The Seattle Seahawks are now sitting at third place in the NFC West after a brutal 16-23 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Despite the score, the game never felt truly close, as just about all of the Seahawks’ same old issues arose with a vengeance. Here are some of the most glaring good, bad, and ugly takeaways from Seattle’s second straight loss.
THE GOOD
D.J. Reed: Reed, starting at left cornerback for the first time, found himself at the top of the stat sheet with 10 tackles, a fumble recovery, and a tremendous 49-yard kick return in the third quarter. The former 49er has recorded 24 tackles, two batted passes, and an interception over the past three games. He looks to be one of Seattle’s better offseason acquisitions.
Poona Ford: Although Ford may not have topped the box score like Reed, he quietly had one of his best games as a Seahawk with two tackles for loss and one sack, in addition to generating consistent pressure on Rams QB Jared Goff. The defensive line was the best part of Seattle’s defensive performance on Sunday, with Ford acting as a major catalyst for the improvement.
THE BAD
The offensive line: In the first half of the game, the offensive line was looking solid. That changed in the second half, however, when they surrendered four sacks to players not named Aaron Donald. Rams linebacker Leonard Floyd, in particular, had a field day at the line of scrimmage, recording three sacks and five total QB hits in addition to his key fourth-quarter fumble recovery. Seattle’s front five have arguably exceeded expectations in 2020, but were just not up to the challenge of the Rams’ dominant front seven on Sunday.
“That” punt: Seahawks fans expressed bafflement and outrage online at the end of the first second-half drive, in which coach Pete Carroll challenged a fourth-down spot at the Seattle 42, lost the challenge (and subsequently lost a timeout), then chose to accept a delay-of-game penalty in order to give punter Michael Dickson some extra room on what would have been 4th-and-inches. “It was too early in the game,” he said when asked why the Seahawks (down 17-13 at the time) chose not to go for the first down. “I believed in our guys.” His statement rang somewhat hollow – having faith in one’s defense is admirable, but when that defense is currently performing worse than any other defense in NFL history, it seems somewhat asinine not to let Seattle’s high-powered offense try to give themselves some much-needed momentum.
THE UGLY
The defense: Once again, the historically bad pass defense was unable to stop opposing receivers from getting wide open. Jared Goff was quick to take advantage, pushing the ball downfield with ease until the Rams reached the red zone, where their three-headed rushing attack of Cam Akers, Malcolm Brown, and Darrell Henderson combined for three touchdowns. The Seahawks are missing several key players on defense, but teams all across the league are dealing with major injuries due in part to the shortened offseason. At this point, the game plan should not be reliant on Seattle’s defense to get off the field quickly.
Russell Wilson: Wilson has played poorly in three out of the past four games, putting his MVP campaign into question. He was unable to throw a single touchdown pass against the Rams on Sunday, but did toss a pair of ugly interceptions to Rams CB Darious Williams (who also tipped three of Wilson’s passes) and fumbled an admittedly poor snap from backup center Kyle Fuller. He outright refused to target DK Metcalf until late in the third quarter – granted, Metcalf was covered by star CB Jalen Ramsay, but the second-year receiver has shown by now that he can succeed against elite competition. Wilson looked plain rattled against LA’s defense, which is a major issue if the Seahawks hope to compete in football’s toughest division.
