As crazy as it sounds, the Seahawks actually DIDN’T get obliterated! You’re welcome, everyone! The power of my reverse jinx knows no bounds! But, I still get to be partially right, as the Rams took the lead in the 4th quarter and kept the Seahawks at bay when it mattered most. With no time outs, under 2 minutes to go, the Rams dug deep and converted on a 4th & 1 quarterback sneak to ice it. It’s the dictionary definition of a Moral Victory, as the Seahawks covered the spread and only lost 33-31.
What I’m Geeked Out About After Five Games
Let’s just call it the entire rushing game. In what ostensibly turned into a shootout, the Seahawks still managed to run it 32 times for 190 yards and a TD. That alone is VERY impressive, but what if I told you Russell Wilson accounted for none of it? He didn’t even have a single carry! No scrambles, no nothing!
Chris Carson led the way after missing last week with an injury. He had 19 carries for 116 yards. But, true to his word, Pete Carroll worked Mike Davis into the mix, who had 12 for 68 and that score. Both of them were gashing the Rams left and right, which again comes back to the offensive line. Dare I say it? Is the Seahawks’ O-Line the best position group on this team? Okay, I’ll buy it! The best group isn’t on the defensive side of the ball, that’s for damn sure!
Other Things That Caught My Eye (In A Good Way)
I really liked Russell Wilson’s game. I still think he needs to pull it on some of those zone read plays, but I also think he’s hiding an injury and is doing everything in his power to limit the plays with his legs. Nevertheless, he was 13/21 for 198 yards and 3 TDs against 0 picks. Lots of pretty passes deep down field and he certainly had this team in position to win this game late if we could’ve just gotten the ball back.
HUGE game out of David Moore who had the first 2 touchdown catches of his young career. He had 3 for 38 on the day and REALLY looks like he’s going to be a star for this team for many years to come. I haven’t been this excited about one of our young receivers since …
Tyler Lockett! 3 catches for 98 yards and an oh so pretty 39-yard touchdown bomb. On top of that, he had 3 kick returns for 77 yards as the team looked for a spark in the return game (Penny had been handling KO return duties a lot this year). It got so bad that the Rams were pooching their kickoffs, giving Seattle great field position all day long.
Finally, not a lot to praise about the defense, but I’ll tip my cap to Bradley McDougald and Bobby Wagner, who are holding this unit together by their strong individual efforts. And, actually, a tip of the cap to Frank Clark too, who had a monster game after a week’s worth of food poisoning.
Let’s Talk About Competitions
Pretty interesting game for Penny. Zero offensive touches in a game where the Seahawks ran it 32 times. There’s growing discontent every week about the Seahawks taking a running back in the first round, and I’m as sick of it as anyone. I mean, at some point we’re all going to have to get over it! This isn’t the single worst move the Seahawks ever made. Hell, it isn’t even the dumbest decision they’ve ever made with a first round pick! But, that having been said … don’t you have to get SOMETHING out of your rookie first round pick? I know it’s not necessarily a knock against him, so much as it is that Carson and Davis have earned their touches, but think about it. This is a game the Seahawks REALLY wanted. The chips were stacked against them with the injuries suffered in last week’s game, so they circled the wagons. They consolidated their gameplan to include the most important and best players on their team. Guys like David Moore and Tyler Lockett were prominent, as they’ve proven over the first month of the season that they’re the best, healthiest receivers we have right now. Russell Wilson showed up with an efficient game. And, the best running backs split time pretty evenly.
And Penny didn’t play a lick. He got in on 1 special teams play and that’s it. That says A LOT about what the team thinks of him right now. It’s a damning indictment of their first round pick, and it’s only going to continue to be a glaring blight against this organization unless he turns his career around.
Getting back to the receivers, Jaron Brown and Brandon Marshall played 9 and 7 snaps respectively. They had 0 catches on 0 targets combined. Doug Baldwin played the entire game, but he’s obviously not quite right, so it’s doubly important that Lockett and Moore played the way they did. These are the deep threats the Seahawks have on this team that’s opening up our run game and our play-action game. It’s all connected, and I’m looking forward to the young guys continuing to advance as guys like Brown and Marshall are phased out.
At least for one game, Tedric Thompson is the answer to the question of who would take over in Earl’s absence. He played all but one snap on defense and had an up & down game. He came away with 7 tackles and a pass defended, but also missed some tackles, took bad angles on some runs, and missed an interception off a deflected ball. Of the guys we have on this team, he’s the player with the most promise, but I just don’t know if he’s going to be the long term solution. The Seahawks have the most work to do in bolstering the pass rush, but they shouldn’t neglect the safety position in 2019. If there’s a highly-graded first round talent at safety in the draft, I think the Seahawks should pounce on him.
Other Things That Caught My Eye (In A Bad Way)
Just … the defense. All of it. Holy hell. The Rams punted on their first drive of the game, and then never again. Sure, there was an early pick, and a nice goalline stand that led to a field goal, but the Rams had their way and were able to do pretty much whatever they wanted all day.
That starts and ends with the pass rush, which was absolutely non-existent. The crowd noise was solid, and forced the Rams to waste a bunch of time outs at inopportune times, but otherwise the Rams were fine. 1 sack on 66 plays. 2 hits on the quarterback and I’m pretty sure one of them was a 15-yard flag because Quinton Jefferson was an idiot and hit him 3 hours after he threw the ball. Sure, a lot of it had to do with their scheme – they get the ball out fast and with receivers WIDE open – but he also had plenty of plays where he could stand back there, make a sandwich, talk to some buddies, build a ship in a bottle, and the Seahawks were never going to get home. Fucking abysmal, and there’s no hope on the horizon for 2018. Dion Jordan was good for 22 snaps. Q-Jeff is our defacto #2 DE and he is NOBODY’S definition of a quality pass rusher. Barkevious Mingo played 97% of defensive snaps and that should probably never change, because Frank Clark needs some help.
I wasn’t a huge fan of all the drop-kick kickoffs. I hate it when an opposing team gets a couple quality returns and then Pete Carroll freaks the fuck out and starts pooching everything, giving the other team amazing field position every fucking time. Why not, I dunno, MAKE ADJUSTMENTS IN YOUR KICK COVERAGE?! Unless Janikowski was nursing a hammy or something, they should’ve brought him back out. Either that, or just kick it out of bounds and save us all the embarrassment.
Also, man that was a tough holding penalty that forced us out of field goal position, but I mean, it was 2nd and 13 on the Rams’ 35 yard line, so WHY WERE WE RUNNING THE BALL IN THE FIRST PLACE?! That’s supposed to be the tougher end of the field to kick, so why not throw and try to get really close! Again, it’s a clear example of the team trying to play for a field goal. Best case scenario, we don’t get flagged for holding, Mike Davis runs for 5 yards to the 30 and it’s 3rd & 8 with just over 3 minutes to go. Odds are – even with how mediocre the Rams’ pass defense was in this game – we’re not converting a 3rd & 8 (I even bet the Seahawks would’ve run it AGAIN just to get a tiny bit closer and eat some more clock), in which case the Rams still would’ve had PLENTY of time to take the ball down the field and score a game-winning field goal.
The end of that game shows the clear differences in philosophy between these two teams. The Seahawks play it safe and stodgy, running the ball down around the 30 yard line, playing for the field goal, and I guess just praying the other team makes a mistake (because our defense was in no position to slow them down). Meanwhile, the Rams, with the lead and the ball, on 4th & short on their own 43 yard line, went for it on a QB sneak to put the game away. Seattle NEVER would’ve done that in a million years!
That’s part of the reason why I feel this moral victory is a bit hollow. We’re all but shut out of winning the division, we have a LONG road to get into wild card contention, and even though we hung close, the Rams are clearly the superior team and would’ve won that game 90 times out of 100. Do I like the Seahawks’ chances against an inferior team like the Raiders this week? Sure. But, against the greats, I think we’re still just as fucked as we were before this surprisingly easy-to-accept home defeat.