Seahawks report card week 10: Ugly performance versus Packers

The Seattle Seahawks lost to the Green Bay Packers in week 10 17-0. It wasn’t the score that was ugly but the play of the offense overall. The defense actually played well enough to win.

Considering that the Seahawks were 7 of 15 on third downs compared to 7 of 14 for the Packers and while Green Bay had 393 total yards to Seattle’s 208, Green Bay got their yards in nearly 20 more minutes of holding the ball. Seattle’s offense was inefficient and made mistakes and simply didn’t play well enough to beat any other team.

Russell Wilson clearly rushed back and the offense didn’t seem to have any real design to help him much. Now Seattle is 3-6 and while they still have a chance for the postseason, they also don’t seem like a team that is good enough to get there.

Grades for Seahawks in week 10 loss to Packers

Quarterback

One could argue the cold weather affected Russell Wilson and his injured finger or that the Packers defense simply was better than Wilson was on Sunday but it appeared on many throws that soared over the heads of intended receivers on short out patterns that Wilson truly wasn’t ready to return from having surgery on his right middle finger.

Wilson was 20 of 40 for 133 yards and a quarterback rating of 39.7, the fourth-worst of his career. But the two interceptions he threw were both his fault and seemed forced and were ill-timed.

Grade: F

Running backs

Seattle’s running backs ran the ball 11 times against Green Bay. There is simply no excuse for such low a number. The score was 3-0 entering the fourth quarter so it wasn’t like the Seahawks were forced to abandon the run. Alex Collins ran the ball 10 times for 41 yards so it wasn’t as if he wasn’t generating yards. Seattle’s idea of throwing the ball too much made it easier for Green Bay to defend a weakened Wilson.

Grade: C

Receivers/tight end

It seems hard to believe by Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf were targeted a combined 16 times because for most of the first three quarters they didn’t seem to be targeted enough. Then once the fourth quarter started they were targeted too much, especially Lockett who wasn’t open. Metcalf was so frustrated by the end he was kicked out for stupidly grabbing the facemask of a Packer. At least tight end Gerald Everett had a decent game with 8 catches. I don’t blame him for not getting out of bounds just before half, though, as he had two Packers around him not letting him run free.

Grade: C

Offensive line

Duane Brown looks older and older with each passing week. He gave up another sack on Sunday and certainly isn’t among the best left tackles in the NFL right now. Wilson got hit 5 times and was sacked 3 times total (at least one of those was on him when he once again held on to the ball too much) and Seattle averaged just 3.5 yards per play. The bottom line is Seattle had zero points and a lot of that falls on the offensive line.

Grade: D

Defensive line

The line still needs a more consistent pass rush and it clearly tired late in the game as the Packers were able to run the ball more effectively in the fourth quarter. The experiment of moving Poona Ford to the three technique to replace Jarran Reed is not working as he has no sacks and just 2 quarterback hits this year. Seattle gets no interior pass rush and that is unlikely to be fixed this season. Rasheem Green had a good game, though, with a sack, two quarterback hits and a tackle for loss.

Grade: B-

Linebackers

Jordyn Brooks is getting better and better. Brooks was in on 13 tackles and completely stood up Packers running back AJ Dillon on one third down and short run for a loss. Bobby Wagner finished with 8 tackles but Dillon was able to get past him near the goal line for a touchdown which is rare to see – Wagner usually doesn’t allow many yards after he gets his hands on a runner.

Grade: B

Secondary

Tre Brown is going to be a good player for the Seahawks. He plays hard and has good speed and he doesn’t mind a challenge. Jamal Adams had a couple of quarterback hits and an interception in the end zone and played his best overall game of 2021. Take away the 50 yard catch and run by Dillon in the fourth and Aaron Rodgers averaged just 6.6 yards per pass attempt.

Grade: B

Special teams

Michael Dickson was sharp all game and 4 of his 6 punts went inside the Packers 20. Kicker Jason Myers didn’t have a chance to do anything. But Freddie Swain twice fair caught a ball when he seemed to have a clear path to return the ball for a bunch. That cost his team.

Grade: B