Of all the debate this Seahawks season will bring to the fore, Pete Carroll's statement after Sunday's game is something no one can debate.
"It was just as disappointing a loss as we've done," Carroll said as the Chicago Bears beat the Seahawks 25-24 at snow-covered Lumen Field from a 10-point fourth-quarter loss.
Seattle, in fact, led 10 points twice in the game and was never behind until the Bears got a touchdown and then a two-pointer to take the lead with 1:01.
"We felt we should have definitely won that game," said quarterback Russell Wilson.
Everyone did.
Despite Seattle's subpar season, the Seahawks were a 7-point favorite against the Chicago team coming in 4-10 and started the day after hearing a report from NFL Network that fourth-year coach Matt Nagy could be fired this week. Or said he would after the season).
The game also began with some festive air, with the Seahawks playing just their third snow game in Lumen Field history and the first since 2008 against the New York Jets in the final game of the Mike Holmgren era.
"The dudes were fired for the game," Wilson insisted, even though Seattle was just five days away from a loss against the Rams, which effectively ended any realistic playoff hopes.
And for a while, it looked like DK Metcalf might have snowed the Seahawks at the Bears by catching a 41-yard pass in the first quarter for their first TD since October 31, and the revived Rashad Penny raced to the Bears for 135 yards. Used to be.
When Jason Myers lined up with 7:23 for a 39-yard field goal that could have put the Seahawks back to 10, a victory that would have provided at least a little bit of fun was looking into the offing.
Instead, Myers pushed the kick to the left.
Miss one play came after Wilson took a 13-yard sack in third and four plays at Chicago 8.
Carroll later said: "We have to get rid of football. We can't get a sack in there." Wilson said he was trying to buy time to hit Tyler Lockett, "I think the risk-reward is trying to score a touchdown, we've done it so many times."
Still, Carroll allowed, "We have to hit the field goal too."
The minute Myers didn't, a sense of dread rose through the clouds.
"It was a clear position where we gave him a chance to get some momentum out of himself," Carroll said.
Nevertheless, the Seattle held out the Bears and took on the Chicago 46 with 5:01, especially after the Seahawks reached 28, looking to be in a position to turn the game away again. But a Colby Parkinson pushed the Seahawks back while holding a penalty, and Michael Dixon inadvertently put it in the end zone.
The Bears got 30 yards on completion and another 15 individual fouls to be trampled by Darrell Taylor to QB Nick Foles, and the unthinkable seemed inevitable.
After five plays, Foles struck former Seahawks Jimmy Graham in the corner of the end zone, with Graham holding the ball between two of Seattle's defenders.
Then Bear, with nothing to lose, went for two. Foles bought time and hit Demier Byrd in the back of the end field between two more Seattle defenders, Bayard lowering his knee as he hung on the ball with one hand.
So what happened in the end to allow the Foals, who hadn't played a game in the entire season and were only named as Chicago's starter on Friday, and the Bears suddenly seemed like a world-beater at the end. ?
Seahawks defensive end Carlos Dunlop said, "He made a play, and we didn't and that gave him the lead."
This was as good an explanation as any season, which has generally disregarded reason because the Seahawks have now lost five games by three points or less, something that used to be their specialty (all five of Seattle's victories are one). touchdown or more)
"I think that's the biggest and hardest part about this season," said Wilson, who has led 35 fourth-quarter or overtime game-winning drives in his career, but none this season.
Seattle had another shot, taking its 27th position with 53 seconds and two timeouts. But the drive was so ineffective—Seattle called for two holds and a false start—that the Seahawks didn't hold the ball long enough to use both time outs.
In other words, the collapse was a total team effort, with offense, defense and special teams all contributing, an appropriate adjective for a season as disappointing as any in recent team history. The fans showed their feelings about it by showering snowballs on the field as time ran out.
Asked later why he considered it any disappointing defeat in his tenure, Carroll said: "Just because it was just our game. This had to be our game. We had a chance to win this football match and we didn't."
But its huge impact also cannot be ignored.
The defeat removed the Seahawks from playoff contention and also assured that they would finish last in the NFC West a year after winning it. In fact, Seattle has never been worse than another since Wilson arrived in 2012.
And all of this will only increase the expectation of where things go from here. Will Wilson angle for a trade again? Will the Seahawks decide on a rebuild?
When asked if he thinks it's time to rebuild, Carroll quipped the question.
"I don't know. I can't - we're just going through this week," he said. "That's just what we're doing. We're talking about this week."
As monotonous as it may be now all that 2-12-1 is left in the form of a trip from Detroit and then a trip to Arizona.
"We are still focused, committed," Dunlop said. "We're just too invested to leave; we're going to finish this season strong. As you see, these games are coming to the wire and here we are, probably with no chance of a playoff after that, And we're still in dog fights every now and then. You have to respect that, and that speaks to the character of the locker room right there."
Carroll also said he expects the Seahawks to play the season as usual, while adding that he is pointing the finger at himself first.
"I don't mind holding myself to that kind of accountability," Carroll said. "And I've just found a way, and I'm looking forward to doing the same thing to my other coaches and players, where everybody gives it their all to give us every shot as best as we can." , and it starts with me."