Note: Last Sunday’s Week 4 game against the Miami Dolphins had all the elements of a “trap” game for the Seattle Seahawks. Though Miami’s record coming in to the game was 1-2, both losses were hard-fought and to excellent teams, the New England Patriots and the unbeaten (4-0) Buffalo Bills. In addition, the Dolphins were well rested, coming off their first win of the season in a Thursday night game against Jacksonville 10 days earlier. Seattle, meanwhile, was coming off a very tough win against the Dallas Cowboys, and then had to make the 3,000-mile plane trip from Seattle for the 10 AM Pacific time start in Miami on Sunday. Based on the teams they’d lost to, and the way they handled the Jaguars, Miami looked better than their record to me, and so I had some concern. If the Hawks took the field in hot and humid Miami not quite ready to play, the possibility of a Dolphins ambush loomed large. Fortunately, I needn’t have worried…Please read on. MA

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For all the angst about the Seattle Seahawks defense (worst in the league in terms of yards allowed) it’s kind of remarkable how often that same maligned defense has made big plays at key times to preserve Seattle’s victories in the first 4 games of this season. Of course, the best example is the Week 2 goal line stand against the Patriots; but in the Week 3 win against Dallas there were several major defensive plays, and without them Seattle doesn’t beat the Cowboys on the strength of their offense alone. Last Sunday’s game, a 31-23 victory over the Miami Dolphins, showed continued defensive improvement by the Hawks; this time centering on stopping the Dolphins in the “red zone”, forcing field goals instead of allowing touchdowns. (the “red zone” in football is defined as, whether for offense or defense, that part of the field from the 20-yard line down to the goal line) The Dolphins breached the Seattle 20-yard line 4 times in the game last Sunday, and advanced the ball inside the Hawks 30-yard line 6 times, coming away with 5 field goals and only one touchdown. If you have basic arithmetic skills and use them, you can see that Seattle’s red zone “D” was the major difference in this game. So far this season the Seahawks offense has been fantastic in the red zone, leading the league with nearly an 87% touchdown success rate; a fact that largely explains the team’s success. This last Sunday for the Dolphins, however, that simply wasn’t the case, and it’s the biggest reason the Hawks won.

The first Miami red zone incursion in this game took place at the 4:30 mark of the 1^st quarter when Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick hit his wide receiver Preston Williams with a 15-yard strike to the Seattle 20-yard line. Seattle was leading at that point 7-0 because of another of those great defensive plays: a Ryan Neal interception of a tipped pass from Fitzpatrick, which Russell Wilson and the Seattle offense quickly turned into a Hawks touchdown. (You will recall that it was Neal who, just called up from the practice squad, intercepted Dak Prescott in the end zone to preserve the win over the Cowboys. He seems to be making a habit of being in the right place at the right time.) Williams’ catch gave Miami a 1^st and 10 on the cusp of the red zone, and things looked good for the Dolphins. On the 1^st down play Fitzpatrick handed the ball to former UW Husky and Dawgs all-time career rushing leader, Myles Gaskin, who is fashioning a nice NFL career for himself in Miami. Gaskin went for 7 yards over the left side, but the play was called back because of a Dolphins lineman caught for holding, giving the Fins a 1^st and 20 at the Seattle 30. From there the Hawks stymied Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins with two excellent defensive plays, the first by nickel back Ugo Amadi who broke up what would have been a 1^st down catch at about the 8-yard line; and the 2^nd by, you guessed it, the ubiquitous Ryan Neal, who blew up a screen pass to Gaskin with a perfectly timed hit just as the ball arrived in the running back’s hands. All that defensive prowess forced a 41-yd field goal attempt by Miami’s excellent kicker, Jason Sanders, which he nailed for 3 points—but, as already pointed out, 3 points isn’t 7.  

With Seattle leading 10-3, the next Dolphins adventure in the Seahawks red zone took place when Fitzpatrick completed a 17-yd catch and run pass to another of his fleet receivers, Devante Parker, which gave Miami a 1^st and 10 at the Seattle 18. From there two Miami running plays left them with 3^rd and 4 at the Seattle 12-yard line. On the 3^rd down play the Miami quarterback tried to squeeze a pass over the middle to a receiver in the end zone, but Hawks linebacker KJ Wright read the play perfectly, leaping high to break it up. (Wright played an excellent game overall, but he needs to work on catching the ball. By my count on this day he had 3 potential picks in his hands and dropped them all) Now, with 4^th down and 4 at the Seattle 12, Dolphins head coach Brian Flores opted for the sure points and had Jason Sanders boot another field goal; once again settling for 3 points instead of 7. 

The next Dolphins field goal didn’t come from a trip into the red zone, but it was close, so I am including it here. Because of a sack of Russell Wilson on a 4^th and 3 play at the Dolphins 19-yard line, at the 4:45 mark of the 2^nd quarter Miami had the ball, 1^st and 10 at their own 25. With Seattle still leading 10-6 at the time, the Dolphins now had an opportunity to chew up the remaining first half clock and go into halftime with the lead. 8 plays later, with another Fitzpatrick-Devante Parker connection of 6-yards, Miami had moved the ball to the Seattle 27-yard line. That play gave the Dolphins a 3^rd down and 4, which Fitzpatrick, under pressure by Seattle’s D-line, wasted by throwing the ball away. On 4^th down, and with 29 seconds left in the half, Miami’s Sanders kicked his 3^rd field goal of the game, leaving Seattle with a 10-9 lead going into the break.

Or so we all thought. What happened next illustrates what great quarterbacks and offenses can do, even with almost no time on the clock.

After the Miami field goal, and clinging to a 1 point lead, the Seahawks started their next possession on their own 25-yard line with a mere 24 seconds on the clock and 2 time outs still available. On the first play Wilson hit tight end Greg Olsen for 11 yards and a 1^st down, and Seattle burned one of its time outs. That play consumed 5 seconds, leaving 19 seconds at the snap of the ball for the next play. Wilson took the next snap from shotgun and retreated to pass. Sensing pressure from Miami defensive linemen, he rolled out of the pocket to his left and, while on the run, released an unbelievable pass down field, 50 yards in the air and right into the hands of wide receiver David Moore, who, due to blown Miami coverage, was all alone deep down the left sideline. Moore carried the ball to the Miami 7-yd line for a 57-yard gain, giving Seattle a 1^st and goal with 10 seconds left in the half.

Wilson made short work of that 7 yards. Aided by a Miami time out after Moore’s big catch, which allowed Seattle to preserve its last time out, Russell then hit Greg Olsen once more for 4 yards to the 3-yd line. A time out later, with 6 seconds left, he hit running back Travis Homer over the middle for the touchdown, Homer’s first ever career score, leaving me and every other “Twelve” to marvel at what we’d just seen—75 yards to paydirt in 4 plays while consuming just 21 seconds.

Unbelievable!

That miracle at the end of the first half not only gave Seattle a 17-9 lead going into the 3^rd quarter, it provided a little less anxiety for us Twelves watching; which, after all we’ve seen so far this season, was much appreciated.

Now, to get back to the Miami red zone forays, the next one took place late in the 3^rd quarter, largely due to one of Russell Wilson’s rare mistakes this season—a poor pass, thrown low to the end zone toward DK Metcalf that was picked by Dolphins defensive back Xavien Howard. It was a pass Wilson would love to have back, for he threw it off his back foot and under pressure—the kind of pass a quarterback is better off just chucking into the stands. The play robbed Seattle of a scoring opportunity, and to that point was the only Seattle red zone failure so far this season. Thus, with the touchback because of the pick, Miami had the ball, 1^st and 10 at their own 20-yd line, and just under 10 minutes left in the quarter. From there Fitzpatrick took his team on a nice drive, all the way to a 1^st and 10 at the Seattle 30; at which point the Hawks D once again stiffened. Two short pass plays gained only 5 yards, leaving the Fins with a 3^rd and 5 at the Seattle 25. The 3^rd down play was another short Fitzpatrick pass over the middle to Parker. To be honest the Miami receiver should have caught the ball for a 1^st down, but, thankfully, possibly due to hearing footsteps from defensive back Ugo Amadi, he didn’t, leaving the Dolphins with another blown touchdown opportunity. Sanders then kicked his 4^th field goal of the day for Miami, leaving Seattle with a 17-12 lead.

Miami’s 5^th field goal of the day came after another long Miami drive into Seattle territory. To set up this red zone intrusion for you, on a 3rd and 10 play from the Seattle 40-yd line, Fitzpatrick, unable to find a receiver, took off on a scramble up the middle, gaining 10 yards and a 1^st down at the Seattle 30. The next play was a Gaskin run up the middle for 9 yards, followed by another Gaskin run for 5 yards and a 1^st down at the Seahawks 16. It appeared the Dolphins had the Seattle defenders on their heels and were about go in for the go-ahead touchdown. Once again, however, Seattle’s defensive resolve stiffened. On the 1^st down play Fitzpatrick rifled a pass into the end zone that was beautifully defended by Seattle’s Shaquille Griffin, who had superb, tight, trailing defensive position on the receiver, and thus was able to extend his arm to knock the pass away at the last second. The next play, another handoff to Gaskin, gained 7 yards, setting up 3^rd down and 3 at the Seahawks 9. With the Seahawks likely expecting a pass, the Dolphins then called a Gaskin sweep around the left side, which Seahawks rookie defensive lineman Alton Robinson exploded with another great defensive play, throwing the shifty Miami running back for a 3-yard loss. That play left the Dolphins with another red zone 4^th down, and no choice, really, but to kick another Jason Sanders field goal, which they did, cutting Seattle’s margin to 17-15.

Following the Miami kickoff the game suddenly and dramatically turned in favor the Seahawks. Miami, it seemed, had all the momentum at that point; but it took Wilson and Co. only a couple of plays to change that; the big one being a beautiful 30-yd pass to Tyler Lockett on a right to left crossing route that carried deep into Miami territory at the 28-yard line. From there It took Seattle only 3 plays to score, the touchdown coming on one of those “must see to believe” throws and catches. On the play Wilson used a hurry-up offense, catching the Dolphins D while players were still running on to the field and trying to get set. Split wide to the right on the play, Wilson had David Moore, with Tyler Locket to Moore’s left in the slot position. Split to Wilson’s left was DK Metcalf. From the shotgun, the Hawks QB took the snap and immediately looked toward the center of the field, which caused the defensive back on Moore to ever so slightly pause, and then lean toward that direction. That was enough for Moore to get behind him and across the goal line to the deep right corner of the end zone, where he took in the gorgeous Wilson throw, perfectly placed where only Moore could catch it, for the touchdown. With the extra point the Hawks took a two score 24-15 lead, and we all breathed a little easier as we sat in front of our high-def big screens.

Even with that big play, it took another brilliant defensive effort to secure this game for Seattle. Following Moore’s TD, the Dolphins started their next possession at their own 25-yd line with 5 minutes and 24 seconds left in the game. 3 plays later disaster struck for the Dolphins in the form of Seattle defensive back, Shaquille Griffin. On a 1^st and 10 play from the Dolphins 36-yard line Fitzpatrick tried to smoke a pass to a tightly covered receiver at about mid-field. With the Seahawks coverage on the play the throw was ill-advised, a fact made more apparent by the athletic Griffin, who leaped in the air to make the interception and then returned it to the Miami 33. Following Griffin’s big pick it took Wilson and his offense all of two plays to put another touchdown on the board; the first being a 32-yard catch and run by DK Metcalf down the right sideline on which he showed his incredible physicality and blazing speed; and the second a simple 1-yd dive over the goal line by running back Chris Carson. The score gave Seattle a 31-15 lead with just over 4 minutes left in the game and, as it turned out, that pretty much settled things. The Dolphins did mount one last scoring drive, and finally did put up a red zone touchdown, but it was too little too late. The Hawks took the subsequent kickoff and got Miami to exhaust all their time outs before gaining a first down and using the victory formation to run out the clock.

The 31-23 victory, considering the travel distance, the 10 AM start, the hot and humid weather, and the tough and resilient team they were playing, is a good one for the Hawks. As important is the fact that the Seahawks D is showing definite signs of improvement. Unlike the games with New England and Dallas, the Dolphins could manage almost NO big plays, and though Fitzpatrick and the Miami offense did move the ball on them, Seattle’s defense was masterful at keeping them out of the end zone. If the defense can keep improving, it certainly bodes well for the Seahawks. So far no team has been able to slow down Seattle’s offense, including Miami. Wilson had another good day, hitting 24 of 34 for 360 yards and 2 scores while Chris Carson gained 80 yards on the ground in 16 carries–a 5-yd per carry average. DK Metcalf, David Moore and Tyler Lockett all had explosive play catches of 30 yards or more.

With the win Seattle is now all alone atop the NFC West with a 4-0 record, one game ahead of the Rams and two ahead of the Cardinals and 49ers. The team has another tough game coming this Sunday at the Clink, again on national TV Sunday Night football, against the Minnesota Vikings. With Kirk Cousins calling the signals, Pro Bowler Adam Thielen and wonder-rookie Justin Jefferson catching the ball; and NFL rushing leader Dalvin Cook toting it, the Viks are a MAJOR challenge for the Hawks’ improving defense. Oddly, considering the overall defensive stats, Seattle’s run defense has been excellent to this point, so perhaps they will be able to corral Cook somewhat, which would help. The Minnesota pass defense has been porous so far too, so I think you can expect another big offensive performance from Russell and the boys.

With a bye looming in Week 6, wouldn’t it be awesome if our team took a 5-0 record into the off week? Seattle has never been 5-0 to start a season in the team’s history, and now I think they have a great shot at it. Look for them to do just that, as I feel they will be about 7 points better than Minnesota on Sunday night.

Let’s hope I’m right.

Go Hawks!!  

Copyright © 2020

By Mark Arnold

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