These aren’t the Seattle Seahawks you all know and hate.
The once-stout defense now has flaws, and Panthers tight end Greg Olsen exposed them during a monster fourth quarter (seven catches for 151 yards and one TD in the game) that led Carolina to a surprise 27-23 comeback victory over Seattle on Sunday.
Cam Newton was terrific and was able to carve up the Legion of Boom to the tune of 169 yards on 12 of 15 passing in the final quarter. The Panthers, against all odds, remain one of four undefeated teams on the strength of Cam’s superb play. They’ve done it with no receiving corps to speak of save for Olsen.
Can this team make some noise this season? They’re anchored by a strong defense led by Luke Kuechly, Josh Norman and Star Lotulelei. Carolina is allowing just 338 yards per game, seventh best in the league.
“We’re doing what we expected to do,” Newton said. “It comes as no surprise to us. It was going to be a big game. We were going to expect a lot from so many players.”
The team is also rushing the ball well, third in the league with an average clip of 132.8 yards per game. Strong quarterback play, a good running game and a formidable defense is a winning formula, and if the Panthers can keep it up, they seem primed to take the NFC South over the Atlanta Falcons.
Seattle, on the other hand, doesn’t even resemble the squad that’s made the past two Super Bowls. They sit at 2-4 and two games behind the division-leading Cardinals. It’s not an insurmountable margin, but the Seahawks aren’t a threat to anyone right now. Jimmy Graham had his biggest game of the season with eight catches for 140 yards and one touchdown. Lynch returned from a two-game absence (hamstring injury) but averaged just 3.2 yards per carry on 17 rushes.
Most alarming, it was yet another blown fourth-quarter lead for the ‘Hawks. They were up 20-14 heading into the final quarter, but let Olsen run roughshod over the middle. Richard Sherman and co led the Bengals 24-7 last week but suffered a meltdown and faltered 27-24. They’ve led heading into the fourth period in each of their last five defeats, dating back to Super Bowl XLIX.
The team’s only two victories are over a pair of the worst teams in the league: the Bears and Lions. And they could have easily lost to Detroit, saved by a blown call for batting the ball following Kam Chancellor’s excellent play to strip Calvin Johnson.
The offensive line has been porous (league-leading 26 sacks allowed). Russell Wilson was hurried on almost every throw, and thus, wasn’t able to take many deep shots. This was just the second time a Wilson-led Seahawks squad has lost at CenturyLink Field. The defense isn’t getting the job done right now, especially late in games.
Seattle is being outscored 61-27 in the fourth quarter and extra period this season. Over the past three games, they’ve been outscored 40-3.
“It’s very frustrating, especially when you know we had them,” Thomas said. “We don’t (stink). We know who we are. We’re not finishing. We know we’re going to be in those pressure situations every game.”
Right now, the team’s 2-4 record indicates the Seahawks indeed aren’t very good. Is the season over? No. But it’s teetering on the brink.
Stat of the week
503. The number of passing yards Philip Rivers threw for, a season high. Rivers has been excellent year in and year out, but the Chargers still aren’t winning games. Rivers had a chance to tie the Packers late in the contest, but the fourth-down pass to Danny Woodhead was broken up in the end zone. Upward of 500 yards passing is usually good enough to beat any team. That is, unless that squad is quarterbacked by Aaron Rodgers. The Packers ran their record to 6-0 and show no signs of slowing down.
Fantasy player of the week
James Starks, Packers. If you have a Packers running back, it’s likely Eddie Lacy, a player who was selected in the top 5 of most drafts. The third-year back, though, was limited to just three yards on four carries while Starks shined. The backup scored on a 65-yard run and a 5-yard catch; he finished with 112 rushing yards on 10 carries. It’s unclear how this will affect the workload going forward, but it’s worth stashing Starks on your squad.
Quote of the week
“We’ll have to look at the film. I’d like to see what happens when we get our full cast of characters back. There were opportunities for Kirk to make some plays. He missed some throws. We have spent a lot of time, invested a lot of time this season in Kirk. We stand behind Kirk. We’ll see what happens next week with Tampa.” – Washington coach Jay Gruden
Kirk Cousins has been up and down this season, but he turned in perhaps his worst performance Sunday. Cousins made two truly awful decisions on turnovers, and has now thrown two interceptions in 10 of 20 career games. Washington were missing many starters, including top offensive players like Trent Williams, DeSean Jackson and Jordan Reed, but Cousins must take care of the ball to keep his job. If not, it will likely be Colt McCoy who gets the call, and not Robert Griffin III.
How the Patriots cheated this week
There’s no other way to explain the Colts’ bizarre fake punt attempt in the third quarter. Maybe Bill Belichick pulled a Jedi mind trick on Chuck Pagano and convinced him to run (if you can call it that) one of the strangest plays you’ll ever see. Wait, what happened again? The Colts lined up eight men on the right (all not on the line of scrimmage for an illegal formation foul), one player behind them, a center and a tailback. The Patriots didn’t bite, and explicably, the ball was snapped anyway and quickly snuffed out.
This play design could work if the Colts had numbers, and Pagano took credit afterward for the decision.
Gif of the week
So just what is a catch in the NFL? Just when we think we have the rule down, we don’t. Golden Tate was stripped immediately after getting his hands on the ball and stepping into the end zone. The ball was batted into the air and caught by a Bears defender. Interception, right? Well, it was called that way on the field, but the officials deemed Tate was a runner after consulting the tape and he was awarded a touchdown.
Thanks to Golden Tate, we have a new definition for what an NFL catch is! http://t.co/2xjQo2IQet pic.twitter.com/EVkzWtkKL1
— SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) October 18, 2015
A similar play occurred in the Bengals’ Week 3 victory over the Ravens, with tight end Tyler Eiffert cradling the ball into the end zone after a jolt. That play, however, was ruled incomplete. For what it’s worth, Dean Bladino, the NFL’s vice president of officiating, said the right call was made Sunday.
Elsewhere around the league
- Andrew Luck returned from a two-game absence with a separated shoulder, and his shaky play continued. Many of his passes sailed in the loss to the Patriots, especially late in the game trying to play catch up. The former No1 overall pick is now 0-5 against Tom Brady, joining former Colts franchise QB Peyton Manning, who began his career 0-6 vs. Tom Terrific. Luckily, Indy plays in perhaps the worst division in football, because this group doesn’t resemble the one that advanced to the AFC title game last season.
- Manning’s decline continued, though he keeps racking up wins. The future Hall of Famer was errant on passes and threw a particularly poor interception in overtime. He’s no longer accurate and doesn’t resemble the elite signal-caller that will one day wear a gold jacket. Fortunately for the Broncos, their defense is one of the best in the league, and the playmaking unit has kept the team undefeated.
- Who is this Andy Dalton? Once a middling QB, the Red Rifle has been stellar in 2015, and picked apart a good Bills defense in Sunday’s win. Dalton has thrown 14 TDs to just two INTs this season, and he tossed for three more scores against the Bills. He looks poised and confident, and the Bengals are in the driver’s seat of the AFC North at 6-0.
- Perhaps Colin Kaepernick’s is turning it around? The dynamic quarterback got off to a bad start this season, but has strung together two good performances, and this time, he got the win. Kap passed for 340 yards and two TDs in the win over the Ravens, who suffered their fourth consecutive loss.
- Michael Vick hasn’t been impressive in Ben Roethlisberger’s stead, but a hamstring injury suffered Sunday opened the door for Landry Jones, and the kid delivered in his first career action. He spread the ball around and finished 8 of 12 passing for two TDs. Big Ben is probably one more week away from returning, and even if Vick is healthy, it would make sense for the Steelers to turn to Jones.
- Matthew Stafford responded to his first-career benching with a nice bounce-back performance. He racked up three first-half touchdowns and then rallied the previously winless Lions late in the game and in OT over the Bears. Not that Dan Orlovsky, of all people, was ever going to take Stafford’s job anyway.
