By james art 
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – NOVEMBER 03: Quarterback Geno Smith #7 of the Seattle Seahawks looks on during the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Rams at Lumen Field on November 03, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Rio Giancarlo/Getty Images)
SEATTLE – The Seattle Seahawks are currently a bad, sloppy and undisciplined football team that is struggling to find anyone in the league that they can beat.
With a 26-20 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday afternoon, the Seahawks have lost five of their last six games, including four straight at home. For the first time since 2008, the Seahawks have lost four straight games in Seattle. It’s just the fifth time in team history that the Seahawks have had a four-game losing streak.
While the defense’s struggles accounted for several of the losses during the slump, it was the offense that couldn’t get out of its own way in Sunday’s loss to the Rams. Geno Smith threw two critical interceptions in the red zone, which Kamren Kinchens returned 103 yards, forcing Seattle to chase the game down the stretch.
Then two straight runs by the Rams in overtime thwarted the Seahawks’ attempt to steal a victory in a game they never looked like they deserved to win.
Seattle also committed 12 more penalties on Sunday, with two held penalties by rookie Mike Jerrell erasing a pair of big plays from Smith to Jackson Smith-Njigba. More trouble snapping the football for the second week in a row also contributed to Seattle’s destruction of possessions.
This is a football team that looks a long way from the one that started the season 3-0. And with the trade deadline approaching on Tuesday, it may not be wise for the team to pursue fixes for a team that may not have the ceiling that their hot start suggests is possible.
Here are the takeaways from Seattle’s loss to the Rams:
– Offensive errors abound.
Geno Smith has largely been very positive for the Seahawks at quarterback, but his three interceptions on Sunday afternoon were extremely costly.
In particular, the two in the red zone were the most damaging. Smith held the ball too long and had his hand hit by Byron Young on a first-and-goal play from the Rams’ 4-yard line. The throw was far from any Seattle receiver when Kinchens scooped it up and rushed for a touchdown that gave Los Angeles a 20-13 lead with 11 minutes left.
Then, after Cody White’s blocked punt gave Seattle a great chance to recover and tie the game shortly after, Smith’s sidearm throw to tight end AJ Barner was again stuffed by Kinchens as Barner was caught in a jam on the battle line.
“I just want to start off by apologizing to my teammates, really, to the city, to the organization,” Smith said. “They put a lot of trust in me in making decisions. And you know, when they put the ball in my hands, when my teammates are playing the way they’re playing today, and, you know, giving us a chance to win, I’ve got to make sure that the things that I did today, the mistakes that I made, they affected us negatively and really cost us this game.”
Smith rebounded to lead the Seahawks in the tying game that forced overtime. A fourth-and-five followed by a 14-yard touchdown pass to Smith-Njigba tied the game at 20-20 as Seattle drove 73 yards on eight plays. The Seahawks then drove back into the Rams’ red zone in overtime before the two failed run attempts on third and fourth down.
“He made some big plays for us,” head coach Mike McDonald said. “It’s not easy, we didn’t have much time there. They had a good contingency plan. We need to protect him better. And I’m sure he’ll tell you he’s going to take ownership of We need to make smarter decisions that way. We have to make sure we win.
Smith was sacked seven times in the game as the offensive line had another terrible game. Two fumbles by Smith led to highly negative plays that thwarted drives. They follow on the heels of last week’s wild blowout against the Buffalo Bills, which also produced another red-zone punt. A few more snaps on Sunday required Smith to take one-handed shots to draw as the center operation with Connor Williams was problematic all game.
“Connor is doing a great job, a phenomenal job. Hats off to the way he plays and competes,” Smith said. “No one is perfect out there. Nobody is perfect. I’m not perfect. None of us are perfect. We race together and fight together. There’s a lot to clean up, of course. But just racing, the way Conor races, he won’t blink an eye, whatever we have to do to fix it, we’ll do it.”
The offensive line combined for six penalties in the game alone. Mike Jerrell – again filling in for the injured George Fant – had two held penalties and a false start. Anthony Bradford had a holding penalty and a false start, and Laken Tomlinson had a holding penalty.
The two penalties on Jerrell erased a pair of catches for Smith-Njigba that combined for 78 yards.
“We’re not there yet,” McDonald said. “I thought the boys played hard. We played strong up front. But that will be part of what we look at next week. I’m just saying that it’s fair to say that in all three phases, it’s kind of all on the table at the time of adjustments, things that we have to move and shake up and we’re really evaluating everything, so that’s going to be a big part of it.”
Most of the problems with the team as a whole can be distilled down to the fact that the offensive line is a complete mess. He has neutered a running back in Ken Walker III who should be a weekly star and left Smith trying to do a Houdini act to make the offense successful. The two overtimes were the final blow when Seattle couldn’t pick up a yard to keep possession.
“We should be able to get a half yard with two shots,” McDonald said. “Great football teams convert on third, fourth and short, and right now we’re not doing that. There’s math — if you kick a field goal, they’re four downs all the way to field goal range — I felt like we had a great opportunity to win it by a touchdown right there.”
And McDonald is right. The decision on that fourth down was undeniably correct. The fact that they failed to convert that decision is the problem.
– A step forward in defense.
The biggest disappointment in Sunday’s loss is that the Seahawks turned in their best defensive performance in over a month, and it still wasn’t enough to win.
“I thought they played extremely well and I thought we played physical and did a lot better,” McDonald said. “The team is everything. Lack of space. We communicated really well. I just felt it showed some of the progress we’ve made off the pitch and we carried that into the game today with a good spirit and good energy. Proud of these guys.”
The Rams were held to 366 yards of total offense, their lowest total since a Week 3 win over the Miami Dolphins. Los Angeles was also just 3-of-13 on third down, also its best mark since the Miami game.
Additionally, the 68 rushing yards allowed was the second-best mark of the year behind the Dolphins and just the third time an opponent was held under 100 yards on the ground.
“I think just a collective effort to make it better,” safety Julian Love said. “Everybody was kind of stuck to the plan all week. We’ve been repeating it pretty cleanly all week and just the thinking. Challenge attitude. Also, the d-line took it upon themselves to try to really take over in the run game, and they saw him from behind, those guys got after him all day.”
Rick Wallen’s interception of Matthew Stafford helped Seattle score 13 points in the final minute of the first half to take a 13-3 halftime lead.
“Having the same guys going out there, you can build up some of that progress from week to week, I think that has something to do with it as well,” McDonald said. “It’s one game, let’s go back, let’s look at it. I think we can continue to take it to the next level.”
– Michael Dixon, special teams had a great day.
With the offense sputtering and making mistakes in the first half, the Seahawks needed the help of Michael Dixon’s right leg to help them stay in the race.
Dixon averaged 47.2 yards per punt on Sunday, delivering great kicks with excellent coverage. Dee Williams, Laviska Shenault Jr., K’Von Wallace and Drake Thomas combined to help in the punt coverage battles, while Xavier Smith managed just 17 yards on four punt returns.
Additionally, Cody White blocked a Ty Zentner punt that gave the Seahawks a great scoring chance to turn the game around in the fourth quarter, which the offense squandered.
“Jay (Harbaugh) created a great scheme,” White said. “(Jake) Bobo made a great pick and any time I have an opportunity to block a shot I’m going to take it and I’ve been working on technique. I believed in myself, so when it opened up, I knew I was going to make the play.”
The only blemish on the day came with Meyers’ missed extra point on their opening touchdown. Michael Hoecht partially blocked the attempt, which was deflected wide left.
– Jaxon Smith-Njigba delivers career day with 180 yards, two touchdowns.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba had the breakthrough as DK Metcalf missed a second straight game through injury.
Smith-Njigba caught seven passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns against the Rams, including the game-tying score late in the fourth quarter.
“He was everywhere,” Smith said. “He played with extreme fire. Hell, he was just doing his thing. That’s who he is. We have to keep building on that.”
If you add the two catches dropped by tight end Mike Jerrell, he would have had nine receptions for 258 yards on the day.
“I hate to lose. (It’s) whatever,” Smith-Nigba said. “I’d rather win, 100 percent. My confidence level has always been the same. I knew I could break out and have an amazing game every time, but the wins are what count.”
The only downside for Smith-Njigba on the day was that the ball, which he failed to pull off, deflected into the hands of Rams linebacker Jalen McCollough for Geno Smith’s first interception of the day.
“I think [he] did a great job today making plays, keeping us in it,” receiver Tyler Lockett said. “Big time fourth down that even gave us a chance to be able to go to overtime. And then to be able to catch that ball [for the touchdown to tie the game]. Geno threw a great ball into that window between two defenders and JSN was able to not only catch it but keep his feet in bounds.”
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