For the second straight week, the Seattle Seahawks not only scored to take the lead in the last minute but came up with a huge defensive stop to seal the win. Oh, we got plenty of studs this week, 12s. Here's a health tip: get your heart checked out before next week's game.
Not a bad week for the Seahawks, huh? I think the team took their head coach's words literally after last Monday's stunning win over the Eagles. I would quote Pete Carroll verbatim, but he got just a little excited. More or less, he asked his team, "Can you win the (blankety-blank) game in the fourth quarter?" Just six days after they upset the Eagles to stay in the hunt for the playoffs, the Hawks again answered with a resounding "Yes!"
The Seattle Times' Adam Jude asked in his post-game column, "Was this the most Seattle Seahawks game ever?" The answer is yes, absolutely it was. Seeing that the Week 15 win over the Eagles was the previous title holder, no one would blame you if you expect next week's game against the Steelers to set a new record.
Um, maybe the Hawks go ahead with 18 seconds left and intercept a Hail Mary in the end zone for the home finale. After that, I don't know what they could do against the Cardinals. Well, I do have an idea, but I'll save that for next week. For now, let's focus on all the studs we witnessed take the field for Seattle on this day.
The Seattle Seahawks had a heroic quarterback launch a last-minute drive again
Last week, it was Drew Lock's chance to sputter for three quarters, and then help engineer the game-winning drive. Geno Smith returned to action after a two-week absence and seemed to take that as the Seahawks' blueprint. The Hawks had two drives in the first quarter and managed to pick up 14 yards. Not on one play, mind you, but in total on the two drives. Not that we can entirely assign the blame to Smith. Seattle picked up just three yards rushing on four carries in the quarter, so nothing was going right.
Smith started to warm up a bit in the second quarter, going 7-11 for 52 yards, but that's hardly the stuff of legend. After the half, Smith got the Seahawks moving, but once again the drive stalled as Seattle had to settle for Jason Myers' second field goal of the game. After the Hawks' defense forced the Titans to punt, Smith started really clicking. Starting at his own four-yard-line left in the third quarter, Smith completed five of five passes for 66 yards. He capped the drive with a beautiful strike to DK Metcalf in the back of the end zone to give the Seahawks the lead for the first time.
Tennessee retook the lead with a grinding 15-play, 75-yard touchdown march. Their problem was that Seattle had 3:21 left on the clock. For the Hawks, that's worth about six games of drive time. Geno Smith again hit 7 of 11 passes, this time for 57 yards. The big difference is that in the fourth quarter, as opposed to the second, Smith came through with a rocket to Colby Parkinson to put Seattle ahead for good with 57 seconds on the clock. Yes, it looked like Smith had a bit of rust in the early going, but he threw strike after strike with the game on the line. By the way, that marked the first time in 24 years that the NFL had seen two different quarterbacks pull off last-minute game-winners for the same team. Not too shabby, gentlemen.
It was impossible to miss DK Metcalf in this game - again
Last week versus the Eagles, DK Metcalf did everything except score the final touchdown. Apparently, he loves that role as each of his four catches was critical for the Seahawks. Naturally, none were more important than his fourth-quarter score that temporarily gave Seattle the lead.
Once again, he did his best Tyler Lockett toe-drag to make the score legitimate. Carroll had to challenge the initial ruling as the officials at first determined that Metcalf was juggling the ball before going out of bounds. I didn't see any spinning plates or chainsaws, but the zebras see what they see. The replay proved that Pete and DK were on the side of all that is right and just, so the score counted.
Metcalf had an even more important play on Seattle's final drive, though. On second and 10 at the Tennessee 27-yard-line, Smith whistled another beauty over the middle to Metcalf. The ball had touchdown written all over it. The only problem was that Titans cornerback Tre Avery grabbed a handful of Metcalf's jersey as he passed him. Now, it doesn't always happen, but occasionally that will draw a penalty flag for pass interference in the NFL. Happily, it did this time, and the Hawks had first and goal at the Titans five-yard-line. That was the second interference call Metcalf drew in the game. He also drew two calls by the Eagles. Nice to see that he's the one causing fouls now, instead of creating them.
Both Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba came up big in this game as well. JSN caught six of his seven targets, two of them for first downs on Seattle's pair of fourth-quarter scoring drives. Lockett led the Hawks with eight catches with half of those moving the sticks on those drives. It's safe to say that without them, the Hawks would have been facing a very long flight home. Add in Colby Parkinson's five-yard game-winning catch against the overmatched Tre Avery, and the Seattle aerial act came away from this game as studs for sure.
The Seahawks defense came up with more fantastic plays
Just curious. Does anyone want to tell Bobby Wagner that he's supposed to be getting old? I've mentioned a few times that it's wise to take the ratings from Pro Football Focus (subscription required) with the minimum daily requirement for sodium. Well, sodium chloride, otherwise you'll probably burn to death from the inside. Unpleasant, much like how I imagine Tre Avery must have felt today. But for the most part, the site is quite useful.
For example, they rate Wagner's run defense at 90.9. Only one other Seattle player even tops 80, and that's Devon Witherspoon at 82.8. Wagner is rated just as highly for his tackling, coming in at 90.6. We all know that hasn't exactly been the Hawks' strong suit this season, but it's embarrassing that the second-highest grade is only 73.1. That rating belongs to Dre'Mont Jones, by the way.
So it should be no surprise that Bobby Wagner lit up the Titans today. He finished with 11 total tackles, eight of those solo. That led the team in both categories. Two of those tackles were for a loss. BWagz also had a quarterback hit and a sack. I know, what else is new, right? Just because we expect Wagner to do this every game doesn't mean we shouldn't acknowledge an outstanding game, though. The league needs to acknowledge it: Bobby Wagner is the Meryl Streep of linebackers. And I'm pretty sure if he somehow ever reads that comparison, I'll have to move to another country. Again.
Not to be left out, another Seahawks linebacker came back with a vengeance. Okay, technically he didn't come back as he hasn't missed a game since Week 1. But it's been a few weeks since Boye Mafe has wreaked havoc in the opposing backfield. And man, did he ever wreak. I'm pretty sure that by the time the game was over, Ryan Tannehill reeked a bit himself when he caught a glimpse of Mafe. All number 53 did was rack up six tackles with two of those for a loss, add two sacks, and tally four more quarterback hits. Tannehill dropped back 32 times, and Mafe was in his face on nearly twenty percent of those plays. That, my friends, is a stud.
As for the final defensive play to seal the win, I'm not about to say it was as spectacular as Julian Love's second interception that slammed the door on the Eagles last week. By the way, major congratulations to the Love family on the birth of their son Noah on Friday. 20 hours of labor, and some NFL players think they have a tough job. Still, there's denying the significance of Riq Woolen's huge hit on Titans wide receiver Colton Dowell. You have to feel for Dowell, at least a bit. It was just his second target all season and his first catch. It's second and 20, as Dre'Mont Jones had just sacked Tannehill for a 10-yard loss.
Now at his own 40 with just 11 seconds left and desperate to get within field goal range, Tannehill found Dowell in the flat outside the left hashmarks. The seventh-round pick and Tennessee native had his chance to be the hero. Instead, Woolen absolutely blasted him and drove him backward out of bounds. By rule, the clock continues to run if a player going out isn't making forward progress. That's why Woolen made the winding motion after the play.
Lord knows the refs need all the help they can get. Now, I'm sure most 12s don't know Nashville that well but trust me when I say that after that hit, I think Dowell landed in the parking lot of Ryman Auditorium. That was the final stud play of a stud effort by the Seahawks.