Seattle Seahawks week 14: underachiever and overachiever of the game

The Seattle Seahawks came home with win number five Sunday afternoon. Normally we’d see that in October, but this season we’ll take it whenever we can. The Hawks had a few underachievers, but boy did they ever have an overachiever this week!

We all expected the Seahawks to make quick work of the Texans. That isn’t how it played out, as Seattle needed two fourth-quarter drives to put the game away. Still, the Hawks put up 33 points, their best effort since hanging 40 on the Jets almost exactly one year ago. It’s Seattle’s second straight game over 30 points. Even if it was against a team as bad as the Texans, that’s another positive sign for this offense.

What wasn’t a positive sign was the fact that Houston finished with 317 yards passing, the season’s best, and won the battle of time of possession. The Seahawks have held the ball longer than their opponent just once in 2021. That was in last week’s very satisfying win over the Niners.

Russell Wilson – yes, DangeRuss – is the Seahawks underachiever this week

Another less than positive sign? Russell Wilson gets my underachiever award this week. Make no mistake, he didn’t play poorly. He threw for two scores and had a third connection with DK Metcalf called back on a holding penalty. But last week Russ was 30-37 against one of the league’s best pass defenses. San Franciso ranks fourth in passing yards allowed and sixth in touchdowns allowed. Houston is 15th in yards and 14th in TDs. Russ also was just 9-17 when targeting Lockett and Metcalf. He wasn’t nearly as good as he should have been against this team.

Speaking of Tyler Lockett – it’s a shame he’s so good so often. At least it’s a shame for the purposes of winning the overachiever of the week. Lockett went over 100 yards for the fifth time this season. That’s a new personal record. He also joined Steve Largent as the only Seahawks to bring in over 1,000 yards receiving in three consecutive seasons. Still, it’s expected of him, because he’s awesome.

So picture this, 12s. We have a guy on the roster who’s rushed for 112 yards combined over 2020 and 2021. He’s missed 21 of the last 29 games. So of course, he goes off for 137 yards and two scores. Does that count as overachievement? Even if you are a first-round pick? Of course, it does. Rashaad Penny simply has to be the overachiever of the game. As Lee Vowell wrote, Penny picked the perfect time to come through on his potential. Yes, I know the Texans run defense is atrocious, but Jonathan Taylor of the Colts is the only player who put up more against them.

So there you have it, 12s. An underachiever who played well but not great, and an overachiever who played great, especially considering that he’s hardly played at all. I expect Wilson will be better, yes, even against the Rams. And I hope Penny will continue to show why the Hawks have kept their faith in him all this time.