It’s going to be a long two weeks for the Seattle Seahawks.
After a 26-20 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field, the Seahawks head into the bye week losers of five of their past six games. From 3-0 to 4-5 and last place in the NFC West is not where the expected to be at this point.
“We’ve got guys that fought, but we have to go to work and make this right,” Seahawks first-year head coach Mike Macdonald said. “Right now we’re doing too many things that are not winning football.”
Seattle’s defense, which held its own for most of the afternoon, folded when it was needed most on a day when the offense was a mixed bag of big negative and big positive plays.
Quarterback Geno Smith showed both types of plays on Sunday, throwing for 363 yard and three touchdowns — but also three interceptions. One of those picks was in the Rams end zone, where Los Angeles safety Kamren Kinchens caught Smith’s first-down pass and raced for a Rams-record, 103-yard interception return.
Instead of a 20-13 lead for the Seahawks, it was the Rams (4-4) who stole that advantage with 10:59 to go in the game.
“I want to apologize to my teammates, really to the city, the (Seahawks) organization,” Smith said. “They put a lot of trust in me with my decision-making when they put the ball in my hands. When my teammates play the way they played today and give us a shot to win the game, I’ve got to make sure we do. The things I did today, the mistakes I made — it affected us, negatively, and really cost us the game today.”
In need of a stop, the Rams used four plays to win it. Rams receiver Demarcus Robinson broke free of Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen for a 39-yard, game-winning touchdown to seal it.
Woolen, who intercepted Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford with 33 seconds to go in the first half, politely declined to speak about the game-ending play.
“The last play… good ball, good catch,” said Seahawks safety Julian Love, who finished with six tackles.
The offensive line, which once again lost right tackle George Fant to a knee injury, struggled for much of a contest, allowing seven sacks and 11 quarterback hits. The Seahawks made an effort to run the ball more than in previous games. Seattle recorded 33 rushing attempts, including 25 carries for 83 tough yards from running back Kenneth Walker III.
A yard was never harder to come by than on fourth-and-1 when Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald passed on a field goal to take the lead in overtime.
The Seahawks, aided by a 31-yard catch from Jaxon Smith-Njigba, found themselves with a decision to make facing fourth-and-1 at the Rams 16 with 7:19 to go in the extra period. Seattle could try to convert with the goal of scoring a touchdown to end the game with a TD, or Seattle could kick a field goal and give the Rams a chance to match or win with a touchdown of their own.
Macdonald went for the Rams’ throats, but Walker III was stuffed for no gain when the Seahawks offensive line was overrun by Rams.
It was that kind of day the offensive line. Right guard Anthony Bradford, who had pleased coaches enough to beat out rookie Christian Haynes and send him to the gameday inactive list, was beaten on several occasions. Rookie sixth-round draft pick Michael Jerrell, once again pressed into duty as a fourth-stringer with fellow tackles Abe Lucas, Fant and Stone Forsythe all sidelined, struggled with a false start, two holding penalties and holding up in the run and pass game.
Center Connor Williams seemed to again scuffle with shotgun snaps. One wobbly football went through Smith’s hands above his head, and another sailed over the quarterback when he wasn’t quite ready for the ball. Smith reached out to secure several others.
“Hat’s off to the way he plays, how he competes,” Smith said. “No one was perfect out there. Nobody’s perfect. I’m not perfect — none of us are perfect. We compete together, we fight together. There’s a lot of things we’ve got to clean up.”
Smith-Njigba kept the Seahawks in the game with seven receptions for 180 yards and two touchdowns. But the interceptions, sacks and lost yards on poor snaps were too much to overcome.
“We’ve got to take care of the football,” Macdonald said. “We have to be better if we’re going to win.”
They’ll have two weeks to figure that out, along with a way to beat the 49ers in San Francisco in an effort to turn the season around.
The game’s box score can be found here.
This story originally appeared in seattlesportsnow.com, of which Aaron Coe is a co-founder.
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