The Seattle Seahawks let a winnable game slip away in a gut-wrenching 6-3 loss to Cleveland at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Sunday.
The two teams combined for the fewest points in a game involving the Seahawks in team history.
Now 2-4 overall, Seattle trails idle San Francisco (5-1) by three games in the NFC West. But the disappointing result helped answer some questions on Seattle’s quarterback front. Subbing for injured starter Tarvaris Jackson, out with a strained pectoral, Charlie Whitehurst hoped to place himself in the conversation as a possible starter.
But Whitehurst looked like a career backup in failing to lead Seattle’s offense to a single touchdown on 11 drives. Whitehurst completed 12 of 30 passes for 97 yards, had an interception and a lost fumble. He posted a 35.0 passer rating.
A Seattle quarterback hadn’t played this bad since Matt Hasselbeck finished 10-for-17 for 71 yards and two interceptions against Atlanta in December of last year, a 34-18 Seattle loss. Hasselbeck was replaced in the fourth quarter of that game by – you guessed it – Whitehurst.
Whitehurst said he felt prepared and that Cleveland didn’t do anything that Seattle hadn’t already seen on film. His receivers didn’t provide much help, with a handful of drops, including one by Ben Obomanu on third down on Seattle’s final drive that would have given Seattle a new set of downs.
Still, Whitehurst looked uncomfortable and did not play with poise, as he did against the New York Giants two weeks ago.
“I’m extremely disappointed, for sure,” Whitehurst said. “Like I said before, I know we were in it really until the end – until it was over. So at the end is when the disappointment kind of hits you that we lost a football game that was absolutely there to take.”
“We didn’t give him much of an opportunity to get going,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “He got chased a little bit in the first quarter by the pass rush, but it felt like we had no sync at all. We had no rhythm to the run or pass. We just got nothing done. They did a very good job of defending us.”
The Seahawks squandered an impressive performance by the defense, which held the Browns to just six points – 52 and 53 yard field goals by Cleveland’s Phil Dawson – and included two blocked field goals by defensive end Red Bryant.
The officials also played a role with several questionable calls, including what appeared to be a head-scratching call on an illegal block in the back that negated an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown by Leon Washington in the third quarter.
But the most glaring reason for Seattle’s loss was the play of its offense. The Seahawks totaled 137 yards, holding the ball for just over 17 minutes, with Cleveland running 84 plays to Seattle’s 50.
“The defense played well and held them to six points,” said Seattle receiver Sidney Rice, who finished with two catches for 38 yards. “Leon has a couple good returns to give us good field position, so there shouldn’t be any excuse to score three points. I feel like we’ve got the right tools on offense to put up way more points than that.”
Eric D. Williams: 253-597-8437
eric.williams@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/seahawks
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