Seattle Seahawks Out-Gunned By Las Vegas Raiders, Fall Out of Playoff Race in Overtime Defeat
Pounded by way of the air and on the bottom, the Seahawks gave up 576 yards of whole offense in a disappointing 40-34 extra time loss to the Raiders at Lumen Field, falling out of the playoff image in the method.
Throwing for 328 yards and finishing 73 p.c of his passes, Geno Smith linked with Tyler Lockett and Travis Homer for a pair of landing passes, whereas Ken Walker III scored twice on the bottom in a dropping effort. Turning in his greatest efficiency of the season, Quandre Diggs picked off Derek Carr on two of Las Vegas’ first three possessions, resulting in 10 fast factors for the house staff earlier than issues shortly went south on protection .
Here are 5 fast takeaways from the Seahawks’ demoralizing Week 12 loss:
1. Despite throwing for over 300 yards, Smith could not get his staff the win on two separate events to seize the win.
Out of the gate, Smith wasn’t his typical correct self, although drops from his receivers contributed to simply two of his first six passes being accomplished. He obtained an early Christmas current when cornerback Duron Harmon was unable to safe an interception on a poor throw in the purple zone late in the primary quarter, permitting Seattle to salvage the drive with a Jason area purpose Myers. Along with the unhealthy snap in the second quarter, he additionally failed a handoff to Walker in the fourth quarter that probably price the Seahawks not less than three factors.
But as he has completed all 12 months, the resilient veteran picked up the slack when adversity struck, rolling with the punches and responding along with his chops. On the drive after his ugly decide on Denzel Perryman and a ensuing fumble by Josh Jacobs, he lofted a fantastic 35-yard rainbow to Tyler Lockett on the fitting sideline to chop the deficit again to at least one level. Then, after his botched handoff early in the fourth quarter, he led one other drive utilizing his arm and legs with an 18-yard scramble for a primary down and an 18-yard cross to Travis Homer to assist Seattle regain the lead. . Unfortunately, his efforts to guide a comeback on the finish of regulation had been thwarted by a questionable overturned end on DK Metcalf and he could not capitalize on his solely alternative in extra time, with Maxx Crosby taking pictures it in the tip .
2. Considering the reel-worthy accomplishments, Seattle’s floor recreation continues to battle mightily.
As he has since moving into the lineup to switch an injured Rashaad Penny, Walker continued to inhabit the tip zone, scoring a number of touchdowns to carry his whole to 9 throughout his rookie marketing campaign. Both had been spectacular scoring video games for various causes. Walker instantly opened the scoring lower than 30 seconds into the sport after Quandre Diggs picked off Carr as he turned huge proper inside, trailing Smith and a caravan of blockers down the sideline earlier than diving contained in the publish for six level. Later in the third quarter, the previous Michigan State tight finish mimicked Marshawn Lynch by going into “Beast Mode” and with the assistance of fellow rookie Abraham Lucas, he powered by way of a pile of defenders just a few yards behind the purpose line for six level.
Unfortunately, regardless of Walker’s heroics on these 12- and 14-yard touchdowns, nevertheless, Seattle did not discover a lot traction on the bottom away from these two performs. On 12 non-touchdown drives, he rushed for zero web yards, together with a 13-yard loss in the fourth quarter. The offensive line persistently struggled to dam Andrew Billings up the center, and Las Vegas destroyed too many runs with fast penetration instantly. It marked the third time in 5 video games that Walker has been held to below 51 speeding yards and fewer than three yards per carry, removed from the manufacturing coach Pete Carroll needs from his speeding assault.
3. Missed purple zone alternatives on each side of the soccer appeared on the finish of regulation.
Red zone effectivity has been an space the place Seattle hasn’t essentially been nice offensively this season because the staff ranked twenty sixthth in the league hitting simply 48 p.c of its red-zone drives heading into Sunday. Those points continued in Week 12, as Seattle could not put six on the board after Diggs’ second interception gave the offense unimaginable area place on the Las Vegas 35-yard line. Adding an unlawful area purpose penalty to Phil Haynes that negated a fourth down by Lockett on the following drive, the Seahawks needed to accept Myers area objectives on two of their first three drives contained in the opposing 20. yards. Being down by as many as eight factors on the scoreboard, unable to complete towards the worst purple zone protection in the league, doomed them in the tip.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks additionally misplaced a possible key turnover proper earlier than the Raiders scored their first landing on a cross from Carr to Ameer Abdullah. Picking up a ball in the tip zone, Carr overthrew his second down cross and security Ryan Neal beat him for an interception. But the ball bounced off his fingertips and he could not end the play, giving the quarterback one other probability that he capitalized on by hitting Abdullah on an 18-yard roll route with Diggs falling behind in protection to tie the sport. with seven components.
4. Porous run protection stays the Achilles heel of the Seahawks’ bipolar protection.
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At this level, nobody needs to be shocked or caught off guard by Seattle’s incapability to cease the run. Even after making vital enhancements on a four-game profitable streak, the protection has reverted to early-season type in the final two video games. After permitting one recreation Tampa Bay to build up 161 yards in Munich, Jacobs bounced again from a considerably sluggish begin to overwhelm Clint Hurtt’s protection by persistently serving as an open batter with 4.4 speeding yards and underrated pace.
Held to simply 18 yards in the primary quarter, Jacobs exploded for 221 yards in the ultimate three quarters of regulation and extra time, main 4 straight area objectives in the second and third quarters and rushed for a 30-yard landing after Smith’s interception . Putting the ending touches on a masterpiece out of the backfield, he burst by way of a crease that might match a semi truck on the Raiders’ second extra time drive, and after security Josh Jones didn’t intercept him, he was off to the races for one play- gaining 86 yards to silence Lumen Field. For the sport, he racked up 303 all-purpose yards, together with 74 as a receiver, proving to be a one-man wrecking crew for which the Seahawks merely had no reply.
5. The lack of passing exacerbated the third down issues, preserving Seattle’s protection on the sector too lengthy.
Known for his fast sack of the soccer, Carr has all the time been a tricky quarterback to sack. However, the Seahawks entered Sunday’s recreation believing they might discover a method to include the veteran signal-caller, and early on, they discovered some success pressuring him with Poona Ford recording a sack and Uchenna Nwosu bringing him down for a recreation after hitting it. a clear sweep in the primary quarter. The stress additionally performed a job in Diggs’ interception on the primary play from scrimmage after Carr handed off to the left.
But after Diggs’ second decide, Seattle’s defensive position out of the blue could not muster a cross rush in any respect. Partly on account of fatigue from having to face Jacobs play after play, Carr had lots of time to sit down again and go over his reads, particularly on third downs, because the Raiders transformed on 5 of seven alternatives. their first to increase every of the primary. two touchdown discs. The scenario did not enhance after halftime, as Hurtt’s protection did not generate a single quarterback on Carr in the third and fourth quarters mixed. Not surprisingly, Las Vegas remained efficient on third downs consequently, together with a five-yard landing cross to Foster Moreau that tied the sport at 34 late in the fourth quarter. Even with Bruce Irvin getting an important hit on Carr in extra time, it did not matter because the Seahawks once more dominated in third down effectivity and time of possession battle.
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