SEATTLE — A season that began with great hope for the Seattle Seahawks is suddenly in danger of slipping away.
Sunday’s 27-23 loss to the Carolina Panthers, an outcome that drew game-ending boos from a record crowd of 69,020 at CenturyLink Field, was Seattle’s second straight defeat and the fourth setback in six games this season. Needless to say, being 2-4 is hardly the optimum start for a team aiming to play in a third straight Super Bowl.
Making matters worse is Seattle’s penchant for blowing late leads. The Seahawks have led in the fourth quarter of all four losses this season, including a 24-7 lead at Cincinnati a week ago and a 23-14 lead versus Carolina on Sunday.
Despite being a team that preaches the importance of finishing well, the Seahawks have been outscored 61-27 in the fourth quarters and two overtimes of six games this season, and 33-3 in the fourth quarters and one overtime of the past two games.
On Sunday, Seattle’s postgame locker room was a scene of open frustration and disbelief. Several players in full uniform sat at their lockers for prolonged periods, staring off forlornly. Safety Earl Thomas was bent at the waist, hands on his knees, in a pose of anguish. And linebacker K.J. Wright, usually one of the more accommodating Seahawks, begged off interviews.
“It’s frustrating only because I know we’re not playing up to our potential,” said offensive tackle Russell Okung. “We’re going to make mistakes, but the best thing we’ve done in the past is overcome them. And we haven’t done that yet. … We definitely have to face adversity. We have to look it in the eye and refuse to blink.”
“We just need to learn to finish,” said defensive end Cliff Avril. “We play (well most of the game) and somehow we’re just not finishing. We’ve got to get back to what we are, and what we do is finish games. We take pride in that and we just have to get back to that. … We all have to look ourselves in the mirror. My big thing is to control what you can control and not be the reason why this (losing stretch) is the way it is.”
Against the Panthers, Seattle had a 10-7 halftime lead and then pushed the margin to 17-7 early in the third period on a spectacular 40-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver Ricardo Lockette. Minutes later, kicker Steven Hauschka’s 50-yard field goal made the score 20-7.
After Carolina cut the deficit with an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, the Seahawks countered with another Hauschka field goal, this from 43 yards early in the fourth quarter to make the score 23-14.
But from there the game swung decidedly to the Panthers. Though the Seahawks forced a punt on Carolina’s next offensive possession, the Panthers closed with two consecutive touchdown drives of 80 yards. Quarterback Cam Newton carved up Seattle’s secondary, completing five of six passes for 68 yards on the first march, and six of seven for 89 yards on the second (his one incompletion was a spike to stop the clock).
The game-winning touchdown with 32 seconds remaining was a 26-yard strike to tight end Greg Olsen, wide open in Seattle’s secondary due to a blown defensive coverage.
The Seahawks ran four plays after the ensuing kickoff, but could never get further than their own 41-yard line on the final play as time expired.
“Obviously it’s a tough game to lose in that fashion,” said Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson. He added, “We did a lot of great things. (But) we didn’t do enough great things.”
“I don’t think (we’re in) panic mode,” said defensive end Michael Bennett. “It’s not like we’re getting blown out. These are tight games. We’ve just got to get the ball to roll our way in tight games.”
Seattle will have little time to dwell on their disappointing mark. Ahead is a Thursday night game in San Francisco, and one the Seahawks seem to welcome as a quicker chance to turn their season around.
“We’re still confident,” said linebacker Bruce Irvin. “We still feel we’re one of the best teams in the league. But … we’re not getting any breaks this year. It’s a long way (to go). It’s still a long season and a lot can happen. We’ve just got to worry about what we can control and try to start getting these wins.”
Head coach Pete Carroll said the Seahawks are still “a team that has tremendous expectations. But to be where we are right now puts us in a position of tremendous adversity. … It calls on us to believe in the guys in the locker room and believe in what we’re doing and hang together until we get things right.”
Against the 49ers on Thursday, he added, “we’re going to get cranked up and see if we can get a game going the way we want it to. We’re going to have to play a great football game to get a win on the road and that’s all there is to it. It’s just one week and it’s just one game, but that game needs to be the most important game in the world to us.”
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