The Seahawks' defensive nightmare: Dud performances and defensive back woes

Let's talk about two non-dud Seahawks

I roundly criticized the small 12s contingent who have been clamoring for Drew Lock to get a chance to prove he should start in place of Geno Smith. I'm happy to say that Lock wasn't terrible. If the defense had played well, Lock would have given the Hawks a chance to win. Not much of a chance, but he wasn't exactly a dud, either. He was picked off twice when he tried to force the ball into tight coverage late in the game. I wouldn't say he was a stud, but as Lee Vowell wrote, the Hawks can win if Lock has to start again.

One player who has been called out, unfairly so, is DK Metcalf. Most of the stories have portrayed Metcalf as once again losing his cool and suplexing Niners linebacker Fred Warner to the turf without cause. Okay, first, Scott Steiner would like to have a word with you about what a suplex looks like. If you somehow missed it, this is the play in question.

As RGIII wrote, yes, Metcalf did make Warner look like a child. As anyone can see, Metcalf tackled Warner while he still had the ball in his hands. He threw him to the ground, to the side, not back onto his head. Warner tossed the ball away while Metcalf was pulling him back. You see the official throw the flag before Warner shoves DK in the back of his helmet. Metcalf made a football play; Warner was the one who retaliated.

Yes, DK made far too many stupid decisions earlier and was flagged far too many times for it. It's absurd that he was flagged for this tackle. Yes, he got into a shoving match after the play, and he should have kept his cool at that point. But Metcalf has kept his emotions in check for the past several games, at least until now. The narrative that, "Oh, there he goes again" is wrong. Kudos to Robert Griffin III for having Metcalf's back on this.