A little over a week ago, we were all riding high after Seattle dismantled the previously unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs. Within that span of time, the Seattle Seahawks also traded for a future Hall of Fame offensive guard and were finally ready to unleash their top two running backs. Things were looking rosy as they prepared to face the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.
Then, the game kicked off.
No sugarcoating it, Seattle sucked a big one tonight. The offense was horrible. The defense was gashed
for the first time really all season. The special teams was putrid. All of that culminated in a 34-17 thrashing. Seattle is now 4-4 and all but out of the NFC West race already. Heck, they might not even make the playoffs at this point. They certainly didn’t look like a playoff team tonight.
Seahawks Droppings
- If there was one positive, it was Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Chalk up another 100-yard receiving performance with a TD. Outside of JSN, there was nothing going on with the offense.
- Stupid, untimely penalties. Right when Seattle seemed like they were clawing back into the game, they would commit a dumb penalty. The main one I can think of is the Mike Morris one on the kickoff after the Seahawks made it a three point game. That field position helped the Bears extend their lead.
- The new offensive line looked like the old offensive line…maybe even worse. I figured there would be some growing pains with Charles Cross out, Quenton Nelson getting brought up to speed, and Grey Zabel moving to the right side. Sam Darnold and the running backs will be feeling those pains tomorrow. Darnold was under constant pressure the whole night, while there was zero room for the backs. It’s hard to do anything on offense when the line is getting manhandled.
- Bad Jason Myers strikes again. The missed PAT early on was bad juju when the offense finally got something going. Then, he had a chip shot FG blocked. Even the good special teams plays turned out poorly like when Seattle blocked a punt only to have it roll 45 yards. You can’t make that stuff up.
- Caleb Williams had way too much time. For the vast majority of the game, Williams was able to sit back and dissect the secondary. Even when Seattle did get some pressure, Williams routinely got out of it and made a play. Leonard Williams getting hurt certainly didn’t help things, but Seattle’s pass rush was nonexistent tonight.
- The energy was off. I’m not sure why Seattle seemed so flat tonight. Maybe the fact that this was their third primetime game in a row made it hard for the team to get their energy right? Whatever the reason, Chicago were the ones playing fast and aggressive, punching Seattle in the mouth. The Seahawks answer to that seemed to be “Thank you sir, may I have another?”
- Darnold looked jittery. Part of that was due to him getting pressured early and often. Other times, he missed some wide open throws. And how many balls were batted down tonight? One of those resulted in an interception. I’m still not convinced that Schneider is completely sold on Darnold after this season.
- Seattle was outcoached. Offense, defense, special teams were all to blame. I can’t remember another time where I thought Mike Macdonald was so thoroughly outfoxed as he was tonight. Maybe the primetime game against the Lions in his first season? The red zone offense and defense continues to be a problem that is keeping this team from reaching its potential. Macdonald is still one of the best coaches in the league, but he has his work cut out for them to get the Seahawks back to contention.
This game shows just how quickly things can turn in the NFL. Last week, Seattle looked like one of the best teams in the NFL, poised to make another run. In this game, they looked like a pretender who may not even make the playoffs. The pressure is off now. This is barely a playoff-caliber team let alone one who will compete for championships. It’s not time to totally jump the ship, but worrying about the division is a fool’s errand at this point.
