3 Overreactions to the Seattle Seahawks Wild Card loss to San Francisco
The Seattle Seahawks season came to an abrupt conclusion in San Francisco. The season as a whole was a tremendous success and the future is very bright. Here is this final installment of overreactions.
Chris Phillips
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The Seattle Seahawks season came to an unceremonious conclusion in San Francisco. However, the season was a giant success. Nobody thought this team would finish the season with a winning record, let alone make the playoffs.
However, that’s exactly what they did and there was multiple surprise impact from several rookies. The rookie tackles Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas played fairly well all season and especially in this wild card game. Kenneth Walker III and Tariq Woolen also had tremendous seasons too.
The growth of this past year’s draft youth paired with the impact talent with the upcoming draft and it’s easy to get excited about the direction of this team. But unfortunately, this year’s Seattle Seahawks team was beaten down in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Here is the final overreaction for this season.
Geno Smith is the Pacific Northwest version of Kirk Cousins
We’re coming out of the gate strong. Geno Smith had a tremendous season. He made many people look foolish with how well he played. Unfortunately, in the big games this season he came up short.
Against teams that made the playoffs this season, the Seattle Seahawks went 2-4. Yes, they won the revenge game against Russell Wilson so that was a big success. However, this Smith-led Seahawks team went 0-3 against San Francisco. His stats in those games
- 80/109 73.4 cmp% 688yds (229 yds avg) 3TDs 2 INTs 8 sacks 1 fumble
And in those three games, the Seattle Seahawks averaged 14 points. The team does have a Top 10 pick in the upcoming draft. And while Smith had a great season it would be smart for the organization to not be fooled by one season into thinking they should pass on a possible franchise quarterback.
It’s clear that Smith isn’t a franchise quarterback. And considering he’s now a free agent, the team should consider the franchise tag or a short-term deal with him. Again, having a Pacific Northwest version of Kirk Cousins is not a good idea.
D.K. Metcalf has a bounce-back season
D.K. Metcalf had himself a nice bounce-back season. Leading the Seattle Seahawks in catches and receiving yards. It was really nice to see him have a great season.
- 90 catches 141 targets 1048 yards 6 touchdowns
Coming into the playoff game Metcalf had back-to-back poor games. Totaling four catches for 43 yards and no scores. But in a game where the Seattle Seahawks needed him most, he came through.
- 10 catches 13 targets 135 yards 2 touchdowns
Not only did he have a great game but it was painfully clear that he’s the only playmaker this team has. Rookie Walker had a great season but he did not have a good game. But no other receiver surpassed 40 yards receiving. This offseason the Seattle Seahawks need to look at getting another playmaker to go with Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
The Seattle Seahawks’ defense needs massive help
The biggest weakness of this Seattle Seahawks team was their defense. While it wasn’t the worst in the league, it was ranked 25th. And more specifically, they ranked 30th in rushing defense. The only teams worse than them are Chicago and Houston.
And in this playoff game, the Seattle Seahawks let Christian McCaffrey rush for 119 yards on 15 carries, averaging 7.9 yards. Deebo Samuel rushed three times for 32 yards, averaging 10.7 yards. And San Francisco as a team rushed 33 times for 181 yards, averaging 5.5 yards, and one touchdown.
It’s no secret the NFL has shifted away from run-often offenses to a more pass-oriented offense. The Seattle Seahawks’ pass defense did rank 14th in the NFL. However, you still need to stop the opponents rushing attack. Especially when your opponent is San Francisco and their 7th-ranked rushing offense.
Yet this defense had no answers. Again this team’s season was a success. But they have their work cut out for them this offseason. They need to sink a lot of their resources into bettering the defense. While also not strapping themselves financially with a new quarterback contract. Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider have their work cut out for them.