SEATTLE — On a day the Seattle Seahawks could have closed in on some big postseason prizes, they instead let the opportunity slip through their fingers.
With a first half of offensive ineptness and a second half marred by defensive lapses, the Seahawks lost both a game and the chance to control their own postseason destiny. Arizona, which had a mere 5-8-1 record — indeed, the slumping Cardinals had lost four of their previous five games — controlled the line of scrimmage, forced the Seahawks into a bevy of miscues, and snagged a 34-31 victory on Saturday afternoon at CenturyLink Field, with a last-second field goal by place-kicker Chandler Catanzaro providing the winning points.
“It’s definitely disappointing,” linebacker Bobby Wagner said in a somber Seattle locker room. “We knew if we kept winning, everything would be in our hands. But now what we can control is to just go out there and win next week (at San Francisco).”
“We lost the game, but we’re still in the playoffs,” center Justin Britt said. “Next week we have a chance to end the (regular) season with a win and that’s all we’re thinking about.”
It was Seattle’s first home loss of the season and, given the playoff implications, certainly the most costly of any 2016 defeat, home or away. The 9-5-1 Seahawks, who already had clinched the NFC West title, came in holding the NFC’s No. 2 playoff spot. That berth now belongs to 10-5 Atlanta of the NFC South, which closes out its regular season next week at home against New Orleans.
Detroit, 9-5 in the NFC North heading into Monday’s game at Dallas, also could slip past Seattle. The Lions close their schedule at home next week against Green Bay.
If the Seahawks finish No. 3 or No. 4, they would host a first-round playoff game against an NFC wild-card team. If Seattle won that game, it likely would have to win on the road to advance.
“We don’t like to make it tough, but we can handle any situation,” Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson said. “There’s no worries, no fears. We just have to do what we do best, and that’s go 1-0 (every week) and let the rest handle itself.”
“It’s never an opportunity lost when you have a chance,” agreed defensive end Michael Bennett. “The opportunity is when the playoffs start. … At the end of the day it’s about the Lombardi (Trophy, given to the Super Bowl winner). If you don’t win the Super Bowl, all (the rest) doesn’t matter.”
In a game the Seahawks trailed virtually throughout, Arizona took advantage of a recovered fumble for a short field and an early 7-0 lead. An 80-yard touchdown strike from Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer to wide receiver J.J. Nelson pushed the margin to 14-0 midway through the second quarter.
But it was the Arizona defense that may have contributed the biggest sequence of plays just before halftime. After Wilson passed 29 yards to wide receiver Tyler Lockett, giving the Seahawks a first down inside the Cardinal 1 — the play was initially ruled a touchdown, but was changed after a video review; Lockett also suffered a season-ending leg injury as he fell to the turf — Seattle ran four straight plays but was denied each time.
The Seahawks recovered an Arizona fumble moments later, but were again kept out of the end zone. A Steven Hauschka field goal made it 14-3 at halftime.
Seattle’s offense finally got untracked in the second half, scoring touchdowns on Wilson passes to Jermaine Kearse (2 yards), Doug Baldwin (42 yards), Jimmy Graham (37 yards) and Paul Richardson (5 yards), with the last of those TDs making the score 31-31 with 1:00 remaining in the game. The Seahawks had a chance for the lead, but Hauschka hooked the extra point try wide left, with a high center snap perhaps contributing to the miss.
Still, the 28 second-half points probably should have been enough to win. Instead Seattle’s defense became porous, giving up two touchdowns and two field goals on Arizona’s final five offensive possessions. The game-winning kick, a 43-yarder, came as time expired.
It was, said Seattle head coach Pete Carroll, “a very tough loss. … We were able to put together a ballgame in the second half that gave us a chance. It was a terrific comeback and it gave us the opportunity to get this game. But all in all, it was just not the way we wanted to go about this.”
Still, said Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, “it’s not an opportunity lost. You’d love to make the road easier, but sometimes you’ve got to take the harder road. … I think we’ve still got all the pieces that we need to do what we need to do in the playoffs.”
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