Think of the first time you ran out of gas and if you have never had that experience think of a time you kept on wanting to accomplish a task, kept putting it off and before you realized it the deadline passed.
That visual is what happened to the Seahawks ( 5-3) Sunday at CenturyLink Field in their stunning loss 17 to 14 to the Washington Redskins (4-4). The Seahawks have been running on empty all season and somehow been able to pull themselves together for a victory when needed. On Sunday the Seahawks ran out of gas and time. The Seahawks made too many mistakes on offense, missed three field goals and had two interceptions to go with 16 penalties for 138 yards.
As had been the case all season, the Seahawks defense set the tone early and was able to put Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins in check the first half and most of the game. The Seahawks defense forced a Cousins fumble on the Redskins second possession of the game but the Seahawks offense sputtered and punted the ball back to the Redskin after just three plays.
Linebacker Bobby Wagner gave the Seahawks the lead when sacked Cousins in the end zone for a Safety on the Redskins next offensive possession. The Seahawk offense drove 43 yards on seven plays to the Redskins 26 yard line but was unable to convert the turnover into points when Blair Walsh’s 44-yard field goal sailed wide right.
The Seahawks defense bowed its neck and forced a Redskins punt that gave the ball back to the Seattle offense. The offense ran three plays and Russell Wilson threw his first interception of the game when he threw the ball into the hands of Redskins cornerback Kendall Fuller. The defense stiffened once again and forced another Redskins punt.
Wilson drove the offense to the Redskins 21 yard only to see Walsh miss his second field goal of the game from 39 yards out. The kick was wide left. The Redskins finally broke the Seattle defense when Rob Kelly scored from the one-yard line to cap a 12 play 71-yard drive.
Seattle had a chance to take the lead on the last play of the half when they drove to the Redskins 31 yard only to see Blair Walsh miss his third field goal of the game. The 49-yard attempt was wide left.
Redskin kicker Nick Rose proved there was nothing with the goal post at Centurylink Field when he booted a 28-yard field goal to increase the visitors lead to 10-2. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw his second interception of the game on the Seahawks next offensive possession when his pass intended for Doug Baldwin was picked off by Redskins Linebacker Will Compton at the Seattle 46 yard line.
Wilson and the Seattle offense looked like it was back to its old trick of finding its fourth-quarter mojo when Wilson hit Luke Wilson with 10-yard pass that brought Seattle within two points at 10-8. Seattle tried to tie the game with a two-point try that was unsuccessful when D. J. Swearinger intercepted Russell Wilsons pass intended for J. D. McKissic.
The Seahawks defense looked like it had the Redskins offense in check when it forced two consecutive punts. The Seahawks offense scored its second touchdown of the quarter when Wilson connected with Doug Baldwin on a 39 pass and catch play. The Seahawks point conversion attempt failed as Wilsons pass to Jimmy Graham sailed through the tight end’s hands.
It looked like all the other scripts where the defense dominated, the offense sputtered then found its rhythm and the defense holds on for the win. Unfortunately for the Seahawks and faithful fans , Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins was able to lead the Redskins on a 14 play, 70-yard drive that ended with a game-winning one-yard run by Rob Kelley. While his offense played well Cousins was grateful for his defense after the game.
“First of all, I’m so proud of our defense. They kept us in the game. If they hadn’t stood up so well, playing and play out, that game could have gotten away from us. On offense, there was a lot of adversity. The injuries made things tough. We felt like we had just had to keep grinding, and you never know when your defense is able to keep you in a game.”
The Seahawks drove the ball from their own 25-yard line to the Washington 46 yard line but were unable to pull off one more magic trick as Wilson’s hail mary pass to Tanner McEvoy fell incomplete in the back of the end zone.
