How did Seahawks lose to Bears? 3rd down, 2 Wilson plays loom large

Rahul Mahariya -
0

For the second time since Russell Wilson was drafted in 2012, the Seahawks would miss the playoffs. This was expected after a loss to the Los Angeles Rams last week, but it is now official as Seattle extends a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter and the Chicago Bears win the Week 16 matchup 25–24.

The game was an eventful one from the start as the Seahawks played just the third snow game in QWest/CenturyLink/Lumen Field history, and while it looked like a fairly standard snow game at first, there was a good deal of fireworks from both sides. ,

For the Seahawks, most of the good came early, such as a lengthy DK Metcalf touchdown reception for their first score since Week 8. There was also a big game from Rashad Penny, who covered 135 yards on just 17 carries and scored his third touchdown. of the year. Tight end Gerald Everett was also a strong factor in the passing game, leading all players to receive 68s and grab his fourth touchdown reception of the year.

Defensively, Rashim Green and Carlos Dunlop were the standouts, each matching two sacks. Green and Dunlop are now tied for the team lead with 6.5 sacks a year.

But the Bears were able to turn around because Seattle couldn't put together the final blow. Chicago's biggest deficit was 10 points, but a long drive made it a seven-point game, with only 11 minutes left, and the Seahawks would not score again.

The Bears, as former Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham caught a touchdown with just 1:01, and Chicago went for a two-point try-and-win. Damier Bird took a brilliant catch to try the conversion and later gave the Road team an icy victory.

The loss for the Seahawks isn't just that it was a game they should have won, nor does it get Seattle's first 10-loss season since 2009, but that Bears third-string quarterback Nick Foles. who had not played since November 2020.

So what were the major factors attributed to this loss? Let's dive

Chicago wins on third down

The Seahawks, as we’ve discussed on this website and station for a few years now, struggle on third down.

Seattle entered Week 16 ranking 30th in the league in third-down conversion percentage. Only two teams have been worse.

One of those two teams? You guessed it: the Chicago Bears.

Chicago started the game 4 of 6 on third down and finished the day 7 of 14.

What makes the mark even more staggering and troubling from the Seahawks' perspective is not only a third-place finish this season, but as Seattle enters its sixth week in the third-down defense. This has been a big reason why the Seahawks have excelled at limiting points, despite ranking so poorly in allowed yards.

Foles and Company were able to convert half of their third-down attempts, including conversions where they required 12 yards, nine yards and eight yards. Worst of all, however, was Graham's catch at number three and number 14, when Dunlop threw Foles down for the first time, but the Seahawks were unable to recover the ball.

I mentioned that the Seahawks have been a poor third place finisher this season, and that really happened on Sunday. Seattle converted only 3 out of 10 third-down attempts and did not convert once on third-downs in four attempts in the second half.

Unfortunately for the Seahawks, the issue remains on offense again, just a year after finishing 27th in third-down conversion rate in 2021.

Russ misses DK again

In the Seahawks' Tuesday (still feels awkward at writing) loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Wilson had Metcalf wide open in what would have probably been a game-tying touchdown to the edge of the left. The issue was Wilson, who has arguably been the NFL's best deep-ball passer over the years, who dropped his big speedy wideout and left the pass unfinished.

Wilson didn't have that kind of touchdown miss against the Bears, but he did miss Metcalf at a very crucial time in the game.

Wilson found Metcalf for a long touchdown to start the day's score, but missed him in third and fourth in the third quarter, which was a huge game.

As mentioned, the Seahawks needed four yards to move the chains. There were still 11 minutes left in the third quarter, but the Seahawks were on the Bears' 43-yard line. A conversion would have allowed Seattle to keep the ball and potentially score. Given that the Seahawks lost by one point to that 2-point conversion, any point there likely could have helped seal the deal.

Instead, Wilson overthrew Metcalf in the flat and paralyzed Seattle. Metcalf was open, and if he had caught the ball he would certainly have shaken the stick. Overall, Wilson completed only 16 of 27 passes for 181 yards.

It was a huge omission, even though we didn't realize how big it was at the time, but it still wasn't Wilson's biggest mistake of the competition.

Wilson sacked, Myers misses

Wilson was sacked only twice by the Bears on Sunday, but that second sack was particularly big for Chicago and terrible for the Seahawks.

Remember how we said missing out on points in the third quarter was bad? Well, the Seahawks could have sealed the game at this point as well, but they fell vacant after Wilson was sacked.

What happened?

With only eight minutes to go, the Seahawks faced third and -4 from Chicago's 8-yard line while there was a touchdown.

How did Seattle not score on Chicago's 8-yard line? Well, in third place, Wilson avoided Robert Quinn and turned to his left, but Quinn kept hot in the chase and took the quarterback down for a loss of 13 yards.

Then, kicker Jason Myers, who was perfect on field goals in 2020 but has made just 12 of 17 this year, took one out for 39 and gave the Bears' defense a big win.

The Seahawks would not be able to score the rest of the goal, while the Bears would take the lead with only one minute remaining in the game.

Next up for the Seahawks is their 2-12-1 home finish against the Detroit Lions. The Lions are the only team that has been worse this year than the Bears and Seahawks in third place, but as we saw with Chicago, that was not the case against Seattle.

Tags:

Post a Comment

Previous Post Next Post