SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks spent the first half of this season searching for an identity on both sides of the ball while dealing with the growing pains associated with a new head coach and an inexperienced, chemistry-less group of assistants.
Through those ups and downs, questions about who the Seahawks are and what they would be under Mike Macdonald were hard to answer definitively — until Sunday’s 26-20 overtime loss against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field.
This defeat, the Seahawks’ fourth straight at home and fifth in their last six contests overall, revealed the truth about the Macdonald’s team as it heads into Week 10 bye holding last place in the NFC West with a 4-5 record.
The Seahawks are a team that does a great job of not being quite good enough.
“If we sit here and say we’re in a good spot, we’d be lying,” Seattle tight end AJ Barner said. “Everyone is hungry to play better.”
Seattle committed back-breaking penalties and costly turnovers Sunday, yet still had a chance to beat the Rams after winning the coin toss to start overtime. The team twice needed 1 yard from the Rams’ 16-yard line to extend what could have been the game-winning drive, but Ken Walker III was stopped on consecutive runs, giving Los Angeles (4-4) the ball at the 17.
“Scared money don’t make no money,” receiver Tyler Lockett said, approving Seattle’s fourth-down decision. “The way we were running the ball, the way we were making plays out there, a lot of things were going our way. We were at home; fans were in it. Why not go for it?”
Added Macdonald: “We gotta be able to get half a yard in two shots. Great football teams convert third- and fourth-and-short, and right now, we’re not doing that.”
Matthew Stafford needed only a field goal drive to win but instead put together an 83-yard touchdown drive, ending with a 39-yard, play-action heave to receiver Demarcus Robinson with cornerback Riq Woolen in coverage. Woolen had a chance to potentially end the game earlier in the drive when a Stafford pass was headed straight for his hands, but receiver Tyler Johnson stepped in front of him and caught the ball for a 24-yard gain. Woolen was beaten for the game-winner three plays later (Woolen declined an interview request after the game).
MATTHEW STAFFORD TO DEMARCUS ROBINSON ONE-HANDED TD TO WIN THE GAME FOR THE @RAMSNFL! pic.twitter.com/xqFG6xQ4eS
— NFL (@NFL) November 4, 2024
“He’s a great player,” Seattle safety Coby Bryant said of Woolen, his 2022 draft classmate who intercepted Stafford in the second quarter. “Things happen. Great defense, great catch. Kudos to them. We’ll see them again.”
Bryant is referring to the Week 18 rematch, which Seattle is hoping still has meaning by that point in the year. The Seahawks are 0-2 in the NFC West, 1-4 in conference play and have only a 10 percent chance to make the playoffs and 7 percent odds to win the division, according to The Athletic’s projection model. Seattle has created a deep hole for itself after a 3-0 start.
“Not where we want to be, especially with how we started,” said quarterback Geno Smith, who took ownership of the loss after throwing three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. “Had an opportunity, really, in all the games that we lost, to get a win. And that’s how it’s going to be in this league; it’s always a one-score league.”
Smith is mostly correct. Seattle has had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead in the fourth quarter or overtime of four of its five losses (last week against Buffalo being the exception). Seattle’s only game-winning drive this season came in Week 2 against the Patriots, who are 2-7.
“Really proud of these guys, how they all fought to the very end,” left guard Laken Tomlinson said. “We’ve just got to finish. We’ve got to finish, man.”
Seattle slogged its way through most of the first half and trailed 3-0 when it got the ball with 3:31 remaining in the second quarter. The Seahawks went 70 yards in nine plays to go ahead 6-3 on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Lockett. Smith used a hard count to get multiple defenders to jump offside, leading to a free play and cornerback Darious Williams leaving Lockett wide-open down the sideline. Lockett’s catch came on third-and-8 and was Seattle’s second third-down conversion of the game; the other was a Walker run for 4 yards on third-and-1 earlier in the drive.
Three plays into the ensuing Rams possession, Stafford threw a jump ball to receiver Puka Nacua in a one-on-one matchup with Woolen, who leaped and picked off the pass at the 25-yard line with 27 seconds remaining. During Woolen’s celebration, Nacua got into an altercation with Tyrel Dodson, swung at the linebacker in response to being shoved and was thrown out of the game while being flagged for a 15-yard penalty.
On Seattle’s second play of the following series, another hard count gave Smith a free play, and he again took advantage, finding a wide-open Jaxon Smith-Njigba for 46 yards to the Rams’ 24-yard line. Smith and Smith-Njigba hooked up again two plays for a 24-yard touchdown when the receiver broke free on a post route with 5 seconds left.
Just like that, Seattle went into the break leading 13-3. A crowd that booed the offense early in the first quarter was cheering as the Seahawks jogged into the locker room at the break.
But the third quarter belonged to the Rams, who had scoring drives of 75 and 62 yards while the Seahawks were held scoreless on their only possession. That drive stalled in part because of a holding penalty that negated a 40-yard completion to Smith-Njigba and led to a run play on third-and-26. That was the first of two explosive receptions by Smith-Njigba that were negated by holding calls on sixth-round rookie right tackle Mike Jerrell, who came in when George Fant suffered a knee injury in the first quarter. Jerrell also had a holding penalty in the fourth quarter that wiped out a 38-yard catch by Smith-Njigba, Seattle’s leading receiver with a career-high 180 yards on seven catches.
Smith completed 21 of 34 passes for 363 yards and three touchdowns but was also picked off near the goal line on consecutive drives in the fourth quarter. On first-and-goal from the 6, Smith held the ball too long and was hit while trying to throw it out of the back of the end zone. The ball went directly to safety Kamren Kitchens, who returned it 103 yards for a touchdown to give the Rams a 20-13 lead. Smith said he could have gotten rid of the ball sooner instead of holding it to try and make a play.
103-YARD PICK-6!
Kamren Kinchens takes it ALL the way back for the @RamsNFL 🙌
📺: #LARvsSEA on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/vEVC2pom4i— NFL (@NFL) November 4, 2024
Seattle’s next drive ended on second-and-goal from the 4 when the timing of a short pass to Barner was thrown off because the tight end was tangled up with a defensive lineman. Kinchens picked that one off, too. Smith said Barner being grabbed isn’t an excuse for his interception.
“My decisions affect everybody, not just myself,” Smith said. “I’ve got to be better. I’m not just saying that to say — I really know I can be better. It hurts me that I wasn’t able to get it done today.”
Smith accounted for 86 yards on the game-tying drive to end regulation despite being sacked for the seventh time to begin that series. He completed a 28-yard pass down the sideline to receiver Cody White — making his regular-season debut after being elevated from the practice squad — scrambled for 11 yards and completed back-to-back passes to Smith-Njigba, one for 29 yards on fourth-and-5 and another for a 14-yard touchdown with 51 seconds left. Smith and Smith-Njigba also connected for 31 yards in overtime after yet another hard count drew an offside penalty.
Despite those clutch plays, two of the Seahawks’ biggest flaws came back to bite them. Seattle’s offense came into this game among the worst in the league on designed running back carries, and the defense entered Week 8 with the fourth-worst play-action defense, according to TruMedia.
Walker had 83 yards on 25 carries and accounted for most of Seattle’s yards in overtime, but the blocking wasn’t there for him to get a first down on two straight plays with the game on the line. Seattle’s defense improved against the run (Kyren Williams had just 69 yards on 22 carries), but when Stafford needed big plays in overtime, he used play-action bootlegs to his left; first to receiver Tutu Atwell for 16 yards then again to Robinson for the game-winner.
Seattle can point to its fight and its resilience among the list of things to be encouraged by heading into the bye week. But the Rams, winners of three straight, can point to being better at executing. And in such a tight division race, that’s the difference between searching for answers from fourth place and surging toward the division lead entering the back half of the season.
“Eight games to go and get it, man,” Smith said. “Everything that we work for in the offseason, all the hard work we put in throughout the week, it’s this final stretch. This eight-game stretch is what it’s about.”
(Photo of Geno Smith: Rio Giancarlo / Getty Images)
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