Penalties, poor execution, and a communication issue hinder Seahawks in road loss to Rams
By Charles Hamaker
Inglewood, CA – The Seattle Seahawks are becoming a broken record as we begin to head towards the playoff push in this 2023-24 NFL season. Since their blowout victory over the New York Giants, the Seahawks have struggled to put together a game that hasn’t seen them get penalized heavily or fail to properly pull away when in good positions. Seattle was well in control of this divisional contest against the Los Angeles Rams for most of the game, but the most penalized team in the NFL continued to earn its top spot while also failing to take advantage of the possessions that their opponents gave them whether that was by turnover or punt. With the 49ers continuing to find their groove, the Seahawks are losing their chance at an NFC West title and must be better at adjustments and playing cleaner football if they want to be a playoff team. With two key offensive players getting banged up in this loss and having a short week prior to a pivotal contest against that San Francisco team on Thanksgiving, the Seahawks will need a focused few days to have a chance.
Pre-game sights and scenes at SoFi Stadium ahead of the Seattle Seahawks loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, November 19th, 2023. (Photos by Paul Hamaker)
Seattle shows good signs early, but it could’ve been better
If the first three drives of this game indicated how the rest of the contest went, the Seahawks would’ve dominated their NFC West opponent and gotten revenge for an ugly week one loss at home. Seattle scored on their three first possessions of this game, highlighted by the only touchdown of that trio, a pass to DK Metcalf that made some history as he passed Steve Largent and Joey Galloway for the most receiving touchdowns by a player in their first five seasons in franchise history. After that touchdown, Seattle settled for field goals on the following two drives as penalties pushed the Seahawks further away from either scoring on the second drive or continuing that first. There was some annoyance and not getting the touchdowns and instead having to settle but considering that Seattle had a two-possession lead with less than five minutes to play before the half, the Hawks likely felt good about their start to this game.
Following the second field goal of the day for Jason Myers and Seattle that gave them the 13-0 advantage, the Rams were able to get a spark going on the offensive end. Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles offense used a strong rushing attack early into their fourth possession of the game to help set up their passing game. With the run somewhat established, Stafford used play action to get his team down the field before finding Puka Nacua for four yards and the Rams first touchdown of the day. With Stafford back to health and Cooper Kupp around, you’d have thought that the former Eastern Washington Eagle would be more involved, but the Rams went to Nacua to box his way open to catch their first score of the game. Even though Los Angeles was on the board, the Seahawks went into the halftime break feeling strong considering the ease with which they’d moved the ball on offense and taking into account how long it took for the Rams to get their offense rolling. Just as it did when these two groups met in week one, things were going to change drastically in the second half.
“It was hard for us just to be able to get a rhythm in the second half in general, the Rams did a great job with adjusting. I think we only had three points in the second half... they did a good job adjusting to some of the stuff that we were doing, but we just can’t be stagnant as we were. We got to continue to do what we can in the run game, being able to get the ball, getting the sticks moving, being able to help the quarterbacks out on third down with us being able to get open and make more plays.”
Pictures from the first half at SoFi Stadium, as the Seattle Seahawks took a 13-7 lead into the midway point against the Los Angeles Rams. (Photos by Paul Hamaker)
Stalling Seahawks leave door open for Rams
The first nine drives of the second half provided only three points from either side in this game, those three on another field goal from Jason Myers, and that was somewhat positive and negative for Seattle. On the positive side of things, the clock was running out more and more as the Seahawks had a decent lead. On the negative side of things, they’d failed to add points in five of their six possessions in the second half through that dull stretch, a large part of the game where they very much could have pulled away from the Rams on top of the fact that Seattle was unable to get more than one touchdown in a first half that they largely dominated as well. The game was very much for the taking, but sloppy penalties and a failure to execute on third down left it as a toss-up. Los Angeles finally grabbed hold of this game with 12:23 left in the fourth quarter.
A punt followed an interception that the Seahawks had forced from Matthew Stafford as he was walloped on a flea-flicker that Riq Woolen snared, in another sign of disappointment stagnant play from the Seattle offense. The ensuing Los Angeles drive did result in a touchdown, although delayed considering that the Rams were flagged for offensive pass interference on the play in question, as Stafford was able to air the ball out while getting the occasional big gain on the ground. Los Angeles had taken advantage of the slumbering Seahawks offense and were now just two-points away from tying this thing up. With Geno Smith knocked out of the game after he took a helmet to his throwing elbow, still trying to get back in but in obvious pain on the Seattle sideline, backup quarterback Drew Lock stepped in trying to get the Seahawks up the field in order to build on their lead. That didn’t quite work out, as three straight passes resulted in: Incompletion, one-yard loss, and an interception to give Los Angeles the ball back. The momentum pendulum had fully swung in favor of the Rams, and without their starting quarterback, Seattle seemed in prime position to be knocked out by that sway in favor.
Stafford and Los Angeles got the ball back with 6:43 left in the fourth and had their offensive moving in a way that allowed them to move down the field while also running the clock down. A 14-play drive opened with a big catch by Puka Nacua for 32-yards, nearly saw it’s end as the Seahawks defense seemed to find some footing before it was kept alive by a ticky-tack hands to the face call against Seattle cornerback Riq Woolen. From there, the Rams running back tandem of Darrell Henderson and Royce Freeman pounded the ball just enough to get into a goal-to-go situation. Things got a bit bizarre at that point in time, as Los Angeles opted for passing plays on second and third down, stopping the clock. Nonetheless, a Rams field goal gave them their first lead of the game and left enough time on the table for the Seahawks to attempt a game winning drive. With Smith still seemingly hurt, the question looming: who was going to quarterback this possession?
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith had to leave the game late in the second half with an elbow injury, missing a few possessions before coming in to lead the potential game winning drive. (Photos by Paul Hamaker)
Geno’s heroics nearly the story, but it’s heartbreak instead
Following the Rams go-ahead field goal that left 1:31 left on the clock for Seattle, there was that brief moment of curiosity regarding who the Seahawks would send out at quarterback for the final drive. If you had asked that question a minute earlier, considering the giant wrap on Geno Smith’s elbow, it would’ve likely been Drew Lock. But, considering that Smith had been warming up on the sideline and was able to get his throwing arm loose enough to feel good enough to go in the game, it was Geno’s time once again to try and lead a comeback drive. Just as he was last week against the Washington Commanders in a similar situation, needing a field goal to come out on top, Geno Smith was locked in and used chunk plays to Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf to get the Seahawks into field goal range for Jason Myers. It was just like that drive in the game against the Commanders, getting chunk plays, including one final big catch by DK Metcalf to set Seattle up with an opportunity for the victory.
After DK Metcalf’s 21-yard reception that got the Seahawks into kicker Jason Myers range, they had 32 seconds left on the clock and no timeouts. While you do need to be aware of the clock and the fact that you’re out of ways to stop the clock without losing a down, there is still time there for a play and Seattle opted to get one more off. Geno Smith handed off to Zach Charbonnet for a two-yard gain before the ball was spiked to set up the final play for the Seahawks and potential game winning field goal, but there’s more to the story than just a standard hand off. Smith hadn’t heard a play call come from the communications system in his helmet and had to call that play on the fly considering the sense of urgency. It got the job done, setting up a 55-yard field goal for Jason Myers. Myers, coming off his five-for-five performance against Washington just last week, has hit from distance before and this didn’t seem to be an issue initially. Once the kick left his foot, things seemed off as it wasn’t as well struck as the previous two in this game were. There was initial hope that the kick was going to make its way through the uprights to move Seattle to 7-3, but that hope was crushed as the ball skirted just right of the goalposts and the Rams sideline exploded.
“There was an outage or something, but no play came in my helmet, so I called the quickest play I could in that situation, try to maybe get a few more yards, called a run play. I thought we had a chance and really didn’t work out how we thought it would.”
“It’s tough because it’s indoor, but it’s not, it’s pretty windy in there. I knew I had to kind of drive it a little bit, it was a tough kick. ”
Seattle Seahawks kicker Jason Myers day through pictures. (Photos by Paul Hamaker)
Division title hopes nearly dead
After tonight’s loss to the Rams on the road, as Seattle goes 0-2 against their division rival from Los Angeles this year, and the 49ers convincing win over the Buccaneers at Levi Stadium, hopes for the Seahawks to win the NFC West title are very slim. The two team's matchup on Thursday in a massive Thanksgiving tilt considering the implications that it has towards the future of the division title, on top of the rivalry between these two teams that’s always in play when they match up. After their three-game losing streak that helped Seattle get into a tie the last few weeks atop the NFC West, San Francisco has found their groove once again the past two weeks with convincing victories over the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With sloppy performances in their past six games dating back to the blowout victory on Monday night against the New York Giants, the Seahawks are in dire need of a reset and refocus. I’m sure they’ve largely done that after the ugly loss to the Ravens but considering how bad of a game this was for Seattle in terms of the self-inflicted issues that ultimately led to their loss, they’ll need to do so again before Thursday.
The Seahawks have shown several positive signs with their play, whether it was getting the ball into the Rams 30-yard line on their first three possessions, the problems their defense was able to cause Matthew Stafford and Los Angeles, and the fact that they got into position for the potential game winning field goal. But, similar to how the games have been going for our Seattle Kraken to begin their 2023-24 season, the negatives against Seattle are outweighing the positives. Things like bad penalties, failure to execute when handed good opportunities, and just the overall inability to pull away in games hurts this Seahawks team. The Rams faced a 13-point hole at one point that should’ve been a 21-point hole. Seattle had a nine-point advantage with just over 12 minutes left to play in this game. There were far too many chances for the Seahawks to put this game away, and unless they’re able to better adjust in-game, Seattle’s season isn’t going to amount to much this year.
Sights and scenes postgame at SoFi Stadium after of the Seattle Seahawks loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, November 19th, 2023. (Photos by Paul Hamaker)
Quick notes
Attendance at SoFi Stadium for this Seattle Seahawks loss at the Los Angeles Rams was 72,704
With his first two receptions of the game, Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett moved in to second place on Seattle’s all-time receptions and receiving yards lists.
With his receiving touchdown in the first quarter, Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf made history as the player with the most receiving touchdowns in franchise history through their first five seasons. Metcalf currently has 38, as he passes both Steve Largent and Joey Galloway.
With today’s performance, Seahawks middle linebacker Bobby Wagner has 12 straight seasons with 100+ tackles.
Seahawks kicker Jason Myers has extended his streak to 25 consecutive games with a field goal.
Myers also has set a new franchise record with his 16th 50+ yard field goal.
What’s next?
Following this heartbreaking and disappointing loss on the road to the Los Angeles Rams, the Seattle Seahawks have a very short turnaround before their next contest. Week 12 brings a festive divisional fight, as the Seahawks host the San Francisco 49ers on Thanksgiving Night. That battle between the top two teams in the NFC West at Lumen Field kicks off at 5:20PM PST while being broadcast on NBC as the final of three games that day. Seattle head coach Pete Carroll was unsure if either quarterback Geno Smith or running back Kenneth Walker III will be able to play after sustaining injuries today and with such a short turnaround, and that will certainly impact this matchup either way. On the other end with the Seahawks opponent, the 49ers have found back-to-back wins after they hit a skid with a three-game losing streak.
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Cover photo by Paul Hamaker
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