Seahawks Beaten by Themselves and Washington 17-14
By Ben Renner
The Seahawks racked up penalties, turned the ball over, and missed three field goals en route to a home loss to Washington 17-14.
It’s difficult for any team, even one as talented as the Seahawks, to miss three field goals, turn the ball over twice, and lose over 100 yards in penalties to win against anyone in the NFL. That was the story for a sorry Seattle lot yesterday.
With slush falling from the sky in the first half, the Seahawks only managed two points on a Bobby Wagner sack-safety of Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins. New left tackle Duane Brown mostly held down the left side of the offensive line, but pretty much everyone else struggled. Most offensive plays by Seattle seemed to be flagged for various bone-headed mistakes.
The Seahawks were called for 16 penalties yesterday, which backed them up 138 total yards. Even a furious fourth-quarter comeback by Russell Wilson that put Seattle ahead with less than two minutes to play wasn’t enough to overcome an inept performance by kicker Blair Walsh and the offensive line.
When none of its members false-started, the offensive line was eaten up inside. Wilson dealt with pressure coming right through the middle of the pocket for most of the game. Brown held down the left side for the most part, but guards Oday Aboushi and Ethan Pocic couldn’t handle Washington’s blitzing or linebacker Zach Brown, who terrorized the Seahawks on multiple plays and made it impossible on many snaps for Wilson to step into his throws.
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Washington had a gameplan for the Seahawks offense and it worked for the most part. Starting running back Eddie Lacy had a few relatively successful carries early in the game but had to leave because of a groin injury. Thomas Rawls ran hard but was mostly contained by Washington’s interior linemen and linebackers. Washington had a spy on Wilson most of the game. Zach Brown was watching for scrambles on many occasions, and while Wilson ran for 77 yards on 10 carries, the Seattle running game was mostly held in check. Wilson was able to escape on a few key broken plays to keep Seattle alive, but it wasn’t enough to overcome all the mistakes.
Walsh missed three field goals in the first half, which certainly contributed to the final score and the loss, but you can’t hang this defeat solely on him. Too many Seahawks lost focus at key points in this game, including a defensive breakdown in the game’s final minute, allowing Cousins to put his team inside the one yard-line on two plays, setting up a Rob Kelley game-winning touchdown plunge.
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A frustrating and disappointing game all the way through. Now 5-3, the Seahawks are one game behind the LA Rams in the NFC West, who stomped the Giants to go to 6-2. The Seahawks face the Cardinals on Thursday Night Football later this week.