It also could’ve gone worse. And it didn’t do that, either.
All things considered, not a top 50 disappointing game in Seattle Seahawks history. It had all the right ingredients for a catastrophe casserole, but in the end nobody choked. An afternoon that definitely started annoying was quelled before reaching full rage-inducing mode. In conclusion, the Seahawks had not been The Same Old Seahawks all year, but as a treat, they showed up Week 15 to remind us of bygone eras. And still prevailed.
The Indianapolis
Colts, led by the fourth-string quarterback they signed off the street — forgot his name already — meticulously built a 13-3 lead before the hosts cleaned up their act, let their defense fly around a little, and remembered how to progress forward in the general direction of the end zone. (“General direction” is doing a lot of work here.)
Every time it seemed like the Seahawks offense would break through and seize control of a game in which they were two-touchdown favorites, they got derailed. What really happened is this: Seattle’s mental and execution mistakes were minor but pricey. Given multiple quarters to… multiply, they stacked up menacingly. A penalty here, a drop here and there. Some missed tackles early on. Poor on third downs on both sides of the ball. And when the officiating crew compounds things by giving the Hawks absolutely no breaks, well, you’re bound to get this flavor of game. Sam Darnold was stymied on third down, forced out of the pocket more than usual, and inaccurate on the end zone’s doorstep with a potential game-winning touchdown in his sights. No wonder every Seahawks fan’s frenemy Nerves kept texting and wouldn’t take “buzz off” for an answer. That almost-forgotten feeling of dread surfaced again: the Seahawks might lose a game they had no business losing!
Thank goodness Jason Myers, the Artisanal Threes-Maker, the Constable of Clutch, The Emperor of Uprights was unaffected by his teammates’ mortality.
Let’s talk about needs. The Seahawks needed Myers to be the NFL’s best kicker for an afternoon. He went ahead and did this. Six for six on FG attempts, one tackly play on kick coverage, and a final kickoff in bounds but deep to run time off the clock.
In a game where explosive plays were at a premium, Myers saved a few yards there. In a one-score game. Like the good old days, when they were all like this.
The Seahawks defense needed to hold Jonathan Taylor in relative check. They went ahead and did this. Taylor did not find the end zone, he did not reach 100 yards, he did not tip the game into Indy’s starving win column even after an impressive first quarter. He, in fact, was bottled up after halftime, as we’ll see.
The Seahawks offense needed to put at least 17 points on the board against a limited offense. Technically you could say they got there. Thanks in no small part to some decent time management from Mike Macdonald on his squad’s final defensive drives of each half, and the fairy dust attached to Myers’ cleats.
Everyone associated with the Seahawks really needed Philip Rivers to sling it at least once into a window his forty-four-year-old arm could no longer hit. He waited 59 minutes and 55 seconds, but yes, he went ahead and did this.
Two observations: if you missed it in real time, Devon Witherspoon provides the original deflection. He does so many little things that are secretly big things. Furthermore, I would trust Coby Bryant with cradling my newborn child across the river while I ford it with my covered wagon on the way to Oregon. As long as he lives, may Bryant never be afflicted with dysentery.
And when you don’t take yourself entirely out of a contest, and the other team can’t slam the door entirely shut, it leaves room for your playmakers to decide the outcome at game’s end. It is possible to win the game in the first, second and third quarters — just look at the Seahawks’ body of work this year alone! But if you *need* to win it in the fourth, it helps to have people like Myers and Rashid Shaheed.
Case in point: Shaheed took the Colts’ last boot out to the 37 (a questionable decision given its landing spot, but when it works out you don’t ask a thousand questions), where the Seahawks began their last drive desiring but not needing a touchdown. Again, because of Myers’ flawless day. Seattle’s newest receiver immediately broke open for 17 down the left seam; Sam Darnold spiked the ball, and field goal range was one reasonable completion away.
Ball’s going to JSN, right? He’d already beaten the depleted Indy scondary for 113 yards on seven catches. Nope. Shaheed again, eight yards on a textbook timing pattern toward the sideline eight yards downfield. Exactly what the occasion demanded, with perfect delivery and execution. In other words, everything the offense had been lacking since kickoff. It’s good they make the games 60 minutes long sometimes.
Out trotted Myers, whose kick initially threatened to hook left but then straightened out. The rest is franchise history. Myers placed the kickoff inside the 5, forcing Indianapolis’ return to waste seven precious ticks off the lock. With 11 seconds remaining for a miracle, Rivers linguini’d the ball over the middle, Witherspoon got a hand on it, Bryant won interception bingo, and that was that.
Speaking of the Colts’ Turn Back the Clock quarterback, his final line of 18-27-120-1-1 says very little about the defense. The fact his only sack came from tripping on the Seahawk beak at midfield and he only suffered four hits says a lot more. Indianapolis protected him for the first 59:55 both with excellent OL play and short pass concepts. As long as the Colts didn’t need a quick score, it worked.
Check it out. Rivers ended up 2-of-8 on everything that traveled ten yards or more. Had the Colts won, it would have been from a dozen paper cuts the Seahawks inflicted on their own chances and the inability to rattle a literal grandfather in the pocket. But as discussed in this space multiple teams already, this edition of the Blue and Green almost never beat themselves anymore.
The recap won’t eat up ten minutes because every possession went pretty much the same: sometimes the Colts would get a couple first downs. Turned those into three field goals and a TD. Sometimes the Seahawks would get a couple first downs. Turned those exclusively into field goals. Last kicker on the field won.
Sometimes Jonathan Taylor would get a little bit free, and when he rumbled for 11 on the game’s second snap, it felt like a plan that would work for Indy. However, Taylor ended the day without another run past nine yards. He talllied only 25 yards on eight carries after half. Just two of those were successful runs. He came in averaging 5,3 yards per carry but was a non-factor most of the day. in part due to moments like this:
What’s a little maddening is that the Seahawks landed two QB hits on the first drive and finished with four. There was probably another game plan there to be devised, in so much as a dude behind his computer screen can fault a defensive mastermind for allowing 16 points.
Seattle’s first drive stalled when Darnold chucked a desperation pass in the general direction of A.J. Barner deep in his own territory and didn’t pay for it, which was a nice change from the usual.
The teams traded field goals to leave the first quarter knotted at three. After forcing a punt, the Seahawks looked poised to assert themselves in the second quarter, as per usual. Jaxon Smith-Njigba finally got loose over the middle, only to drop a pass that hit him in the ribs. Barner lined up offsides to negate his own 15 yard gain. Darnold got sacked on third and long. A cursed drive.
Indianapolis trudged down for another field goal, Seattle punted again, and with halftime approaching, gosh, the stat sheet looked unbalanced as all heck, as Rivers might say.
That was the damage with six minutes to play before half, so surely NOW — nope. The Colts chose that moment to contribute the game’s only touchdown, take a 13-3 lead over a stunned crowd, and is that boos I’m hearing on the broadcast? And why shouldn’t they? No offense whatsoever from Seattle, bending-but-unbreaking defense, and the visitors, now missing both their starting offensive tackles, had racked up:
- 73 of the game‘s 74 rushing yards
- 9 of the game’s 11 first downs and all the touchdowns
- a two-score lead.
Rivers’ TD pass to Josh Downs broke a string of nine straight quarters of touchdown-free defense by your Seahawks. It also confirmed a seldom-quoted law of football:
Spoiler: that scoreless streak is back up to two, because the defense went on lockdown after half. Coinciding with a very modest revival of fortunes for Jaxon and the Smith-Njigbettes. Field goal drives on either side of the half made it 13-9, peppered with three curious calls.
Seattle got the 52-yarder anyway as the clock expired, then drove for the 46-yarder to complete their patented double-dip scoring pattern. Getting three at a time means you gotta get stops, and when Rivers missed a wide-open Downs on third and four it felt like the Seahawks had dodged the day’s deadliest bullet. And maybe they did, but the Colts were playing with fire anyway. When you sign a 44-year-old retiree to your practice squad on Tuesday and thrust him into a starting role on Sunday, some degree of poor communication is a given. QB and WR weren’t on the same page. That’s literally the price you pay.
Following their first real break of the game, the Seahawks defense played looser, freer, more authentically throughout the third quarter, allowing Indianapolis to run only eight plays for 18 yards. In fact, after half the visitors put one (1) explosive play on the board, scored their only points on a career-long 60 yard field goal. Statistically, a domination of blowout proportions was in full swing. The Colts offense ran:
- 23 plays for 67 yards, less than three per;
- Taylor eight times for 25 of those, so again just three a pop;
- all of seven plays in Seahawks territory. Only four gained yardage.
The Seattle defense turned everyone’s fortunes around. EXCEPT THE OFFENSE KEPT ONLY SCORING THREE AT A TIME. Yelling is allowed. There was plenty of it in real time. The defense and Myers won this game, with an assist from the Lumen Field crowd, who turned up the volume to a level captured by even the broadcast. We’ll see some of the individual highlights in Predator and Prey.
Myers’ fifth field goal came at the end of another long but unsatisfying drive that stalled in the red zone with two off-target Darnold throws, one behind Cooper Kupp with three defenders at the goal line and the other behind Shaheed in the end zone. There are plenty of universes where the Seahawks lose this game because of a bad bounce off a bad throw.
And still, it took all of Blake Grupe’s leg to lift the Colts back into the lead. Inside of a minute left, and the Saints castoff has the audacity to:
Fortunately, we know how the story ends in this otherwise flawed universe. Look. If they play 17 games a year there’s one that’s bound to make no sense. Guess we don’t have to wait for that one to drop any longer.
PREDATOR
Getting sick of listing him every week, but heeeeere’s Nicky. Emmanwori made splash plays, got in the backfield as usual, and showed — what’s this now? — restraint in a situation where a personal foul could’ve been so easy to pick up. And I do mean “pick up.”
The second clip is a rep a talented veteran wins sometimes, but not all the time. Emmanwori’s not a vet, the other guys are. That’s Taylor, in space, with a head start. E-man has a 300-pounder trying to block him. Every week I want to pump the brakes on the hype emmanating from this guy, and every week he gives me another reason not to.
PREDATOR
Jarran Reed. Big part of keeping Taylor in check. Enormous TFL early, then another himself-sized play near the end to keep a FG try from happening. And as we saw, Blake Grupe was on one.
PREDATOR
I’ll say it: Philip Rivers. His prey was middle age. He won. Not the game, no. But he proved something. If Myers hits the upright on his final 56-yarder, Grandpa Phil is a folk hero. He kind of is anyway. Although he may have given every 40-something ex-jock America the wrong idea for three hours. No, you cannot step on the field with the Seahawks defense and walk away alive. Yes, I mean you.
PREDATOR
Rashid Shaheed. Two mammoth hauls in the final minute to drive a husk through the Colts’ chances. Earlier, got a step on his man, briefly flashed open inside the 10, was clearly interfered with, and got no flag. The broadcast stole of one my lines about him a sneaky good add for the postseason, so at least they said something right.
Not every single officiating decision was correct yesterday.
APEX PREDATOR
Jason Myers, the future NFC Special Teams player of the Week. Like, immediate future. Six field goals sets a new Seahawks record. Still perfect on extra points for the season. And he dropped the final kickoff right in front of the goal line, necessitating a return that lopped seven seconds off the clock. If you prefer, Myers killed 40 percent of the remaining time the Colts had for a comeback.
PREYISH
Sam Darnold was chased and battered all game. He took punishment. He suffered sacks. He got hit so hard the ball flew 15 feet sideways. Sideways is good. We can live with that. Out of bounds is that way.
He ran into traffic like a caffeinated two-year-old fleeing a diaper change. His offensive line made his life miserable in the pocket all afternoon. He was hunted, from the opening whistle, but at zeroes, he walked away with the win, having technically committed no turnovers in a game where ball security mattered more than usual. Sometimes the gazelle sprints away and the predator walks away hungry.
The thing about Darnold is, and we can safely agree on this: the man has limitless confidence. Which comes with serious lowlights but also highlights that few of his peers provide. That’s the Darnold experience. It’s rather reminiscent of the way Fernando Rodney used to close Mariners games. Or not close them. Then come back the next day to try again, win or lose.
Against the Rams it’ll be interesting to see what the Seahawks do with better field position (average starting spot vs. Indy: their own 20) and more trips to the red zone (one). And presumably fewer turnovers from Sam than in Rams-Seahawks I. Yes I’m presuming. You can berate me Thursday night when I’m wrong, which might happen plenty of other times, but not this time.
Thursday’s upcoming tilt will shape playoff seeding and division supremacy. It’s crunch time a week before Christmas. It’s a playoff game before the playoffs. If the Hawks are to go on a holiday adventure that unlocks a postseason present, let us go with them.
