4 winners and losers from the Seattle Seahawks Week 1 loss to Rams

The Seattle Seahawks looked very bad, unprepared, and unmotivated in their Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. The performance was one of the team's worst in any week under Pete Carroll. Is Seattle really that bad or did they just start the season flat?

If the team just exceeded expectations in 2022 and 2023 will be a return to the norm then fine. Watching them lose a bunch of games won't be fun, but if we learn they simply aren't as talented as we thought then fine. But if they lose because they are simply flat most weeks that means changes even in the coaching staff need to be made.

Getting back to Week 1, though, what happened? Which players might have done the worst (and which one might have done OK)? Here are four notable Seahawks.

Loser No. 1 - Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf

Yes, DK Metcalf led the Seahawks in receiving yards and yes, he had Seattle's only touchdown of the game. But he still didn't do enough to make a difference and didn't find ways to get open that an elite receiver should. Metcalf was many times lined up one-on-one on the outside and allowed himself to get mixed up in coverage. A great receiver would find ways to help out his quarterback who was struggling a bit. Metcalf is a good receiver, not a great one. Yet.

Worse than Metcalf's statistics of just 3 catches and 47 yards and a touchdown (on pace for 51 catches, 799 yards yet 17 touchdowns in 2023) was the fact that once again he blew his fuse near the end of the game. Metcalf has made it a habit of getting 15-yard penalties in his career. Two unsportsmanlike/personal foul penalties over, say...four years, would be too many. Just last year Metcalf had eight total penalties (most by a receiver in the NFL) and three of them were either unsportsmanlike or taunting penalties. That's three too many.

I get that DK Metcalf needs to play with emotion, but far to often he lets that emotion get the best of him. He's clearly a smart guy off the field, but he needs to be more aware of himself on the field. Getting 15-yard penalties by habit does not help the Seahawks.