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3 duds and 1 stud in Seahawks loss to Washington Week 12

Going into “Monday Night Football,” the Seattle Seahawks put forth two of their worst offensive performances in the Pete Carroll era. Regrettably, this trend continued once more in yet another dismal outing. This time resulting in a grueling 17-15 loss to the Washington Football Team.

Monday night was a showdown between arguably the best MNF team (Seahawks) and the worst (Washington). Since 1997, Washington has only won three MNF games at home, with the victory over the Seahawks being the third, and first since 2012.

I know last week I wrote “stick a fork in the 2021 Seahawks” but now it is all but official. Per 538, if Seattle had held on to a win its playoff odds would have improved to 8% yet a loss would have sent them to under 1%.

At 3-8, the Seahawks are only one loss away from their first losing season in a decade.

No.1 Dud - Ground game

The absence of Chris Carson grows more unbearable for the Seahawks every week. A new low was reached against the Washington Football Team on Monday night. As a team, the Seahawks rushed the ball only 12 times for 34 yards.

12 times, for 34 yards.

Seattle’s ground game was entirely unthreatening to the Football Team and was seemingly abandoned yet again. Pete Carroll prides his offense as being one that can establish the run to open up the passing game. Now one begins to wonder if Carroll has abandoned this philosophy entirely, or is giving up the run because it is so ineffective.

No. 2 Dud - Time of possession

The inability of the Seahawks to run the ball is directly contributing to the fact they are dead last in the NFL when it comes to time of possession. This reared its ugly head once more against Washington.

The Seahawks were completely smoked in the time of possession battle, losing by a margin of 41:40 to their paltry 18:20. Part of this is the fact the Seahawks also cannot sustain drives. On the night they were only 4-of-12 on third down, with two of these conversions happening on the final drive of the game.

The Seahawks had five straight possessions resulting in a three-and-out. They are the only team to accomplish such a feat, and they’ve now done it twice this season.

No. 3 Dud - Offensive game plan

If you are sensing a trend of the Seahawks offense being picked on by the Duds list, your eyes do not deceive you. Seattle’s broken offense at every level is directly contributing to the implosion it is suffering, especially losses to the Titans, Saints, Packers, Cardinals and now Washington.

Of course, this starts at the top, with coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Specifically in this game, there were a number of head-scratching decisions. I already covered the fact they hardly pounded the ball on the ground like the Seahawks claim they love to do, but also receiver DK Metcalf didn’t receive even a single target until the third quarter.

It is down right inexcusable how one of the best receivers in the NFL can be forgotten from the game plan almost entirely.

No. 1 Stud - Jamal Adams and the defense

The Seahawks defense started the season once more on pace to be the worst in the history of the Super Bowl era. Cardinals game last week aside, the Seahawks defense has actually improved dramatically from the Steelers game onward.

Considering the fact they were on the field for over 41 minutes, the fact they only surrendered 17 points is remarkable.

Jamal Adams has been the subject of heavy criticism but on Monday night had himself a great game. He secured his second interception as a Seahawk, earning his first multi-interception season of his career. He also defended two passes, had nine tackles, and while it won’t show up on the stat sheet he also was the subject of a holding call on fourth-and-one to negate a 37-yard run from Washington.

Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks also enjoyed 14 tackles apiece.

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