After the final kneel down, the few remaining snowballs being tossed from the stands were no longer only directed toward officials or the opponent
SEATTLE (AP) - After taking a final knee, some snowballs being thrown from the stands were no longer directed solely at officials or the Chicago Bears. Some were being thrown over the side of the house and into the tunnel as the Seattle Seahawks exited the field.
What was already a lost season for the Seahawks hit a new low on Sunday when they blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead in a 25-24 loss to the Chicago Bears that removed Seattle from playoff contention in the NFC .
The crash has been swift and painful for a team that won 12 games a year ago and were the NFC West champions. Seattle (5–10) were already assured of a finish with a losing record, but were tied with the slimmest hopes of a playoff entering the week. Now, he's guaranteed the worst season of Pete Carroll's tenure with the Seahawks—and his first 10-loss season since his first season as NFL head coach with the New York Jets in 1994.
Seattle would finish last in the NFC West for the first time since moving to the NFC in 2002. The last time the Seahawks played in their division was in 1996, when the AFC West finished.
"It just had to be our game. It had to be our game," Carroll said. "We had the opportunity to win this football game and didn't."
Nick Foles hit one-time Seattle tight end Jimmy Graham with 1:01 remaining on a 15-yard touchdown and the ensuing 2-point conversion for Damier Bird gave Chicago the lead, no last-second rally engineered by Russell Wilson. Was. in previous seasons. In their final series, the Seahawks scored three penalties and Wilson's fourth-down pass attempt to Tyler Lockett was unfinished.
"The biggest thing is finishing. I mean, we've had close losses during the season and it's all about finishing," said Rashad Penny, who ran for 135 yards and a TD. "That's a thing. The coach who preaches every day."
Wilson completed 16 of 27 for 181 yards and two touchdowns. There was some good in his performance, which included a 41-yard touchdown pass to DK Metcalf in the first quarter, his first TD reception since October 31.
There were also some surprise moves, such as Metcalf scoring just one goal in the second half and Wilson taking a costly sack with Seattle inside the Chicago 10 in the middle of the fourth quarter to take a 24-17 lead. The lost yardage made for a 39-yard chip shot field-goal attempt for Jason Myers, who left it wide for his sixth miss of the season and his second from inside 40 yards.
"I think the risk-reward is trying to score a touchdown, we've done it so many times, we've hit Tyler and the others, and unfortunately we weren't able to make that play," Wilson said. said. "And then obviously there's a situation where we don't finish it, but I was trying to play the ball like I know how to do and always do and try to turn around and just Try to see if we can get a touchdown there."
A snow storm that hit the Seattle area early on Sunday left a lot of empty seats inside Lumen Field, one of the least crowded in recent memory. This could make it even more empty for a truly meaningless game for both teams for next week's home finale against Detroit—apart from fans who can show up knowing that Carroll, Wilson, and Wagner's group together in Seattle. Might be the last chance to happen. Uniform.