Field Gulls
Words cannot really do justice to that Monday Night Football madness.
The Seattle Seahawks suffocated the Houston Texans offense all game, and yet ended up with four turnovers committed and needlessly let Houston have a slim hope of a comeback. After racing out to a 14-0 lead, it looked like it’d be an easy night at the office for the Seahawks.
Not on the Seahawks’ watch.
Some poor execution on offense and missed opportunities for takeaways on defense led to the Texans pulling within 14-6 at the half, then 17-12 following a Sam Darnold fumble in the end zone for a touchdown (scored by Will Anderson Jr), and even after the Seahawks increased the lead to 27-12 they committed two more turnovers (a Darnold interception and a lost fumble by Elijah Arroyo). Resolute defending and some Texans ineptitude meant C.J. Stroud and company took forever to cut the lead to 27-19, failing to score until just outside the two-minute warning. The Texans curiously chose to kick deep, which led to a return and the loss of that two-minute stoppage, and while Seattle could’ve given the ball back to Houston with under 20 seconds left and virtually no hope of getting eight points with such little time, Tim Settle Jr. was flagged for unnecessary roughness to end the game.
Sam Darnold was just 17/31 for 213 yards, a touchdown, and two turnovers (an interception and a fumble), marking one of his worst days as a Seahawk in an otherwise outstanding season. Jaxon Smith-Njigba was his usual phenomenal self, catching eight passes for 123 yards and a touchdown.
Kenneth Walker had 67 yards on the ground on his birthday, but it was Zach Charbonnet who got into the end zone twice and now has five touchdowns on the year.
The story of this game was the defense, which limited the Texans to just 254 yards of offense and 3.7 yards per play despite not having Julian Love, Devon Witherspoon, or Derick Hall in the lineup. C.J. Stroud was under siege and was just 23/49 for 229 yards, a touchdown, an interception, and what could’ve easily been a sack in the end zone for a safety if not for a questionable forward progress ruling.
Houston’s ground attack was limited to 15 carries for 31 yards between Woody Marks and Nick Chubb, with the likes of DeMarcus Lawrence, Ernest Jones IV, and Jarran Reed coming up huge with multiple fourth down stops. It was a total non-contest in the trenches between Seattle’s defensive line and Houston’s offensive line.
Seattle should’ve won by more than the 27-19 score, didn’t win by more, but still got the win. The Seahawks are now 5-2 on the season and will enter the bye rooting for the Texans to knock the San Francisco 49ers off in Week 8, which would be enough to see Seattle lead the NFC West to start Week 9.
