Deejay Dallas, Seattle Seahawks.
After Tuesday night’s loss, the Seattle Seahawks clinched the first losing season of Russell Wilson’s career. Seattle managed to keep it close until the end but ultimately couldn’t come away with a win. So let’s delve into what went wrong.
Once again, a strong defensive effort was undercut by a hapless offense. The season-long trend of keeping the defense on the field until they wear down continued for another week. This one was especially tough. The Seattle Seahawks’secondary was almost completely depleted due to injuries and COVID.
Only one starter, Quandre Diggs, was active for the game. I’m not sure, but I thought I saw Jeremy Lane in the slot at one point. Seriously, Sydney Jones, Ugo Amadi, Blessuan Austin, Ryan Neal, and John Reid played far over their heads to keep the Seahawks in the game. The Seattle offense’s inability to sustain drives reared its ugly head. The Seahawks lost the time of possession battle by over 10 minutes. It eventually exposed their weakened secondary, and Cooper Kupp made them pay.
Russ again missed on a few big plays and was otherwise ineffective. The Seattle Seahawks O-line played at a “B-” level but killed several drives with ill-timed holding penalties. His offense has devolved from streaky, to inefficient, and now to totally inept. Tyler Lockett missing the game played a role, but at some point, D.K. Metcalf needs to step up.
Russ missed him on a sure TD throw late in the game, but his lack of production is a huge concern. Metcalf is averaging 4 catches and 57 yards a game this season. He hasn’t scored a touchdown in six weeks and hasn’t broken 100 yards since Week 3, which was the ONLY time he broke 100 yards in a single game all season. Worse, Metcalf only exceeded 50 yards once in the last two months.
It wasn’t just Wilson’s injury that impacted his production. D.K.’s struggles aren’t a new phenomenon. Going back to last season, he has only one 100 yard game in his previous 25. The league adjusted and figured out how to contain him. Additionally, his dropoff coincides with the end of the Let Russ Cook run last season. Since then, neither Metcalf nor Seattle’s offense has been the same. Frustration is mounting for everyone.
Third-and-six on what might be your last possession, and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron calls for Rashad Penny to run into the teeth of the Rams defense? Even if it’s four down, a two-yard gain doesn’t help. The Seattle Seahawks have a guy who, once upon a time, was one of the best fourth-quarter quarterbacks ever. Why not put the game in his hands instead of an oft-injured backup RB?
The offense struggled to move, and it mainly consisted of heaves downfield and incompletions. Although the running game was effective at times, Seattle often got away from it after it was working. Knowing how much Pete Carroll likes to keep the ball on the ground, and his backs averaged over 4 yards-per-carry, it seems odd Seattle only ran 19 times. The offense looked broken all season, and the play-calling has been a big part of it.
It was a rough few days for NFL officiating. There was the atrocious call in Monday night’s Bears-Packers matchup that changed the momentum of that game. The downward trend continued into Tuesday’s contest. Shawn Hochuli’s crew struggled all night with questionable flags, and their issues came to a head in the fourth quarter.
To start the quarter, Bless Austin drew a flag for holding Kupp on a third and 12. Austin made contact with the receiver within five yards, which he is allowed to do, but he never grabbed the jersey. Instead of a three-and-out with the Rams punting from inside their 20, L.A. got new life and drove downfield for a go-ahead touchdown.
Trailing by a touchdown with just over four minutes to go, the Seahawks had a third-and-on at L.A.’s 45-yard line. First came a phantom false start called on Rashaad Penny to make it third and six. Two plays later, there was an egregious non-call that may have changed the outcome. All game long, the zebras called ticky-tack penalties, and then maybe the most obvious foul of the night was ignored.
With Seattle’s clogged toilet of an offense, who knows what would have happened, but short of hiring someone to club his knee, Rams linebackers Ernest Jones could not have more blatantly interfered with DeeJay Dallas. The irate Seahawks running back immediately lost his mind when there was no flag on the play and was penalized for kicking the ball in frustration. It could also be argued that Metcalf was interfered with on Seattle’s final offensive play.
Fox Sports rules analyst and former NFL Vice President of officiating Dean Blandino seemed baffled by this crew all game and disagreed with many of the calls (and non-calls). I’m sure the Seahawks will find great solace when the NFL acknowledges the missed call tomorrow.
Let us know your thoughts on tonight’s loss in the comments section below or on social media.