3 Up, 3 Down: Self-Inflicted Wounds, Questionable Officiating End Seahawks' Slim Playoff Hopes in 20-10 Loss to Rams
After a turbulent week full of uncertainty, the Seahawks and Rams finally got to hammer out their Week 15 matchup on Tuesday night. Thanks to a big game from Cooper Kupp, some shaky play from Russell Wilson and a few questionable penalties, Los Angeles came out the victor—securing a season sweep in this intra-divisional head-to-head. As a result, Seattle falls to 3-8 against L.A. in the Sean McVay era as its slim playoff hopes vanish, punctuating a disastrous 2021 campaign.
Let's go over the Seahawks' best and worst from the night.
3 Up
WR DK Metcalf
We'll talk more about Metcalf's frustrations in this one later on, but aside from that, the third-year receiver managed to put together a second consecutive strong performance against Jalen Ramsey. Though he remains scoreless since Halloween, Metcalf visibly beat Ramsey on several reps and should have had a much better game than he did. In the end, he caught six of his 12 targets for 52 yards, suffering the consequences of several poor throws off the arm of Wilson.
TE Gerald Everett
Well, it wasn't necessarily a revenge game for the former Rams tight end, but Everett had himself a nice night overall. All coming in the first half, he caught four passes for 60 yards with the majority of that provided by a strange-looking, 34-yard grab on a duck from Wilson. Following his nightmarish outing against the 49ers two weeks ago, Everett has bounced back nicely to play a notable role in the offense's infrequent success.
DE Carlos Dunlap
Have a night, Carlos Dunlap. Stepping into this game with just 1.5 sacks on the year and losing his grip on playing time, the 12-year veteran brought down Matthew Stafford a whopping 3.0 times. Dunlap nabbed one of his sacks while working on his former teammate in Cincinnati, Andrew Whitworth, with the other two coming against replacement right tackle Bobby Evans. He also added a key tackle on third down to stop Ben Skowronek short of the sticks, putting a bow on his best game of the year.
3 Down
QB Russell Wilson
Sorely missing Tyler Lockett (COVID-19), Wilson regressed closer to where he was in the first three weeks since his return from finger surgery. While he put forth one of his more efficient efforts in quick game, his accuracy—particularly on his signature deep ball—was all over the place. He badly missed on several throws, the most egregious of which being an underthrown ball to a wide-open Metcalf, who burned Ramsey for what could have been a game-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter. Wilson was also sacked three times over the course of the night and really only has himself to blame on those instances for holding on to the ball too long. The Seahawks will go as far as the eight-time Pro Bowl selection can take them, but as has been the case far too many times this season, he didn't do his team any favors on Tuesday night.
DE Alton Robinson
Robinson had a relatively quiet night, but he lands on this list for one specific reason: his running into the kicker penalty in the first quarter gifted the Rams three points to break the ice in this one. After a head-scratching run call by McVay, Los Angeles punted from near midfield—a big stop for Seattle's defense. However, Robinson made contact with the leg of Johnny Hekker and, while it was minimal in nature, the infraction could have been avoided altogether by the second-year man out of Syracuse. As a result, the Rams got bumped up five yards and Matt Gay connected on a 55-yard field goal attempt to give his team the early lead.
S Quandre Diggs
Diggs reached a milestone in this game, reeling in his fifth interception of the season to tie his career-high from a year ago. But aside from his big turnover, this was a rough game for the surefire Pro Bowler, particularly against the run. On Sony Michel's biggest run of the night—a 39-yard gainer to take Los Angeles all the way down to the Seattle six-yard line to set up its first touchdown of the game—Diggs made a lousy tackle attempt when he could have severely limited the damage. This was going to be a tall task for the veteran in the absence of D.J. Reed (COVID-19) and Jamal Adams (shoulder), and it certainly looked like his hands were too full at times.
