Stephon Gilmore is the reigning NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year, but that didn’t mean the Seahawks were confident in second-year wide receiver D.K. Metcalf going up against him Sunday night.
Typically, Gilmore takes the opponents biggest best receiver, which meant he drew Metcalf in the Week 2 matchup.
The second-year player got the best of Gilmore, as he recorded four catches on six targets for 92 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown in the first half, in Seattle's 35-30 win.
“The fact that Gilmore was going to have to guard him, the whole week we just knew that it was going to be a tough game for Gilmore,” Seahawks wide receiver David Moore said to reporters. “D.K. got rolling, and it was hard for him to be stopped. You’re not going to stop a guy like that when he gets rolling.”
It was a physical matchup the entire game and even saw the two go back-and-forth after the whistle with trash-talk and at one point things got physical on the Seahawks sideline, causing a mini scrum.
“Just two players competing,” Gilmore said. “I felt like he was blocking me after the whistle. Just trying to keep my poise. Playing very physical between the lines, and sometimes that’s what goes on.”
Devin McCourty didn’t like what went on.
“There was a lot of extra nonsense honestly with all the after-the-whistle stuff,” he said. “(Metcalf) is a good player. Steph is obviously one of the best players in this league. So (it was) just competition. One deep ball where Steph is in good coverage and (Metcalf) comes down with a really good catch, and other than that, those guys were just competing out there.”
Gilmore allowed only one touchdown all of last season. As a team, the Patriots allowed five passing touchdowns, which was only the second time that's happened in the Bill Belichick era.
