It was ‘sweet and sour’ given the loss, but Seahawks rookie John Ursua’s first NFL catch converted a crucial fourth down
The catch before the final catch might get lost in the shuffle following Sunday night’s deflating finish.
With seconds remaining, the Seattle Seahawks were on the brink of pulling off another of their characteristic fourth-quarter comebacks. They trailed by a single touchdown, and had a first-and-goal set up from the 1-yard line with 23 seconds remaining.
Russell Wilson spiked the ball to stop the clock. Confusion ensued as Seattle tried to bring Marshawn Lynch on the field, and a delay-of-game penalty followed. Then two incomplete passes. Then, on fourth down, Wilson’s completion to tight end Jacob Hollister was ruled inches short of the goal line, and San Francisco celebrated.
The Seahawks dropped their regular-season finale, 26-21, to the 49ers, and lost the NFC West title and a playoff game at home in the process.
But as the Seahawks travel to Philadelphia for a wild-card matchup Sunday, few will reflect on what happened moments before Hollister’s catch.
Had rookie wide receiver John Ursua not converted a crucial fourth down to set up all of that drama, Seattle would have missed out on its game-winning opportunity completely.
Ursua, a seventh-round pick out of Hawaii last spring, entered this showdown with the 49ers having logged just four offensive snaps this season. He had two in the Seahawks’ Week 2 win over Pittsburgh, and two in their Week 15 win over Carolina, but was never targeted.
Keeping with how his rookie season has progressed, the 25-year-old played few snaps against San Francisco. But, he made his most critical snap count.
Seattle’s final 16-play drive nearly stalled at the 12-yard line. After methodically driving down the field, Wilson fired incomplete on three consecutive plays, and Seattle took a pair of timeouts to set up what could have been its final shot.
The Seahawks emptied their backfield, Ursua entering as an extra receiver. He broke free of 49ers cornerback K’Waun Williams in the end zone, and curled out, hauling in Wilson’s 11-yard desperation pass at the 1.
“I was just excited for the opportunity, to get put in the moment like that, in that situation, but it was sweet and sour because we came up a little short,” Ursua said. “I think I can build on that and learn a lot from that play.”
Video replay suggests Ursua may have actually broken the plane, but he was ruled down just outside of the end zone with a needed first down that set up the final sequence.
“I think that was really close, too,” Carroll said of Ursua’s near-touchdown grab. “You guys ... saw more than I did on that one. He was right there, too. We challenged them in New York, no doubt.”
That Ursua was able to convert Seattle’s most pivotal play to that point, though, elevates confidence in his ability to perform in big situations.
“That was definitely my first passing play where I was like, ‘OK, I might have an opportunity to catch this ball.’ So it was a little different feeling there,” Ursua said. “But, it was a great moment to be a part of that play. ... I knew I wanted to score. But, at the same time, I was like, ‘Maybe I can get this first down.’
“That’s all I was focused on — first down or touchdown.”
But, he didn’t know before the play that the ball was headed his direction.
“It’s a play where everybody’s getting to the end zone,” Ursua said. “Whoever can kind of break off their man and get open the quickest for Russ to target, that’s who he’s going to go to.
“I knew we had man-to-man, and I was just going to try to do my best to get open for him.”
He did, immediately gaining reliability as Wilson’s newest target as the Seahawks look ahead to the playoffs.
“We’re not finished,” Ursua said. “We’re just getting started. We can take what we learned here and keep moving forward ... and take it week by week.”
This story was originally published December 29, 2019 at 10:55 PM.
