The Seattle Seahawks fell to 3-2 in 2023 with a loss to the Bengals in Cincinnati in Week 6. Each scored a touchdown on their opening and then the Bengals scored another TD on their second drive but Seattle didn't score. That was basically the difference in the game.
Sure, a lot of things happened from the opening of the second quarter to the end of the game, but those 14 points in Cincinnati's first two drives were more points than Seattle could come up with for the game. Still, there was some good to come from the game for Seattle.
One is that the defense adjusted to what the Bengals were doing in their blocking and were eventually able to get pressure on Bengals QB Joe Burrow. Seattle's defense shut the Bengals down in the second half. So, yay! But here are some more winners and losers from Week 6.
Loser No. 1: Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll
Pete Carroll's team coming out of bye weeks simply seem a little flat to begin their first games back and don't appear overly prepared. Seattle has lost their last four games following bye weeks and that's not because Seattle is always playing fantastic teams. In 2022, Seattle fell to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and that Tampa team finished with a losing record. Cincinnati isn't as bad as its record of 2-3, but a relatively struggling Bengals offense came out and scored touchdowns on their first two drives and that ultimately was enough to get the victory.
But Carroll also made a very poor coaching decision with a little over 2 minutes left in the game. With the Seahawks trailing 17-13 and facing a fourth-and-six from the Bengals 7-yard line, Carroll decided to go for a touchdown. As there was plenty of time for Seattle to get the field goal unit on the field well before the 2-minute warning, Seattle could have made the game 17-16.
The field goal would have been an easy one for kicker Jason Myers and the play should have been completed before the 2-minute warning. The Seahawks still had two timeouts, so the Bengals would have gotten the ball back while Seattle still had three ways of stopping the clock (the 2-minute warning and their two timeouts). As well as the Seahawks defense was playing, there was a real chance Seattle could have gotten the ball back with plenty of time for Jason Myers to have a chance to kick a field goal to win the game.
Instead, of course, Seattle failed to get a touchdown. Seattle did get the ball back with a decent amount of time still, but were then forced to score a touchdown, which, as we all know, did not happen.
Winner No. 1: Safety Jamal Adams
Pitch count for Jamal Adams in Week 6? Nope. He ended up playing 85 percent of the defensive snaps and he was really good.
Jamal Adams was a big reason that the Seahawks' defense improved as the game wore on and the Bengals had fewer than 60 total yards in the second half. He was used on designed blitzes enough where though most did not affect Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to begin the game, the Bengals had to adjust their blocking a bit and those blitzes allowed Jarran Reed and Dre'Mont Jones to win a couple of one-on-one matches later in the game.
Adams finished with a quarterback hit and a tackle for loss, and on another play chased Burrow to the sidelines where Burrow was forced to throw a short pass on third-and-10 and Cincinnati was forced to punch. Adams will get a quarterback pressure for the play, but those are the kinds of things Seattle missed with Adams missing over a year of football.
Plus, the defense and Adams are still acclimating to each other a bit. The safety should be even more effective moving forward once his role is even more defined. Seattle's defense is playing much better in 2023 and might be good enough to steal a few wins for the Seahawks when the offense doesn't play well. Seattle almost stole a victory against the Bengals because of the defense, and Jamal Adams was a significant factor in that.
Loser No. 2: Quarterback Geno Smith
Not a good game for Geno Smith. He's had a bad rap for not being a good finisher to a game since he stepped in for former Seattle QB Russell Wilson for three games in 2021. Whether that reputation is warranted or not can be debated as he was credited with three game-winning drives and two fourth quarter comebacks in 2022, but in 2023 the issue isn't so much Smith not finishing games well (though he clearly didn't in Week 6), but in his leading the offense to finish drives.
Many times this season, the offense seems to crisply move down the field before they reach the 25-yard line of the opposing team. And then...the drive just seems to stop. Against the Bengals, the offense got inside the red zone five times, however, but only came away with one score. Losing by 4 points and going 1-5 in the red zone? Yeah, there's a connection.
A big problem for Geno Smith in Week 6 was that he took a bad sack on second down on one drive when he had time to throw the ball away instead of being tackled for a loss and on another drive he threw an interception when he tried to pass to a clearly not open Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The sack made the next play third-and-long with little chance of picking up the first, and the interception cost Seattle at least 3 points which might have changed the way the game was played near the end.
After the game, Smith - who was 27 of 41 for but no touchdowns and 2 interceptions - took responsibility for the loss, but Smith, unfortunately, simply cannot play the way he did and hope that his team wins. The Seahawks are a good team, but have little margin for error. Smith's multiple errors against Cincinnati were the reason the team lost.
Loser No. 3: Receiver DK Metcalf
DK Metcalf is an interesting person. I say that because off the field he is quick to smile with a good sense of humor and a likeability. On the field, though, he seems to react wildly to things. The Metcalf we see on the field many times does not seem like the Metcalf we think we know off the field. And once again in Week 6, Metcalf was rightfully called for a 15-yard dead-ball penalty which turned a 2nd and 6 play into a 2nd and 21.
The play occurred after DK Metcalf appeared to be wide open deep but Geno Smith did not see him. Then Metcalf thought he was being disrespected (I assume because we couldn't really see much before Metcalf shoved a Bengals defensive player to the ground) and in front of everyone everywhere drew an obvious flag and Metcalf will likely get fined again for the action as well.
Metcalf now has a league-leading nine 15-yard penalties since 2020. Pete Carroll has said he has spoken to Metcalf about the issue a few times, but clearly nothing has changed. Metcalf is extremely talented, but at some point he just needs to be sent to the locker room after he picks up another flag for unsportsmanlike conduct or taunting or unnecessary roughness.
Metcalf also lost out on two potential big plays in Week 6 when Geno Smith didn't have time to hit a wide open Metcalf deep or Smith simply didn't see the receiver. Plus, Metcalf had to miss some plays after falling an injuring his hip. Hopefully, he will be OK from that as he did re-enter the game and made a couple of nice catches.