Studs and duds from the Seattle Seahawks Week 11 loss versus the Rams

The Seattle Seahawks choked their way to a loss versus the Rams for the second time this season. They almost certainly choked their way out of the postseason as well. But hey, at least some 12s got their wish and saw Drew Lock in action.

The Seattle Seahawks lost against the Los Angeles Rams for the second time this season. That alone is sickening. Los Angeles has only two wins against the rest of the league so far. Their first was an overtime win over Indianapolis, the latter an easy win over Arizona. The Rams have been outscored 191-143 in their eight contests against the rest of the NFL. Against the Hawks, they hold a 47-29 advantage. So yeah, it's pretty miserable when your team loses to what in reality is a 2-6 team.

The real issue here is the timing, of course. A loss is never good, but when it comes just before the Seahawks most difficult stretch of the year, it couldn't be worse. The Hawks will face the 49ers, the Cowboys, the Niners again, and close this murderer's row against the Eagles. Judging by what we saw of the duds in this contest, it's hard to see the Hawks getting even one win in that stretch.

The Seattle Seahawks had far too many duds against the Rams

The Seattle defense collapsed in the fourth quarter again. Last week they surrendered over 140 yards and two touchdowns against the Commanders. They nearly matched that collapse versus the Rams as they allowed scoring drives of 68 and 75 yards and 10 points in the fourth quarter. For the first three quarters, the defense was solid, especially in the secondary.

But this time the fourth-quarter collapse cost them dearly. The Seahawks ran out of time and had to settle for a 55-yard field goal attempt that sailed wide. Yes, Jason Myers missed his first kick after 15 straight conversions. For those who would cast Myers as a dud in this game, he'd already made kicks of 52 and 53 yards after starting with a 43-yard field goal. I'm merely pointing out that it wasn't Myers who failed in the fourth quarter.

The NFL's officiating crew didn't exactly have a stud outing either, as John Boyle pointed out in his dissection of the game. Seattle was flagged a ridiculous 12 times for 130 yards. The Rams picked up first downs on five of the Hawks penalties.  That's fully one-fourth of their 20 first downs in the game. Yes, the Seahawks played a sloppy game, but several of those calls were the type that the officials typically let go. They weren't all bad calls, although the pass interference call on Witherspoon in the end zone carries a remarkable stench. Still, this wasn't exactly the referees' shining hour, either. After all, they called nine penalties for 92 yards on the Rams.