Breakdowns late send Seahawks to 33-30 overtime loss to Titans in Seattle fans’ return
At the end, Tyler Lockett just stood there, hands on hips, in front of the bench.
Russell Wilson spent the week and his Sunday championing a “neutral mind,” to honor his best friend. Wilson had the name of his mental-conditioning coach Trevor Moawad, who died Wednesday at age 48 of cancer, written on his shoes, and Moawad’s words of maintaining poise and neutral emotions echoing in his head.
In the end, Wilson, Lockett and their teammates couldn’t believe it. The Seahawks had anything but a neutral mind. They repeatedly lost their poise. Team “FINISH!” that wears the command on T-shirts, failed to finish off their home opener.
Seattle blew leads of 24-9 early in the third quarter and 30-16 early in the fourth, Wilson got sacked on his own goal line on his final offensive play.
And the Seahawks gave away what the Tennessee Titans seized — the game — in Seattle’s 33-30 overtime loss.
Lockett and 68,585 vaccinated or recently testing-negative-for-COVID-19 fans stood stunned at previously roaring Lumen Field. Those fans were certain their team was about to join the rest of the NFC West is going to 2-0 to begin the season.
Instead, the first real Seahawks home game with fans in 21 months was remarkable for more big plays by Wilson, Lockett (eight catches, 178 yards, a 63-yard touchdown) — and the largest blown halftime lead in a home loss for Seattle since 2004.
“That type of atmosphere is going to get pumped up. It’s going to be rowdy,” Lockett said.
“But we also have to learn how to hold our composure.”
There was taunting on cornerback D.J. Reed standing over Julio Jones following an incomplete pass. Jamal Adams hit quarterback Ryan Tannehill way late on third down. Jordyn Brooks hit a receiver 3 yards out of bounds. Five defensive penalties gave Tennessee five first downs, and led to 10 points. Those were points Seattle could have used while allowing the Titans two touchdowns in the final 12 minutes to tie the score at 30.
“The penalties were just so costly, so many first downs off penalties when we had them and really had control of the situation,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “It was really unfortunate that we weren’t poised enough, and I totally take that on myself. There was just opportunities for us to make better decisions that we didn’t make.”
Carroll said “sometimes I get these guys so fricking crazy that, you know, they’re just going out after it.”
He had no issue with any of the officials’ decisions on any of the penalties.
“We have to do better. We have to play better with (poise), and handle the situations, so that we get the benefits of all of the good play,” Seahawks coach said.
“And we gave them way too much stuff.”
Defensive end Kerry Hyder, who had a big day in his second Seahawks game with a fumble recovery and hit on Tannehill to force an incomplete pass on fourth down early in the fourth quarter, didn’t think his coach should cover for the players’ dumb mistakes.
“Nah, we’re not going to let Coach take that,” Hyder said. “As a team, we are smart players, and that’s part of our mantra. We’ve got to play smarter. We’ve got to make the plays.
“We appreciated Coach Carroll getting us fired up and getting us ready to go. As players, we’ve just got to make the right decisions.”
After 30 points built largely on two huge plays and defensive breakdowns by Tennessee , Wilson, Lockett and Seattle’s offense went silent with Sunday’s home opener on the line.
That was while Derrick Henry, Ryan Tannehill and the Titans’ offense stormed Seattle’s back-pedaling defense for 14 points late to tie the game.
In overtime, the Titans covered a third-down pass play down the field with bracket coverage of safeties behind cornerback. While he waited for a receiver to break open, Wilson got sacked by Titans linebacker Ola Adeniyi for a 12-yard loss back to Seattle’s 1-yard line. That ended the Seahawks’ only possession of overtime. The Titans’ drive start of the Seattle 39 was already basically in field-goal range.
Another big run by the mammoth Henry (35 carries, 182 yards, the most against Seattle since Adrian Peterson romped for 182 on Nov. 4, 2011) set up Randy Bullock’s 46-yard field goal with 4:45 left in overtime. That kick doomed the Seahawks — but the Seahawks had long before doomed themselves.
Asked about not finishing the 15-point lead, Carroll scoffed.
“I mean, I hate this. I hate having to...24 to 9 at halftime? C’mon,” Carroll said.
“We took care of the ball all day long, did a great job with the football and wound up plus (one in turnover margin) — and give the game away. It had to be other really big things which happened, which were the penalties and the two hits on the quarterback, those were huge plays for them. And the out of bounds is unnecessary. They’re just unnecessary things that happened.
“We need to be better than that. I need to be better. I need to help our guys be better than that.”
Tennessee forced the overtime by taking the open space Seattle’s defense gave receivers in front of them for dump-off completions. The Titans drove to Henry’s 1-yard touchdown run with 28 seconds left. Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel chose to kick the tying point after touchdown and go to overtime instead of winning it there with a 2-point conversion.
In overtime the Seahawks defense appeared to get off the field with a three and out on an incomplete pass on Tennessee’s opening possession. But the blitzing Adams hit quarterback Tannehill two steps after he threw. That was a clear, 15-yard penalty for roughing the passer.
“We beat ourselves,” Adams said.
“Obviously, this is an offense league. They are going to protect the quarterback. ...
“We have to have controlled chaos, is what I call it.”
In the end, to finish, it was just chaos.
Three plays later, third and 15 to begin overtime, Tannehill picked an opportune (for Seattle) to misfire wide of Chester Rogers. Tennessee punted, but the field position was in the Titans’ favor thanks to Adams’ roughing penalty.
The Seahawks’ first drive of overtime began at their own 13-yard line. Wilson tried to create a play under pressure on third down. He narrowly avoided a game-ending safety while getting sacked for the third time Sunday, this time at the goal line.
And that was that for Seattle.
“We didn’t handle those three plays as well as we needed to,” Carroll said. “We wound up on the goal line backed up. So we messed that sequence up getting out of there and made it really easy for them.”
In short, the Seahawks didn’t finish.
“The game just kind of slipped away from us,” Wilson said. “We could have played tighter across the board. ...
“We could have handled that game and played better. And that’s really it.”
Next: the Seahawks (1-1) play at Minnesota next Sunday. The Vikings (0-2) blew a 20-7 lead at Arizona then lost 34-33 when their last-play field goal was no good from 37 yards.
“It’s not the end of the world,” Adams said. “It’s one game.”
One game, given away.
Lockett, Robinson strike
Lockett and second-year defensive end Alton Robinson had made two quick, marvelous plays to give the Seahawks a 17-6 lead in the second quarter.
Robinson broke in on Tannehill and sacked him while forcing a fumble that fellow Seahawks end Kerry Hyder recovered inside the Titans’ 10-yard line. That set up the first of two short touchdown runs by Seattle’s Chris Carson.
Lockett made two NFL defensive backs, CB Elijah Molden and former Seahawks safety Bradley McDougald, look like Keystone Kops running into each other as Lockett ran past them both the other way to finish a 63-yard catch and run for a touchdown in the second quarter.
The press box was shaking. The sputtering Seahawks suddenly led 10-6.
Lockett had five catches on his first six targets by Wilson Sunday, for 144 yards. That gave him 244 yards through the first seven quarters of play this season, a new Seahawks record. Hall of Famer Steve Largent held the previous Seahawks record for most yards receiving through the first two games of a season with 215 in 1978, the third season in franchise history.
Then, with the Seahawks tenuously holding a one-score lead early in the final quarter, the Titans defense just gave Seattle a crushing touchdown.
On third and 12, after a holding foul on DK Metcalf on a screen pass. Wilson had two receivers on each side of his formation, including Freddie Swain split not-so-wide left. Tennessee’s secondary was so preoccupied with more trouble from Lockett and a route underneath by Metcalf that no Titan covered Swain down the left seam. There was no defender between Seattle and Nashville when the stunned Wilson found Swain as open as a receiver can be for a 68-yard touchdown.
That touchdown became huge two scrimmage plays later.
Henry, the reigning two-time NFL rushing champion coming off a 58-yard game the previous week in Tennessee’s 25-point home loss to Arizona, cut outside left from the Titans 40-yard line. Seahawks Pro Bowl safety Quandre Diggs was the only defender with a chance to stop him. That’s because Seattle’s front seven defenders got too aggressive and overrran the front side of the play.
For the second time Sunday, Henry alone versus Diggs was a bad proposition for Seattle, as it is for any defensive back.
The 247-pound Henry ran through Diggs with a stiff arm and down the left sideline for his second rushing touchdown of the second half, this one for 60 yards. Seattle’s lead was down to 30-23 with 12:17 remaining.
Stealing points
The Seahawks’ defense was reeling in the second quarter, after right cornerback Tre Flowers got beaten deep for the second time in the first half. The second time was on a 51-yard pass from Tannehill to Julio Jones on a post route. Tennessee had a first and goal.
Two plays later, on third down from the 5-yard line, Bobby Wagner made an All-Pro play. He perfectly timed a blitz over the guard-center gap from his middle-linebacker spot. No Titan picked him up. Wagner’s clean hit and sack of Tannehill had the home crowd roaring again, and forced a short field goal for Tennessee. Seattle trailed only 6-3, instead of 10-3.
It could (should) have been at least 13-3 Titans.
A.J. Brown broke into the clear in the first quarter, 3 yards past Flowers down the yard-line numbers near the left sideline, with no Seahawk behind them. Tannehill’s accurate pass hit both of Brown’s hands, but he dropped the ball. Instead of a 72-yard touchdown, Tennessee trudged on to its first field goal by Randy Bullock. That tied the game at 3.
Then late in the second quarter, Jones leaped and made a tremendous catch while appearing to have a first foot down and dragging his second heel inside the back line of the end zone. Officials initially ruled a touchdown that would have cut the Seahawks’ lead to 17-12. But inside of 2 minutes left in the half, per NFL rule, the league headquarters ordered an extended review of Jones’ touchdown. The NFL officiating office in New York overturned the call on the field, and ruled Jones’ second foot did not come down inbounds.
Tennessee settled for another consolation field goal instead, and trailed 17-9.
The Titans also left 1:09 on the clock. It was a key sequence in the game. Tennessee was to receive the second-half kickoff. Seattle had two time outs remaining.
Wilson and new play caller Shane Waldron then went to their best: hurry-up, somewhat improvisational offense. They flat stole seven points to end the half doing it.
Wilson completed four consecutive passes to begin the drive, in a hurry. The fourth, to DK Metcalf, got Seattle to the Tennessee 36 with 51 seconds left in the half. Then Alex Collins surprised the blitzing Titans with an inside run of 25 yards. Tight end Gerald Everett didn’t have a target into the third quarter, but he did pick off the blitzing-free Titans cornerback that cleared the lane for Collins’ run.
Lockett then deftly drew a pass-interference penalty on Tennessee’s Chris Jackson by making the contact look worse than it was. Chris Carson converted that into the second short touchdown run of the first half, this time from 1 yard.
The Seahawks took that 24-9 lead into halftime.
The previous week in their opening win at Indianapolis, Waldron’s new offense went for a gaudy 7.2 yards per play. Seattle was even better to begin Sunday. The Seahawks averaged a whopping 8.3 yards per play in the first half. And that was with two sacks of Wilson.
The Seahawks stole three more points at the end of the third quarter. They got away with sending only four pass rushers at Tannehill on a third and 5 from the Seattle 26-yard line in a 24-16 game. Tannehill couldn’t find anyone open then finally got pressured by Hyder into an errant pass incomplete.
Then Bullock, who had made his first three field-goal attempts, missed wide right from 44 yards. The Seahawks still led by eight entering the final quarter.
Five-man D-line. Again.
Seattle debuted five defensive linemen last week instead of their usual four in its base defense. That was to stop early running by Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor, with an extra defensive tackle.
Early against the Titans Sunday, the Seahawks used five linemen including an extra end. Kerry Hyder was an inside, hybrid tackle next to traditional tackles Poona Ford and Al Woods.
Tennessee’s response was much like the Colts’ the previous week. The Titans passed on four of their first six plays on a 13-play drive to a tying field goal late in the first quarter.
The Seahawks mixed their five defensive linemen. Sometimes it was with three ends, other times with three tackles. Robert Nkemdiche Nov. 3, 2019, two plays on defense for the Miami Dolphins in his final game for them. Nkemdiche had a bad personal-foul penalty for hitting Tannehill three steps after the quarterback had thrown a pass incomplete in the second quarter.
Robinson’s huge play gave him more snaps in the second and third quarters. It appeared to be at the expense of edge-rushing end Carlos Dunlap.
This story was originally published September 19, 2021 at 5:04 PM.
