Russell Wilson, Seahawks’ offense beat Bucs in OT after defense, kicker let them down
So after 74 points, 910 yards and seemingly more mistakes than the Seahawks have players, it came down to how a coin landed.
“That,” Russell Wilson said, “was huge.”
That’s how thin the margin is for the Seahawks to win games.
Yet with Wilson, they keep doing it.
“With Russ, it don’t matter,” coach Pete Carroll said Sunday evening.
“You have a chance, no matter what’s going on.”
Wilson and the Seahawks’ offense did the surest thing to win this wildly see-sawing game against Tampa Bay: Take it out of their defense’s hands. And Jason Myers’ inaccurate foot.
Wilson connected with DK Metcalf for the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter. Then, after the defense gave up that 34-27 lead—and after Myers missed his second field goal of the day, from 40 yards with no time left in regulation that would have won it—Wilson threw a 10-yard touchdown pass in overtime to fill-in tight end Jacob Hollister.
That’s how the Seahawks rallied from down 21-7, from Jameis Winston and Mike Evans carving them like turkeys in November and from a crushing end to the fourth quarter to beat the Buccaneers 40-34 on another zany Sunday at shaking CenturyLink Field.
“I had one of the Bucs DBs tell me that I’m lucky that I have a guy like Russ running the show back there,” Seahawks rookie DK Metcalf said after his career-high 123 yards receiving on six catches, including a zooming, 53-yard touchdown, put Seattle in position to win.
“He’s a great leader,” Metcalf said, “especially when the game is on the line.”
Especially.
Wilson won with a comeback in the fourth quarter or overtime for the 31st time in his 7 1/2 seasons. That’s the most late comeback wins in the NFL since 2012, when the Seahawks drafted the supposedly too-short quarterback in round three.
Sunday was the 10th time he’s had four or more touchdowns and one or fewer interceptions in a game. That’s tied with Tom Brady, Brett Favre and Dan Marino for second-most in NFL history. Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers have done that 11 times.
Wilson completed 29 of 43 passes for 378 yards and a career-high-tying five touchdowns and a sterling passer rating of 133.7. He, Metcalf, Tyler Lockett (a career-high 13 catches for 152 yards and two touchdowns) and Hollister (two TDs) repeatedly beat the man-to-man coverage Tampa Bay stuck with throughout the Seahawks’ passing barrage.
That—not the defense, not the kicker—is why the Seahawks (7-2) won despite allowing 418 yards and 34 points to the 2-6 Buccaneers. They stay 1 1/2 games behind NFC West-leading San Francisco.
Seattle plays at the unbeaten 49ers next, on Monday Nov. 11.
With the defense having blown two Seahawks leads in the last 8:19 of regulation, plus having allowed Jameis Winston 335 yards passing and Tampa Bay 418 yards and 34 points, the overtime coin flip was critical. Teams that win the flip can choose to receive the OT kickoff, and then will win the game with a touchdown in the ensuing drive without the other offense touching the ball.
A field goal—assuming Jason Myers would make one—and the Bucs would have a chance to answer on offense.
Buccaneers wide receiver was fantastic all day: 12 catches, 180 yards and a touchdown. But he called “tails” for the OT coin flip. The coin landed on heads.
Tails, in fact, sometimes does fail.
“We felt great about it,” Wilson said, “and felt like we could find a way to win the game. And guys made some clutch plays.”
Such as Metcalf. The rookie second-round draft choice beat fill-in cornerback Jamel Dean on a go route, forcing Dean to grab him for a penalty and first down. Then Metcalf caught a pass near the left sideline, shook off a Buccaneer and ran for 29 yards to the Tampa Bay 6-yard line.
Two plays later, from the 10, Wilson saw Hollister break across his defenders face on a outside cut near the goal line. The tight end playing because Will Dissly is on injured reserve reached to his left to catch Wilson’s perfect pass thrown away from the defender. Hollister bulled across the goal line, and the stadium in SoDo shook.
The unlikely win ended with an unlikely scene: Hollister, an ex-New England Patriot, getting carried out of the end zone by triumphant Seahawks teammates.
“It was so much fun and we lifted him up,” Wilson said. “It was pretty cool.”
Hollister called it one of the best moments of his football life. And the Patriots he played for last season won the Super Bowl.
“It’s up there,” the native of Bend, Ore., said.
Wilson, center Joey Hunt and other said the same thing inside the Seahawks’ latest poppin’ locker room: “We found a way.”
Metcalf ran behind on a variation on Tyler Lockett’s favorite, across-the-field right-to-left route in the fourth quarter. The massive rookie caught Wilson’s pass, then ran away from his defender and every other Buccaneer with the speed of a man half his size. That 53-yard touchdown, Wilson’s fourth TD throw of this wild Sunday, put the Seahawks ahead 34-27 in a game they once trailed 21-7.
But then Winston (29 of 44, two touchdowns) and the Buccaneers answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive to the tie. On fourth and 5 at the Seattle 35-yard line with 2 minutes left, the Seahawks blitzed linebacker Mychal Kendricks and Bobby Wagner, and end Jadeveon Clowney lost contain on the edge. Winston ran around Clowney for the first down.
The Seahawks blitzed Wagner, and Evans ran where Wagner came from for a catch and run to the 1. Tampa Bay scored on the next play. Then usually free-wheeling coach Bruce Arians chose to kick the tying point after touchdown with 46 seconds left.
Arians, a perennial winner in Seattle when he led Arizona, said he wasn’t thinking about going for two.
“No,” he said, “just because of (my) history here. And their kicker had just missed one.”
After the tie at 34, Metcalf ran wild again for 18 yards on second down. Then Wilson picked the perfect time to scramble for the first time down the field all day: 21 yards to the Tampa Bay 31 with 27 seconds left.
But Myers missed on the final play of regulation, from 40 yards.
Lockett had a career-high 13 catches for 152 yards and two scores, the touchdowns tying his career high. It was his seventh career 100-yard receiving game, his second in as many weeks.
Chris Carson committed the game’s first turnover, a fumble at the end of a run with 11:36 left. Tampa Bay rookie linebacker Devin White forced the ball loose and teammate Jordan Whitehead recovered at the Seahawks 45-yard line with the game tied at 24.
The Buccaneers seemed poised to re-take the lead. But on third and 5 at the Seattle 40, Winston got some pressure by blitzing linebacke Kendricks pushing an offensive lineman into him, one of the only times Sunday the Seahawks got anywhere near Tampa Bay’s quarterback. Winston then had the ball go out of his hand like a wet bar of soap while trying to throw it. Seattle defensive end Rasheem Green picked up the loose ball and rumbled 34 yards the other way, to the Buccaneers 15-yard line.
It was Winston’s 11th turnover in three games. But the Seahawks could only get three points out of the gift. Myers’ 22-yard field goal put Seattle ahead 27-24 with 8 1/2 minutes left.
It took the Buccaneers two plays after that to get to the Seahawks 31-yard line in their answer. That turned into a 45-yard field goal by rookie Matt Gay, and the game was re-tied at 27 with 5 1/2 minutes to go.
Carson had gotten the Seahawks back from looked like an abyss: down 21-7 with no apparent way of slowing down Winston and Tampa Bay’s offense.
Carson picked up two free-blitzing Buccaneers pass rushers on two plays late in the first half. That allowed Wilson to complete passes to Lockett and David Moore for first downs. That extended Seattle’s drive to Hollister getting taken down in the end zone by Buccaneers rookie linebacker Devin White for a 38-yard pass-interference penalty to the 1-yard line. Wilson then threw to Hollister on a roll-out pass to the right for a 1-yard touchdown.
Myers, who had earlier missed a 47-yard field goal, missed the extra point to keep the Seahawks down 21-13.
Then, after a rare stop by the Seahawks defense, Carson ran through and past Bucs defenders for 50 yards. He was fortunate his fumble while being hit from behind at the end of the run bounced out of bounds. Lockett then made his latest brilliant, over-the-shoulder catch with a defender closing in front of him on the ball for a 2-yard touchdown. Wilson then connected with Metcalf across the end zone for a 2-point conversion, and the Seahawks suddenly were tied at 21.
It was Wilson’s third touchdown throw on the day and 23rd TD this season (20 passing, three rushing), against one interception through nine games.
The teams traded field goals—Myers making his this time, from 37 yards to almost mocking cheers—and the game remained tied into the fourth quarter.
Wilson now has 25 total touchdowns against one interception this season.
“I’m blessed,” Metcalf said. “I’m blessed to have a quarterback like Russell.”
Coming out wingin’ it
Seattle chose to play the numbers to begin the game. Eight of its first nine plays were throws against the 31st-ranked pass defense in the NFL, as the Seahawks avoided the league’s top-ranked run defense early.
It was pass-a-rama on their opening offensive possession. It ended with Wilson to Lockett for 19 yards to tie the game at 7. Wilson was 5 of 5 for 73 yards passing on the drive.
Wagner gift
This unusually sunny Seattle November day began for the Seahawks with Wagner turning to his teammates on the Seahawks sideline while coming off the field, tapping his chest and saying “My fault” to them.
That was after the All-Pro linebacker gifted Tampa Bay a first down to extend their opening possession to a touchdown.
Winston was on the sideline having thrown away a pass on third down, and the Buccaneers appeared to be settling for a field goal. But then Wagner inexplicably shoved Winston past the sideline boundary, well after the throw.
Instead of fourth down, Wagner gave the Buccaneers a first down in the red zone. On the next play Ronald Jones ran for an 8-yard touchdown.
Gordon debut will wait
As promised, Josh Gordon’s Seahawks debut will wait at least eight more days.
Seattle made its new wide receiver claimed off waivers Friday inactive for Sunday’s game. Coach Pete Carroll said upon claiming the 28-year-old All-Pro from 2013 that the Seahawks will assess his readiness to play this coming week.
If the knee that had Gordon on injured reserve with the New England Patriots until they waived him off IR Thursday proves healthy as expected, he will play in Seattle’s next game, the Monday night showdown at unbeaten NFC West leader San Francisco Nov. 11.
“We will take a look at him next week and see what he looks like,” Carroll said Friday.
“Josh has been a tremendous receiver,” Wilson said. “I think it’s going to be great just having him into the group that we laready have. We have so many great receivers already. So we’re excited to get him here. ...
“We’re looking forward to that opportunity.”
The remainder of the Seahawks’ inactive players Sunday against the Buccaneers were no surprise.
Defensive end Quinton Jefferson missed his second consecutive game with a strained oblique. Safety Quandre Diggs’ Seahawks debut after his trade from Detroit will have to wait at least another week because of the strained hamstring he brought with him from the Lions. Backup safety Lano Hill was out again and will be indefinitely with an elbow injury.
The team had listed those three as doubtful to play.
Diggs’ and Hill’s injuries and free safety Tedric Thompson going on injured reserve this past week paved the path for rookie second-round pick Marquise Blair to join veteran Bradley McDougald as the starting safety tandem for the first time this season. McDougald had not started the previous two games because of back spasms.
The rest of Seattle’s inactives on Sunday: rookie wide receivers and draft choices Gary Jennings and John Ursua again, plus running back C.J. Prosise.
This story was originally published November 3, 2019 at 4:45 PM.
