Lambeau Curse Strikes Again, Seahawks Drop Divisional Showdown
Winners of eight out of nine road games heading into Sunday’s pivotal divisional matchup against the Packers, the Seahawks thought this would be the year that they’d end their 20-year drought at Lambeau Field.
But less than five minutes into the game, it was already looked like it wasn’t going to be Seattle’s night. With plenty of time to operate in the pocket, Aaron Rodgers drove Green Bay right down the field on an eight-play, 79-yard drive to give his team a led they would never relinquish.
Showing the resiliency that characterized the 2019 Seahawks all season long, coach Pete Carroll’s team gave a valiant comeback effort after falling behind 21-3 at halftime. Unfortunately, they dug themselves too big of a hole to climb out of, eventually falling short in a 28-23 divisional round defeat.
Here are five key takeaways from Seattle’s season-ending defeat at Lambeau Field.
Third down efficiency differential proved to be a true difference maker in the final outcome.
As Carroll lamented after the game, Seattle had chances to get Green Bay’s offense off of the field throughout the game, but they allowed the opponent to convert nine out of 14 third down opportunities. Two of those resulted in long touchdown passes from Rodgers to Davante Adams and several other third down conversions paved the way for both of Aaron Jones’ one-yard rushing scores in the first half. The pass rush simply wasn’t good enough, allowing Rodgers ample time to scan the field and move the pocket when receivers weren’t initially open. Making matters worse, Seattle gave Green Bay three first downs by penalty. On the flip side, the Seahawks converted just one third down in the first half and finished the game an underwhelming three for nine. Several three-and-outs in the first half played a key role in falling behind 18 points, making the deficit just a bit too much for Wilson and company to overcome.
Seattle again waited too long to unleash Russell Wilson and paid dearly for it.
All week long, Carroll and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer made it known they wanted Marshawn Lynch to have a bigger hand in Seattle’s offensive game plan this week. Running the football needed to be a priority against a defense that had struggled to stop the run most of this season. But while “Beast Mode” finished with two touchdowns as part of a furious second half rally, the insistence on giving him the football proved futile for the most part, as he rushed for just 26 yards on 12 carries. On one particular drive in the first half, Lynch picked up eight yards on first down but then was stuffed on back-to-back runs to force a Michael Dickson punt. Choosing not to put the ball in Wilson’s hands once during that sequence made little sense, especially considering 2nd and 2 is an ideal time to take a play action shot. As magical as Wilson was after halftime extending plays and finding open receivers, the team has been plagued by slow offensive starts throughout the year and not letting the star quarterback rip it early has something to do with it.
Missed opportunities late in regulation loomed large as Seattle nearly mounted a historic comeback.
The entire Seahawks locker room has an enduring belief that no matter how far behind they are, they’ll find a way to pull the game out before the final buzzer sounds. But after coming up mere inches short against San Francisco in Week 17, Seattle failed to finish again after positioning itself to steal a playoff win on the road in large part due to a series of late mistakes. After forcing a three-and-out to give the football back to the offense with less than five minutes remaining and trailing only by five points, Wilson connected with Tyler Lockett for a first down and all the momentum was on the visiting sideline. But on the next play, Malik Turner allowed a perfectly thrown pass to bounce off his frame, dropping a surefire first down past midfield. Two plays later, Wilson was sacked by Preston Smith, forcing the Seahawks to punt. Still armed with three timeouts, the Seahawks weren’t able to get their star quarterback the football back, as Adams beat rookie Ugo Amadi on a slot fade on third and long for a 32-yard reception. Moments later, Rodgers found former Seahawk tight end Jimmy Graham for a game-sealing first down reception on another third down.
Green Bay’s best weapon worked Tre Flowers and Seattle’s secondary throughout the evening.
The Packers didn’t have a 1,000-yard receiver this year, but that’s only because Adams missed some time due to injury. Easily Rodgers’ best target, the two-time MVP looked for the former Fresno State star early and often. In the first half alone, he torched cornerback Tre Flowers for six receptions, 88 receiving yards, and a 20-yard touchdown to open the scoring. He continued to dominate Seattle’s secondary after the break, scoring another third down touchdown when he used a double move to get open against Flowers and then put the defender on skates. Rocketing towards the middle of the field, he raced 40 yards for what turned out to be the game-winning score and extended Green Bay’s lead to 28-10. Seattle eventually made some adjustments to put extra help on Adams in coverage, but those adaptations took too long to implement and it still didn’t matter at the end of the game as he beat Amadi on the final drive for a back-breaking first down reception.
When turnovers were needed the most, the Seahawks couldn’t find a way to make them happen.
If there’s one statistic that jumps out from Seattle’s final six games, including Sunday’s loss, it’s the inability to create any interceptions or forced fumbles. From Week 10 to Week 15, coinciding with the arrival of safety Quandre Diggs into the starting lineup, the Seahawks recorded a whopping 16 turnovers and went 4-1 during those contests. When Diggs went down with a high ankle sprain, they didn’t force any turnovers in the final two regular season games. But even after the invaluable defender returned from injury for the wild card round in Philadelphia, those struggles continued, giving Seattle four straight games without a defensive turnover. That’s the longest streak during the John Schneider/Pete Carroll era. Picking Rodgers off once, as linebacker Bobby Wagner nearly did in the fourth quarter, or punching a fumble loose could’ve been the difference between going home and advancing to play the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.
