Seahawks-Rams: As I Sea It
What happened in Week 11's contest between Seahawks and Rams? Seaside Joe 1722
The term “must-win” gets abused throughout an NFL season, but the Seattle Seahawks certainly should have felt the pressure to escape SoFi Stadium with a victory on Sunday for several key reasons: a) The Seahawks had a chance to keep pace with the 49ers for the NFC West lead, b) Seattle’s been embarrassed by the Rams since Aaron Donald’s arrival and could have used a “turn the page” moment, and c) the next four games are brutal.
If not must win, the Seahawks were in a “should win” situation against the Rams on Sunday. They should have won. They did not win.
The Seahawks lost 17-16 after blowing a lead for an NFL-leading eighth time this season, as Pete Carroll was gifted about 40 extra seconds by Sean McVay and like $50 cash stuffed in a birthday card from grandma, chose to blow his newfound wealth on something he didn’t need.
In this case, a two-yard run by Zach Charbonnet.
Seattle dropped to 6-4 with the loss and are now not only a game behind the 49ers, but only two games ahead of the Rams, a franchise that was so clearly focused on next season when they made all of their offseason moves in 2023.
If the Seahawks can’t put away the Rams, what can Seattle be expected to do against San Francisco, Dallas, and Philadelphia? What does it mean for the future of the franchise if they play the same against those teams as they did against L.A. in Week 11? As I sea it, it won’t mean anything good.
Don’t blame Jason
As I sea it, the most questionable decision in the fourth quarter was to run a play and hand it off to Zach Charbonnet to setup the final field goal attempt. Geno completed a 21-yard pass to DK Metccalf and had a chance to spike it with first down at the LAR39 and over :25 seconds. Seattle should have clocked it and tried to gain at least another 10 yards, which they could have gained in the middle of the field with plenty of clock left. Instead, they ran it to Charbonnet for a 2-yard gain and asked Jason Myers to make a 55-yard field goal to win it.
Sean McVay gifted the Seahawks with enough time to win the game and frankly, Seattle blew a golden opportunity.
Myers has been great, I’m not concerned about his miss even if it did look like a shank, but that doesn’t mean that the Seahawks should have been so comfortable when they got to the 39. There was time on the clock, why didn’t you clock it and run one or two more plays?
Don’t build the whole plane out of the 2nd half
As I sea it, the worst offense in the NFL is the Seahawks against the Rams in the second half of football games. Prior to Geno’s final drive, here’s how Seattle has played in the third and fourth quarters against the Rams this season:
The Seahawks held a 13-7 halftime lead over the Rams in Week 1 and lost. The Seahawks held a 13-7 halftime lead over the Rams in Week 11 and lost.
Just as we shouldn’t be mad at Myers, we shouldn’t be mad at Drew Lock.
It wasn’t Lock who had 12 penalties. It wasn’t Lock once again tensing up as soon as Seattle crossed midfield and settling for field goals in the first half. The Seahawks should have had a much bigger lead when Lock entered the game. Lock’s interception was the result of trying to make a play on third-and-11, not playing hero ball or gunslinger.
Is Lock a good quarterback relative to the top-20 relative NFL starters? I doubt it! But there’s no reason to point the finger at him for Seattle’s loss this week and no reason to say that how he plays—good or BAD—has anything to do with how the Seahawks offense plays when he’s on the bench. Two things can be true at the same time: Drew Lock can be a backup quarterback AND the Seahawks can need to do a lot better on offense with their current starter.
The Seahawks have scored 29 points in two games against a bad defense. Not acceptable.
Send him to the Penalty Hawks
As I sea it, the Seahawks have nobody to blame but themselves. I do not believe in NFL conspiracies. Mostly not.
Again, two things can be true at the same time: The Seahawks can be so undisciplined that they are their own worst enemy AND the refs can coincidentally appear to be favoring one side over the other.
Was it a fair penalty when Tre Brown was called for defensive pass interference in the end zone to give the Rams another opportunity to score a touchdown, which they did? It didn’t seem to be the right call. Was it a penalty when Riq Woolen was called for hands to the face on third-and-15, leading to L.A.’s go-ahead field goal?
YES! WHY IS ANYONE BEING COACHED THAT IT IS OKAY TO GET AGGRESSIVE AT THE LINE AGAINST AUSTIN TRAMMEL ON THIRD-AND-15?!?!
Almost every penalty that the Seahawks were called for sure looked like a penalty to me. Seattle could get away with penalties in 2013 because the team was so talented. They aren’t that talented right now and the Seahawks would be 7-3 instead of 6-4 right now if not for their own mistakes.
The Seahawks needed this win
As I sea it, this was the game that Seattle absolutely had to have during this current 5-game stretch. Up next are 49ers, Cowboys, 49ers, Eagles.
It’s brutal when you lose a game that you had almost the entire way.
If the Seahawks go 1-3 in their next four games, then Seattle will be 7-7 with three games left. That’s only if they win one of the next four.
The 49ers beat the Bucs 27-14 on Sunday and it wasn’t really that close. Brock Purdy went 21-of-25 for 333 yards and 3 TD. Are the Seahawks ready for Thanksgiving?
Identity crisis
As I sea it, the Seahawks lack an offensive identity. Ken Walker left the game in the first quarter and it would be surprising if he’s ready to play in four days against San Francisco just because he was ruled out for this one early with an oblique injury. In his place, Charbonnet had 47 rushing yards and 22 receiving yards on six catches.
But Seattle’s offense sort of feels like musical chairs and just like that game, there’s often only one winner.
Today, DK Metcalf had 94 yards and a touchdown, Tyler Lockett had 51 yards, Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 40 yards. With many of the Seahawks weapons, it’s starting to feel like they’re being wasted. Is three catches for 40 yards enough for JSN? Is four yards enough for Noah Fant? Is one catch each enough for Will Dissly, Jake Bobo, and Fant? There were no targets for Colby Parkinson and Dee Eskridge had zero catches on one target.
It would almost be favorable if the Seahawks had fewer weapons but each of them did more to contribute each week. It sure appears that Metcalf is Seattle’s “go-to guy”, especially in the fourth quarter of these last two games, but is there a Robin?
It seems like the Seahawks have a playbook instead of an offense. They need to know who they are instead of just believing they have plays for every situation. They clearly do not have enough plays because Seattle is one of the lowest scoring offenses in the NFL now, especially in the second half of games.
Let other Seahawks fans know what you thought of the game in the Seaside Joe comments.
I think a review will show the amount of offensive holding on our guys, which is what kept Stafford clean most of the game, especially during the 8 second fallbacks. Officials controlling the temper of the game is one thing, affecting outcomes another. Even with 120+ penalty yards, we still held the destiny of the game at the end. I saw them fight a decent game in this one. Unfavorable officiating is damn near impossible to win against. Nobody argued or hung their head. Shit happens. Move on.
Getting blown out by the Ravens didn’t make me lose faith in this team. Having to rely on an end-of-game field goal to beat Washington at home didn’t make me lose faith in this team. But this game has done it - I’m not mad... just disappointed. And that’s how I know I’ve lost faith in the 2023 Seahawks.
If I thought the team had just shot themselves in the foot and win this game 9/10 times, I’d be mad at a lost opportunity. But after watching 10 games, I don’t have the confidence this team would’ve found a way to win. They didn’t have any answers since mid-way through the second quarter, and that’s been a trend since the Lions game. I gave them the benefit of the doubt today to show us what kind of team they were against an inferior and banged-up Rams team that has owned them for the past few years... and they showed us.
The difference in quarterback ability between Stafford and Geno was on full display today - it isn’t arm strength (they both had long throws down the field), it isn’t accuracy (they both made - and missed - throws today)... it’s performance under pressure. Hell, it’s a disjointed offense that only seems capable of scoring field goals when leading and doesn’t seem to have a backup plan once the other team adjusts to their scripted game plan.
It’s a waste of available talent and I have to remind myself that Seattle should probably be in a rebuilding phase anyway due to The Trade - if only last year didn’t move us so far ahead of schedule I thought we could be competitive again sooner... But we still need to upgrade from Geno and we still need to upgrade from Waldron’s play management. As ill-disciplined as they were, the defense still kept the Rams to 17 points. If you can’t score more than 17 against a 3-6 squad without their best receiver - and you have DK, No-E, JSN, Fant, capable RBs, and the opposition spotted you 10 points to start the game - that’s on the team, not the talent. Unless your biggest lack of talent is your QB’s and OC’s inability to manage or make plays...
So until that changes, this team can’t be competitive against anyone other than the bottom-dwellers of the league. I’d be thrilled to be wrong over the next four games, but I no longer have faith that I could be...