Mastering the Art of Winning Close Games, Seahawks Eye NFC West Crown

Holding one of the NFL's best records at 11-3, Seattle won't apologize for winning tight games and coach Pete Carroll envisions all those narrow victories only helping his team in coming weeks.

Notching their 11th victory of the season in Carolina on Sunday, the Seahawks boast one of the NFL’s best records and control their own destiny seeking an NFC West title and a first-round bye in the playoffs with two games left to play.

But Seattle hasn’t ascended to such heights with ease. Nine of the team’s 11 wins have been tightly contested one-score affairs, tying the 1986 Giants and 1978 Oilers for the most wins decided by seven points or less through 14 games.

“I love close games,” coach Pete Carroll said on Wednesday. “ I think they help you, they make you stronger, they keep you in the game longer, they make you have to focus farther, and it prepares you for more kinds of things that can happen that you need background and experience in.”

The Seahawks have certainly had their chances to blow games wide open this year, including twice this month. They were up 20 points in the fourth quarter against the Panthers on Sunday and held a 17-point advantage against the Vikings early in the fourth quarter in Week 13.

But in both of those contests, defensive letdowns prevented Seattle from winning comfortably. Carolina scored two touchdowns within minutes of each other to cut the deficit to six points, while Minnesota also scored two quick touchdowns to climb within three.

Considering Seattle’s propensity for quickly losing comfortable leads in the fourth quarter this season, it may seem like Carroll’s crew purposely allows opponents to crawl back into games and make them interesting.

But Carroll quickly shot down such a ludicrous idea, smiling and saying, “It would really be ok if we could win by a lot sometime. That’d be fun.”

Aside from a 27-10 victory over Arizona in Week 4, the Seahawks have simply struggled to put teams away and go for the jugular. Much to the chagrin of fans, close, heart attack-inducing games have been on the menu on a weekly basis.

Back in Week 1, the Seahawks barely held off the lowly Bengals, using a Russell Wilson 44-yard touchdown to pass to Tyler Lockett to eek out a one-point win. The next week, Chris Carson bobbled a handoff from Wilson midway through the fourth quarter, allowing the Steelers to trim the lead to 28-26.

Fast forward three weeks later, Seattle needed a missed field goal in the closing seconds by Greg Zuerlein to beat the Los Angeles Rams at home. Then in Week 8, Carroll’s squad built a 24-0 halftime lead against Atlanta, only to watch backup quarterback Matt Schaub throw for over 400 yards and cut the deficit to seven points late in the fourth quarter.

On the flip side, the Seahawks haven’t just squandered leads. They’ve also made some impressive comebacks of their own to come out victorious, particularly on the road.

Allowing three touchdowns in their first four defensive drives, Seattle fell behind 20-6 at Cleveland in Week 6. Led by Wilson’s heroics, they eventually fought all the way back and a K.J. Wright interception sealed a 32-28 win to improve to 5-1 on the season.

In Week 9, the Buccaneers raced out to a 21-7 lead behind two touchdown passes by Jameis Winston. Undeterred, Wilson led the Seahawks back with five touchdowns, including a game-winner in overtime to tight end Jacob Hollister.

JACOB HOLLISTER FOR THE WIN ‼️#GoHawks x #TBvsSEA pic.twitter.com/Z05BRVetv2

— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) November 4, 2019

After falling behind 10-0 early to the 49ers at Levis Stadium in Week 10, the Seahawks rattled off 21 unanswered points against the NFL’s lone remaining undefeated team. Though San Francisco tied the game at 24 late in regulation, Seattle eventually won in overtime on a Jason Myers field goal in the closing seconds.

“We learned how to win,” linebacker Bobby Wagner said, adding that close games give teams confidence. “And I think that’s the most valuable thing you can do is learn how to win in different scenarios.”

Call it luck or coming through in the clutch – both factors certainly have played a role in the Seahawks success - but Carroll isn’t going to apologize for winning. Viewing the close games as character builders, he believes those experiences will serve the team well battling for a division title the next two weeks and heading into the postseason.

“I think it’s only gonna help us. I think all the young guys who have been through those games - they’re not tensing up, they’re not worried about what’s gonna happen – they just keep thinking we’re gonna find a way and that’s powerful.”