Seahawks Rapid Reaction: Rams Dominate Geno Smith, Defense in Beatdown
Despite entering halftime with a six-point lead, the Seattle Seahawks unraveled at the seams in all phases as the Los Angeles Rams dominated them with 23 unanswered points in the second half for a 30-13 victory at Lumen Field.
Held to under 20 yards of offense in the second half, Geno Smith threw for just 112 yards and a 10-yard touchdown to DK Metcalf. Ken Walker III paced the ground attack with 64 yards on 12 carries, while Bobby Wagner racked up 19 tackles for a defense that allowed 11 third down conversions on the afternoon.
Here are five quick takeaways from Sunday's ugly season opening defeat:
1. While sharp early, Smith cooled off substantially in second half behind a banged up offensive line.
Out of the gate, Smith picked up where he left off as Comeback Player of the Year last season, completing 75 percent of his passes for 89 yards and a touchdown to Metcalf in the first two quarters to lead the team to a 13-7 halftime advantage. Unfortunately, however, the departure of both of Seattle's starting tackles in Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas in the second half left him under consistent siege and the offense couldn't get untracked, as the quarterback completed only two out of seven passes for 15 yards in the final two quarters of play.
If Cross and Lucas are able to return quickly, the Seahawks can take solace in the fact that they scored on three out of four possessions in the first half with their tackles healthy and Smith looked good with solid protection. But if one or both players misses extended time, as illustrated on Sunday when the quarterback couldn't operate with rushers flying at him relentlessly, a much-condensed playbook created by the drop off with backups in the lineup up front could be a major problem with a difficult road game against Detroit coming up in Week 2.
2. After a slow start, Walker and the run game were a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing performance.
Due to the inability to sustain drives in the second half, the Seahawks weren't able to lean on their ground game much down the stretch, resorting to putting the ball exclusively in Smith's hands trying to play catchup. But when Walker had a chance to make plays with the football in his hands, he was electric, including racking up 38 yards on his final four carries in the second quarter as a catalyst for a touchdown and field goal drive to give the team a 13-7 lead.
To the credit of the offensive line, with Lucas and Cross still in the lineup, the group up front did a solid job generating push at the line of scrimmage early. Seattle found its greatest success running off edge with the tackles using their athleticism to get into space. On a 15-yard run by Walker, Cross ultimately took out two defenders on the perimeter, springing the back to the sideline. For the afternoon, the Seahawks rushed for 76 yards and a respectable 4.6 yards per carry, but the lack of plays ultimately prevented them from establishing the run game how they intended.
3. No pass rush to speak of made life easy for Stafford, Rams passing game, leading to a bunch of explosives.
Armed with a fun young group of edge defenders headlined by Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, and Darrell Taylor, the Seahawks expected to have success on Sunday getting after Matthew Stafford behind an offensive line that struggled mightily last year. But from the outset, the veteran quarterback had a comfortable pocket to work with, barely disrupted as the home team's front line couldn't get any pressure to speak of from inside or outside. Able to scan the field without any issue, he carved up the secondary to a tune of 334 yards and 8.8 yards per attempt, including completing 10 passes for 119 yards to rookie Puka Nacua.
Along the way, Stafford didn't just torch the Seahawks attacking the middle of the field, though that certainly was the case early when the Rams converted all five of their third downs on an opening touchdown drive in the first quarter. After halftime, he took to the skies, regularly lofting perfect strikes downfield against a secondary that couldn't keep receivers in front of them. Tutu Atwell reeled in a 44-yard catch, Tyler Higbee had a 31-yard reception, and Nacua made a fantastic 21-yard grab to set up the Rams final touchdown drive to put the game away. Without any pass rush and just two quarterback hits all game long, life was too easy for the visiting team and they capitalized with a brilliant outing.
4. Time will tell how much better Seattle's run defense will be after a mixed effort.
Following a dreadful season where they finished 30th stopping the run, the Seahawks prioritized rebuilding their defensive line and re-signing Bobby Wagner in free agency to fortify the middle at linebacker. Early on, the defense did a solid job bottling up Cam Akers and Kyren Williams, as Wagner and Nwosu teamed up for three run stops netting zero or negative yards and Boye Mafe also made a pair of tackles for loss in the first half. The Rams had just 35 rushing yards in the first half, averaging a meager 2.9 yards per carry in the process.
However, Seattle wasn't perfect defending the run either. While holding the opposition under 2.5 yards per carry for the game on 40 run plays, the middle caved open as if Moses parted the seas on a few occasions. Williams shot through a massive hole on Los Angeles' first drive on 3rd and 4 for a nine-yard gain, moving the chains to set up a touchdown. The interior also got driven back on seven-yard touchdown run by Williams in the third quarter as the visitors set the tone in a resounding comeback win.
5. Situational football remains a major bugaboo for Seahawks on both sides of the ball.
It took little time for the Rams to take control of Sunday's opener, in large part due to the inability of coordinator Clint Hurtt's defense to get off the field. On several occasions on visitor's first drive, the Seahawks had their opponent in an ideal third down situation, including a 3rd and 10 that Stafford ended up converting on a 10-yard pass to Van Jefferson. As was the case all day long, thanks to a punch-less pass rush and major coverage lapses, Los Angeles converted on 11 out of 17 third down opportunities for the game, including starting 9 for 12 as the team started to pull away in the second half.
Meanwhile on offense, the Seahawks were equally awful on third down, going 2 for 9 in the game and failing to convert any of their four opportunities after halftime. This led to the Rams running 32 more plays from scrimmage while having 19 more minutes in time of possession. In addition, Smith couldn't cash in on a red zone opportunity to open the game with a third down throw to Lockett falling incomplete and the team settling for a Jason Myers field goal. The Rams were a perfect 3 for 3 in the red zone, while the Seahawks went just 1 for 2 and didn't return inside the 20 after halftime with just 12 total yards of offense in the last two quarters.
