Field Gulls
Well. If you didn’t care who won, that was great football. If you view defense as optional, a minor subplot or even a nuisance, that was a fun game, an autumn afternoon properly sportsly spent. And if you enjoy seeing things decided on the last play, boy did we have a show for you.
Somehow I don’t feel like those categories encompass a lot of Seattle Seahawks fans; not today.
Last time the Seahawks hosted anyone, they produced a game only their own fans and mothers could love, a thrashing of the New Orleans Saints so complete it was over by half. Not so against the foe du jour, the pesky Tampa Bay Baker Mayfields Buccaneers. One excessively eventful 38-35 loss later, Seattle had fallen to 4-8 in its last dozen games at Lumen. You can bet that ignominy will be loomin’ again when they return from a trip to Jacksonville.
(Sidenote: “bet” is a figure of speech. Wager all you want on pro football, I’m not your mom, but never, ever bet on the Seahawks, or against them, or in their general vicinity, ever. Are you new?)
How about right out of the gate, we get one thing straight: the Seahawks didn’t lose because of Sam Darnold’s interception, or Mike Macdonald’s blitzing decisions, or wearing the throwbacks, or bad calls, or bad luck. If anything, they lost more because of Jalen Milroe than Darnold! Wasted a drive when they were looking unstoppable on offense otherwise! Didn’t even lose just because the Buccaneers, after a well-publicized weekslong struggle with special teams, made all their kicks and pinned the Seahawks on the one with their only meaningful punt of the day.
Seattle lost primarily because of three third-down meltdowns, which are all interrelated. Here’s the middle one. It’s 3rd and 15. As long as you don’t allow a TD you’ll escape with another FG hold on defense.
One drive earlier, with 14 yards to the sticks, Baker Mayfield had found Cade Otton for 17 en route to one of their many scores. One drive later, it was Emeka Egbuka racing down the middle of the field for 57 yards, flipping the field on 3rd and 13. It’s a very, very different game down the stretch if the Seahawks allow 10 or 14 points on those possessions instead of 21.
But why did they pick today to allow three low-percentage plays to sink them? The easy answer is injuries. Without Julian Love and Devon Witherspoon to start with, then without Tariq Woolen, the secondary experienced a triple sinkhole of leadership, playmaking and experience. That had to matter, right? Sure. Still, the more accurate answer is a combination of depleted manpower, poor pash rush, and Mayfield having a career day.
Mayfield became the first quarterback in league history to throw for 375+ yards while recording fewer than five incompletions. The first. He was perfect, and he needed to be, so he was. Every offensive Seahawk was less than perfect, turning in merely good...
