Myers dams Colts' Rivers with perfect day
Seahawks-Colts final: What happened in the Philip Rivers game and what do fans think about it?
And the award for best kicker goes to…
Jason Myers, Seahawks!
That’s right… I said it.
Oscar: Myers…Winner.
The Seahawks offense looked abysmal against the Colts on Sunday, but Myers came through by going a franchise record 6-of-6 on field goal attempts, including a 56-yard game-winner to seal the 18-16 victory over Indianapolis and the best performance of his career. Seattle is now 11-3 and they know that this Thursday’s game against the Rams is for control of the NFC West and the conference playoff picture.
The pressure on Myers was even greater considering that Colts kicker Blake Grupe just hit a go-ahead field goal from 60 (not to mention Seaside Joe’s constant harping on Myers for not hitting a game-winner against the Rams) and give credit where it’s due: Wow.
Myers came through when the Seahawks needed it most because the offense spent most of the game behind the 8-ball and the final stats totals (which show Seattle outgained the Colts by 98 yards) don’t adequately reflect just how inept that side of the ball was in Week 15.
The Seahawks won the game but they have four days to find answers for an offense that can’t run the ball, can’t consistently protect Sam Darnold, and the receivers were uncharacteristically bad playing the ball on Sunday. The Rams aren’t going to let Seattle get away with those mistakes and the Seahawks aren’t going to earn the number one seed if they settle for field goals instead of scoring touchdowns.
This is a Seahawks win that has plenty of positives to take from it, but the upside will be overshadowed a little bit by the fact that Seattle almost lost at home to a Philip Rivers-led Colts team.
I’ll take an almost-win over any kind of loss.
Mike Macdonald is the upgrade Seattle needed
There was a drive in the first half that saw the Seahawks go for it on fourth-and-3 rather than try a long field goal or punt. Although Seattle eventually did kick a field goal, the message from Macdonald is clear: “We aren’t going to punt from the 40 every time.”
If Pete Carroll was the head coach, he’s not going for that on fourth down.
Then cut to the Colts final drive and Indianapolis gets to midfield, needing about 5-8 yards for a long field goal try. There was a time when Pete would have “trusted his defense” or some nonsense and let the Colts kick a game-winning 60-yard field goal instead of using timeouts. Not this time.
Macdonald, on the advisement of assistant Brian Eayrs, started calling timeouts immediately and that gave Seattle over :45 seconds to move into field goal range. They didn’t need more than half of that but the only reason the Seahawks ended up getting the game-winning field goal at all was Macdonald’s usage of timeouts at the end of the game.
I know there were some complaints about time management at the end of the first half. I can’t really imagine that Macdonald doesn’t deserve a pat on the back for his time management in this game, or that we don’t now officially put the name BRIAN EAYRS into Seattle Seahawks canon.
Do you like Seaside Joe? Or just curious? Subscribe!
Your support by upgrading to Regular Joes (only $5/mo for a DAILY newsletter) is appreciated. Plus there’s bonus content all the time and the chance to join our community in the comments.
The Philip Rivers story
Rivers was not the worst quarterback I saw on Sunday (not by a longshot) and that alone is impressive for him, but scary for the league. That being said, the Colts are going to die a slow death and miss the playoffs. He can’t chuck it and his last pass of the game — the only one beyond 10 yards that I remember — was easily intercepted by Coby Bryant.
Indianapolis did everything it could for Rivers by running the ball decently with Jonathan Taylor (but only 3.5 YPC) and holding Seattle to six field goals. The Colts were less than a minute away from winning a game on the road in Seattle!
And Rivers didn’t really hold the Colts back either. It’s just that his arm is as toast as you thought it was and oh boy I don’t think I’ve ever seen an NFL quarterback who looked so much like Alec Baldwin in a uniform. (Current Alec Baldwin, not Beetlejuice Alec Baldwin.)
Is there an offense problem?
Again, the box score is misleading. Sam Darnold finished with good stats (271 yards, no interceptions, one sack) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba went over 100 yards again (113) and his achievements are awesome.
But Kenneth Walker averaged 1.9 yards per carry and Seattle ran for just 49 yards and most of Darnold’s production came in the second half — without finishing off any drives with touchdowns. Going back over his last 5 games, starting with that infamous loss to the Rams, Darnold only has five touchdown passes. Well, let’s not put that all on Darnold, okay?
Let’s spread this blame around to the entire offense, including Darnold:
Klint Kubiak, Walker, Darnold, Rashid Shaheed, Cooper Kupp, Anthony Bradford…it’s fair to say that everybody deserves a piece of the blame. Even JSN had a drop on Sunday. A.J. Barner negated his own first down catch with an offsides penalty.
5 passing touchdowns in the last 5 games. That’s not going to get it done against the Rams and that’s not going to get it done in the NFC playoffs.
Seattle’s offense feels uber-one dimensional right now, not just because they can’t run the ball but also because Darnold can’t consistently hit a receiver besides JSN. That changed in the second half of this game as Shaheed finished with 5 catches for 74 yards, but the Seahawks are going to be in trouble if they keep waiting to get going until the second half.
Should fans be concerned about the offense? I wouldn’t blame you. The Seahawks haven’t run the ball well all season long (with some exceptions) and Kupp’s not going to find the fountain of youth between now and the playoffs. This puts a lot of pressure on Kubiak and Darnold to find solutions because Jason Myers can’t be the team’s MVP every week. Hopefully the answer is Shaheed getting more comfortable and improvement by the offensive line, opening up opportunities for everybody else.
What do you think? Share your comments on the game and I’ll repost some on Monday!
Seaside Joe 2477
Why does it seem like the run blocking went back in the toilet with Sundell coming back? Feels like I'd rather see him take Bradford's place and let Olu keep playing C.
The offense is a concern, but there are two things I find encouraging. Darnold’s turnovers are down substantially since the Rams game, and despite looking timid and off in the first half of games, he does look good in the 2nd half of the last two games. He doesn’t fold under pressure. I also think there is a Seahawk offense that can play well start to finish, and a Seahawk offense that can keep it moving from the opponent’s 25 into the end zone. However the time to go looking where it is, is over. We need to find it for Thursday.
Shaheed looks better each week. Today he was there and clutch. Darnold and he are synching up well, and just in time.
We will need to find one more solid piece on the O-line next year. Maybe that will not only help the run game, but improve pass protection.
All is still good for the Hawks. A win Thursday and in all likelihood the experts will start talking about the Seahawks as the team to beat. I have faith! Let’s all keep the faith!