The Seattle Seahawks are 6-3 heading into a winnable game in Week 11 against the Los Angeles Rams. Of course, the Rams stomped the Seahawks in Week 1. So, you know, anything can happen.
At least Week 10 was a victory for Seattle. The team dominated the Washington Commanders statistically for much of the game but could never separate much where it mattered most: The scoreboard. But after Week 9's meltdown against the Baltimore Ravens, Seattle will take a win any way it can get it.
On the list of winners and losers from Week 10 I don't have kicker Jason Myers. But maybe I should as Myers made all five of his field goals, including the game-winning kick. Since Week 3, Myers has made 17 of his 18 field goal tries. But here are some other winners and losers from Seattle's 29-26 victory over the Commanders.
Winner No. 1 - Wide receiver DK Metcalf
Lots of fans and websites (including ours) have recently had issues with DK Metcalf's attitude toward picking up 15-yard penalties over the past several years. Metcalf has more penalties for unnecessary roughness, taunting, and unsportsmanlike conduct than any player in the NFL since 2020. That's the bad of DK Metcalf. But the good of Metcalf can far outweigh the bad and he proved that late in Week 10.
In the first half, quarterback Geno Smith seemed to want to force the ball to Metcalf. This has been a common occurrence over the last few weeks. I see the point of that, of course, as Metcalf needs the ball in his hands to do any damage. Smith throwing the ball, especially on third downs that might be picked up by targeting a different receiver, to a not-open Metcalf isn't Metcalf's fault; It's Smith's.
But in the second half, and very much so on the final drive, DK Metcalf showed why he is so dangerous and so needed on the Seattle offense. He picked up 44 yards on two receptions and one each catch he picked up several more yards by dragging defenders with him. On the final catch, he put Seattle in excellent field goal position by gaining about 10 more yards after the catch and with players draped all over him.
Was there some worry he was taking up too much time on the catch? The TV broadcast seemed to think so. But Metcalf left plenty of time for kicker Jason Myers to come on the field and kick the game-winning field goal.
Loser No. 1 - Cornerback Tre Brown
I like Tre Brown and he certainly deserves to be a starter in Seattle. He is the 19th-highest-graded cornerback in the NFL in 2023, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Brown is the highest-graded Seahawks corner in terms of coverage alone. He's been very good, but he wasn't very good against the Washington Commanders.
Brown seemed to struggle with in-routes as the receiver beat him off the line for third down conversions several times. Instead of trying to get inside and not letting his man get to their mark, Brown let the play develop and focus on making a true tackle rather than trying to stop the pass from being completed.
The Commanders targeted Brown 6 times and completed all 6 passes for only 41 yards and only 7 yards after the catch but four of those passes were for first downs in their and relatively short situations. He wasn't giving up explosive plays but he was allowing drives to be kept alive.
Brown will probably be better in the coming weeks. I say that based on how he has played for most of the rest of the season so far. But while Brown had maybe his worst game of 2023, another Seahawks corner may have had their best game.
Winner No. 2 - Cornerback Riq Woolen
For the Seahawks to be great defensively - and don't get me wrong, Seattle is still a long way away from being great - Riq Woolen needs to be as good as he was in his rookie year of 2022. Woolen has allowed a still-decent quarterback rating of 78.4 when targeted this year, but that number looks a lot bigger compared to Woolen's QB rating allowed of 48.7 in 2022.
Some of Woolen's other numbers this season compared to last are about the same, though. For example, he has allowed 51.2 percent of passes to be completed in 2023 and in 2022 that number was 51.5. He is also allowing almost 3 fewer yards per pass completion this year than last.
The problem is he isn't creating the amount of turnovers he did last year (he has 1 interception this year versus 6 last year) and he isn't tackling as well. Woolen was excellent in tackling in 2022 and he didn't mind dishing out some punishment, much the same way that rookie Devon Witherspoon has this year. Woolen has missed 12.9 percent of his tackle attempts in 2023 and a cornerback missing a tackle can lead to more explosive plays than a defensive tackle, for instance.
All of that said, Woolen was great in Week 10. He allowed only 2 completion on 6 targets for 13 yards. His quarterback rating allowed was only 42.4 and he had a pass broken up. No, he didn't have an interception, but he stifled what the Commanders were trying to do when throwing in his direction.
Winner No. 3 - Quarterback Geno Smith
I have read a lot of comments on social media that have stated either as fact or implied that Geno Smith wasn't very good in Week 10. I wrote an article about his performance this week and one of the responses on 12th Man Rising Facebook said that I must not have seen the game because Smith was constantly missing receivers and didn't play well. But let's be real.
Did Smith go through part of the game - the second quarter and some of the third - where he struggled with accuracy? Yes, he did. Much of that can be attributed to the pass rush in Smith's face. Did Smith miss on a couple of passes that he should have completed easily - like a short pass out to the left to running back Zach Charbonnet on one third down? Yes.
Geno Smith wasn't perfect in Week 10, but the response to his play overall in the game shows some 12s will never like anything Geno Smith does, and I just don't understand that. First, he is the quarterback of the team so we want him to do well, right? And he led the league in completion percentage and the NFC in touchdown passes in 2022. Bad quarterbacks don't do that.
In Week 10, Smith led the team to its third fourth quarter comeback in 2023. He threw for 369 yards, 2 touchdowns, and he had no turnovers. His quarterback rating was 103.9. And Smith completed 31 of 47 passes (65.9 percent). He made some of his best throws on Seattle's last two drives. He was good in Week 10.