Badly sprained.
That’s what the Seahawks are.
Also: That was coach Pete Carroll’s description of Russell Wilson’s damaged finger.
Hard to say which will heal sooner. My guess is the finger.
Doctors likely know how to fix the digit faster than the coaches know how to fix the Seahawks.
If the coaches knew, surely they would have done it in time for the Thursday night national TV stage, an event in which the club previously had a 10-1 record. And certainly, they would have done it in time for a match-up against the reviled Los Angeles Rams, who treated them so shabbily on their last visit to the Loo in January.
Even before seemingly indestructible Wilson left the game via injury for the first time since 2017, they had a mere seven points through three quarters.
True, Wilson doesn’t play defense, or kick field goals. Which doesn’t make him much different than the guys the Seahawks pay to do those things.
That’s why this team is badly sprained, with a 2-3 record following a weirdly wild 26-17 defeat (box) that seemed winnable almost throughout, but escaped after spasms of ineptitude.
“Very disappointing second half for us,” Carroll said. “We have to make sure we don’t allow that to happen again. The second half was a big explosion for them offensively. We really were in way better control of that, and really disappointed that we let that happen.”
As big a deal as is Wilson’s injury — after releasing a pass, his hand smashed into the arm of his nemesis, DT Aaron Donald; Carroll offered no prognosis post-game — at least his backup, Geno Smith, offered some hope. His spectacular 98-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter electrified fans who envisioned what could have been one of the greatest single-game underdog stories in Seattle sports history.
But the Seattle defense, which held the Rams to three points in the first half and allowed just two third-down conversions the entire game, has no such backups, and let the Rams get away.
It dug the hole too deep for a miracle finish. The most devastating gash came in the Rams’ first possession of the second half when, on third-and-10 from their own 20-yard line, QB Matthew Stafford lofted a ball to 34-year-old WR DeSean Jackson, who turned it into a 68-yard gain after SS Jamal Adams lost track of the ball and the receiver.
Big play for @DeSeanJackson10 & the @RamsNFL! #RamsHouse
— NFL (@NFL) October 8, 2021: #LARvsSEA on NFLN/FOX/PRIME VIDEO : NFL App pic.twitter.com/C2WHzlXEM1
Two plays later, the Rams scored their first touchdown, went up 9-7 and never lost the lead.
“Really disappointing to me, to let that happen,” Carroll said. “Huge play . . . I don’t know what kind of play that was.”
Said FS Quandre Diggs, who was defending elsewhere: “Those are plays we’ve got to have. We can’t have guys third and 10, and we give up big plays like that. That’s unacceptable.”
What’s clear is that between Adams, the game’s highest-paid safety, and the cornerbacks, the Seahawks have a howling mess. The Rams had 476 yards of offense, including 358 yards passing — 150 in 12 catches by Robert Woods, and 92 on seven by Cooper Kupp.
“They’re able to throw the ball over the middle,” Carroll said of the gap between young linebackers and newer defensive backs. “(Opposing quarterbacks) are getting too much time. We have to do a better job with our backs, and we have to get to the quarterback, so he has to dump the football off. That did not happen in the second half.”
Stafford picked on Sidney Jones, the former Huskies star making his second start for Seattle at left corner, and D.J. Reed, playing right corner after starting the season on the left. Adams, despite off-season surgeries to repair his shoulder and fingers, has not been effective in either coverage or his specialty of rushing the passer. The coaches don’t seem to know how to use him.
Diggs, the senior guy in the back end who made an end-zone interception of Stafford, his former teammate when both played for the Detroit Lions, was clearly irked at his teammates.
“At the end of the day, you either do your job, or you’re not ready for this type of atmosphere,” he said. “That’s just plain and simple . . . It’s super frustrating, because you can see what we did in that first half. We were locked in and guys were on their stuff. I don’t know if it’s mental lapses, I don’t know what it is.
“Guys get comfortable that we hold a team to three points, and you get relaxed. It’s the NFL, you can’t do that. It’s a rivalry game, I would think everybody’s antennas would be up. I don’t know. We’ll see.”
One guy who more than held his own was Smith, who has waiting patiently for three seasons behind the iron man of quarterbacks.
“It is gut-wrenching sometimes,” he said. “Sometimes I fight back tears before the games, like, man, I wish I could be out there. I always prepare like I’m going to play. You never know what can happen. I’ve been around long enough to know that.
“Studied the heck out of call sheet. I like to feel like a coach when I’m out there. So when I got my opportunity, really wasn’t too much to it. Just wanted to go out there and try to get a win.”
When doctors and Wilson determined on the sideline that he couldn’t grip the ball well enough to throw, Smith took over after another great Johnny Hekker punt put the ball at the Seattle two-yard line.
Smith was borderline brilliant, going five-for-five passing for 72 yards, the last a 23-yarder to DK Metcalf for a touchdown that cut the deficit to 16-14. The Loo erupted, beginning chants of, “Gee-no! Gee-no!”
Asked about the chants, Smith said, “It would have been a lot better if we got a win, but it meant a lot. The city has embraced me. This team has embraced me, and I’m really grateful for that.”
The dream blinked out quickly. The Rams immediately responded with a six-play scoring drive, including completions of 28, 24 and 15 yards, 73 yards total. in three minutes.
Smith nudged Seattle to a field goal on his second possession, but a final possession was thwarted by an interception when Tyler Lockett either fell or was tripped. The misdeed was done — late by the defense, early by the offense. Another badly sprained game.
Nothing to be done but wait for the X-ray results on Wilson. There is likely nothing so definitive for the defense.
