Seahawks Snap Long Drought in Florida, Outlast Dolphins to Stay Undefeated
Though they struggled offensively for much of the afternoon, the Seahawks orchestrated two touchdown drives inside the final six minutes of regulation to pull away for a 31-15 victory over the Dolphins in Miami.
Staying undefeated and atop the NFC West, Russell Wilson completed 24 out of 34 passes for 360 yards and threw two touchdown passes to Travis Homer and David Moore to pace Seattle. Defensively, cornerback Shaquill Griffin and safety Ryan Neal each intercepted Ryan Fitzpatrick and the two turnovers led to 14 points for the visitors.
Here are five takeaways from Sunday’s contest as Seattle improves to 4-0 for the second time in franchise history.
Bouncing back from a knee sprain, Chris Carson deserves mad props for his toughness.
Last week, with his leg twisted in gnarly fashion by Cowboys defensive tackle Trysten Hill, looked like he would miss significant time with a substantial knee injury. But somehow, he avoided ligament damage and started for the Seahawks on Sunday, rushing for 80 yards on 16 carries and scoring his first two rushing touchdowns of the season. In the middle of a contract year, some backs wouldn’t have been willing to rush back from such an injury, especially after he left the game late in the second quarter for a concussion evaluation. But the former seventh round pick wasn’t about to let his team down and ran with the power and elusiveness that has made him one of the best backs in the league over the past two seasons. He capped off the game with hard-nosed running and bulldozed just past the marker to seal the win inside two minutes to play.
After a long road trip, there was a bit of jet lag for the Seahawks offensively.
While Wilson eclipsed 350 passing yards and tied Peyton Manning for the most touchdown passes through four games in NFL history, Sunday wasn’t his finest performance and he wasn’t necessarily aided by his offensive line or receivers. DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett both had big drops in the first half that helped squash potentially scoring drives, while Miami found some success getting after Wilson in the second half, including coaxing him into a killer red zone interception while throwing off his back foot. Still, the star quarterback found ways to make big plays when Seattle needed them, including a 57-yard connection to David Moore late in the first half to set up his first scoring toss to Homer to extend the lead to eight at halftime. When the Dolphins cut the lead to 17-15, he found Moore again for a long touchdown, showing why he’s the clear MVP front runner even on a day where he wasn’t at his best.
As has been the theme all season, Seattle’s front line couldn’t get to Ryan Fitzpatrick often.
Overall, Seattle played better defensively than it has the past two weeks, but Pete Carroll’s defense still gave up 315 passing yards and as they’ve done all year long so far, they struggled to get to Fitzpatrick, hitting him a grand total of five times. Their only sack came after L.J. Collier forced the veteran quarterback to step up in the pocket and the defensive tackle tandem of Bryan Mone and Anthony Rush corralled him. Otherwise, Fitzpatrick was plenty comfortable in the pocket and when he was pressured, he showed off his underrated running ability and burned Seattle several times on the ground to pick up big first downs. At some point, the inability to speed up the clock for opposing passers will come back to haunt this team.
Dropped interceptions aside, K.J. Wright may have been the Seahawks’ MVP on Sunday.
For a decade, Wright has often been lost in the shadow of teammate Bobby Wagner, who has earned five First-Team All-Pro selections in the past six years. But he played one of his best games on Sunday, blowing up multiple screen plays by the Dolphins while producing eight tackles and three passes defensed. The only thing he’ll be kicking himself over? Fitzpatrick gift-wrapped two interceptions for him in the first half and he wasn’t able to capitalize, ultimately allowing Miami to get a pair of field goals on those drives. But all in all, it was a fantastic effort by the veteran as he made numerous critical plays for a defense that continues to bend and not break.
Though the secondary was banged up, Shaquill Griffin and Ryan Neal stepped up their games to hold the unit together.
Without Jamal Adams and Quinton Dunbar, the Seahawks were without two of their best players in the secondary and while Fitzpatrick found success dinking and dunking against a short-handed unit, Griffin and Neal picked a great time to have standout performances. Stepping in for Adams, Neal intercepted Fitzpatrick on the first drive of the game, setting Seattle’s offense up with outstanding starting field position near midfield. Later in the opening quarter, the third-year safety leveled Myles Gaskin on a third down screen, forcing the Dolphins to settle for a field goal. Moments later, Carson plunged in for six points. Then in the fourth quarter, while nursing a 24-15 lead, Griffin intercepted his second pass in as many weeks, undercutting a seam route to Isaiah Ford and returning it to the Dolphins 32-yard line. Carson found pay dirt again two plays later, all but sealing the victory. To add to his best showing of the season, Griffin also swatted away two passes in the end zone in the final quarter, helping secure the road win.
