Seattle Seahawks QB dislocates his finger vs. Rams.
Thursday Night Football (TNF) gets a bum wrap for being bad football. Part of that thinking is due to former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman who once called TNF “An absolute poop-fest.” So, there’s that opinion that fueled the narrative that TNF is bad.
The fact of the matter is TNF isn’t as bad as its reputation. Regardless of your thoughts and views towards TNF, watching the Seattle Seahawks is always entertaining television, even if Seattle lost. Time to dive into the takeaways from the latest Seahawks game.
This game’s Seattle Seahawks offense is probably closer to what offensive coordinator Shane Waldron has in mind. Seattle featured a very nice balanced offensive attack that allows both head coach Pete Carroll and quarterback, Russell Wilson, to be happy and do what they like best. While the Seahawks’ average run wasn’t great, the team ran the ball enough to keep the offense balanced and keep the defense from teeing off on Wilson because they know a pass is coming.
Ok, there were some plays where the offense wasn’t great. The first one was the unit’s failure to convert on fourth and two in the first quarter. Also, there was the 12-yard sack on Wilson when he had time to at least throw the ball away. Russ is a veteran QB that knows better.
Maybe he was a bit greedy and tried to make another miraculous play. We can make a similar argument about the play where Aaron Donald got in to dislocate Wilson’s middle finger on his throwing hand on a pass attempt.
The Seattle Seahawks offense played well as a whole. The offensive line gave Wilson time to decipher the defense and keep him clean. The line continued to play well and balanced when backup QB Geno Smith came in. They also gave an occasional hole for Alex Collins to run through.
As previously stated, the Seattle Seahawks offensive line played well on the night as a whole. Starting left tackle, Duane Brown had a bad play that negated a Tyler Lockett touchdown. Outside of 12s, how many fantasy footballers are cussing out Brown? GM John Schneider has to be pretty pleased with his offseason offensive line acquisition of Gabe Jackson as the interior played well against Donald.
I wrote about how dangerous the Los Angeles wide receiver duo Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp are in the opponent preview. Last week the Seattle Seahawks secondary played well against San Francisco. Leading fans to wonder if that play is legit or a mirage? TNF shows that it’s the latter.
Granted, safety Quandre Diggs made a great pick on Matthew Stafford’s throwaway. Outside of that single play, Stafford carved up the secondary. Stafford is the best opposing quarterback the Seahawks faced this year, and Seattle’s defensive backs can’t handle that type of QB play. The Seahawks’ secondary did limit Kupp but seemed to forget all about Woods. Woods had his best game of the year.
D.J. Reed started the game playing very well and breaking several plays. Then wasn’t heard from in the second half. Sidney Jones IV also wasn’t heard from in the entire game. This unit is a problem and one that doesn’t look like it may be fixed this year. If that’s the case defensive coordinator, Ken Norton Jr. will have his work cut out on calling a defensive game with a unit that can cover.
Seattle Seahawks 2020 second pick, Darrell Taylor, now has three sacks in three consecutive games. A total of four in five games. Might the team have its future stud pass rusher? Pump the breaks a little bit on that topic. However, it is nice to see Taylor getting after the quarterback.
A quick couple of did you knows. Did you know Taylor leads the Seahawks in sacks? Did you know Carlos Dunlap has zero sacks? He only has three total tackles on the year. Fortunately, Dunlap came up with a big pass knockdown late in the fourth quarter on third down.
Seattle Seahawks kicker Jason Myers came into TNF with a 37-game made field goal streak inside 40-yards. On his first attempt in the first half, he pulled a 25-yard kick left. It was ugly and resembled someone’s very first attempt at kicking a football. Seattle would have taken a seven-point lead into the break and possession to start the second half if he made it.
Not to be outdone, Rams kicker Matt Gay doinked his point-after-try on the team’s first touchdown, ending his 45-game streak of made PATs. Then to open the second half, he kicked the ball out of bounds on the kick-off, giving the Seattle Seahawks excellent starting field position.
This now makes consecutive games where the Seattle Seahawks run defense is absent against Los Angeles, which is absolutely mind-blowing. Los Angeles wants to run the ball. Right up there with Indianapolis, Minnesota, and San Francisco ( not quite at the same level as Tennessee).
Regardless, Seattle allowed over 100-yards on the ground to yet another unheralded back. A pitiful game plan, coaching, and execution of the plays by the defense.
There are more takeaways we can cover. How about Michael Dickson punting the ball twice on the same play, and the final one ends up on the Los Angeles eleven-yard line? Or maybe Wilson’s dislocated finger? For now, it’s onto Pittsburgh.