Doesn’t matter if you were naughty or nice, the Seattle Seahawks gave the 12th Man a lump of coal on Christmas Eve with a fairly uncompetitive loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Seahawks offense was stuck in the frozen mud all morning. Not only were they incapable of challenging a suspect Chiefs defense, they made Kansas City look like the ’85 Bears with their inability to move the ball.
Seattle has now lost five of their last six games, and have fallen below .500 for the first time since Week 5 with their 7-8 record. Although not mathematically eliminated, Seattle’s playoff hopes are melting fast.
Let’s take a look at this weekend’s Duds and Studs list.
No. 1 Dud - Offensive line
The biggest story of Seattle’s second half collapse has been their defense, but what has gone overlooked is how terribly their promising offensive line has regressed. Seattle’s o-line has gone from pleasant surprise, to arguable strong point behind rookies Charles Cross and Abe Lucas, to back to what we expected from them… an Achilles Heel.
The offensive line has been bullied for weeks now, and were once again bodied by the Chiefs defensive front. Kansas City had eight tackles for a loss, two sacks, and the front seven batted down three Geno Smith passes.
Seattle may have found their bookend tackles in Cross and Lucas, but they need to prioritize improving the interior this offseason.
No. 2 Dud - Geno Smith
Really, the entire Seahawks offense should be getting the Dud rating this week. Especially in the first half when they had a grand total of 98 yards. Overall, the Seahawks finished a miserable 2-of-14 on third down as well.
But the quarterback is the leader of the offense, and Smith must take accountability. Despite the first half woes, the Seahawks actually outgained the Chiefs by a margin of 333 to 297. They even had more first downs, 19 to 14. But none of that matters if you can’t find a way to score points.
Smith completed 25-of-40 passes for 215 yards, one interception and one garbage time touchdown. Smith also failed to convert three 4th down attempts while passing. Seattle was moving the ball well in the second half, but simply couldn’t translate it to points.
No. 1 Studs - DK Metcalf and Kenneth Walker III
DK Metcalf and rookie running back Kenneth Walker were just about the only things going well for the Seahawks offense.
Without Tyler Lockett in the lineup, Metcalf was assuredly going to take the lion’s share of the load in the passing attack. Predictably, Metcalf handled it well. Metcalf hauled in seven receptions on eight targets for 81 yards. It shouldn’t surprise anyone to know he lead the team in all three categories.
Meanwhile, Walker had his best day in weeks. Despite getting absolutely no help from a grossly overmatched offensive line, Walker quietly cruised to XXX yards on XX carries.
No. 3 Dud - Coaching decisions and time management
Sunday was not a masterclass in coaching from Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Both have been rock solid all year, but made some questionable decisions and looked out of sorts against the Chiefs.
Most notably, the Seahawks were burning through their time outs as if they were going out of style. The Seahawks wasted two early in both halves, mainly due to fear of getting delay of game penalties. Whatever the reason may have been, the Seahawks were out of sync offensively.
As far as decision making goes, the Seahawks were rather aggressive on 4th down. However, the issue was questionable play calling. Twice on 4th down, the Seahawks called passing plays where the intended receiver caught the ball well short of the sticks to successfully convert.
