Games like this are the reason I started writing this blog. Not to celebrate thrilling victories, or to dive into the detail of a playoff chase. No, I started writing this blog because the pain of a Seahawks loss was so great that I wanted to research every detail that could help me brace for a loss before it occurred. The most painful losses were the ones where it appeared the Seahawks had a massive advantage over the opponent, and somehow found a way to lose. The greater the gap between expectation and result, the greater the torment. I was foolish enough to expect this Seahawks team to win comfortably against a Titans team that could barely field a starting lineup. Instead, Seattle need fourth quarter heroics against the 5-10 Tennessee crew to eek out a three point win.
The recipe for a blood boiling game requires more than a close score. The magic ingredient is everyone knowing the opponent has only one way to win, being able to build a game plan around stopping that one thing, committing a significant amount of players to stopping that one thing, and not being able to stop that one thing.
The Titans absolutely had to have a run game to be competitive. They knew it. Seattle knew it. We all knew it. Tennessee was so decimated along their offensive line that they started a guy who had only recently been signed to the practice squad. They had two poorly performing rookies on the left side of the line. They were down to their second or third string right tackle.
Seattle had everyone available to them in the front seven. Yes, Jordan Brooks exited with an ankle injury, but the Titans success running the ball was already happening and Brooks showed no signs of being the key to stopping it. The Seahawks were pushed around and continued a season-long trend of poor tackling. It did not matter that they put 8+ guys around the line of scrimmage. Nearly every run was for 3-7 yards.
You could almost hear the phone calls being made by Seahawks fans for appointments to see if they had any testosterone remaining after their favorite team drained them of it with this emasculating performance.
Football is a game of speed, strength, and strategy. Seattle was failing on each for much of this game. The only way that was not infuriating was if you had microscopically small expectations for the team or you knew nothing about hot bad and injured the Titans were heading into this game.
I voiced my displeasure on Twitter. Many fans agreed. Some did not. A number of folks love to return for a victory lap after the team wins, as if that proves being unsatisfied and angry at how the Seahawks were playing was foolish.
I think being satisfied and happy with how Seattle played for most of this game is foolish. Expect more. Demand more.
Even a mediocre squad should have been able to separate from this Titans team. Yes, they beat the Dolphins a couple weeks ago, but they have lost 7-9 starters since then. Dre’Mont Jones admitted the “energy wasn’t there early.” Few things are more aggravating as a fan than when the players on your team demonstrate less investment in the outcome of the game than you.
The consistency of effort over the past 14 years is part of what has been a real gift of Pete Carroll’s coaching style. He has had trouble getting through to this crew. He had admitted as much multiple times.
This was just a tough watch. I was glad to see Geno Smith will the team to a win in the fourth quarter. I was also mad that it required two fourth-quarter go-ahead drives in the first place.
Seattle should have scored on their first possession. The referees incorrectly called a pass to Jake Bobo incomplete and did not overturn it despite strong evidence that it was a catch. That would have led to a 4th down and 1 that would have either been a field goal or a likely conversion. Instead, the Seahawks punted from the 42.
The Seahawks would march to the Titans 10-yard line later in the half, only to have Shane Waldron call a low percentage pass play on 3rd and 4 that also resulted in a near disaster when Jaxon Smith-Njigba slammed his knee into a concrete wall. Smith did not help matters by locking in on Smith-Njigba instead of dropping it off to Zach Charbonnet in the flat for what would have almost certainly been a first down.
Seattle would get to the Titans 39-yard line on their next drive, but Charbonnet dropped what looked like a big gain on a swing pass on 2nd and 10. Seattle would eventually punt again, heading into halftime with 3 points against a collection of no-name backups on the Titans defense.
The one thing that really matters for the Seahawks the rest of this season is whether they can demonstrate the offense is a difference-making group. Their performance in Dallas was a revelation. They have not come close to recapturing that, but Drew Lock was the quarterback in those games. Smith was back for this one, and the offense was far from dynamic.
Their second half, though, was pretty darn good. They only had three possessions, and scored on all three. That included 96 and 75-yard touchdown drives to take the lead. The 14-play, 75-yard game winner was a thing of beauty.
Smith was fantastic. He was on time and accurate. His absolute dart to Smith-Njigba on 3rd and 14 for an 18-yard gain was the throw of the day. Tyler Lockett reemerged as the reliable route runner and receiver the team has been missing much of the season. He caught a variety of short passes to keep the chains moving. D.K. Metcalf continued his string of making big plays at the end of games with his juggling touchdown catch in the prior series and then drawing a crucial pass interference on the final drive to setup the touchdown to Colby Parkinson.
Smith did not put the ball in harm’s way the entire game. It was a professional performance.
You look at the stats for the entirety of the game and things wind up looking pretty good for the defense. They allow only 17 points for the second straight week. They hold the Titans under 300 yards of offense, and sack Ryan Tannehill six times. The longest play they gave up was a 23-yard scramble by Tannehill in the first half. Only one pass play was longer than 13 yards.
Maybe the rage at watching them give up 162 yards on the ground to this pretend offensive line was unjustified. I do not think it is. Had Seattle done the one thing they needed to do in this game, stop the run, this game would not have been close. They were unable to stop it, which drained the clock and limited offensive possessions. They gave up field position and asked their offense to climb out of deep holes.
Thankfully, Smith and the offense proved capable of 96 and 75-yard game winning drives. He has done that more than any other QB this season. He would have another if Jason Myers had made a kick in Los Angeles a few weeks back.
Seattle is going to need to find a backbone to stop the run and to run the ball at some point. They have a clear path now to the playoffs, with a physical opponent coming into Lumen Field from Pittsburgh who will gladly overpower a team who does not have the strength, speed, or strategy to beat losing squads.
They did enough to give these final two games meaning. There is still time to start building toward something instead of dragging along the bottom.