Seahawks Keep Playoff Hopes Alive, Survive Pesky Rams For 19-16 Overtime Win
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Overcoming a challenging day for Geno Smith and a struggling offense, the Seahawks rallied late for a 19-16 overtime win over the pesky Rams, guaranteeing a winning season and keeping them in the hunt for a wild card spot.
Though he threw a pair of interceptions, Smith threw for 213 yards and tossed a key 36-yard touchdown to Tyler Lockett, while Ken Walker III paced the offense with his third straight 100-yard performance to surpass 1,000 yards for the season. Defensively, Quandre Diggs made a crucial interception in the final period to set up a game-winning field goal for Jason Myers and Bruce Irvin led a ferocious pass rush with 1.5 sacks on Baker Mayfield.
Here are five quick takeaways from the Seahawks ninth win of the season that kept their slim playoff hopes alive:
1. Smith picked the worst time for a flat performance, but his mobility and teammates picked him up down the stretch.
As expected, Smith reached several milestones on Sunday, becoming only the third quarterback in franchise history to hit 30 touchdown passes in a single season and setting a new team record for passing yards. But while he will have time to reflect on those accomplishments, he reached both marks while turning in his worst passing outing of an otherwise stellar season. Pressing out of the gate, he was picked off by Rams star corner Jalen Ramsey on the first play from scrimmage trying to squeeze the ball to DK Metcalf on a slant, setting up a quick Matt Gay field goal. Later in the half, he avoided disaster when safety Quintin Lake failed to complete the catch on a gimme pick six, allowing the Seahawks to escape with just a punt instead. He finished the half with 46 passing yards on eight completions.
In the third quarter, Smith appeared poised to turn the page in a major way, hooking up with Colby Parkinson and DK Metcalf for 15 and 23-yard completions to open Seattle's first drive of the half. He quickly struck to tie the game, throwing a perfect deep ball to Lockett, who made a Billy Mays-esque basket catch in the back of the end zone to push himself over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. But rather than build off of that scoring drive, Smith went back to taking unnecessary risks that he wasn't making earlier in the season and paid dearly for it. Putting his hand in the cookie jar too many times in the closing moments of the third quarter while trailing by three, Ramsey again picked him as he inexplicably tried to thread the ball into double coverage to Metcalf. Thankfully, he rushed for 51 yards on four carries and received enough support late to maybe keep his dream season going another week.
2. Situational football nearly dooms 'Hawks with multiple possessions sputtering in Rams’ territory.
During their second half free fall where they lost five of their previous seven games, the Seahawks have consistently been inept sustaining drives and punctuating them with touchdowns when they get to the red zone. Those demoralizing trends unfortunately continued in Sunday's game with the offense converting on only one out of 11 third down opportunities and failing to find the end zone on four chances inside the opposing 20-yard line. After the Rams took a quick three-point lead, Smith marched the Seahawks down to the 14-yard line, but committed a false start on a wildcat play and the offense couldn't recover with his third down pass to Metcalf getting knocked away in the end zone. On the next drive, they advanced the ball to the 20, only for a negative run by Walker and a false start by tackle Charles Cross to set them behind the sticks again to settle for a second Jason Myers field goal.
Most notably, all while burning their third and final timeout, the Seahawks failed to punch the ball into the end zone late in the fourth quarter when they had first and goal inside the Rams' three-yard line. Looking to force the opponent to burn timeouts, they ran three straight times, including Walker getting blown up three yards in the backfield on third down to force them to settle for a game-tying field goal. Though Myers made the kick, not scoring a touchdown in such an advantageous situation easily could have cost them, especially after the reliable kicker failed to win the game at the end of regulation.
3. Sean McVay cooked up a quality game plan, but Seattle adjusted as the game progressed to shut Los Angeles down in the final two quarters.
Every time the Seahawks and Rams get together, McVay seems to have his mad scientist X's and O's hat ready to rock and Sunday was no different. After getting off to a slow start with no first downs on its first two possessions, Los Angeles started to lean on the ground game and mixing in a wide array of bootleg play action passes. Taking advantage of poor contain by cornerback Mike Jackson, running back Cam Akers ripped off a 32-yard run to set up Gay's second field goal. Two drives later, Baker Mayfield delivered a perfect strike to Van Jefferson for a 35-yard connection with Tariq Woolen in coverage. After a 15-yard gain by Brandon Powell on a jet sweep, receiver Tutu Atwell capped off the possession with an 11-yard score on a creative reverse run, giving them a 13-6 lead at halftime.
Mayfield's success continued into the early portion of the second half, as he completed several passes on bootlegs with little resistance from the Seahawks as they tacked on a field goal in response to Smith's touchdown pass. But after that point, the home team went into lockdown mode, forcing punts on three straight drives that netted less than 15 total yards of offense and limiting Akers effectiveness with just 45 rushing yards after halftime. Even after Smith and three and out to open the extra period, Diggs ran down Mayfield's deep ball to a wide open Jefferson, only for the Pro Bowl safety to snag it out of the air for his fourth pick of the season to set the table for Myers to nail the game winner.
4. Seattle's surging pass rush left Mayfield with an unpleasant memory from his brief time in the NFC West.
While Mayfield thrived at times on designed bootleg roll outs, more times than not, he wasn't able to escape when the pocket collapsed on him as the Seahawks kept their suddenly potent pass rushing rolling in the finale. Playing a key role in limiting him to 147 passing yards, five different players received at least a partial sack on the veteran quarterback as the team amassed 10 quarterback hits and generated constant pressure on him. The onslaught started early in the contest, as cornerback Coby Bryant came shooting off the edge untouched on a nickel blitz to bring Mayfield down to open the Rams second possession. Two plays later, seasoned rusher Bruce Irvin hunted him down for a 10-yard loss to force a punt. On the ensuing drive, rookie Boye Mofe displayed remarkable effort running around the left tackle and working his way back to the line of scrimmage to sack Mayfield on third down, leading to a Rams field goal to keep the game at a 6-6 tie.
Keying their second half defensive improvements, the pass rush remained a focal point turning up the heat on Mayfield and helping stifle McVay's offense. On the Rams opening possession of the third quarter, a red-hot Darrell Taylor pushed his sack total to 9.5 after interior pressure from Shelby Harris forced the quarterback to step up in the pocket right into the third-year linebacker's arms. Two possessions later, a split sack by Irvin and Uchenna Nwosu thwarted a promising drive that entered Seattle territory, leading to another punt. Even when the Seahawks weren't getting sacks, Nwosu smacked Mayfield four times and defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson generated a key pressure that held the Rams to their only three points in the half. It was a splendid group effort with everyone pitching in and the secondary benefitted immensely from the persistent pressure.
5. After missing his chance to win the game in regulation, Myers fulfilled redemption to cap off a remarkable season.
All year long, even as Seattle has struggled at times stopping opposing run games and the offense has looked discombobulated for stretches, Myers has been the one constant for a young, upcoming team. Still, he hasn't been perfect by any stretch and a missed field goal in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter that doinked off of the right crossbar put his team's season back in peril when it looked like they would escape with a narrow win. It marked the second miss in as many games for the veteran place kicker, who at one point made 24 consecutive field goals over a 13-game span.
Luckily for Myers, like Smith, his teammates picked up the slack to grant him a chance to amend for his miscue. Following Diggs' interception, Tyler Lockett beat former teammate Bobby Wagner on a crosser for a 17-yard reception to move the Seahawks into opposing territory. On the next play, Walker ripped off a 20-yard run behind a great seal block from Parkinson, using his longest run of the day to move his team down to the Rams' 27-yard line. Five plays later, Myers split the uprights on a 32-yard field goal with ease, sending the Lumen Field crowd into a frenzy and transforming everyone into instant Lions fans.
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