Seahawks Week 12 MVP: Mr. Automatic, Jason Myers

The Seahawks lost their second straight game, but that’s not to say there weren’t highlights. Kicker Jason Myers continued his Pro Bowl-worthy season.

As with so much of this NFL season, it’s increasingly difficult to get a fix on this Seahawks team. Is this a team that will try to win in Tecmo Bowl shootouts, as we saw versus the Lions and Saints? Or will the Hawks assert their defensive superiority, and win by grinding out enough offense, vis-a-vis both Cardinals and Giants games?

The team has pinballed between one of the league’s worst defenses through week five up to a top-ten unit over the following month. And here we are, watching a team that couldn’t stop the run if they poured wet cement on the field. Unfortunately, only our running backs seem to be trapped in the mire.

Through it all, we’ve certainly had some consistent play. Currently, Tariq Woolen, Geno Smith, and Jordyn Brooks are all leading the Pro Bowl vote at their positions. Take a moment and hop over to the dedicated Pro Bowl vote page on seahawks.com to cast your ballot right now, 12s! Speaking of consistent players, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in the league – let alone on the Seahawks – who’s been more consistent this year than our kicker, Jason Myers.

Jason Myers is the overlooked hero of the Seahawks

Now, it may seem a bit odd to nominate the kicker of the team when he didn’t hit a game-winning field goal. Frankly, there weren’t a lot of performances in the loss to the Raiders that we can brag about. As Michael Thompson wrote, there were far too many Hawks who underperformed. Our kicker Jason Myers certainly wasn’t one of them. He accounted for 10 of the Seahawks 34 points, which is just about in line with his season average of 32 percent of Seattle’s scoring. As in almost every game, he made every kick he attempted.

Yeah, I know that’s more about the season he’s had so far than this individual game. But when you consider that Jason Myers has made 21 of his 22 field goals and 30 of his 31 extra points, at some point you have to recognize his performance. Without Myers, the Seahawks aren’t in the game at all. We can’t overlook his kickoffs, either. Last season was a near disaster for him. He missed more than a fourth of his field goals, and barely over a third of his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.

This season, Mr. Automatic is back. Okay, he hasn’t been perfect like he was in 2020. But he’s over 50 percent on touchbacks again, and just as important – maybe more so – he’s five for five on field goals at 50 plus. In that stellar 2020 season, the Hawks only let him try two kicks at that distance. This year, it’s bombs away, because they know Jason Myers will put it through the uprights.

Let’s be realistic, 12s. It’s hard to single out any player as the most valuable when you lose. There’s good reason that for the second straight week I selected a play on special teams as my MVP. Just as with our amazing punter Michael Dickson, Jason Myers is one of those Hawks who doesn’t get enough credit for keeping Seattle close, even in losses. I have zero doubt that he absolutely earned the week 12 MVP.