The good news is the Seattle Seahawks came away with a critical win at the last second. The bad news is that it took them till the last second to win. The Hawks should have put this game with ease, but a season-long issue cropped up again.
Certainly, there's much more good news to discuss after a win than a loss. I don't know about you, but I feel just a smidge better after Week 10 than I did after Week 9. Yes, these roller-coaster Seahawks games aren't exactly easy on the heart, but they beat the heck out of whatever the Ravens game did to all of us. That was the best news of all: that the Seahawks could bounce back from a complete loss in all phases of the game and win a thriller like this.
As we've seen in so many games this season, the Hawks ran very very hot for a while, then just seemed to shut down. Sometimes I think this team has a WiFi-connected thermostat, and the opposition keeps hacking the system. "Hey, watch this; I'm dialing it down to 62." And sure enough, Seattle goes in the tank for the next three or four drives. Then Pete checks the thermostat, cranks it back up, and Hawks win! I know that's not what's happening - but it makes as much sense as anything else with this team.
The Seattle Seahawks got good news: Geno Smith can quarterback
It may come as a surprise to you, but there's been some discussion that Geno Smith may not be the right quarterback for this team. I'm addressing those 12s who've been in complete isolation since, oh, December of last season. That's when Smith began his decline, not into a bad quarterback, but certainly not a Pro Bowler, either. For some 12s, that meant that Drew Lock had to step in. Asked what evidence there is to support the idea that Lock would be better, one titan of football knowledge replied, "eyesight and brains." A regular quarterback whisperer, that guy. Thanks for the cogent analysis.
Happily, Smith looked much more like the quarterback we all know he can be. Somehow, some 12s have forgotten how well he played for most of the 2022 season. That Pro Bowl version of Geno Smith returned for the second half of the Commanders game. He was nearly perfect on the Hawks last two drives, missing just one completion. Note to the Geno detractors - you can't really count a spiked ball to kill the clock against him. Will Smith have his moments of locking in on a receiver too soon, of trying to extend a play far past the point of no return? Oh, I'm sure he will. But as long as he minimizes those and maximizes the plays we saw on the last two drives, the man is good news indeed,
The defense was good until it was almost awful
Time for that splash of glacial water, 12s. There was bad news, that being that at the most crucial stage of the game, the Seahawks' defense fell apart. As Bob Condotta wrote for The Seattle Times, it was hard to explain exactly what happened on the final two drives. Through the first three quarters, Seattle had held Washington to 213 yards on nine drives. The Commanders had only managed three drives over 20 yards. Sounds like good news, right?
Then Commanders quarterback Sam Howell turned into the second coming of Slingin' Sammy Baugh. He took his team, not once, but twice, down the field on a pair of 70+yard drives. The Commanders generated 40 percent of their offense and more than half of their points in the fourth quarter. That's not just bad news; that's pretty close to inexcusable. It's as if the Seattle defense had a flashback and thought they were back in Baltimore on those two drives. They missed assignments, missed tackles, and very nearly missed the chance to stay in the hunt for the playoffs.
There was still some bad news regarding the offense, though. Yes, the Seahawks cranked out a season-high 489 yards when they had the ball in their hands. But Washington came into the game ranked 28th in defense. Add that they traded away Montez Sweat and Chase Young, and you better roll up some yardage on that team. Despite the 29 points, this team was still horrendous on third down.
The Hawks converted just 4 of 14 opportunities against the Commanders. I just asked our site expert if I can shorten Commanders to Commies, and he suggested that would be a poor decision. So I'll go with Ders. Anyway, Seattle is now 34 of 108 on third down, a dismal rate of 31.5 percent. That has to change for this team to have any chance of making the postseason, let alone doing something when they get there.
Much more good news for the Hawks included a pair of M's coming through
Neither Julio Rodriguez nor George Kirby snuck onto Lumen Field Sunday. No, it was a pair of M's already on the Seahawks that made this game so exciting. Before I jump to those two stalwarts, it was certainly good news to see Bobby Wagner play his usual brand of all-time great football. He had 10 tackles, half a sack, and broke up two passes - you know, a highlight reel for most players, and an average performance for the best backer in the biz.
On the offensive side of the ball, Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf were instrumental in both of the Seahawks' final two drives. Jaxon Smith-Njigba wasn't spectacular but contributed far more than he had in the first few games of the year. The Seahawks obviously face a dilemma here. How do you get your first-round pick more involved in the offense when you need to play two and three tight end sets to help your battered offensive line? JSN is beginning to make the most of it, though, and that's good news for sure.
As for those Ms, how about Mr. Boye Mafe? He now holds the Seahawks franchise record with a sack in seven consecutive games. He had five tackles, two hurries, and that all-important sack. Mafe has played lights out this season, and there is no reason to think he won't continue to play at this extremely high level. As Pete Carroll said, "The sky is the limit for Boye Mafe". Eventually, yes, he'll have a game where he doesn't drop the quarterback to the turf. But he'll still be a force for the Hawks.
I think that almost everyone here at 12thManRising wrote about Jason Myers after this game, and rightly so. As Sara Marshall wrote, we saw the return of Pro Bowler Jason Myers on Sunday. He had a few rough games early in the season but he's been nothing but perfect since then. All he did against the Ders (catchy, isn't it) was nail five of five field goals, four of them over forty yards. Say it with me, 12s: Myers is Money. Looking at the upcoming slate of tough games, that's good news for the Seahawks indeed.