Seattle Seahawks: Loss to Cincinnati leaves plenty of questions

The Seattle Seahawks were poised to pull off the upset on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals. Then the unthinkable happened. Now we’re left trying to figure out what happened.

I’m on vacation this weekend. My family and I are enjoying the beach. This is the first time in years that I’ve been able to get some time off during the season. I haven’t watched the game, and the replay won’t be available until after the Sunday night game is complete.

So here I am looking at a stat sheet and a couple of highlights trying to figure out what possibly could have happened. Unfortunately, those just leave me even more confused. So now as I wait to get my chance to watch the game, my mind is filled with questions that I cannot answer right now.

1. How much of Rawls’ performance was because of the O-line?

The highlights available only include two runs, and both of those had gaping holes opened up by the offensive line. That’s only two of 23 carries though, and Rawls managed to pick up 169 yards on the ground. It will be interesting to see how well he played overall.

2. What the hell happened to the defense in the fourth quarter?

17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to give up a big lead. That isn’t supposed to happen. The Seahawks are supposed to have this legendary defense. And yet, 17 points in the fourth quarter. That is an unfathomable result.

Something clearly changed. Whatever it was, it wasn’t a good change for Seattle.

3. What happened on special teams?

The highlights available include two huge punt returns by Adam Jones. Jon Ryan and the coverage teams have been incredibly good over the last few seasons, but that clearly wasn’t the case today. The Seahawks have to figure out what is going wrong here, because it has already hurt them in two games this season.

4. How did this team become so bad at finishing?

Over the last three years the Seahawks have had a tendency to start slow, and finish strong. Whether it was the offense running out the clock or the defense getting an important spot, the Seahawks always found a way to finish opponents off. That hasn’t been the case this year.

The Seahawks have had fourth quarter leads in all three of their losses this season. The previous two were nothing like this though. A 17 point lead in the 4th should be an automatic win. Clearly something has changed.

This loss stings. It raises some difficult questions. Hopefully we’ll be able to find some answers soon enough.

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