5 Keys to Seahawks' Wild Card Loss to Rams and Early Playoff Exit
The Seahawks never found their footing and dropped a brutal game at the hands of the Rams at Lumen Field on Saturday, abruptly ending their Super Bowl hopes at the Wild Card round. Several moments led to Seattle's unexpected early demise. Let's dive into five.
1. John Wolford suffers a neck injury in the first quarter.
Who knows how this game goes if Wolford doesn't get injured by Jamal Adams? On the second drive of the game, Wolford tucked the ball on a designed quarterback run and tried to get down before Adams gave him a pop. Unfortunately, Wolford had to leave the game with a neck injury and ended up heading to the hospital in an ambulance for precautionary reasons. This caused the Rams to call on the less-than-100 percent Jared Goff in relief. Goff then threw for 155 yards and a touchdown. If the Seahawks had to face Wolford the entire game, the game plan is likely very different and perhaps the outcome is too.
2. Penalty-Penalty-Sack sequence in first drive of the second quarter.
The Rams had a slim 3-0 lead after the first quarter and the Seahawks looked completely inept on offense. They had -1 total yards until the tail end of the quarter. The start of the second quarter was not much better. They opened their latest drive with a 1st and 10 from their own 25. Then a series of unfortunate events unfolded. Mike Iupati was flagged for holding, backing Seattle up to a 1st and 20 scenario. Then a false start by Will Dissly pinned them back farther. Russell Wilson was then sacked by Aaron Donald in the shadow of their own goalpost, and they faced a nearly impossible 2nd and 34 on their own one-yard line. A few plays later, they punted the ball away after one of the biggest sequences of failure on offense Seattle had all season. This didn't lead directly to the score changing but it was foreshadowing of the struggles that persisted for Seattle on offense throughout the contest.
3. Russell Wilson throws a pick six to Darious Williams.
After some demonstrative discussions with the offense and DK Metcalf on the sidelines, it was clear that Seattle was trying to get the star receiver the football. Unfortunately, Wilson telegraphed a screen pass intended for Metcalf and the Rams read it perfectly as Darious Williams picked off the pass and ran it into the end zone for an easy pick-six. This swung the momentum in a big way, giving L.A. a two-score lead at 13-3. Wilson looked off most of the game and this play put Seattle squarely behind the eight-ball.
4. Jared Goff 44-yard pass to Cam Akers
The Seahawks defense was desperate for a stop, down by just three points late in the first half. They got the Rams to a 3rd and 9 from their own 26-yard line with a chance to stop them and get the ball back. Instead, Goff completed a pass down the right sidelines to Akers. The Seahawks did a poor job tackling and Akers scampered 44 yards to set up a big Rams touchdown a few plays later, pushing their lead to 20-10.
5. Russell Wilson incomplete deep to DK Metcalf with Aaron Donald pressuring.
With the offense still floundering, Seattle was desperate for a big play early in the third quarter while down by seven points. On 3rd and 4 from his own 44, Wilson was looking deep for DK Metcalf, who had beaten his man. All Wilson needed was a clean pocket to step into the deep throw for the game-tying score. However, Donald rushed through and harassed Wilson just enough to affect the throw, which sailed over Metcalf, bringing up fourth down. It was yet another failed attempt at a deep shot on a day where the Seahawks offense just couldn't convert near enough to advance further in the playoffs.
