Seahawks lose what had them surging: no pass rush, no offense in 28-12 loss at Rams
Russell Wilson kept going to the bench.
The only Seahawk in a parka on a 60-degree night in southern California (“I just like to stay very warm,” he said later) kept looking at his mobile tablet. Looking for answers.
Only one definitive answer emerged: The Seahawks’ wiggle room for defeats in their playoff race just disappeared — along with their offense and pass rush.
Jared Goff, Todd Gurley and the Rams ransacked Seattle in a runaway first half Sunday night at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Even the Seahawks’ defense producing two more turnovers, interceptions by Quandre Diggs, couldn’t jump-start Wilson and the limp offense. They went without a touchdown for the first time in 46 games in a 28-12 loss to the Rams.
“Rough night for the Seahawks,” coach Pete Carroll said. “We did not do what we had planned to do. At all.”
The Seahawks likely need to win out to get what they really want: a least one home playoff game if not more.
“There’s a lot more season left,” Wilson said after Seattle (10-3) lost for the first time in six games. “Everything is still out in front of us.”
The Seahawks missed a chance to clinch a postseason berth. They dropped from second to fifth in the NFC in playoff seeding. They fell one game behind San Francisco (11-2) for the NFC West lead, with three games remaining in the regular season. The Seahawks won at the 49ers last month. The Seahawks and Niners play again Dec. 29 in Seattle on the final day of the regular season.
Seattle most likely needs to win at Carolina (5-8) next weekend plus at home against Arizona Dec. 22 (3-9-1) and then beat San Francisco to win the division and get at least one home playoff game.
The Seahawks’ face-plant in L.A. cost them the chance to take first in the NFC’s playoff seeding. New Orleans (10-3) lost at home on the final play to the 49ers. The 49ers moved from fifth in the NFC to first, currently in line for home-field advantage throughout the conference’s postseason.
“We had a lot on the line,” Pro Bowl left tackle Duane Brown said. “And we didn’t capitalize on it.”
Meanwhile the Rams (8-5) came out roaring as if their season was on the line. It was.
The defending conference champions led 21-3 in the second quarter to stay one game out of a playoff spot in the NFC.
“We had to match their intensity,” Brown said. “And we didn’t do it.”
Wilson completed 22 of 36 passes for 245 yards and a late interception, his fifth of the season and fourth game in a row with one. It came when he chucked a prayer of a pass deep into the end zone with less than 2 minutes remaining.
As they have for years, the Rams swarmed Wilson with blitzes, sacking him five times and hitting him 10 more.
After one hit, in his own end zone by Los Angeles’ Clay Matthews on an incomplete pass that ended a drive in the third quarter, Wilson was holding his right side, near the ribs.
He insisted he was fine, but the foundation of the offense looked sick.
The formula that sparked the Seahawks’ late-season surge to the top of the division and conference — two-headed rushing attack of Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny setting up Russell Wilson’s big-play throws and the defense pressuring quarterbacks into mistakes — disappeared in L.A.
The lack of consistent running, losing Penny to a potentially serious knee injury five plays into the game and falling behind by three scores in the first half set the Rams on a pass-rush spree. They poured through Seattle’s offensive line and battered Wilson all night.
Once again, no run to set up Wilson’s passing is not good for the Seahawks’ offense.
“We didn’t run the ball well,” Brown said, “and that’s been our staple all year.”
Defensive end Ziggy Ansah was inactive for the fourth time this season because of injury, this time a nerve issue in his neck. Fellow edge rushed Jadeveon Clowney was playing again through a core-muscle injury that may need surgery after the season. The defense produced no sacks and just four hits on Jared Goff in 31 drop backs.
The Seahawks’ defense largely righted itself after halftime after being so wrong in the first half.
Diggs ran across from the middle of the field to intercept Goff’s third-down pass early in the third quarter after receiver Robert Woods appeared to stop his out route. Diggs returned his interception untouched 55 yards to the end zone. Jason Myers missed the extra point to keep Seattle behind 21-9.
Diggs then ran under an errant pass deep by Goff inside the Seahawks’ 5-yard line intended for Brandin Cooks.
Diggs has three interceptions, a touchdown and a forced fumble, plus hard hits in the middle on receivers and ball carriers, in his four games for the Seahawks since his trade from Detroit.
“He’s been amazing,” All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner said.
The Seahawks’ offense did nothing with the second interception two, nor with the blocked field goal Seattle got from Los Angeles native and former USC Trojan Rasheem Green on his college field, also in the third quarter.
Four minutes into the final quarter the Seahawks had 188 yards to the Rams’ 433. The last 7 of those yards for L.A. was Gurley’s touchdown run. The Rams’ running back stiff-armed Seattle cornerback Tre Flowers to the ground on his way to the goal line.
Seattle’s offense was 2 for 9 trying to convert third downs and 0 for 1 on fourth down at that point. Most damning: the Seahawks held a plus-two edge in turnovers — the 11th and 12th turnovers forced by their defense in four games — yet Seattle’s offense produced just three points.
Seattle’s defense looked bad, behind and baffled while the Rams easily drove 85, 75 and 72 yards for touchdowns before halftime. Goff had 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions and looked little like a $134 million player for most of this season. Yet he completed 15 of 18 passes for 184 yards and touchdowns to wide open Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods in Sunday’s first half.
The Rams kept snapping the ball quickly once they got to the line, catching the Seahawks still moving or pointing to call out adjustments. Wagner, Seattle’s signal caller and formation reader on defense, took responsibility.
Seattle’s pass rush, so effective the previous three games, could not get off its starting blocks. It had no sacks and only two hits on Goff’s 18 drop backs, while Los Angeles gained 240 yards in two quarters with alarming ease.
Later in the quarter, Seattle’s zone coverage let Kupp almost wander into the middle of the end zone. Goff again had all night to pass. The closest defender to Kupp as he caught Goff’s 10-yard touchdown was safety Quandre Diggs. He was 4 yards behind the wide receiver.
The Rams’ third touchdown of the half was a 1-yard run by Malcolm Brown. That came one play after Griffin and Diggs were looking at each other while tight end Tyler Higbee ran behind both of them for a 33-yard gain on Los Angeles’ first offensive possession.
Things weren’t much better for the offense.
It had wide receiver Malik Turner drop a pass on fourth and 1 at the Rams 24-yard line with the score 14-3. Then tight end Jacob Hollister dropped a third-down pass to doom another drive.
Worse, the Seahawks lost the recently resurgent Penny six plays into the game. Penny caught a screen pass from Russell Wilson on the game’s opening drive and ran for 16 yards before Rams safety Taylor Rapp hit him with a routine-looking lower-body tackle. Penny landed on his torso face down, then limped off to Seattle’s nearby sideline.
He sat on the bench bouncing back and forth in pain for a moment while a doctor looked at his left knee and leg. He eventually limped into the observation tent behind the bench, then off the field into the Seahawks’ locker room with a team doctor at his side.
The team announced Penny was out for the rest of the game with a knee injury. Carroll said later in the week Penny would be out for the season.
That left lead running back Carson, rookie Travis Homer and third-down back C.J. Prosise as Seattle’s options in the backfield behind Wilson.
Carroll took a longer view of the night, relating it to what the Seahawks still can accomplish this season.
“The interesting thing about it: It doesn’t change anything for us,” Carroll said.
“We have to keep on rolling if we are going to do anything with this season—which we have a chance to do. And we’ve got to go about our business. So it’s really important for us to move on, and get rolling. Stay true to what’s next, and that’s what we do it, anyway.
“It will be handy. It will be helpful for us.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2019 at 8:30 PM.
