There was no late-game magic this time.
After so many comeback wins and last-minute escapes over the past two seasons — including three white-knuckle victories already this year — the Seahawks’ tightrope act finally caught up with them.
Seattle suffered its first loss of the season in agonizing fashion Sunday night, falling 37-34 in overtime to the Cardinals in an action-packed NFC West clash in the desert.
There were plenty of culprits for the Seahawks.
The defense blew a 10-point lead in the final minutes of regulation. Russell Wilson threw three costly interceptions. Seattle committed several game-changing penalties. And after a scorching first half, the offense came up empty on six of its seven possessions in the second half and overtime.
It was Seattle’s first loss of the Wilson era after leading by at least four points at halftime. Prior to Sunday night, the Seahawks were 59-0 in such situations since the start of the 2012 season. They also were 32-0 in the Wilson era when leading by at least 10 points at halftime.
Seattle had a chance to continue its franchise-best start and further solidify its spot atop the NFL’s best division. Instead, the rugged NFC West is now a logjam as the season nears its midway point.
Here’s a look at some of the notable storylines and takeaways in the wake of the Seahawks’ first loss of the year:
WILSON IS HUMAN, AFTER ALL
Russell Wilson entered as the clear frontrunner in the league MVP race. And for much of the night, he showed why.
Wilson threw for 388 yards, including three touchdowns to Tyler Lockett. He ran for 84 yards on six carries, highlighted by a 34-yard option keeper and a 22-yard scramble. He delivered a slew of big-time plays. And he finished with 472 total yards.
However, it was all undone by three costly interceptions.
Wilson’s goal-line interception in the second quarter took potential points off the board — and would’ve resulted in a pick-six if not for DK Metcalf’s heroic chasedown. His end-zone interception on a deep third-down rollout early in the fourth quarter likely cost Seattle a field-goal attempt. And his third-down interception in overtime gave the Cardinals prime field position, which they ultimately converted into the game-winning field goal.
The first interception was simply a poor decision by Wilson, who hung the ball in the air too long. On the second interception, Wilson and Metcalf didn’t appear to be on the same page. Wilson seemed to be expecting his receiver to continue down the sideline toward the end zone, but Metcalf stopped just as Wilson released the ball. On his third interception, Wilson tried to quickly float the ball over the defense to an open Lockett on a third-down blitz. But Lockett wasn’t looking for the pass, and the ball was off-target.
Regardless of the circumstances behind each mistake, this was a highly uncharacteristic night for Wilson — especially after his red-hot start to the year. It was his first multiple-interception game since the 2018 season opener in Denver. And it marked just the fifth time in his career that he’s thrown at least three interceptions in a contest.
Wilson’s arm and legs were a major factor in the Seahawks totaling 572 yards, their third-highest output in franchise history. He led Seattle to 27 points and 377 total yards in the first half alone, guiding the offense to three touchdowns and two field goals on its first six possessions.
But with a struggling defense, the Seahawks can ill-afford mistakes from their superstar quarterback. And on Sunday night, Wilson’s three critical errors proved too much to overcome.
DEFENSE STRUGGLES YET AGAIN
Any hopes of Seattle’s defense making strides coming out of the bye week were undone by another troubling performance Sunday night.
The Seahawks surrendered 519 total yards, which was already the third time this season they’ve allowed more than 500 yards. By comparison, they yielded 500-plus total yards just three times over the previous nine seasons combined.
Seattle continues to give up yardage at a historically bad pace, with its 479.2 total yards allowed per game and 368.7 passing yards allowed per game both NFL records through the first six games of a season.
Once again, the biggest issue was a complete inability to generate a pass rush. The Seahawks didn’t record a single sack or quarterback hit on Kyler Murray’s 48 pass attempts. As a result, the former Heisman Trophy winner had ample time to carve up Seattle’s defense for 360 passing yards and three touchdowns. He also burned the Seahawks with his speed and elusiveness, rushing for 67 yards and a score on 14 carries.
Led by the dual-threat Murray, the Cardinals mounted four touchdown drives of at least 75 yards. They also excelled in last-minute situations at the ends of both halves and in overtime. In the final minute of the first half, Arizona drove 44 yards for a last-second field goal. In the final minute of regulation, Arizona drove 54 yards for a game-tying field goal to force overtime. And in the final minute of the extra period, Murray led a quick 19-yard drive to set up the game-winning field goal.
The Seahawks did force two turnovers and came up with a key fourth-and-goal stand after DK Metcalf’s chasedown play in the second quarter. But in far too many situations, Seattle’s defense simply couldn’t get off the field.
The Seahawks have fallen to 28th in Football Outsiders’ latest defensive DVOA ratings, which calculate a team’s success on every play based on situation and opponent. Over the 35-year span of DVOA’s ratings, just two teams have won a Super Bowl after finishing the regular season with a defense ranked worse than 20th — the 2006 Peyton Manning-led Colts and the 2011 Giants.
COSTLY PENALTIES
For as poorly as Seattle’s defense played, two of Arizona’s long touchdown drives were extended by costly penalties after the Seahawks appeared to come up with a stop.
Midway through the third quarter, it seemed as though Seattle’s defense had forced a three-and-out deep in Arizona territory. That would’ve given the ball back to the Seahawks in good field position, with an opportunity to extend their 27-17 lead. However, the Cardinals were awarded a fresh set of downs after Bobby Wagner was flagged for a controversial unnecessary roughness penalty on a third-down incompletion. Arizona capitalized, marching the length of the field for a 93-yard touchdown drive that made it a three-point game.
Perhaps the biggest mistake of the night was the costly Benson Mayowa penalty that extended the Cardinals’ touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter. Leading 34-24 with just over three minutes remaining, Seattle’s defense had stopped Arizona on third down and forced a long field-goal attempt. But on the kick, Mayowa was flagged for illegally leveraging himself over an offensive lineman. The 15-yard penalty gave the Cardinals an automatic first down, and they capitalized two plays later with a touchdown that trimmed the margin to 34-31. That was significant, because it meant Arizona needed just a field goal to force overtime on its last-minute drive.
And of course, there was the holding penalty on receiver David Moore in overtime, which wiped away a game-winning 48-yard touchdown by DK Metcalf. Metcalf likely wouldn’t have scored if it weren’t for the hold by Moore. But Metcalf probably would’ve gotten close enough to the first-down marker for Seattle to consider going for it on fourth down, or perhaps even attempting a long potential game-winning field goal. Instead, the penalty backed the Seahawks into a third-and-14 from their own 48-yard line. Wilson then threw an interception on the following play, and the Cardinals needed just 19 yards to set up their game-winning field goal.
LOCKETT’S CAREER NIGHT
For most of the season, Tyler Lockett has been overshadowed by DK Metcalf’s continued rise to stardom.
That was especially the case after Metcalf’s heroics against the Vikings two weeks ago. Metcalf was coming off his fifth consecutive 90-yard receiving game and had two massive fourth-down catches on the final drive against Minnesota, including the game-winner. Lockett, meanwhile, had a total of just six catches for 83 yards over the previous two games against Miami and Minnesota.
But on Sunday night, with Metcalf mostly shut down by Arizona cornerback Patrick Peterson, Lockett provided an emphatic reminder that Seattle has two top-notch receivers.
Lockett caught 15 passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns, all of which either set or matched career highs. In fact, he became just the third player in NFL history with at least 15 catches, 200 receiving yards and three touchdowns in a game. (One of the other two receivers to accomplish this feat was former Seahawks star Steve Largent, who did so in a 1987 game against Detroit.)
And in addition to putting up massive numbers, Lockett made several very difficult catches Sunday. According to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, he had three receptions on passes that had a completion probability of less than 26%, which is a credit both to Russell Wilson’s pinpoint placement and Lockett’s ability to make tough, contested catches in tight spaces.
Lockett set the tone for his massive night on the game’s very first snap, when he made a contested, one-handed diving reception for a 34-yard gain. According to Next Gen Stats, that pass had just a 21.3% completion probability. Five plays later, Lockett gained separation with a great route against cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick and hauled in his first touchdown catch of the night.
Lockett’s second touchdown came on a high-arcing deep ball from Wilson in the final minute of the first half. Lockett made another spectacular catch on the play, diving for a contested 47-yard reception in the end zone. It was his most improbable catch of the night, with just an 18.6% completion probability.
Lockett’s third touchdown was similarly impressive. On fourth-and-2 from the Arizona 3-yard line, just past the midway point of the fourth quarter, Lockett covered an immense amount of ground on a crossing route from right to left. As he was running at nearly full speed, Lockett hauled in a perfect lob from Wilson, while simultaneously getting both feet inbounds in the back of the end zone. The pass had a 25.9% completion probability.
With Lockett’s big night, the Seahawks now have two receivers near the top of the league’s statistical leaderboards. Lockett is tied with Minnesota receiver Adam Thielen for the most touchdown catches with seven, while Metcalf is tied for fifth with five. Lockett is fifth in receiving yards per game with 90.3, while Metcalf is 11th with 86.5. Metcalf also has a league-high 21.6 yards per catch.
FOURTH-DOWN AGGRESSIVENESS PAYS OFF
The Seahawks continued a trend of fourth-down aggressiveness Sunday night.
Leading by three points with just under seven minutes left in regulation, Seattle faced a fourth-and-2 from the Arizona 3-yard line. And instead of attempting a chip-shot field goal to extend the margin to six points, the Seahawks decided to keep their offense on the field. The gamble paid off, with Russell Wilson and Tyler Lockett connecting for a touchdown pass that made it a two-possession game.
That was already the third time this season that Seattle has elected to go for it on fourth down instead of kicking a field goal. In the season opener against Atlanta, the Seahawks did so on fourth-and-5 from the 38-yard line, and it resulted in a long touchdown pass to DK Metcalf that extended their lead to nine points. Seattle also bypassed a field-goal opportunity in the second quarter against Miami, electing to keep its offense on the field for a fourth-and-3 from the 18-yard line. It didn’t work out that time, however, as Wilson was sacked on the play.
WITH CHANCE TO END GAME, SEATTLE GETS CONSERVATIVE
Despite the Seahawks’ aggressiveness on their fourth-down touchdown in the fourth quarter, they were noticeably more conservative while trying to run out the clock on the following possession.
After the Cardinals scored a touchdown to cut the deficit to 34-31, Seattle took over at its own 14-yard line with 2:25 left in regulation. Russell Wilson opened the possession by scrambling for a 9-yard gain on a play-action rollout, which took the clock down to the two-minute warning. Backup running back Carlos Hyde, filling in for the injured Chris Carson, then followed with a 3-yard run that moved the chains and forced Arizona to burn its first timeout.
At that point, the Seahawks needed just one more first down to essentially seal the victory. But instead of putting the ball in the hands of its superstar quarterback, Seattle ran the ball three more times with its backup running back. It didn’t work.
Hyde rushed for gains of 1 and 7 yards on the first two downs, which forced the Cardinals to use their final two timeouts. That set up a third-and-2 with 1:42 remaining. The Seahawks then ran again with Hyde, who was stopped at the line of scrimmage for no gain. Seattle then punted the ball away with just under a minute remaining, and Arizona proceeded to drive 54 yards to force overtime with a game-tying field goal.
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy to second-guess decisions like these. After all, if Hyde had gotten a game-sealing first down on any of those three runs, the decision to keep the ball on the ground would’ve been considered a good one.
But for as aggressive as the Seahawks have been offensively this season — for how much they’ve finally decided to open up the offense and lean on Wilson — the more conservative approach to this pivotal sequence was notable.
NFC WEST IMPLICATIONS
Had they won Sunday night, the Seahawks would’ve remained the only unbeaten team in the NFC. They would’ve maintained a 1.5-game lead over the Rams. And they would’ve been 2.5 games ahead of the Cardinals and 49ers.
Instead, the NFL’s best division is now a tightly packed jumble. Seattle holds just a half-game lead over the Cardinals and Rams, and just a 1.5-game lead over the 49ers.
This was the start of the Seahawks’ most challenging stretch of the season — a rugged five-game slate against the Cardinals, 49ers, Bills, Rams and then the Cardinals again. Those five opponents (counting Arizona twice) have a combined 24-11 record and an average ranking of 10.2 in Football Outsiders’ DVOA ratings, which calculate a team’s success on every play based on situation and opponent.
How Seattle fares over its next four games will go a long way to determining how the NFC West — and the conference’s playoff picture as a whole — shakes out.
CAN REINFORCEMENTS TURN DEFENSE AROUND?
Jamal Adams is expected to be back soon. Veteran pass rusher Carlos Dunlap was acquired from Cincinnati via trade Wednesday. Recently acquired defensive tackle Damon Harrison could be nearing his Seattle debut.
With reinforcements on the way, not all hope is lost for the Seahawks’ defense.
Adams, of course, would likely be the biggest difference-maker. The star safety and prized offseason acquisition was an impact playmaker all over the field during the first three games of the season. He can improve all three levels of Seattle’s defense, including the much-maligned pass rush. Despite missing the last three games with an injury, Adams is tied for the team lead both in sacks (two) and quarterback hits (five).
But as much as anything, those last two stats are an indictment of just how bad Seattle’s pass rush is. Even if Adams continues making an impact in that area when he returns, the Seahawks need to start generating some sort of consistent pressure with their defensive line. Seattle has just nine sacks through six games. And according to Pro Football Focus grading, the Seahawks have the second-worst pass rush in the league.
That’s why Seattle traded for Dunlap. The 11-year veteran edge rusher has averaged 9.7 sacks per year over the previous seven seasons. Last year, out of 110 edge defenders with at least 250 total snaps, PFF ranked Dunlap fourth in overall defensive grading and 19th in pass-rush grading. He also was graded by PFF as the No. 42 overall player in the league last season, regardless of position.
Dunlap’s productivity has slipped this year. Out of 111 edge defenders, PFF ranks him 91st in overall defensive grading and 78th in pass-rush grading. But the hope for the Seahawks is that a change in environment helps him replicate — or at least get closer to — his prior level of play.
Harrison, the former All-Pro defensive tackle who could be nearing his Seattle debut after signing as a free agent earlier this month, is much more of a run-stopper than a pass-rusher. He had a career-low 63.2 PFF defensive grade last year, but that came after four consecutive stellar seasons with defensive grades of 90 or higher. So even though the Seahawks’ run defense has actually been pretty good, a return to form by Harrison would only make that aspect of the defensive line better.
Another potential return to monitor is defensive end Rasheem Green, who got injured in the season opener and hasn’t played since. Along with the Dunlap addition, Green’s return would provide added rotational depth for Seattle’s pass rush. That should benefit players such as Benson Mayowa, who has been taxed with playing 72.3% of the team’s defensive snaps. Keeping players like Mayowa fresh should improve productivity.
It’s also worth noting that the Seahawks’ starting secondary — Adams, safety Quandre Diggs, cornerback Quinton Dunbar and cornerback Shaquill Griffin — hasn’t played a full game together since the season opener. Getting that unit back to full strength and continuity should help matters, too.
With Russell Wilson and Seattle’s high-powered offense leading the way, the defense doesn’t need to be great. But it certainly needs to be much better than it’s been. Whether these defensive reinforcements can make that happen will go a long way to determining the fate of a Seahawks team with Super Bowl aspirations.
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