CINCINNATI — Earl Thomas had the same feeling leaving the field at Paul Brown Stadium as most of you did watching or listening to Sunday’s game.
“You leave the game kind of scratching your head like, ‘What just happened?’” the All-Pro safety said of the Seahawks’ 27-24 loss in overtime to the undefeated Bengals.
Seattle led 24-7 with 121/2 minutes left in regulation.
What happened was after three quarters of handling Andy Dalton and Cincinnati’s league-leading passing game, the Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom” went bust.
“It didn’t feel right, getting out of here like this,” head coach Pete Carroll said of Seattle’s largest blown lead in a loss in 11 years.
The Bengals relentlessly and decisively targeted Seattle’s secondary with deep pass after deep pass, as advertised. That was after four weeks of foes dinking and dunking the Seahawks with quick, underneath routes.
Thomas got the Seahawks’ first interception of the season late in the first half, after a four-game drought that was the longest since Carroll became the team’s head coach in 2010. But even Thomas’ big play — denying Cincinnati a go-ahead score and then returning it from the goal line 68 yards to the Bengals’ 31 — was marred. End Michael Bennett got flagged for pushing down quarterback Andy Dalton and then pushing his head to the turf, nullifying much of Thomas’ return.
The Bengals — the NFL’s No. 1 passing offense — went after Seahawks cornerback Cary Williams eight times. They got him for three completions for 51 yards in the first quarter alone. It would have been four completions for 123 yards and a touchdown had A.J. Green’s 72-yard TD on the beaten Williams not been called back by a Bengals penalty for holding.
Williams had two pass-interference fouls of 29 and 27 yards in the second half. The second penalty — Williams was called for hooking the left, inside arm of Marvin Jones as Cincinnati’s wide receiver was trying to reach for Dalton’s pass down the Seahawks’ sideline — moved the Bengals from their own 28 to the Seattle 45 with 1:25 to play in the fourth quarter and the Seahawks leading 24-21.
Asked how he thought he played, a glum Williams understated: “I could have played better. … I didn’t play as well as I wanted to.”
He had company.
All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman was targeted seven times for 61 yards. For a while, the Seahawks had Sherman shadowing Cincinnati’s top receiver, Green, all over the field, instead of Sherman staying on the left side. That worked, to a degree: Green, who entered the game averaging 17 yards per catch and had an NFL season-high 227 yards against Baltimore last month, had six receptions for 78 yards and no touchdowns.
“It did pay off,” Carroll said. “Richard did a great job.”
On the only play for which Sherman was credited for a pass defensed, Dalton’s worst throw of the day to Green on the sideline went through Sherman’s stretched hands. It would have been Seattle’s second interception.
Sherman was uncharacteristically bland afterward.
“It’s not frustrating at all,” he said of the loss. “Sometimes the ball falls your way. Sometimes it doesn’t.
“It’s just as big as the rest of them. They are all the same size. Another championship opportunity, missed opportunity, whatever you want to call it. We get another opportunity next week (against unbeaten Carolina in Seattle).”
The Bengals went after Pro Bowl strong safety Kam Chancellor 10 times in Chancellor’s third game since returning from a two-month holdout. Six of the seven completions on Chancellor came after halftime, for 78 yards, and mostly to tight end Tyler Eifert (eight catches 90 yards, two touchdowns).
Despite 153 of Cincinnati’s 331 yards passing in the fourth quarter and overtime, Thomas said he thinks the defending two-time NFC champions are going to be OK.
“What makes me think? Because I know who we are,” Thomas said. “We played three quarters of great football. We just didn’t finish.
“Ain’t nothing changed.”
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