joked after the game.