Seahawks MVP for game seven: the peerless Bobby Wagner
On a day when so many of the Seahawks played out of character, middle linebacker Bobby Wagner stood out for the home team.
It isn’t any fun to choose the most valuable player in a game your team loses. This loss wasn’t the result of bad play by the Seahawks as much as it was two big plays by the Ravens defense. Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson is being praised and deservedly so. He did run for over 100 yards, after all. Despite that, his offense just put 16 points up against the Hawks. The main player holding their offense down was the great Bobby Wagner.
I know it isn’t any more enjoyable to read about a loss than it is to write about. But let’s focus on the positives we did see. The Ravens offense came into the game ranked first in yardage and second in points scored. I’ll point out that ranking was seriously inflated by their 59-point destruction of the Miami Dolphins, a Division-II team that somehow got an NFL franchise. Other than that game, Baltimore hasn’t scored more than 28 points all season.
Again, the Seahawks defense held the Ravens offense to three field goals and a touchdown. That’s their worst offensive showing of the season. If not for two absolutely critical errors, the Hawks would almost certainly have put this game in the win column. No one was more responsible for that performance than Bobby Wagner.
BWags had seven solo tackles and six assists. He broke up one pass and forced a fumble as well. I can’t say he was everywhere on the field. Jackson did run for 116 yards, after all. But Wagner came up big repeatedly. He broke up a pass on third and eight at the Seattle 10-yard line that forced Baltimore to settle for a field goal. When he knocked the ball loose from Jackson earlier, the ball unfortunately bounced out of bounds and the Ravens kept possession. The Hawks didn’t get the lucky bounce that the Ravens would see later in the game.
Next. Hawks on wrong end of beatdown. dark
It wasn’t exactly the outcome I expected, as most of our staff predicted a Seahawks loss today. I guarantee you, no one is happy to be right today. Regardless, I see this loss as a fluke. The Hawks weren’t outplayed, and Bobby Wagner certainly wasn’t. It’s just a shame that two crucial errors ruined his MVP effort and the Seahawks day.