Seahawks Halftime Observations: Offense Remains Stagnant Amid 9-9 Tie With Commanders

Though they failed to find the end zone in the first two quarters, the Seattle Seahawks rallied from an early deficit to take a 9-9 tie into the half with the Washington Commanders.

Throwing for 152 yards on 27 attempts, Geno Smith led three scoring drives that culminated in field goals, while Ken Walker III paced the ground game with 47 yards on 10 carries. Devon Witherspoon broke up three passes to lead Seattle's defense, while Leonard Williams registered his first sack with his new team.

Here are three quick observations from the half at Lumen Field:

1. While Smith and the offense has been light years better than a week ago, finishing remains problematic.

After picking up only six total first downs in a blowout loss to Baltimore, Seattle surpassed that number early in the second quarter with a pair of chain-moving completions from Smith to Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, setting up a 43-yard field goal by Jason Myers. Therein lies the issue, however. With Smith in better command, the offense advanced past midfield on three of the first five possessions, only for promising drives to sputter out and result in field goals each time.

On the Seahawks first possession, Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught a pair of first down receptions, including a 20-yard pickup on a crosser that moved the team deep into Commanders territory. But when they attempted to go for it on 4th and 1, Smith took the snap on a QB sneak after the play clock expired, leading to a delay of game. Two possessions later, with the home team again in field goal range, Smith misfired on a swing pass to Zach Charbonnet that may have moved the chains, forcing them to settle for yet another field goal.

Inside two minutes to play, Ken Walker III ripped off a 13-yard run and Jake Bobo caught an 11-yard pass for a first down into the red zone. But when Smith tried to get the Commanders to jump offsides on 4th and 1, the quarterback was flagged for a false start, again leading to only a Myers field goal. Compounding matters, Smith got nailed for intentional grounding inside 10 seconds left to play, eliminating another possible field goal chance before halftime. Overall, they went three for eight converting third downs in the half, continuing a troubling season-long trend.

2. Live by the blitz, die by the blitz yields mixed results for Seattle defensively.

Aiming to heat up first-year starter Sam Howell early, defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt wasted little time sending extra pressure after the young quarterback, blitzing cornerback Devon Witherspoon from the slot on the first two snaps of the game. The first one worked well, as the rookie cornerback got his hand into the passing lane to swat away the throw. Unfortunately, sending safety Jamal Adams on third down two plays later ended up backfiring on a sim-pressure look, as the defender failed to get home and Howell stepped up in the pocket to connect with a wide-open Brian Robinson for a 51-yard touchdown. The second-year back beat Boye Mafe, who dropped back in coverage, on a wheel route with no support behind him.

Two drives later, extra pressure didn't get home again as Howell delivered a strike to tight end Logan Thomas on third down for 17 yards, moving Washington into field goal range early in the second quarter. Luckily, that drive didn't advance any further thanks to a botched third down screen pass dropped by Antonio Gibson. On the very next series, Seattle forced a three-and-out with linebacker Bobby Wagner's blitz through the A-gap opening the door for defensive tackle Leonard Williams to get to Howell, bringing the quarterback down for his first sack with the team and force a punt.

3. While missed tackles showed up in pass game, run defense rounds back into form after an abysmal outing in Week 9.

With an offense built around the passing game, the Commanders didn't come out of the gate with a similar game plan to the Ravens last week, only running the ball five times total in the first half. Playing as they did most of the first half of the season, the Seahawks swarmed Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson, limiting them to 10 yards on the ground and only one run of more than three yards. With such little success, the visitors didn't even try to run the ball on their last two possessions before halftime.

On the flip side, Adams' inability to zero in on Howell and allow the quarterback to step up when he had a clear sack opportunity untouched on a blitz led to Robinson's long touchdown matched up against a defensive end in Mafe. Seattle also should feel fortunate a second miss by Adams didn't net more yards when Antonio Gibson caught a third down pass and stumbled along the sideline when there was plenty of room to run in front of him.