The Seattle Seahawks still have one key question to answer: Can they beat a good team? Sure, Seattle has won eight games, but only one of those against a team that currently has a winning record. The Green Bay Packers are a good team, and they made Seattle look collegiate in the Week 15 matchup.
It would be easy to put a lot of the blame on quarterback Geno Smith. He had another red-zone interception when his team was driving to make the game a wee bit closer. The Packers would have still been in firm control of the game, but Smith's red-zone issues have been ongoing for weeks. Seattle should have defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Week 9 except for two awful decisions by Smith.
Before the pass, though, Smith had thrown just one incompletion. The first incompletion was the pass before the pick, and that pass should have also been intercepted. Such is the riddle that is Geno Smith. He completes a very high percentage of his passes and has a great arm, but he makes poor decisions that cost his team and likely show that he is not a quarterback capable of winning multiple playoff games.
Riq Woolen manages to be bad enough in Week 15 to overshadow Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith's terrible decision
Smith was injured in the third quarter and had to leave the game. Backup Sam Howell replaced him, but could not do much. He finished five of 14 for just 24 yards and an interception. This implies Seattle's long-term starter at QB is not yet on the roster.
The Seahawks lost the game in the first half. Green Bay led 20-3 and were literally running over and through Seattle's defense. There is no mistake that a big problem for the Seahawks' D was cornerback Riq Woolen. The former Pro Bowl corner has made a habit of getting beat deep at times this season, while still playing a bit better than he did in 2023.
Woolen helped set the tone for the poor performance of the defense early. On Green Bay's first drive, Woolen rushed on a corner blitz and hit quarterback Jordan Love well after Love had thrown the pass.
The cornerback didn't stop there, though. He allowed a completion to wide receiver Romeo Doubs near Green Bay's goal line and then let Doubs drag him into the end zone. It was an embarrassing tackle attempt.
Later in the second half with the Packers having only ten seconds left and outside Seattle's 35-yard line, Love dropped back to pass and had a receiver open who had toasted Woolen on the route. The cornerback interfered and Green Bay had the ball inside the Seahawks' 5-yard line. Woolen had to interfere to keep the play from being a touchdown, but again, only after he had been cleanly beaten by the receiver.
Seattle was simply exposed by the Packers in the 30-13 loss. The Seahawks might still win the NFC West and make the postseason, but they have shown they cannot defeat good teams so an early postseason exit would be expected. The bigger question might be what to do with Geno Smith next offseason.