For the first time in franchise history, the Seahawks are 5-0.
And my, what a crazy journey it’s been.
There was the goal-line stop of Cam Newton as time expired in Week 2, which continued the trend of Seahawks-Patriots games being decided at the 1-yard line. There was the wild win over the Cowboys in Week 3, which featured a trademark Russell Wilson game-winning drive and a game-sealing interception in the end zone.
Then there was Seattle’s dramatic 27-26 comeback win over the Vikings on Sunday night, which might’ve been the wackiest game yet. Even by Seahawks standards, this one was bonkers.
This game could basically be split into four distinct parts. Act I belonged entirely to Minnesota, which dominated total yardage and time of possession in the first half on its way to a 13-0 halftime lead. Act II featured a third-quarter avalanche from Seattle, which capitalized on a pair of turnovers and scored three touchdowns in less than two minutes to snatch a 21-13 lead. Act III was reminiscent of Act I, with the Vikings regaining control on back-to-back long touchdown drives to take a 26-21 lead.
And then, as is so often the case, the Seahawks starred in an electrifying, suspense-filled finish. Seattle came up with a fourth-and-1 stop deep in its own territory and Wilson followed with a game-winning 94-yard touchdown drive, connecting with star receiver DK Metcalf for a pair of epic fourth-down completions — including the game-winner with 15 seconds left.
After all the twists and turns, it was yet another narrow victory for a Seahawks team that’s made white-knuckle rides like these the norm. Seattle is now a whopping 15-3 in one-possession games since the start of last season, including 4-0 this year. This was already the third time this season that the Seahawks have won in the closing seconds with either a go-ahead score or a key stop.
Here are some storylines and takeaways in the wake of Seattle’s latest last-second triumph:
The king of game-winning drives
By this point, it almost sounds like a broken record: Russell Wilson led yet another game-winning drive.
This was his 34th career game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime, which is the most in the NFL since he entered the league in 2012. It also marked the 11th time in his career — and already the second time this season — that he’s thrown or run for a game-winning touchdown in the final two minutes of regulation or in overtime.
And rarely do game-winning drives start this deep in one’s own territory. Wilson accounted for all 94 yards of this length-of-the-field march, which was the third-longest go-ahead touchdown drive in the final two minutes of regulation over the past 20 seasons, according to Stathead.com.
Even with his late-game heroics, this was far from Wilson’s best performance. Seattle’s high-powered offense sputtered for much of the night, punting on each of its first four possessions. Wilson’s trend of struggling in rainy weather manifested itself again at times, including on a pair of misfires early in the game-winning drive. And after a rare interception midway through the fourth quarter, Wilson almost didn’t get another chance to complete the comeback.
But even on a night when he wasn’t at his usual superstar level, Wilson still summoned the brilliance and poise to lead another one of his magical late-game drives.
That poise was evident throughout the 13-play, 94-yard march. Backed up against his own goal line, Wilson kickstarted the drive by calmly eluding a pass rusher and then pump-faking his way past a linebacker for a 17-yard scramble that gave the offense room to operate. Then after three consecutive incompletions put Seattle’s comeback hopes on the brink, Wilson lofted a 39-yard deep ball to DK Metcalf to extend the drive. Two plays later, Wilson craftily spun out of the pocket and found Tyler Lockett for a 17-yard completion. Two plays after that, Wilson threw a 15-yard slant to Metcalf to set up first-and-goal. And then, after three more incompletions left him with another do-or-die fourth down, Wilson fired a tough pass through the driving rain to Metcalf for the game-winner.
The odds of pulling off a 94-yard game-winning drive in the final two minutes are not great, especially when it includes two fourth-down conversions. Seattle’s win probability at the start of the possession was less than 14%, according to ESPN. It dropped below 5% soon after. But Wilson has delivered in so many of these pressure-packed situations that spectacular moments like this are almost beginning to feel commonplace. And perhaps that’s the most amazing part of it all.
Metcalf continues his rise to stardom
In his postgame interview with NBC’s Michele Tafoya on Sunday night, Russell Wilson mentioned that he and DK Metcalf want to be like the legendary 49ers duo of Joe Montana and Jerry Rice.
Time will tell whether Wilson and Metcalf can ever match one of the game’s all-time great quarterback-receiver pairings. But Metcalf certainly added another impressive chapter in his rise to stardom Sunday night.
Metcalf was the go-to target in crunch time, with six of Wilson’s 12 passes on that decisive final drive directed at the ultra-talented 6-foot-4 second-year wideout. Metcalf came through in a massive way, catching three of those passes for 60 yards and the game-winning score.
Facing a do-or-die fourth down early in the drive, Wilson lofted a jump ball down the sideline and Metcalf soared to make a spectacular 39-yard leaping catch that kept Seattle’s hopes alive. A few plays later, the duo connected again for a 15-yard slant that set up first-and-goal.
Then after a first-down incompletion to Lockett, Wilson targeted Metcalf in the end zone three straight times. Metcalf nearly hauled in Wilson’s second-and-goal pass for a touchdown in the front-right corner of the end zone, but the ball was knocked out of his hands at the last second. On the next play, Metcalf appeared to get held up by cornerback Mike Hughes on a pass to the back corner of the end zone.
Despite those back-to-back incompletions, Wilson went right back to Metcalf on fourth-and-goal with the game on the line. Metcalf rewarded his quarterback’s trust, making a diving catch in the rain for the game-winning score. It was the second game-winning touchdown of the young season for Metcalf, who also hauled in a deciding 29-yarder on a third-and-3 with less than two minutes remaining to beat the Cowboys in Week 3.
Metcalf finished with six catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns Sunday night, further solidifying his spot among the league’s top receivers in several statistical categories. He leads the NFL in yards per catch (22.5), is tied for third in touchdown receptions (five), and is fourth in receiving yards per game (99.2) and seventh in receiving yards per target (12.7). He’s been a major factor in every contest this season, surpassing 90 yards receiving in all five games and catching at least one touchdown pass in four of the five games.
Metcalf still has plenty of room to improve as a pass-catcher. He has three official dropped passes this season, and a handful of others that could’ve been caught. His catch rate of 56.4% is below average among qualified receivers. But even so, Metcalf has already ascended into one of the game’s premier playmakers at wide receiver. If he can develop into a more sure-handed pass-catcher, those Jerry Rice aspirations might not seem too crazy.
Has the defense made some strides?
The Seahawks have significant flaws on defense. Their 370.4 passing yards allowed per game is the most in NFL history through the first five games of a season. Their 471.2 total yards allowed per contest is the worst five-game mark to start a season since the 1950 Baltimore Colts.
But keep in mind, those numbers are somewhat inflated by all the yardage Seattle gave up while playing prevent defense to protect late double-digit leads in a few of their previous games.
On a per-play basis, the numbers aren’t nearly as bad. The Seahawks are tied for 27th in the league in net passing yards allowed per attempt (7.5) and tied for 26th in yards allowed per play (6.2). Also, Seattle ranks 28th in pass defense and 18th in overall defense according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA ratings, which calculate a team’s success on every play based on situation and opponent. And in terms of scoring defense, the Seahawks sit at 19th with 27.0 points allowed per game.
None of those numbers are good, by any means. But there’s plenty to suggest Seattle’s defense hasn’t been nearly as awful as the historic yardage totals would seem to indicate.
Furthermore, there have been small signs of improvement over the past two weeks.
After allowing at least 6.5 yards per play in each of their first three games, the Seahawks allowed 6.1 against Miami and 5.4 against Minnesota.
After yielding at least 7.8 yards per pass attempt in each of its first three games, Seattle trimmed it to 6.8 against Miami and 5.9 against Minnesota.
And after getting burned for seven plays of 30-plus yards over their first three games — including four such plays against Dallas — the Seahawks haven’t allowed any gains of more than 26 yards over the past two weeks.
It’s also worth noting that Minnesota is ranked eighth in offensive DVOA, which is the best of any opponent Seattle has faced thus far. Miami’s offense is ranked 15th, which is the third-best of Seattle’s opponents. So, these small improvements over the past two weeks can’t be attributed to poor opposing offenses.
Rather, some of these positive trends might stem from a more conservative defensive approach that’s featured less blitzing. Seattle blitzed on 37.5% of its opponents’ dropbacks over the first three weeks, but on just 18.2% of dropbacks over the past two games.
Some of that is surely a product of superstar safety Jamal Adams — who excels at bringing pressure — being sidelined with an injury for the past two weeks. But it also might be true that a more conservative approach simply fits this defense better.
Either way, less blitzing certainly seems to have left the Seahawks’ secondary less vulnerable to long plays in the passing game. And after being gashed for so many of those backbreaking plays earlier this season, limiting them over the past two weeks definitely qualifies as an improvement.
Flaws and all, defense keeps making big plays
Even with all the yardage their defense has allowed this year, the Seahawks have shown a knack for forcing turnovers and coming through when it matters most. Seattle is tied for second in the NFL with 10 takeaways and has forced at least one turnover in every contest, including multiple turnovers in four of its five games. And every time the Seahawks have needed a late-game stop, their defense ultimately rose to the occasion.
Seattle stopped the Falcons on all four of their fourth-down attempts, three of which came in Seahawks territory. Quinton Dunbar helped swing the Patriots game with a key interception, and Seattle thwarted Cam Newton at the goal line on the final play. Against the Cowboys, the Seahawks’ defense scored on a safety, forced a pair of turnovers that led to touchdowns, and made a game-sealing interception in the closing moments. The following week, Seattle kept Miami out of the end zone for 58 minutes and came up with two more turnovers, including a fourth-quarter interception that led to a game-sealing score.
And on Sunday night, the trend of timely defensive plays continued.
The Seahawks’ defense keyed the third-quarter explosion by forcing back-to-back turnovers, which gave their sputtering offense prime field position that led to a pair of touchdowns. Damontre Moore forced the first turnover, knocking the ball free from Kirk Cousins’ hand for a fumble that K.J. Wright recovered at the 15-yard line. Then on the first snap of Minnesota’s next possession, Wright made a spectacular one-handed interception to set up Seattle’s offense at the 29-yard line.
And in the game’s closing minutes, with the Vikings deep in Seahawks territory and on the doorstep of a first down that would’ve all but sealed the game, the defense came through with another late stop. Moore and Benson Mayowa hit Adam Thielen just short of the first-down marker on a third-down sweep, and then Mayowa and Wright teamed for a fourth-and-1 run stop on the following play to set the stage for Russell Wilson’s game-winning drive.
As long as Wilson and their high-powered offense keeps putting up points, the Seahawks don’t need their defense to be elite. They just need a league-average unit that limits those back-breaking big plays, comes up with enough stops and forces a key turnover from time to time. So far, that formula has worked.
And with the possibility of star safety Jamal Adams and linebacker Jordyn Brooks returning from injury soon, there’s reason to believe this defense can build on some of the small yet encouraging steps it made against Miami and Minnesota.
Wright excelling after position change
There was some speculation this offseason that K.J. Wright’s tenure with the Seahawks might be nearing an end.
The 31-year-old veteran linebacker was coming off the lowest-graded season of his career, according to Pro Football Reference. And when Seattle used its first-round draft pick this spring on linebacker Jordyn Brooks, some thought it was a sign the Seahawks might be willing to move on from Wright after his current contract expires following this season.
But after moving from his usual weakside linebacker position to strongside linebacker following Bruce Irvin’s season-ending injury in Week 2, Wright has delivered back-to-back exceptional performances.
Wright has been the Seahawks’ highest-graded defender each of the past two weeks, according to PFF. During that two-week span, he had the third-highest grade of any linebacker in the NFL and was tied for the ninth-highest grade of any defender. Among players with at least 100 snaps, Wagner is now the third-ranked linebacker in the NFL this season and Seattle’s top-ranked defender, according to PFF grading.
Wright began his two-week tear with three pass breakups, eight tackles and a forced fumble in Miami. The 10th-year veteran had a key third-down pass breakup in the red zone in that game and delivered a punishing hit on a short completion.
Wright then followed up with another stellar performance Sunday night against the Vikings. He knocked down a pass at the line of scrimmage on the first snap of the game. He had the presence of mind to recover Kirk Cousins’ third-quarter fumble, even after the officials initially blew the play dead. He made a spectacular, leaping one-handed interception soon after. And he helped keep Cousins out of the end zone on Seattle’s pivotal 2-point conversion stop.
The Seahawks have shown some defensive improvements over the past two weeks. And during that span, there’s been no better player on Seattle’s defense than Wright.
Extra points
- Wilson tossed three more touchdown passes Sunday night, which gives him 19 for the season. That’s the second-most touchdown passes through the first five games of a season in NFL history. The only quarterback with more was Peyton Manning, who threw 20 touchdown passes through the first five games of his record-setting 2013 campaign.
- The Seahawks’ offense continues to be incredibly efficient in the red zone. Seattle has an NFL-best 88.9% red-zone touchdown rate, with 16 touchdowns in 18 red-zone trips. That’s the best in the league by more than seven percentage points. The Seahawks also have scored a remarkable 21 touchdowns in 26 trips inside their opponents’ 40-yard line.
- Seattle’s offensive line has moved up to No. 11 in Pro Football Focus’ pass-block ratings. That’s significant, because the Seahawks have never finished the season ranked above 18th in PFF’s pass protection grading since Wilson took over at quarterback in 2012. In five of the previous seven seasons — including last year — Seattle ranked a dismal 30th or worse in that category.
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