After winning four straight games to take over first place in the NFC West, the Seahawks were looking for a big win over another NFC playoff contender in prime time. Instead, the Packers jumped out to a big early lead and never looked back on their way to a 30-13 win at Lumen Field. To make matters worse, the Seahawks also saw quarterback Geno Smith exit the game early with a knee injury, a blow to their comeback chances and, depending on the severity of the injury, a concern for their playoff hopes going forward.
Here are five rapid reactions to Sunday’s loss, which dropped Seattle’s record to 8-6:
- A bad night got worse with an injury to Geno Smith.
Things were already going poorly for the Seahawks when, late in the third quarter, the game took a turn for the worse. Geno Smith, who had been under pressure for much of the night, took a low hit while delivering a pass. Smith initially limped to argue with the lack of a flag for a low hit, then he sat down on the field to be tended to by team doctors and athletic trainers.
It was announced that Smith was questionable to return with a knee injury, and Smith did not come back in the game, with Sam Howell finishing off that drive and playing the fourth quarter in his most significant playing time as a Seahawk.
With Smith out and with the Seahawks having to play a one-dimensional brand of offense playing from behind, the Seahawks went three-and-out on their next two possessions before using a Packers turnover and the short field that came with it to score their only touchdown of the game, a 24-yard run by Zach Charbonnet.
Facing tough circumstances with the Seahawks having to be so pass heavy, Howell was under considerable pressure, and completed 5 of 14 pass attempts for 24 yards and an interception.
- The Seahawks defense settled down in the second half, but not before the Packers built a big lead.
The Seahawks defense came into Sunday’s game on a roll, having played very well in five straight games, the last four of them victories, but that unit had a tough time with the Packers offense in the first half.
Green Bay opened the game with a 63-yard touchdown drive and scored points on all four of its first half possessions to build a 20-3 halftime lead. That first half saw the Packers gain 235 yards and 15 first downs while averaging 7.6 yards per play, and running back Josh Jacobs rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, while adding 38 receiving yards on three catches.
The Seahawks settled down on defense after the break, allowing just a field goal on Green Bay’s next six possessions, with the other five resulting in a punt, punt, fumble, punt, and turnover on downs. Unfortunately, the offense, missing its starting quarterback for much of the second half, wasn’t able to get back in the game, then a late interception gave the Packers a short field they would turn into their only touchdown of the second half.
The Packers totaled only 134 yards in the second half and were 2 for 8 on third down after going 3 for 4 in the first half, but given the damage they did in the first half, as well as Seattle’s inability to get much going on offense, that second-half turnaround by the defense wasn’t enough to change the outcome of the game.
First appeared on www.seahawks.com