Bucs Give Geno Smith, Seahawks Rude Wake-Up Call in Munich
While the Seahawks made things interesting with a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns, the furious comeback attempt ran out of time as the Buccaneers snapped their four-game winning streak with a 21-16 victory in Munich.
Giving a valiant effort to move Seattle back into a position to win the game late, Geno Smith completed 23 out of 33 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns. Rookie Tariq Woolen intercepted his fifth pass of the season and linebacker Jordyn Brooks racked up a team-high 14 tackles in a frustrating road defeat that dropped the team to a 6-4 record heading into a bye week.
Here are five quick takeaways from a missed opportunity for the Seahawks in Germany:
1. Despite a late flurry of great throws, Smith played gun-shy out of the gate and a critical turnover loomed large late.
Statistically, Smith remained his usual efficient, accurate self and coming out hot in the second half, he completed four straight throws for first downs, appearing to find his rhythm. He later added a pair of fourth quarter touchdown passes to Tyler Lockett and Marquise Goodwin to will his team back within a score and deserves props for that. But the veteran quarterback simply didn't play up to the standards he had set in the first nine games in the first two-plus quarters, uncharacteristically misfiring on several third down throws with the Seahawks getting held scoreless in the opening half and looking frazzled by the Buccaneers' blitz heavy defensive attack. On a couple of occasions, he tried to do too much when his initial read was taken away, including making a pivotal mistake when momentum appeared to finally be on his team's side midway through the third quarter. Moments after an ill-fated trick play by Tampa Bay resulted in Woolen intercepting running back Leonard Fournette in the red zone, Smith had marched Seattle all the way down to the opposing nine-yard line. Trying to improvise with his legs on 2nd and 9, he tried to scramble out to his left out of an empty formation, only for linebacker Devin White to punch the ball out of his hands in the backfield and defensive end Anthony Nelson to recover a back-breaking turnover.
2. Fears became reality with Seattle's interior offensive line dominated in the trenches.
If there was a clear area of concern for the Seahawks heading into this contest, the presence of massive defensive tackles Vita Vea and Akiem Hicks casted questions about how well their interior offensive line would hold up. Unfortunately, those concerns wound up being valid ones, especially in the run game. Right off the bat, Ken Walker III found himself swarmed in the backfield with the Buccaneers creating instant push at the line of scrimmage and linebackers flying up untouched to make plays. As a result, the rookie sensation rushed for just eight yards on seven carries, rendering him a non-factor. The situation didn’t improve at all in the second half, as Walker rushed just three times for nine yards and the Seahawks wound up ditching the run game entirely playing in catchup mode with Smith firing the pigskin all over the yard. Unable to get anything going on the ground put the team behind the sticks, leading to a dismal one for nine performance on third down conversions. Vea and Hicks made their presence felt rushing from the interior as well, playing a key role giving Smith happy feet in the pocket and preventing him from rolling through his progressions while helping force punts on all five of their first half drives.
3. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay's maligned front line found traction reviving a struggling run game, opening the entire playbook up.
On the flip side, the Seahawks came into Sunday with their defensive line playing outstanding football during a four-game winning streak. Shelby Harris, Poona Ford, Quinton Jefferson, and the rest of the group were expected to wreak havoc against a Buccaneers offensive line missing starting center Ryan Jenson and right guard Luke Goedeke. But the NFL's worst rushing offense had other plans with the makeshift group up front holding their own opening up run lanes for Rachaad White and Leonard Fournette. Averaging only 61 rushing yards per game this year, they eclipsed that total in the first half with 76 yards and kept the train rolling in the second half. When Seattle had trimmed the deficit to five points, behind a physical line looking to prove doubters wrong, White slammed the door shut with 12 and 18-yard runs to move the chains on the final drive of the game. The rookie out of Arizona State finished with his first-ever 100-plus yard game as Tampa Bay unexpectedly gashed Seattle's front seven to a tune of 161 yards on the afternoon. As for pass protection, aside from a couple pressures from Harris, the defensive line failed to make Brady even sweat as he wasn't sacked a single time.
4. Capitalizing on his complementary run game, "The G.O.A.T" feasted on advantageous matchups and busted coverages.
Entering Sunday's contest, the 45-year old Brady was enduring a rough season by his standards leading a stagnant offense that ranked 25th in the NFL in scoring. But the seven-time Super Bowl winner turned in a vintage performance against a Seahawks defense that had been playing excellent football as of late, completing 11 out of 16 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone as the Buccaneers built a 14-0 advantage. At the center of his success, the 23-year veteran attacked Seattle in the middle of the field, starting with a 29-yard completed pass to Mike Evans working out of the slot against rookie Coby Bryant. He frequently went after this matchup, taking advantage of Evans' size against the fourth-round pick. The Seahawks didn't help their cause either with busted coverage assignments resulting in several explosive pass plays in the first half. With the game knotted up at 0-0 early in the second quarter, Julio Jones came wide open on a crossing route with Woolen not carrying the route and no other defender picking him up. With nothing but green in front of him, Jones wound up scoring a 31-yard touchdown to give the Bucs an early 7-0 lead. On the ensuing drive, after Tampa drove down to the Seattle 27-yard line, Brady hit a wide open Scottie Miller for a 22-yard strike with no defenders in the same zip code, setting up a short Fournette touchdown. Frequently moving the chains with clutch third down throws as the Buccaneers finished 10-15 as a team in such situations, Brady made the drive-extending throws Smith didn't, which proved decisive in a one-score game.
5. As rare bright spots, Michael Dickson and Jason Myers put on a show to help briefly forget Seattle's offensive ineptitude.
Flagged for more penalties than first downs in the first half and stunningly gashed on the ground, little went right for the Seahawks across the pond on Sunday in a game that never felt as close as the final score indicated. With that said, Dickson and Myers provided rare special teams highlights while the offense slogged through the first three quarters. The MVP of the first half, Dickson masterfully landed his last two punts inside the five-yard line, first launching a perfect coffin corner kick that went out of bounds at the four-yard line. On his next punt, he pinned the Buccaneers deep again like a magician with the ball barely bouncing backward after hitting the grass, allowing rookie receiver Dareke Young to down it at the two-yard line. Neither drive resulted in points, allowing the Seahawks to stop the bleeding a bit after yielding two touchdown drives earlier in the quarter. Out of halftime intermission, Smith led his team promptly down the field to the Buccaneers 22-yard line, and even after DK Metcalf was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, Myers didn't blink and booted a 55-yard field goal through the uprights to finally get the Seahawks on the board. With the make, he's now a perfect five for five this season on field goal attempts of 50-plus yards.
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