Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Kris Richard described Sheldon Richardson last week as a "different presence" that Seattle hasn't had in the interior of its defensive line, one that is "absolutely going to pay dividends for us."

That presence is already being felt, even though Richardson's impact through the Seahawks' first two games hasn't been obvious.

Richardson drew a pair of holding penalties in Seattle's Week 1 loss to the Green Bay Packers, including one on a play in which he still nearly brought down Aaron Rodgers before the quarterback threw the ball away. Richardson had four solo tackles in that game, jumping right into a starting role a little over a week after arriving in Seattle following a trade from the New York Jets.

He made several impact plays in Seattle's victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

On San Francisco's opening drive, Richardson combined with strong safety Kam Chancellor to stop Carlos Hyde short of the first-down marker on a third-and-1 run. Later in the first quarter, Richardson made a tackle for loss on a screen pass to a tight end. His pressure on Brian Hoyer contributed to an incompletion, and Richardson drilled the quarterback later in the game after getting free off the snap with a swim move.

Defensive end Frank Clark noted after the game how Richardson's addition can help the other members of Seattle's pass rush, saying that group now had three others -- Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril and Richardson -- who are good enough to warrant being double-teamed.

"He's helping me a lot. He's taking a little bit of the pressure off me," Clark said. "I think without him, if you look at our roster, I think a lot more focus would have been on Frank, Mike and Cliff. I think when you add Sheldon Richardson in there, I think it takes a lot off [me]."

Richardson is the only member of that foursome who has yet to record a sack through two games. Bennett has 2.5 sacks, Clark has 1.5 and Avril has one. But Richardson has nonetheless made his presence felt.

Sheldon Richardson is making a big impact on the Seahawks' defensive line. Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Two other things that stood out while rewatching Seattle's victory over San Francisco:

Carson's awareness. Standout rookie running back Chris Carson saved his best on Sunday for Seattle's final drive, when he gained 41 yards to help the Seahawks put the game away. The first of his five straight carries on that drive took him toward the sideline, but he wisely slid down before running out of bounds in order to keep the clock running. That might seem like an obvious decision, but that's the type of situational awareness that can escape a rookie, especially in a pressure moment in game No. 2. "He’s been no problem at all. Really, no problem," coach Pete Carroll said when asked how Carson has handled the mental side of the game. "I think there’s still stuff in terms of the reads and after-snap stuff that he’ll find consistency, I think, in weeks ahead. Also, the running backs, lots of times they need to be out there and they need to see things, how they fit in them and they’ll get better. I have the thought that just because everything else has fit so well, I think he’ll be able to do that and I think he’s going to be pretty sharp. We’re not restricting anything when he plays; we can do anything we want to do.”

McDougald gets involved. Safety Bradley McDougald played six snaps in what was the first real look at how the Seahawks plan on mixing him into their defense this season. It was a relatively under-the-radar move, but Seattle was thrilled to have signed the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers starter to a one-year deal in free agency. McDougald gave the Seahawks a proven backup at safety, something their defense sorely missed last year when Earl Thomas went down with a broken leg. But the Seahawks view McDougald as more than a backup and a special-teams player. His six defensive snaps on Sunday all came with Thomas and Chancellor on the field. McDougald replaced strongside linebacker Michael Wilhoite and was one of five defensive backs on those plays, but for the most part they weren't traditional nickel situations. Only one of those plays came with three 49ers receivers on the field, and four of them came while San Francisco was using two tight ends. McDougald was playing in the box on several of those plays. "He's really all-around, very comfortable in coverage and up near and close to the line of scrimmage and running game," Carroll said. "He's a good deep-middle guy and he’s got good man-to-man skills. He's a very versatile football player and it’s always good to get a really good guy on the field. He made a couple plays that maybe a linebacker wouldn’t have made in replacing him in that situation. It’s good. I love getting him out there. He's done a great job. He's a leader. He's aware. He helps guys and communicates really well and does well on special teams, too, so it’s just good to have him on the field whenever we can get him there.”