Seahawks snatch defeat from jaws of victory, lose in overtime 26-20 to Rams
By Jake Parr edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - In a game that followed the same arc as the 2024 season, the Seattle Seahawks squandered a first half lead over the division rival Los Angeles Rams in the definition of a sloppy game. After scoring two touchdowns in the final minute of the first half, the Seahawks allowed the Rams to score 17 straight points in the second half, before managing to tie the game with yet another late-half touchdown. If the Seahawks played in every minute of every quarter the way they do at the ends of halves, they’d have a comfortable division lead. Instead, with today’s overtime loss, they instead carry a 4-5 record into their week ten bye and are left questioning the potential of this season after blowing a 3-0 start to the year. With sloppy play, undisciplined mistakes, and bad offensive line play, the Seahawks are sliding out of the chance to win the West.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith recovers a fumble, the first of two times that the Seahawks put the ball on the ground in this game, during his teams 26-20 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 3rd, 2024. (photo by Joe Nicholson/Imagn Images)
Offensively Undisciplined
As has quickly become a defining theme of the 2024 Seahawks, the offense struggled out of the gate, stymied by simple mistakes. The Hawks failed to build up any form of momentum, with four of their first five possessions ending in punts and tallying just 44 total yards on 24 plays. The drive unaccounted for in the punts was an interception thrown by Geno Smith, as a ball on the money to Jaxon Smith-Njigba wasn’t properly brought in and instead popped into the air to easily be snatched away by the Rams in the middle of the field. Like last week’s loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Seahawks had trouble simply snapping the ball, with one botched snap resulting in a loss of 23 yards and bringing up a 3rd and 33 from the Seattle seven yard line.
Interceptions, which have been a frequent problem this season, also came back to haunt Seattle, with Geno Smith throwing three today. One of them was picked off by the Rams in the endzone and returned 103 yards for a touchdown in what is now the longest interception return in franchise history for Los Angeles. That interception is not entirely on Geno however, as the pocket collapsed quickly around him and he was forced to throw it away to avoid a sack, of which he suffered seven and was pressured frequently tonight. The Seahawks were bestowed 15 possessions at home against a struggling division opponent, and they either punted or threw away eleven of them. That is not the behavior of a winning team, and Seattle hasn’t showed a lot of the characteristics of one despite having plenty of talent.
What makes these issues especially frustrating for Seattle fans is the fact that there are intermittent flashes of excellence among the Seattle offense. Certain players like Kenneth Walker III or Jaxon Smith-Njigba show up on almost every play, but when it’s feast time for feast or famine players like Geno Smith or DK Metcalf you can truly see the potential of this team. After allowing the Rams to score first with a field goal late in the second quarter, the Seahawks answered back with two touchdowns in the final minute. The first was a 30 yard dime to Tyler Lockett on a free play thanks to some defensive offsides penalties, as Smith had success in this game drawing the Rams over the line with his cadence. After the Seahawks defense intercepted Rams veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford, Geno was able to stretch the lead to ten points with a touchdown pass to Smith-Njigba up the middle. This team has great potential, but time is quickly running out on the season for them to live up to it.
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba catches the first of his two touchdowns in this game, with this one coming just seconds before halftime, during his teams 26-20 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 3rd, 2024. (photo by Joe Nicholson/Imagn Images)
Stemming the Tide
When your offense is seemingly only capable of putting up points at the end of halves the way the Seahawks are, it’s going to make life much harder for the defense. The Seahawks defense has been the most consistent unit on the field, in that it’s rare that they give anything away. They typically have to be beat by the opposing team. The defense’s ability to shut down opposing offenses is why so many of these losses were close, until they weren’t. Unfortunately, the defense also gets a lot of exposure, and before long even stars like Boye Mafe, Julian Love, and Riq Woolen will get figured out by NFL offenses or just simply worn out with how often they have to be on the field. The Seahawks defense only gave up two touchdowns, something that is supposed to lead NFL teams to victory. And in addition to the interception that led to a touchdown, wide receiver Cody White (Elevated off the practice squad for this game) was able to block a punt on special teams that gave Geno and the offense the ball at the Los Angeles 19 yard line. In short, any defense that is forced to endure 68 plays and 40 minutes every game is going to make mistakes, no matter how good they are. It is the rest of the team’s job to keep the defense off the field for that long.
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Demarcus Robinson reels in the game winning touchdown in overtime, using just one hand, over Seattle Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen in coverage during the Rams’ 26-20 overtime win at Lumen Field on Sunday, November 3rd, 2024. (photo by Joe Nicholson/Imagn Images)
Can’t Get Out of Their Own Way
But that’s going to be hard when, yet again, the Seahawks gave up nearly 100 yards in this game on penalties. In tonight’s game they committed 12 infractions resulting in a total loss of 95 yards. Before tonight’s game the Seahawks were 5th in total penalties committed on the year with 62, which have cost the team 476 yards. Inconsistent and undisciplined play has been a throughline throughout the entire season, and it is close to costing the Seahawks any chance at a playoff appearance. While new head coach Mike Macdonald’s system works when it works, maintaining discipline is perhaps a head coach’s most important job. And in that respect the youngest active head coach in the league may be showing his lack of experience.
What’s Next?
The Seahawks finally have a bye next week, after a long and grueling start to the season that’s seem them battle plenty of rosters that seem to be primed for runs towards the postseason, including the stretch of three games in eleven days. After they had to play those three games in eleven days, the Hawks have never returned to the kind of team they were at the start when they won three in a row. Perhaps 14 days without a game will allow the team to recover and prepare when they return for their week eleven matchup. That game will be their second on the season against the San Francisco 49ers on the 17th of November. The Seahawks will make the trip down to Levi’s Stadium to take on the 49ers at home. They will have to work hard to avoid repeating the 36-24 loss they suffered when they hosted the 49ers back in week six. That game will be broadcast on FOX Sports and will be on the radio at Seattle Sports 710 AM and KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.
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Check out our previous Seattle Seahawks articles here.
Check out our previous articles written by Jake Parr here, and his Lookout Landing articles here.
Cover photo and photos in this article by Joe Nicholson/Imagn Images. All photo credit to Joe and Imagn.
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