Yahoo Finance DK Metcalf burned reigning DPOY Stephon Gilmore, and then they brawled
Not even the reigning Defensive Player of the Year can get between Russell Wilson and DK Metcalf.
Midway through the second quarter of Sunday Night Football between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, Wilson hit his most explosive receiver for a 54-yard touchdown, and it’s hard to oversell just incredible the play was.
DK Metcalf reels in the deep ball
Wilson might have underthrown the ball a tad, but you can afford to do that when your receiver is 6-foot-4, 229 pounds and has two steps on the defender covering him. Even when that defender is Stephon Gilmore.
THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL@DangeRussWilson ➡️ @dkm14 for the 54 yard touchdown ❗️
📺: Watch live on NBC pic.twitter.com/qHYONpFo5p— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) September 21, 2020
Just how rare is it for Gilmore to get beat on a touchdown? Well, it’s apparently something we haven’t seen since the 2018 season.
The pass was the first TD reception Stephon Gilmore allowed in coverage as the nearest defender over the last two seasons.
Gilmore had previously led the NFL in 104 targets without allowing a TD since the start of 2019.— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 21, 2020
Pretty wild how Metcalf managed to fall all the way to the Seahawks at 64th overall in the 2019 NFL draft, despite a legendary NFL combine performance and a solid career at Ole Miss. Metcalf ended up going behind the likes of J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, Parris Campbell and Andy Isabella.
Through two games this season, Metcalf already has more receiving yards and touchdowns than Arcega-Whiteside has in his career.
Metcalf and Gilmore get into it
There were apparently some hard feelings between the two players because, a quarter later, the pair sparked a brawl that took just about the entire Seahawks team to break up.
The fight took the announcers by surprise, with Metcalf and Gilmore barely visible in a sea of players. Replays later showed the confrontation was instigated when Gilmore yanked Metcalf by the collar out of play.
Here’s the Stephon Gilmore-D.K. Metcalf fight that came before the touchdown. pic.twitter.com/bGGmpW12Us
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) September 21, 2020
When zoomed in, both players could be seen lunging toward each other while being held back, with Metcalf grabbing Gilmore by the facemask.
Metcalf would eventually get the last laugh, as the Seahawks pulled out a thrilling 35-30 win. With 92 receiving yards and a touchdown with Gilmore shadowing him the vast majority of the time, you can probably chalk it up as a win for the receiver as well.
DK Metcalf was consistently shadowed by Stephon Gilmore throughout the night, lining up against Gilmore on 26 of 30 routes (87%).
Metcalf had success as a receiver when Gilmore was the nearest defender: 3 rec, 85 yards, TD on 5 targets (+10.6% CROE).#NEvsSEA | #Seahawks pic.twitter.com/9XMzn18w0b— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 21, 2020
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