The Seattle Seahawks suffered a historic loss on Sunday. They tied a 41-7 blowout defeat to the New York Giants in 2010 as the second worst loss in the Pete Carroll era. Their 37-3 humbling by the Baltimore Ravens is second only to a shocking 42-7 smackdown by the Los Angeles Rams in 2017.
To say things went south fast for the Seahawks is the understatement of the weekend. For a failure of this magnitude, everyone on the team has to wear some of the blame, and it’s hard to find positives when there’s a 34-point loss on the books.
There will be a few Studs listed out of fairness to what they accomplished in the game, but the reality is there isn’t many great things to say about what happened in the Charm City.
No. 1 Dud - Geno Smith
Yup, we have to start here. In football, quarterbacks get all the praise when things are going well. But when they aren’t? There’s one position that gets more scrutiny than others.
In the case of Geno Smith against the Ravens, scrutiny is well deserved. Smith completed 13-of-28 passes for 157 yards, no touchdowns and two turnovers. The Seahawks offensive line collapsed drastically, and the fumble Smith had was a result of bad pass protection, head coach Pete Carroll alluded.
By no means does it feel like the time to consider a benching. Smith has built plenty of slack. But for a game like Sunday’s, he has more than earned his spot on the Duds list.
No. 1 Stud - Boye Mafe
Boye Mafe is continuing his hot streak. In the first half – and the game overall – Mafe provided one of the rare positive moments for the Seahawks. In the second quarter with the Ravens marching deep in Seattle territory, Mafe strip sacked Lamar Jackson and recovered the fumble.
The sack marked the sixth-straight game Mafe has recorded one, which ties a franchise record set by Michael Sinclair. Mafe finished the game with six total tackles.
No. 2 Dud - Offensive line
No position group for the Seahawks has been hit as hard as the offensive line has this season. Up until now, the unit has performed shockingly well, despite missing many key starters and operating with constant different combinations. But against the top sacking team in football, it fell apart quickly.
Geno Smith struggled, most assuredly, but his protection was practically non-existent. The Ravens sacked Smith four times, all coming in the first half. The turning point in the game was when Smith was sacked on back-to-back snaps, the second of which caused a fumble, allowing Baltimore to kick a field goal before halftime.
No. 3 Dud - Dre'Mont Jones
As someone who played defensive line in high school (not well, mind you) there was one thing drilled into our heads above all else: do not jump offsides. This might be a personal bias, but when Dre’Mont Jones fell for Lamar Jackson’s hard count on 4th-and-1, it hurt to watch.
The Ravens were stopped on 3rd down, and decided to go for it. Could the Seahawks have stopped them? Unsure, especially since they allowed 298 yards on the ground. But when Jones jumped offsides, it kept the drive alive with a guaranteed first down.
No. 3 Stud - Jaxon Smith-Njigba
After a slow start to his career, first round rookie wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba is really coming into his own. The Ohio State Buckeye is becoming a more integral part of the Seattle Seahawks’ offense, and was a lone bright spot on Sunday.
JSN bobbled his first reception of the morning on third down, causing the Seahawks to punt on their first possession. But after that, he hauled in all six passes thrown his way for a team-leading 63 yards.
Seeing JSN’s overall growth is a positive in the long term, even if his valiant efforts in the short term did not matter much in the blowout loss.
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