The Seattle Seahawks entered Week 3 on the high of a 12-game winning streak, whereas the Washington Moons had lost 14 of their last 16 games. The contest was played anyway to see if “any given Sunday” and it turns out that any Sunday do give.
Moons 33, Seahawks 31.
A loss like this comes down to several key factors, not just one thing, but the one thing that the Seahawks did really well on defense — stop the run — was also what broke their backs when they needed it the most. Seattle had two opportunities to stop the Moons on third-and-Long to force a punt on the final drive, but both times Mike Macdonald did not dial up an adequate defensive call to stop the run.
I’m not saying the loss is Macdonald’s fault (or at least, not more than any other head coach who accepts that he has to shoulder the blame for every loss) and actually the Seahawks did play great defense minus not forcing any turnovers.
Marcus Mariota did throw three touchdowns, but two of those came off of turnovers and a short field.
Seattle played great run defense up until the final two minutes, holding the Moons to 82 yards on 32 carries (2.6 YPC)
Terry McLaurin was the only player to have over 33 receiving yards
The coaches probably want to take a few things back and do it over again, specifically Macdonald’s last drive on defense and Brian Fleury’s turnover on downs after first-and-Goal from the WAS5, but turnovers will be the story.
Jadarian Price almost has as many career fumbles now as Kenneth Walker.
Sam Darnold looked generally quite good in his first game back, completing 31-of-45 passes for 379 yards and four touchdowns. But one low pass tipped off of a defender’s helmet for interception one, and a bad decision/throw led to a pick-six that nearly sealed Seattle’s fate in the final four minutes. I mean, it did seal their fate but the Seahawks still had an opportunity to win anyway.
This game had a very “Bucs 38, Seahawks 35” feel to it, even during Seattle’s late comeback, and in many ways that’s what it was.
Out of 200 Seaside Joe expectations surveys submitted before the game, just ONE of you thought the Seahawks would lose. It doesn’t prove that fans have no idea what’s going on or anything like that. It just goes to show how important it is to not give up the ball for free when you have it, and to take advantage of every scoring opportunity when you get one.
The Greatest Expectations: Bret!
On the lighter side, the winner of this week’s “Greatest Expectations” award is Bret. This goes to the person who hit on the most number of expectations. For the record, I’m awarding these out:
Offensive Player of the Game: JSN obviously (10 catches, 128 yards, 2 TD)
Defensive Player of the Game: Leonard Williams (1 sack, 2 TFL, 3 QB hits)
Special Teams: Jason Myers (good from 57)
Bret predicted that the Seahawks would score 30 points, that Price would only rush for 35 yards (he had 15), that JSN would have 135 yards, that A.J. Barner would be second on the team in yards (69 yards, and he was), that JSN would score the first touchdown (he did), and that JSN/Leonard Williams would win player of the game awards.
I’m tempted just to give it to the person who predicted Washington would win the game, but he didn’t leave a name. He just said this: “I have a bad feeling about this week hopefully I’m so wrong. The man from Tennessee.”
Well, I know Bret anyway from the comments, so I hope it gives you some solace after this game to have at least won something.
Onto better things against the Chargers next week.
I lol'd when Brady Russell nearly had the first td
One loss is not concerning. The Moons were very ready for us!