Seahawks offensive and defensive grades from second straight defeat

The Seattle Seahawks have now lost back-to-back games, falling to 6-3.

The Seattle Seahawks have looked like a different team in these past two weeks. After being manhandled in Buffalo a week ago, the Seahawks once again looked sloppy on the road. Only this time, it was in Los Angeles in a huge divisional game against the Rams. This feels odds for Seahawks fans as they are used to seeing their team play better in the months of November and December. This year, it has been the opposite. Good in September and October and thus far, ugly in November.

The Rams have been riding the coattails of their defense all year long and once again, their defense delivered. This was a big game for both teams battling for first in the NFC West, that saw the Rams come out on top. To make matters worse, the Arizona Cardinals defeated the Buffalo Bills on a Hail Mary. As a result, there is a new first place team in the NFC West.

With all that said, it is time for the weekly grade report.

Offense

Another off game for quarterback, Russell Wilson. Wilson has been great in his career coming off a loss (32-8). But, in the loss to the Rams, Wilson was just off with a couple throws and also threw two more interceptions. I know he fumbled, but that was more so the fault of the rookie center, Kyle Fuller. I know, Wilson deserves the benefit of the doubt as he has carried this team all season long. But, he has to be better moving forward and he knows that.

Today was the first time since 2016 that Wilson threw for 0 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Maybe it is the lack of rushing attack due to injuries or just a bad couple of games. Regardless, I believe Wilson will pick up the play when we need him most, as he always does.

Although Seattle rushed for over 100 yards, it was a bad day on the ground. Alex Collins got majority of the snaps, while Carson and Hyde are still healing from their injuries. Outside of the opening drive, the Seahawks rushing attack didn’t help at all. But, all the blame can’t be put on them as the play calling determines how this offense will flow.

In the opening drive, the Seahawks had a nice balance. It felt as if they would take pressure off Wilson this game with the rushing attack. But, that didn’t last long. On a short week, hopefully Carson returns as he has been missed. In the beginning drive of the second half, the Seahawks decided to punt on 4th and inches. Very unlikely that happens is Carson is healthy.

Again, the opening drive showed promise. Rookie wide out Freddie Swain, made a couple nice plays and then disappeared for the rest of the game. Tyler Lockett was the featured guy today and he only had 5 catches on 9 targets for 66 yards. D.K. Metcalf was visibly frustrated as he was shadowed for majority of the game. Although Jalen Ramsey was guarding him, he still wanted a chance at making a play and I don’t blame him. His competitive nature is one of the sole reasons why he will be great in this league.

But, he did have a huge drop that I know he wishes he could have back. The offense just never settled into a rhythm. Everything felt out of sorts for the majority of this game. I’ve noticed in the last two weeks, teams have been paying more attention to the deep ball. That is a direct result of the injuries Seattle is dealing with at the half back position. That should change in the next game.

Another poor performance for the offensive line. I know C Ethan Pocic missed today’s game and G Mike Iupati, got injured during the game, but Wilson was hit too many times. The Rams are one of the better teams at applying pressure in the NFL. They sacked Wilson 6 times and hit him 12 times. Last week against Buffalo, Wilson was knocked down 16 times, which was a season high. With the injuries in the backfield, Wilson is asked to pull off more Houdini like plays and that becomes extremely difficult when he is constantly being hit.

Rookie C Kyler Fuller showed flashes outside of the poorly snapped ball that resulted in a fumble. But, overall, just another poor performance that saw Wilson on the ground too often. This offense is missing their running game, but that excuse only goes so far. There comes a certain part in time, where this offensive line just needs to be more physical than their opponent. They’ve been doing so well this year outside of these past two weeks.

Defense

The Rams came out firing in this game, but slowed down in the second half. Los Angeles only scored one touchdown in the second half. The Seahawks have been successful in bringing pressure in the last two weeks. This week, they wanted to get home again as Jared Goff typically struggles against the blitz. For the most part, the Rams had a nice balanced attack that allowed them to get out to an early lead.

Their early run game set up the play action, which Goff was very efficient on. In the second half, this defensive line played better against the run and as I mentioned last week, fans need to remain patient. Snacks made his debut today and is still working his way back into game shape. Dunlap had a couple nice plays today along with Reed and Green. I truly believe this defensive line will be way better in a couple weeks.

Although the Rams barely rushed for over 100 yards, it was their early success in the run game that allowed them be effective with the play action game. Our linebacker group picked up the play in the second half and showed some flashes with pass breakups and run stoppage, but, they need to be better right from the get go. Bobby Wagner wasn’t as effective in the blitz today and it showed. KJ Wright missed a couple tackles early on. But, I will say, Jordyn Brooks has been a nice addition.

He made tackles where he went sideline to sideline and had a big pass deflection late in the game that gave the Seahawks their last chance. Overall, this linebacker group needs to be more aggressive in the first quarter. We saw a similar situation in their win over the Vikings. They couldn’t stop the run and then eventually made enough big plays at the end to help win the game. We need KJ Wright and Bobby Wagner to really put this defense on their back moving forward.

With no Shaq Griffin, no Quinton Dunbar and no Jamal Adams for a brief moment, I thought this secondary did a solid job. The Rams love the motion game and it was on display today. But, Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods didn’t have big games. The tight ends were held in check for the most part and I think this secondary desperately misses Shaquill Griffin. They played better than last week, but weren’t effective in the turnover game. Typically, Pete Carroll defenses make enough plays to win the turnover differential.

That hasn’t been in the case in the last two weeks. Once again, Jamal Adams was effective as a pass rusher, racking up 2 sacks and 1 force fumbled. We are going to need him next week to spy Kyler Murray. Fans just need to remain patient with this entire defense. When Shaq comes back and these guys have a couple more weeks of playing together, they will have developed the necessary chemistry just in time for the playoffs. Remember, for a large portion of the season, Jamal Adams was hurt. Now, Shaq has missed the last three games. Just be patient and trust the process. As this defensive line slowly gets better, so will this secondary.

All stats and scores provided by NFL Gameday.