an amazing 38-31 win over the Kansas City Chiefs (11-4). Russell Wilson threw three touchdown passes
Marshawn Lynch Color Rush Jersey , Chris Carson rushed for over 100 yards and two scores, and the defense made just enough key plays to help the team pull off an upset win.1st HalfThe Chiefs got the ball first and after an eight-yard Tyreek Hill run, consecutive incomplete passes by Patrick Mahomes led to a rare KC three-and-out. Seattle almost had a three-and-out themselves, but Russell Wilson scrambled for 19 yards on 3rd and 13. Big runs by Chris Carson and Mike Davis, along with a nice sideline grab by Doug Baldwin put the Seahawks inside the Chiefs 10. A pitch play to JD McKissic got them to the 3. On 3rd and inches, Chris Carson stopped... then started... then stopped and started again for the touchdown. Great opening drive by Seattle! 7-0 Seahawks.Seattle was fortunate not to give up a wide open TD to Travis Kelce on a blown coverage, but Patrick Mahomes way overshot him. That proved somewhat costly, as they ended up kicking a field goal instead of getting into the end zone. 7-3 Seahawks.A third-down conversion to Jaron Brown and a pass interference drawn deep down the field by Tyler Lockett put the Seahawks well into Kansas City territory. Unfortunately, despite moving into the red zone, the drive stalled and Sebastian Janikowski missed a short field goal off the upright.That missed was a ten-point swing. A 10-play, 74-yard drive that featured mostly running plays, but the touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes was underneath to a wide open Damien Williams from two yards out. 10-7 Chiefs.After a three-and-out by Seattle, the Chiefs gave it right back to the Seahawks on a Damien Williams fumble, recovered by Jarran Reed after Dion Jordan knocked it out. A pass interference on 3rd and goal gave the Seahawks a new set of downs at the 1. On 2nd and goal, Wilson found a wide open Nick Vannett for a touchdown. 14-10 Seahawks.Frank Clark snuffed out Williams on a 3rd and 1 after a Seahawks timeout negated a successful QB sneak, so another three-and-out forced! Seattle’s two-minute drill predictbaly didn’t score, but they burned up enough clock before punting. The Chiefs did look for points before the half, but Chris Conley fumbled the ball after being wide open in Seahawks territory, and Delano Hill recovered the ball after Justin Coleman knocked it free. Even if he was tackled regularly
Earl Thomas III Color Rush Jersey , the clock likely would’ve run out.2nd HalfThe Seahawks drove into FG range to begin the half, and Sebastian Janikowski missed from 43 yards out, but Jordan Lucas was penalized for roughing the kicker and Janikowski was shaken up. He did come back onto the field and made it from 28 yards out. 17-10 Seahawks.Ladies and gentlemen... Michael Dickson drop kick kickoff.Unfortunately it took only 7 plays for the Chiefs to go 83 yards, with Mahomes throwing a dart to Charcandrick West for a 25-yard touchdown to tie the game. 17-17.Seattle’s ensuing drive looked doomed when they went to 3rd and 15, but Russell Wilson checked it down to Ed Dickson, who somehow broke through two tackles to keep the chains moving. That play was crucial, as Wilson would find Doug Baldwin in tight coverage for a 27-yard touchdown and the lead once more. 24-17 Seahawks.The Seahawks defense brought enough pressure to produce three straight incomplete passes from Mahomes. Seattle’s offense went three-and-out after Wilson missed Baldwin just about breaking free for a big play. Kansas City marched down the field and to the Seahawks 4 thanks to a gorgeous deep ball from Mahomes to Tyreek Hill, who was injured on the play after Justin Coleman landed on his right leg. The Seahawks stood firm after that and held the Chiefs to a Harrison Butker field goal. 24-20 Seahawks.Seattle gashed the Chiefs for a series of chunk plays. A play-action throw to Tyler Lockett, a big Wilson run after escaping a sack, a spin move by Carson to get another first down, and they were instantly in a goal-to-go situation. Wilson threw it incomplete on 3rd and goal, but a hold in the end zone gave Seattle a new set of downs. Next play? Touchdown to Ed Dickson. 31-20 Seahawks.Backs against the wall, the Chiefs went uptempo and needed just 2:55 of game clock to go 9 plays and 72 yards, with Mahomes converting a 4th and 1 and later finding Demarcus Robinson in the back of the end zone, as he toe-tapped for the score. Mahomes ran it in on the two-point conversion. 31-28 Seahawks with 4:36 to go.After a Doug Baldwin drop on 2nd and 6, Wilson went to David Moore who was able to just barely get the first down based on forward progress. Two snaps player, Wilson uncorked a deep ball to Tyler Lockett for 45 glorious yards, but Russ was sacked on the next play. No worries, as Wilson found Baldwin for a ridiculous one-handed catch to the 1-yard line. Chris Carson bulldozed his way into the end zone shortly thereafter. 38-28 Seahawks with 2:29 to go.Seattle’s woeful kick coverage led to a 61-yard return well into Seahawks territory
Chris Carson Color Rush Jersey , but again the defense was able to hold the Chiefs to a field goal attempt. 38-31 Seahawks with 1:20 to go.The onside kick went out of bounds, GAME OVER! 38-31 Seahawks final.Seahawks injury updateRT George Fant limped off on Seattle’s opening drive due to a left ankle injury. He returned on the next offensive series.LG JR Sweezy came out in the 2nd quarter, limping off under his own power after an apparent ankle injury. DJ Fluker came in at RG and Ethan Pocic switched over to LG. Sweezy did not return in the 2nd half.DL Jarran Reed walked off in the 4th quarter with an apparent hand injury. He returned to the game.WR Doug Baldwin limped off in the 4th quarter with an unspecified injury. He returned to the game.Next week’s opponentThe Seahawks end the 2018 regular season at home on December 30th against the Arizona Cardinals (3-12) at 1:25 PM PT on FOX. The Seattle Seahawks had late-season runs to get to the top of DVOA in 2012, 2014, and 2015. That probably will not happen in 2018, but the Seahawks are certainly looking like a team on the rise.Seattle is now 10th in DVOA after ranking 11th last week and they are ninth in weighted DVOA. Following Week 12, the Seahawks were 11th overall, 11th on offense, 11th on defense, and 11th on special teams (no typo), and are currently 10th, 10th, 16th, and 9th. The concern there is the defense of course, even after a 43-16 win over the San Francisco 49ers, because the Niners are bad and Nick Mullens/Dante Pettis/Jeff Wilson looked kinda good at various times.Seattle’s next objective: Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Stefon Diggs, and Adam Thielen. That’ll be much harder to defend
George Fant Color Rush Jersey , but thankfully Russell Wilson has the offense on the move up.The Seahawks now rank fifth in passing DVOA and 10th in rushing DVOA. They’ve faced the 14th-most difficult schedule of defenses by DVOA, compared to say, the New Orleans Saints, who’ve seen the 30th-ranked schedule — though Wilson has comparable numbers to Drew Brees in many respects. Just saying.The number one ranked passing team is the Kansas City Chiefs, who Seattle hosts in two weeks, and the number one ranked rushing team is the LA Rams, who they’ve already faced twice.Overall, the Seahawks have faced the 10th-hardest schedule by DVOA while the Chicago Bears, a team they could face in the wild card round, has seen the easiest slate of teams this season so far. The Rams could go 15-1 as they face the easiest remaining schedule, while Seattle ranks 22nd in that same category. If the Seahawks have anything going for them maybe (I’m reaching here) it’s that they’re at least balanced with how average they are on defense: 16th against the pass and 15th against the run. They’d probably like to trade up to be better against the pass, especially if they manage to get to the point where they’re facing Brees or Jared Goff in the playoffs, but this is where they stand now without Earl Thomas. The Seahawks struggle against number one receivers, ranking 26th in DVOA against in that category.Individually, Russell Wilson is now 8th in DYAR and 6th in DVOA. Chris Carson is 20th in DYAR, 20th in DVOA, and 13th in success rate. Rashaad Penny’s DVOA of 8.3% is the same as Kareem Hunt’s but on significantly fewer attempts. Tyler Lockett is 1st in DVOA among all WRs with a huge lead over number two Michael Thomas. Jaron Brown is 1st in DVOA for WRs with fewer than 50 targets. Overall, it’s been another nice second half run for Seattle with four games left to go. The next will be a difficult matchup against the Vikings but a big win at home could give them a much bigger push than their blowout win over San Francisco.
10th July 2019
The Seattle Seahawks (9-6) are in the NFL playoffs after
