'Cigar Thoughts, Game 15: The Seahawks’ agonizing season continues with last-minute loss to the Bears' —by JacsonBevens
took the field in a game with no playoff implications. It’s been an incredible decade, boosted initially by an energetic head coach who brought aggressive strategy to a roster built on an unparalleled three-year drafting hot-streak by their plucky GM. And as time and injuries chipped away at the foundation and the aggression faded from the game plan and the draft yields shriveled, the team was buoyed by a Hall of Fame QB stepping comfortable into his prime.
This time, they’d capitalize. It started with Seattle aggressively moving the ball on 1st and 2nd down, picking up two firsts without even needing to worry about 3rd down. When 3rd down eventually showed up, Wilson took advantage. It’s no secret how bad the Seahawks have been in these situations this year but they were wholly unafraid of it this time around.
On 1st down, Montgomery tried to go off the right side but was swallowed up by Bobby Wagner. On 2nd down, it was Montgomery again only this time, A’shawn Robinson and Quandre Diggs shut him down in the backfield. On 3rd down, Nick Foles dropped back to pass and finding no one open in the condensed field, rolled to his right before firing one into the end zone. No luck there either, as the pass was swatted away by Jordyn Brooks.
The Seahawks would add a field goal before the break, head to the half up 17-7 and feeling good about the way they were playing on both sides of the ball. And after they held Chicago to just one yard on the first drive of the third quarter— a stop punctuated by a powerful Rasheem Green sack— it started to feel the snowball was rolling down the hill. Unfortunately, the ‘Hawks weren’t able to capitalize, punting it back after just three snaps and giving the Bears a chance to make it close again.
After all, this was a two-score lead against a bad offense down to their third-string QB in poor conditions on the road. We’ve seen Seattle fail to score late when they’ve needed to close a deficit but surely we felt good about this defense in this situation, right? I mean, it had been almost three months since a team had scored 24 or more against the Seahawks and that streak most certainly wasn’t going to end against Matt Nagy and Nick Foles. Right???These things can start slowly.
Even so, that set Jason Myers up for a 39-yarder that even with the conditions, should have been pretty easy. The 10-point lead would make it very difficult on the Bears but the ball came off of Myers’ foot with a 10-o’clock/4-o’clock spin instead of his usual 12/6 and it careened hard left for a miss.
After an incomplete attempt to Kmet in the back of the end zone, Foles fell back and heaved it towards the back left corner of the paint where Jimmy Graham awaited. From there, Graham did what he does best— get position and throw up a forcefield around his catch radius. The two closest defenders were DJ Reed and Ryan Neal but it honestly didn’t matter who it was. The pass sailed to the top floor of the skyscraper, where only Graham’s outstretched hands could reach.
Wilson dumped it down to Dallas for four but a holding penalty on the next play made it 2nd & 16. On that play, Wilson short-hopped Tyler Lockett before going back to him for 15 on the next play. Sadly, Lockett was tackled a yard short of the sticks and half a yard short of the sideline, forcing the Seahawks to use their final timeout. And while doing so didn’t completely preclude a run on 4th & 1, it did mean doing so would really hurt from a clock perspective.
Much of the conversation surrounding this season has centered on whether Russ and Pete can co-exist for the foreseeable future and if not, which one should be prioritized. It’s no secret to anyone here that I believe Wilson is the clear choice in that scenario. And while, push to shove, I still feel that way, an immobile Russ lowers the ceiling on that decision. I wish I knew if this was what Wilson portends to be from here on out; i.e.
A lot of times, NFL running backs’ stat lines are reflective of the O-line’s performance and not much more. And while the Seattle OL was very good today, Penny got a lot of yards that weren’t otherwise there. When Penny wasn’t getting regular run, or coming back from any of his injuries, he’s looked hesitant as he hits the pile. Over the last three weeks, however, he has looked explosive and, more importantly, decisive.
As I mentioned, Wilson’s first target to Metcalf was a little low but definitely catchable. The next one, however, was pristine. The long TD was a nice reminder of what this duo can be when things are clicking but the rest of the game was more of the same. The really frustrating one came when Metcalf started a slant before planting is feet in the icy turf and breaking back to the outside.
~Games in conditions like this often comes down to which offensive line is nastier and there’s no question that it was Seattle for most of this one. I don’t spend a ton of time talking about the OL because I think that unless they are dominating or getting dominated, it’s very difficult to parse the particulars of O-line play in real time. That said, I thought the Seahawks front was really good in a game that demanded they be.
~The main reason I’m entertaining that sacrilegious notion is because Jordyn Brooks keeps looking closer and closer to being ready to take the mantle. Coming into this game the 3rd leading tackler in the league, Brooks definitely looked the better of the two today. He roped in 10 more takedowns against the Bears and broke up two passes, including one in the end zone.