Going into the game against the Saints the Seahawks vowed to clean up the tackling, penalties, and big plays on defense
After the game, none of those three objectives were accomplished. They took half a step on defense and a full foot forward on offense. To win in the NFL you need to have both feet moving in unison. If not you get what happened on Sunday a frustrating 39-32 loss.
THE GOOD
The Seahawk’s offense had another banner day raking up 396 offensive yards against one of the top defenses in the league. The offense rushed for a surprising 151 yards. Rookie Kenneth Walker rushed for a career-best 88 yards on eight carries and one touchdown. Walker showed his speed and quickness with a 69-yard scamper in the fourth quarter that gave the Seahawks a 32-31 lead with 7:04 left in the game.
Walker was filling in for the injured Rashaad Penny who appeared to suffer a serious ankle injury according to head coach Pete Carroll. Geno Smith had another fantastic day completing 16 of 25 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns. Smith was sacked three times for 23 yards. Rookie cornerback Tariq Woolen had his third interception of the season and a fumble recovery
He’s (Tariq’s) playing. He’s just making stuff happen. He picked up a fumble too. Did he not? He’s just having a fantastic start. That was a big time pick now. That was coming underneath a comeback route. Those are really hard to get and a phenomenal catch to make to finish the play. He’s doing great.”
Pete Carroll Tariq Woolen
THE UGLY
The Seahawks defense knew that every time Saints quarterback Tysom Hill lined up behind the center he was going to run it. Knowing what is going to happen makes no difference if you are unable to make a play. Hill finished the day with 112 rushing yards on nine carries and three touchdowns. Hill averaged 12.4 yards per rush. His runs kept the chains moving for the Saints on third and short. Hill’s biggest play was a 60-yard run of tackle to answer the 69-yard run by Walker who scored on the Seahawk’s previous offensive possession. After the game, several Seahawks players owned up to their poor play.
“No more excuses, we’ve got to go to practice, we’ve got to get this (stuff) right and we’ve got to fix it, because we can’t go a season doing that,” said safety Ryan Neal, who made his first start of the season.
“We know what the hell we’ve got to do,” said linebacker Uchenna Nwosu. “When he comes into the game, they only do one thing, they run the ball, and we didn’t get that done today. We knew what play they were going to run, we didn’t fit it up correctly and he gashed us for a touchdown… Everybody’s got to do a better job collectively, myself included. We’ve just got to fit up things better.”
Rashaad Penny suffered yet another injury. While the Seahawks have yet to reveal the extent of the injury it is obvious Penny will miss multiple games.
“Extremely tough. Penny is my brother. I love him to death. Gosh, I hate them for him. I know how hard he has worked. I know how much he has put into this. It sucks. We need him out there. He’s a leader for our team, a leader for our offense. We’ve got to pick it up.”
Geno Smith on Rashaad Penny injury
“This has been a journey for him and for us too. I fell in love with the fact that he emerged and showed us the great player he is and what he can mean to the game and to our team and all that. For it to come down to another setback, he will be back. It is a setback that it just breaks my heart. He has been having so much fun. He’s been so rewarded and so fulfilled. He knows he belongs. He knows he can do it. He knows he can be an impact in this League. To lost that chance, it’s similar to when Jamal (Adams) goes out. They put so much into it and care so much about it. To have it taken away because of a mishap’s unfortunate. We’re going to love him through it. I’ve talked to him. He’s crushed.”
Pete Carroll on Rashaad Penny’s injury
Despite their offensive success, the Seahawks were 1-9 on third down.
THE BAD
Punter Michael Dickson was slow to avoid the Saints punt rush team when he was rolling to this right and was tackled for an eight yard loss and fumbled the ball at the Seahawks 21 yard line during the second quarter.
“We were just changing the launch point. We have been working on that and practicing it for a long time. We went with it there. It got really cloudy up field like we don’t expect it to. He felt like he had a duck up, and he was hesitant to kick the ball where all the people were, so he saw it and took off.”
Pete Carroll on Michael Dickson aborted punt
The Seahawks regressed in the penalty phase of the game. Before Sunday’s game, the Saints were the most penalized team in the NFL with the Seahawks right behind them. On Sunday the Seahawks won the penalty battle. Which is bad. The Seahawks were called for 12 penalties resulting in 85 yards. The Saints had 6 penalties for 57 yards.
Overall this was another game the Seahawks could, and should have but did not win.
“This game hurts all of us, because we know that we had a chance to win the football game,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “I’ll never take anything away from Saints, they did a great job and did a lot of cool things in this game to win it, but we had our chances and we had all kinds of opportunities to get this done. There were too many things that went wrong that gave them another opportunity here and there, and we made it too easy on them. These games are so hard, they’re so difficult to win, and if you screw it up and give them something, then you’re fighting against it the whole time.”
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