Picking through the wreckage of a tumultuous week that made for the first losing season of Russell Wilson’s Seattle career, one thing stands out.
The Seahawks lost three times in a calendar year to the Los Angeles Rams: 30-20 in January, 26-17 in October and 20-10 (box) Tuesday night at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA.
Most immediately, Seattle fans can feel free to rage about the decision by the NFL and the players union to break their COVID-19 rules and postpone the game two days, which helped the Rams roster and hurt the Seahawks roster.
Also, feel free to scream about erroneous officiating calls that revived dead Rams’ drives and killed the Seahawks’ last best chance. And feel free to lament the covid-induced absence of of WR Tyler Lockett, the Seahawks’ lone consistent difference-maker on offense in 2021.
All are facts. But the through-point in the three games was that the Rams defense owns Wilson and his offensive teammates.
None of the Seahawks’ attempts at upgrading coaches and players, none of the new schemes, none of the doubled-down psychological approaches, have made a difference sufficient to thwart the nemesis. Not even another valiant defensive effort, which had to make up for the injury absences of defensive backs Jamal Adams and Tre Brown, and the covid absence of D.J. Reed, could overcome the Ram Wham on Wilson.
As a consequence, the 5-9 Seahawks will miss the the playoffs for the first time since 2011, a run of excellence that faltered primarily because of years of poor drafting that finally caught up this season. Then, ahead of a do-or-playoffs-die match with the 10-4 Rams, the thin Seahawks’ vigorous virus protocols slipped; Lockett, Reed and five others were lost temporarily to the fast-spreading omicron variant.
The absences left Wilson even more vulnerable. He did some things well. He needed to be outstanding.
He was one for 11 in pass attempts longer than 10 yards, and the long completion was a fluke, a 34-yarder that was intended for WR DK Metcalf. But the wobbler fell into the hands of TE Gerald Everett after Wilson’s arm was struck as he released.
Overall, Wilson was 17 of 31 for 156 yards, one interception and three sacks. Tellingly, he attempted no rushing plays, either scramble or designed. His QB rating was 55.
For the three LA games combined, he completed 39 passes in 74 attempts for 482 yards, three interceptions and 10 sacks. Aaron Donald, who broke Wilson’s finger in the October game, and crew know they were in his head.
Just a reminder that @jalenramsey is the best corner in the league.
— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) December 22, 2021@NFLonFox pic.twitter.com/bBwZOtMZu9
Fittingly for this underwhelming season, two under-throws did him in — one intentional, one not.
Early in the fourth quarter on third and 14 at the LA 38-yard line, Wilson saw Metcalf separate from his principal defender, CB Jalen Ramsey, inside the 10-yard line. But instead of hitting him in stride as per usual, Metcalf was forced to a near-halt, and Ramsey knocked it away.
“I wish I could have had that one back,” Wilson said.
Still down 17-10 inside four minutes and facing fourth and six at the 50-yard line, the Seahawks chose a peculiar pass play: A seam-route fade to third-string RB DeeJay Dallas. But the lob seemed intentionally underthrown so that Dallas would slow down and be struck from behind by trailing LB Ernest Jones. Everything worked perfectly, except the officials failed to call the incompletion pass interference. Turnover on downs, plus 15 yards for Dallas kicking the ball in anger after the play.
Bad as was the non-call, the choice of play illustrated the Seahawks’ desperation: Wilson was no threat to run, Metcalf would be double-teamed, and without Lockett, the other receivers were harmless. So the Seahawks sent out Dallas to draw a foul. If this were an NBA game, notorious flopper Vlade Divac would beam with pride at playing to take a charge.
Crushed by the enormity of the defeat, coach Pete Carroll couldn’t muster much outrage.
“It didn’t look very good on the little replay that somebody showed me, but I don’t know,” he said. “I’m not bellyaching about that call.
“We need to win the game in all the other ways we could win the game.”
He’s right. Grim as it was, officiating was just another thing to overcome. But the Seahawks don’t have sufficient resourcefulness this season to do what they have so often done before.
In the face of steady double teams on Metcalf, he couldn’t be force-fed. He caught only six of 12 targets for 52 yards, with a long of 12, and played irked. But Carroll wasn’t buying the idea that the tandem isn’t happy with one another.
“They’re trying their asses off to play right,” Carroll said. “They’re working on their stuff, their routes, their concepts. The calls are there. We’re trying to get (him) the ball. We just have to throw and catch it, and make the plays, and throw better.
“I am sick that we didn’t have a chance to play with Tyler. He would’ve been a factor, for sure. It’s unfortunate because this is really his kind of opportunity, to do it and come through.”
So now we’re blaming covid. But if you do that, you have to account, for example, that covid denied the Rams their starting right tackle, Rob Havenstein, whose backup was run over three times by Seahawks DE Carlos Dunlap for drive-killing sacks of QB Matthew Stafford.
Third sack of the game for @Carlos_Dunlap!
— NFL (@NFL) December 22, 2021#Seahawks : #SEAvsLAR on FOX : NFL app pic.twitter.com/NSDZccZipp
Both sides knew they were short-handed, but the Rams’ key offensive players, Stafford and Cooper Kupp (nine catches, 136 yards, two TDs) did just enough, knowing that their defense was embedded in Wilson’s head.
The defeat leaves the Seahawks in the rare position of playing out the remaining string of three games (Bears, Lions and Cardinals) without stakes.
As always, Carroll was resolute.
You saw how hard we played tonight,” he said. “There was nothing but guys fighting for one another. So that’s what we’ll do.”
Well, good for them. They’ll need the distraction, because the rest of the NFL world that still cares about the Seahawks is off to a second season of endless speculation of what shall become of the once formidable tandem of Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson.
