It was built up as the biggest game in years for the Seattle Seahawks, and it truly felt like it. Despite everything that went wrong against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, the Seahawks found themselves with a field goal opportunity to pull off an epic win, and take a stranglehold on the NFC West. Instead, Seattle fell 21-19, and will have to regroup after one of the more complex defeats in the Mike Macdonald era.
Let’s break it down.
First Down: What to make of the loss
This is one of the more emotionally conflicting losses that I can
remember in all my years of watching the Seahawks. It feels like, no matter what your take or belief on Seattle was, you have more ammunition after this loss.
For the glass half empty camp, there’s plenty to hate on. McVay had Macdonald on the run in the first quarter. Klint Kubiak reverted back to his San Francisco game shenanigans when it came to play calling. Sam Darnold had one of the worst games of his career, in another “big game.”
For the glass half full camp, there’s plenty to keep belief in this team and this season still being special. Macdonald whooped McVay’s ass for the majority of the game. The defense continues to look Super Bowl caliber. Despite the horror show from Sam Darnold, he and the offense kept fighting back and probably win that game if not for an all-time punt.
So I don’t really have any answers to the biggest questions with the Seahawks. It sucks to lose, but I feel like these questions will be answered in the upcoming two months.
Second Down: What to make of the Rams
I think the Los Angeles Rams are good enough to win the Super Bowl. They may have the necessary ingredients (four blue chip offensive players), a good enough defense as a collective, and a Super Bowl winning head coach.I also think that the Seattle Seahawks are a more talented team and that they will inevitably surpass the Rams at some point in the near future. The question is whether the Seahawks can surpass them this year, or if that moment will arrive in 2026.
This Rams team has championship DNA and a psychological edge over the Seahawks franchise. If Seattle wants to be the man, they have to beat the man. Until they do, I believe that the Rams are the favorites to not only win the NFC West, but the NFC.
Third Down: Tale of two schedules
While the Rams may have a leg up on the Seahawks now, the schedule that these two teams will face before the meet up again in Seattle are drastically different.
Los Angeles survived the Seahawks, but it is just a continuation of murderers row. After defeating Seattle and San Francisco, the Rams will host a desperate Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad on Sunday Night Football this week. After that, they’ll hit the road and travel to Charlotte where the Panthers are a much different team, and to the Desert to face the feisty Arizona Cardinals. The Rams will then return home for a massive showdown against the Lions, a game that’ll probably feel like a road game in their own stadium, before heading to Seattle for part II.
Seattle, on the other hand, is about to take on one of the easiest three week stretches in years. The pissed off Hawks will travel to Tennessee to take on the worst team in the NFL, followed by a home date against the Minnesota Vikings and the disaster that has been JJ McCarthy so far.
After Thanksgiving, the Seahawks will travel to Atlanta to now take on the corpse of Kirk Cousins before heading home on December 14th for a massive game against the Colts. I think that game could be a great measuring stick moment for the Seahawks, and a perfect appetizer “big game” opportunity for Sam Darnold, before the Rams come to Seattle the following Thursday.
The Seahawks have everything they could want in front of them to go 4-0 when the rematch with LA arrives. The Rams will have to battle like crazy just to be 3-1 when they face off again. Looking ahead to tie breakers, it’s hard to find scenarios where the Seahawks will have an advantage over the Rams, so seeing them with at least the same record as Seattle before the Thursday night game is paramount.
Fourth Down: 2012 revenge in a month?
We recently talked about comparing this Seahawks team to previous versions. Sunday reminded me again that this team has some 2012 vibes.
In 2012, the Seahawks in the middle of the season traveled to San Francisco to take on the big bad 49ers. The Seahawks were horrible on offense and lost 13-6 in an ugly Thursday Night Football clash.
That year, the Seahawks got another shot at home, and let the world know they were on a march for glory when they embarrassed the 49ers in a rematch on Sunday Night Football, 42-13. That game feels like the moment the LOB Seahawks truly arrived. Unfortunately, due to the 49ers having a tie that year, they still won the NFC West, and would go on to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
The Seahawks can make a similar run here. They can win four in a row, setting up another date with the perceived NFC ‘s best in LA. They don’t need to win 42-13, but I believe they have the talent and ability to send a message that they are the best team in the NFC.
The 2012 Seahawks became a Super Bowl caliber team from that moment, and I think Seattle can do the same. The question will be if that would be enough to take the West.
