Note: The last few weeks have been a rollercoaster ride for the Seattle Seahawks; symptomatic of an inconsistent team. First there was the overtime loss to Arizona, in which the Hawks D was shredded by Kyler Murray, followed by the hopeful win and improved defense against the 49ers; then the bad loss to Buffalo with another porous performance by the Seattle defense; then another loss to NFC West rival LA Rams (discussed in the article below) by a score of 23-16; and then, in perhaps Seattle’s best overall performance this season (also discussed below), last week’s 28-21 victory over the Cardinals, in which the maligned Seahawks defense held Kyler Murray to a mere 15 yards rushing while sacking him 3 times and hitting him 7 times. Seattle’s inconsistency across these games wasn’t only due to the leaky “D”, however. Starting with the first Arizona game Russell Wilson suddenly became unwontedly loose with the football. In the 4 games through the LA game he threw 7 interceptions and lost 3 fumbles—10 quarterback turnovers—definitely not Seahawks football as Pete Carroll wants it played. Whether he was feeling the pressure of having to play perfectly due to the poor defense not stopping anybody; pressing to stay in MVP consideration; defenses adjusting to what the Hawks have been doing; or some other unknown factor, Russell just wasn’t being…well…Russell. And then, towards the end of the first half against the Rams, and continuing through the second half of that game, something for Seattle’s defense began to change for the better. The improvement continued in the second Arizona game, by far the team’s best defensive performance this season, displaying a level of consistent play we’ve not yet seen this year. In this craziest of all seasons, could the Seahawks have at last turned the corner? If we Twelves are to enjoy another Seattle Super Bowl run, let’s hope so. Please read on…MA

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Week 10–Seahawks vs. Rams

By the 6-minute mark of the 2^nd quarter in Seattle’s Week 10 game against the LA Rams, the Seahawks defense had given up drives of 10 plays for 70 yards; 7 plays for 77 yards; and 13 plays for 93 yards. On those drives the Rams scored 2 touchdowns and a field goal, to take a 17-7 lead. LA’s total offensive output at that point was nearly 250 yards, while Rams quarterback Jared Goff had completed 13 of 16 passes for 180 yards. The Hawks “D” looked to be overmatched by the Rams offense and to most Twelves watching it seemed a rout was in the making. And then, almost imperceptibly at first, things began to change. Across the last 36 minutes of the game Seattle held Goff and the Rams to about 160 yards of offense and 6 points, while forcing a fumble and 4 punts in the next 6 LA possessions.  It was such an impressive turn around by Seattle’s defense that, if not for Russell Wilson’s worst mistake of the season, the Hawks just might have won this game.

Wilson’s gaffe took place with just over 2 minutes left in the 2^nd quarter and the Rams leading 17-10. Two plays earlier the Seahawks had recovered a Jared Goff fumble at the Rams 27-yard line on a brilliant play by Seattle safety Jamal Adams, when on a blitz he knocked the ball from Goff’s hand as he cocked his arm to throw. The ball took one bounce on the turf before being pounced upon by Seattle safety DJ Reed, thus giving the Hawks the possession with marvelous field position. It was just the kind of game-altering sudden change the team needed; a touchdown now and the game would be tied going into half time. Instead, Russell Wilson made one of the worst and most inexplicable mistakes of his career.

The first play after Adams’ brilliant effort was a 5-yd run by Seattle’s Alex Collins, who was the featured Hawks running back for this game due to injuries to Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde. On the next play Wilson brought his team to the line of scrimmage facing 2^nd down and 5 at the Rams 22-yard line. For the play Wilson had DK Metcalf split wide to the right with David Moore to his left in the slot, and tight end Will Dissly stationed on the right side, just outside the right tackle, in a kind of H-back position. Split to the left was tight end Greg Olsen, while running back Collins was positioned in the backfield to Wilson’s left. As Wilson started calling the signals and made his pre-snap reads, Dissly went in motion from right to left, coming to a halt just outside of left tackle Duane Brown. With the snap of the ball, Olsen took off straight up the field, taking Rams cornerback Darius Williams with him in man to man coverage. Meanwhile Alex Collins leaked out into the left flat, causing LA’s left outside linebacker Kenny Young to drop down toward him in case Wilson decided to swing the ball out to the running back. All that action, with Williams vacating deep to follow Olsen and Young vacating shallow to cover Collins, left the whole left side of the field wide open for Will Dissly, as he executed a wheel route down the left side toward the end zone.

For about the first 15 yards as he advanced toward the goal line, Dissly could not have been more open. With the ball snapped at the LA 22-yd line, had Russell gotten him the ball anywhere from about the 18-yd line to the 5-yd line, the Hawks would have had very nice gain, if not a score. Instead, on the snap of the ball Wilson’s initial read was not to Dissly, but to Greg Olsen. On seeing that Olsen was covered by Williams, Wilson stepped up in the pocket, angling toward the right hash marks as the Rams defense parted before him, exposing the whole middle of the field with no one in it, available for the taking. All Russell had to do was take off running and he minimally would have had a 15-yd gain if not a touchdown. Just then, however, he saw Dissly running free towards the goal line down the left side. Spurning the run, Wilson launched an ill-advised throw from about the 23-yd line and just inside the right hash mark, across his body towards Dissly, leading the tight end into the end zone. The only problem with the throw was that also in the end zone a few yards away was the afore mentioned Darius Williams, who had followed Olsen down field a couple seconds earlier. On seeing Wilson release his pass towards Dissly, Williams simply left Olsen, moved a few yards to his right, stepped in front of the tight end in the end zone, and picked the ball off.

Why Wilson didn’t see Williams in the end zone is a mystery to me. It’s also a mystery that he did not see Dissly during the wide-open portion of his route, before he reached the end zone. Lastly, it’s a mystery as to why he didn’t simply take off running when the whole middle of the field presented itself to him. I would love to ask him about these things. The play was so “un-Russell” like that it really stands out, and it had a devastating effect, wasting the turnover; costing the Seahawks a touchdown and possibly the game.

Ironically, from that point on in this game the Seahawks defense held the Rams in check for the most part, forcing them to punt in the possession following that interception, as well as in 3 of the 4 LA possessions in the 2^nd half. Further thwarting Seattle’s offense, Wilson would continue his inconsistent play with two more 2^nd half turnovers: a 3^rd quarter fumble on a low snap, and a 4^th quarter interception; but it was a Pete Carroll coaching decision that may have been the biggest 2^nd half mistake.

That mistake took place early in the 3^rd quarter with the Seahawks having the ball, 4th and 1 at their own 39-yd line. On the prior 3^rd down play, Wilson came to the line of scrimmage with 4 yards to make a first down and continue the drive. From the shotgun he took the snap, initially looking to pass; but then, on spotting an opening in the center of the Rams defense, he took off up field, and with a final dive appeared to land with the ball squarely on the “line to gain.” (the 43-yd line). At first glance I thought the refs made their own error in spotting the ball about one foot short of the 43-yd line. I have watched this play on slow motion replay about 10 times with close scrutiny, and I can discern no part of Wilson’s body hitting the ground before he plants the ball firmly on the 43-yd line, which would have been a first down; but then I saw a different view of the play, which showed Russel’s ball hand on the ground a few inches short of the line to gain. So, I guess the zebras called it right.

But, correct or not, the ball placement by the officials presented a dilemma to Pete Carroll: he could challenge the placement, hoping to get the call reversed, risking the loss of a time out and a wasted challenge if he loses; he could accept the placement and then punt; or he could accept the placement and order his team to go for it on 4^th down and a foot. He chose the challenge route, which in my view at the time, based on what I saw, was the correct thing to do. The official review saw it differently, however, and upheld the spot, thus costing Seattle a precious challenge AND a time out. It was then that I think Carroll “screwed the pooch”, as they say. With his team now needing a foot at their own 42 plus-yd line, Pete sent his offense back on the field, the intent apparently being to go for it. In an obvious short yardage situation, Wilson lined up under center, set his team, and started calling the signals; and he continued to call the signals, and then continued to call the signals; until the entire play clock was exhausted, thus incurring a 5-yd delay-of-game penalty. Carroll’s effort to get the Rams to jump off sides fooled no one, least of all the Rams. Now, with 4^th and 6, the Seahawks really did have to punt, which Hawks kicker Michael Dickson did magnificently, pinning the Rams all the way back to their own 5-yd line. Jared Goff and Co. then put together their only sustained drive of the second half, taking 14 plays to cover the 95 yards to a touchdown and a two-score lead at 23-13.

With 4^th down and a foot to make at their own 42-yd line, should Carroll have ordered his team to go for it?

I think the answer is obvious.

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Week 11–Seahawks vs. Cardinals

The NFL schedule can be brutal sometimes. I imagine for a player, nothing would be worse than playing a hard-fought game on Sunday and then having to play another game 4 days later, on Thursday night. Even for a player otherwise uninjured, it usually takes until at least Wednesday to recover from Sunday. For the NFL, however, advertising revenue rules, and so we have Thursday night football. Thus, following the Rams loss the Seahawks had 4 days to get ready for another tough game against a Division rival—the Arizona Cardinals.

With Seattle’s recent propensity for turnovers, inconsistent play on both sides of the ball, injuries, and losses in 3 of their last 4 games, there was no particular reason to expect the Seahawks would come out and play their best game of the season against Arizona. Of course, we all know about our team’s stellar record in Thursday night games, something like 9-1 during the Pete Carroll era, but going into this game against a tough team like the Cardinals, that didn’t seem like much for us Twelves to hang our hat on. Add to that only 4 days to prepare and you can see why I may have been less than optimistic about this game.

So what happens? The Hawks come out and totally corral Arizona’s diminutive yet fleet and elusive quarterback, Kyler Murray, holding him to 15 yards rushing, nearly 47 yards less than his per game average. They also sacked Murray 3 times, one of which, a first quarter hit by defensive lineman L J Collier, seemed to injure Murray’s throwing shoulder as he was pounded into the turf. Coming in to the game the Cardinals featured the league’s 2nd leading rushing attack at nearly 160 yards per game, yet the Seahawks completely shut them down, allowing only 57 yards. They also kept Murray under control passing wise, giving up only 269 yards in the air. A huge part of that, besides the pass rush, was the excellent job Seahawks cornerback Trey Flowers did on Arizona’s all-world receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, holding him to 5 catches and 51 yards, figures far below his weekly averages. And when was the last time you saw a game end when one of Seattle’s defensive linemen—that’s right, I said linemen—sacked the opposing quarterback on 4^th down (I can’t recall it ever happening, so if it did, you tell me.) Yet that’s exactly what happened when Seattle’s recently acquired defensive end, Carlos Dunlap, blew around an attempted block and crashed in to Murray’s right side as he looked for a receiver. Dunlap’s play caused a turnover on downs with less than a minute to play, which allowed Seattle to run out the clock and walk off the field with a 28-21 victory.

Offensively for Seattle, this game marked the return of a great running game and therefore a balanced attack; something we haven’t seen recently with the injuries to Carlos Hyde and Chris Carson. Hyde returned for this game and the effect on the Seahawks ability to run the ball was immediate, with Carlos gaining 79 yards on 14 rushes for an average of 5.6 yards per carry while also scoring a touchdown. Throw in Wilson scrambling for over 40 yards; 31 yards from Bo Scarbrough, late of the practice squad; and 13 yards from rookie DJ Dallas, and the Hawks as a team rushed for over 160 yards. The effective rushing attack gave some plausibility to Seattle’s play-action passing game, which Wilson and his receivers exploited. For the game the Seahawks quarterback completed 23 of 28 passes for 197 yards and 2 scores. More importantly he had no interceptions or fumbles. He seemed more willing to take what was there, using his check downs and scrambling when necessary, and not forcing the ball. Overall, Russell was excellent in this game.

So was slot receiver Tyler Locket, who caught 9 balls for 67 yards and one score. Wilson’s touchdown pass to Lockett, which came in the 2^nd quarter, was a thing of beauty. From the Arizona 11-yard line Russell took the snap from shotgun and retreated to pass. Lockett, who was split to the right on the play, ran up field to about the 3-yd line and then stopped and turned toward the line of scrimmage. As suddenly as he had stopped, he then took off again, angling toward the deep right corner of the end zone. Seeing that Lockett now had a couple steps on Cardinals defensive back Patrick Peterson, Wilson lofted a perfect pass toward his receiver, which Lockett took in over his shoulder, while employing a liberal dose of “toe-drag-swag” to ensure he stayed in bounds. Just a gorgeous play all around. DK Metcalf also had a touchdown pass among his 3 catches, but he also had two critical drops, one of which cost Seattle a touchdown when a Wilson pass bounced off the big receiver’s face mask in the end zone. If Metcalf can improve that part of his game, and by that I mean catching the ball with his hands, he will become a superstar in this league.

With the 28-21 win Seattle moved to 7-3 on the season, good for 2^nd place in the NFC West due to the Rams, also 7-3, holding the tie breaker because of their win over the Hawks described earlier in this post. Seattle now faces the “trap” stretch of their schedule. Their next 4 opponents, the Eagles, Giants, Jets and Washington have a combined won-loss record of something like 10 wins and 30 losses. Many pundits are talking like all the Seahawks must do is show up to claim the victories.

Don’t you buy it. This is the NFL, and there are no “gimme” games, especially for the Seahawks, who have a bad habit of playing down to the competition. In the first of these games the Seahawks make another 3,000-mile cross-country trip to play the Eagles this Monday night on national TV. It’s been a tough season for the Birds from Philly so far, with only 3 wins, however, with All Pro defensive tackle Fletcher Cox leading the defense the Eagles are 3^rd in the league in sacks and statistically have a far better defense than Seattle, giving up almost 1300 yards less on the season. It’s on offense where the Eagles struggle. Quarterback Carson Wentz has been having a sub-standard season; his completion percentage is way down, he has been picked 14 times, and he has been sacked 40 times. Nevertheless, he is a big, strong, mobile quarterback with an unbelievable arm, and if Seattle allows him to get well in this game, the Hawks could be in trouble.

For all the concern I’m showing here, I do think the Seahawks just may have turned the corner this season, and I don’t think they lose to the Eagles. The defense is starting to play much better; with Chris Carson returning, and Carlos Hyde already back, the running game is vital again; and Russell Wilson, based on last week’s game, has returned to form. Because of all this, in the battle of the Birds, I think the Hawks will be too much for the Eagles.

Let’s hope I’m right.

Go Hawks!

Copyright © 2020

By Mark Arnold

All Rights Reserved