Photo Credit : Stephen Brashear/Associated Press
Well, that one was a lot closer than it should have been. Even when the Seahawks dominate, they still find ways to give their fans mini heart attacks until the end. The Seattle Seahawks defeated the Houston Texans 27-19 on Monday Night Football and now head into their bye week at 5-2. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had eight catches for 123 yards and a touchdown. He has five 100-yard games through the first seven weeks of the season, leading the NFL in receiving yards heading into the Seahawks’ bye week. Zach Charbonnet had his first multi-touchdown performance of the season, and the Seahawks’ defense held Nico Collins to just four catches for 27 yards before he left the game with an injury.
Seattle dominated the game from start to finish, but just like in good ol’ Seahawks fashion, they found a way to keep their opponents hanging around. In the first quarter, the Seahawks’ offense was moving the ball effectively. Zach Charbonnet was finding running lanes and picking up first downs. Sam Darnold was looking sharp and finding his receivers, and Seattle got out to a 14-0 lead. But then, they tried to get fancy… for no reason at all.
Midway through the second quarter, the Seahawks were driving once again and had the ball in the red zone. They tried to run an end-around pass with Cooper Kupp throwing to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but he overthrew him, and it was picked off, completely killing the Seahawks’ momentum. I’ve criticized Klint Kubiak’s play-calling in the past, mainly for being too conservative, but that may have been his most head-scratching moment yet.
However, the story of this game was the Seahawks’ defense. They were undermanned again, with Devon Witherspoon and Julian Love being surprise inactives. But just like all year long, other guys stepped up. Linebacker Drake Thomas was flying around making plays all over the field, finishing the game with five tackles, three passes defended, two tackles for loss, and one quarterback hit. Rookie Nick Emmanwori also had a great game, using his athleticism to make stops at key moments for Seattle. Fittingly, on a night where members of Seattle’s legendary defense, Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas raised the 12th Man flag before the game.
Another player I had been highly critical of, Tariq Woolen, had his best game of the season. C.J. Stroud tried picking on Woolen with deep passes, especially late in the game, but Woolen played exceptional coverage throughout the night. Ty Okada did a great job filling in for Julian Love, and Ernest Jones had another strong performance as well, he had Seattle’s lone interception of the game.
The Seahawks’ defense arguably had their best game of the season. They made Stroud uncomfortable in the pocket all night, sacking him three times, holding the Texans to just 2-for-15 on third down, and shutting down the run game,allowing just 56 rushing yards. They also came up with multiple fourth-down stops and a goal-line stand. Here’s a stat that tells you just how great Seattle’s run defense has been. The longest run they’ve allowed on a running back carry is just 13 yards,and this defense still hasn’t played a game this year with the entire unit healthy. This defense is still going to get better, and that’s a scary sight for offenses around the NFL. I’m excited to see what this group looks like when fully healthy.
Now, the biggest thing holding the Seahawks back is their game management. They went into halftime with a 14-6 lead, but it easily could have been 30-3. Seattle was robbed of a safety in the first quarter when the refs ruled C.J. Stroud short of being tackled in the end zone. I already mentioned Cooper Kupp’s interception, and there was a play in the second quarter where Drake Thomas looked to have recovered a fumble for a touchdown but fumbled on the one-yard line, which the Texans recovered in the end zone for a touchback. Then Jason Myers had his field goal attempt blocked right before halftime.
Later, they let the Texans back into the game when Sam Darnold was strip-sacked in the end zone, and Will Anderson Jr. recovered it for a touchdown, making the score 17-12 at the time. In the fourth quarter, the Seahawks seemed incapable of running out the clock. They were still throwing the ball a lot, Elijah Arroyo fumbled, and after Seattle had a holding penalty which forced a first-and-long, Darnold threw a pick.
These self-inflicted wounds just can’t happen, especially for a team in a very tight conference, where every game matters. At the end of the first half, it seemed again that the Seahawks were content to kick a field goal instead of going for a touchdown, similar to what almost cost them in the Cardinals game. Ball security has to improve—they turned the ball over four times. But I have to give credit where credit is due, the Texans’ defense is legit. Houston came into the game with the number one scoring defense, allowing just 12 points per game, and they kept their team in it. Seattle also took 12 penalties for 93 yards, which simply cannot happen.
The Seahawks are still a very good team, and heading into the bye, they’ll have a chance to clean things up and get healthy. They proved last night on primetime that they are a team to be reckoned with.
