Seahawks vs Cardinals turning point: a bit too much effort, big man
The Seahawks lost a game they had in hand last week. There were several big mistakes, but none bigger than Benson Mayowa’s critical 4th-quarter penalty.
When the Seahawks are ahead by 10 points with 3:07 left in a game, it’s reasonable to assume they’ll win. When they force the opponent to settle for a field goal and just have to run out the clock to win, and screw it up not once, not twice, but three times – well, it takes more than one mistake to pull that off. For my money, the worst error was defensive end Benson Mayowa.
Let me be clear, I am absolutely not blaming the loss on him. Russell Wilson made some amazing runs and some spectacular throws, it’s true. He also made three awful throws that resulted in three picks. Not to say I told you so, but I told you Wilson’s game was dropping off. Still, Seattle scored 34 points. If the defense simply plays an average game, the Hawks win this one. Up to this game, the much-maligned D had surrendered an average of 27 points per game.
You may notice that if the Cardinals had been forced to settle for that field goal with 3:02 left in the contest, the score would have been Seattle 34, Arizona 27. Wilson makes a couple of key runs, Carlos Hyde picks up some more yards, and the game is over. To that point, Hyde had picked up 63 yards on just 11 carries. Not a given by any means, but Seattle did already have 34 points on the board.
Mayowa’s mistake
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Instead, Benson Mayowa gave it the old college try on that late Cards’ field goal attempt. Unfortunately, this is the NFL, and he didn’t quite make it over the Arizona defenders as he tried to leap over the line to block the kick. By not quite, I mean he wasn’t even close. So instead of a seven point lead and the ball, the Seahawks stayed on defense with the Cardinals at the Seattle 19 with a fresh set of downs. Unfortunately, we all know what happened after that.
Sure, there were other issues. David Moore’s holding penalty that negated a game-winning DK Metcalf touchdown in overtime wasn’t exactly a great move. That mistake wiped out what would have only been Metcalf’s second-most spectacular play of the game. So, sure, that could certainly be deemed a turning point. Wilson’s third pick of the game on that very next play, yep, that could be a turning point as well.
Next. Metcalf: a once in a generation star. dark
But for me, it all started to snowball with the penalty that gave the Cards life late in the fourth quarter. Had the Seahawks avoided just one of those critical mistakes, they’d be 6-0. I don’t expect Wilson to throw three picks in a game again, not ever. I don’t expect that many unforced errors again, either. The Hawks will be just fine, and the proof happens Sunday.