Grading the Seahawks in their 20-17 victory over the Titans
Published 1:49 pm Sunday, December 24, 2023
Here’s how the Seattle Seahawks grade out in their 20-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday at Nissan Stadium:
OFFENSE
For three quarters this was a substandard performance by Seattle’s offense. Quarterback Geno Smith looked rusty upon his return following a two-game absence because of a groin injury, and the running game never materialized following a promising start. However, Smith and company came alive in the fourth quarter, putting together two long touchdown drives, including the game-winning TD pass to Colby Parkinson with 57 seconds remaining when Parkinson held onto the football despite a Tennessee defensive back having an arm between his. Under most circumstances 273 yards of offense is not enough to get the job done.
Grade: B-
DEFENSE
The defense shot itself in the foot with penalties during Tennessee’s fourth-quarter touchdown drive that gave the Titans a 17-13 lead with 3:21 remaining, and the Seahawks had a tough time slowing down Tennessee’s run game that chewed up 162 yards on the ground. However, Seattle also made Titans back-up quarterback Ryan Tannehill, an 11-year veteran making his 150th career start, look like a rookie, sacking him six times and forcing him into bad mistakes on the games final drive when Tennessee still had a chance to drive for a tying field goal. It was also the second straight game in which the Seahawks gave up essentially no explosive plays.
Grade: B+
SPECIAL TEAMS
Return man DeeJay Dallas had a solid game returning kickoffs, but he nearly cost the Seahawks dearly when he was flagged for an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty after fair-catching a punt in the third quarter, pinning Seattle at its own 4-yard line (Seattle ended up going 96 yards for a go-ahead touchdown). Punter Michael Dickson wasn’t called upon often, but he was excellent on those occasions as he blasted a 63-yarder from his own end zone in the first quarter and dropped punts inside the 20 with his other two. Kicker Jason Myers made both his field goals, though they were both shorter than 30 yards.
Grade: B
COACHING
Seattle appeared set to go with more three-linebacker sets on defense to try and stop Tennessee running back Derrick Henry, but that plan was spoiled when Jordyn Brooks left with an ankle injury in the first quarter. Coach Pete Carroll was 1-for-2 on challenges, but he’ll take the 50% rate as the successful challenge resulted in a fourth-quarter touchdown catch by DK Metcalf. The staff learned something from last week’s game against Philadelphia as it successfully executed the “Tush Push” for a first-quarter conversion on third-and-one, and the time management on the game-winning drive was spot on. There were still too man undisciplined penalties, and the Seahawks were lucky it didn’t cost them a defeat in this one.
Grade: B
OVERALL
They may have done it in cardiac fashion, scoring the game-winning touchdown in the final minute for the second straight week. But the Seahawks put themselves in terrific position to make the playoffs thanks to Sunday’s late heroics. It wasn’t Seattle’s best performance of the season, and it came against a mediocre team playing without its starting quarterback and more than half its starters on defense because of injury. But the result is all that matters, and with Minnesota losing to Detroit it means the Seahawks are back in an NFC wild-card spot — with two winnable games remaining in the regular season.
Grade: B
– Nick Patterson, Herald writer
