The Seahawks loss on Sunday ranks as one of the worst in team history, and the worst since the Super Bowl XLIX loss. It’s unconscionable they would take a delay of game penalty when they had the ball first and goal on the 1-yard line with Marshawn Lynch trotting onto the field. They take the five-yard penalty and then lose the game, and the NFC West championship, by less than an inch.
It’s not just the loss itself, it’s how they lost.
Granted, there was what should’ve been a pass interference, or defensive holding, penalty on the 49ers for mugging Jacob Hollister in the endzone the previous play, but even in spite of that, you absolutely cannot take a delay of game penalty at that point.
Also, starting linebacker Michael Kendricks tore his ACL and is out for the season, which is at least the sixth Seahawks player to go out with a season-ending injury.
The Seahawks have lost three of their last four games – three losses that were all very winnable games. The 2019 Seahawks seem incapable of putting together a complete game through four quarters. If they play good in the first half of a game, they sleepwalk through the second half, like they did against the Falcons. If they sleepwalk through the first half of a game, like they did against the 49ers, then they come alive in the second half.
The same trend seemed to play out through the regular season. They had one of the best regular seasons in team history right up through November – but once they clinched a playoff spot, that was it. They lost to the Rams and Cardinals in December, beat the Panthers on the road, and played two good quarters against the 49ers to barely lose the NFC West championship.
They don’t dominate anyone, nor get dominated. They play just well enough to give themselves a shot to win, and that’s it – and they usually do win, which is great, but not every time. Sometimes they get right on the doorstep of victory, and instead of grasping it with both hands, they watch it float away. That’s what they did against the 49ers.
I love that the Seahawks know how to win close games. They’ve almost got it down to an art, but when they lose a close game that they should win, it tends to be costly and demoralizing.
The silver lining to this crushing defeat is that, even though the Seahawks likely will not get a home game in the playoffs, they play maybe the only team in the NFL who has more injuries than they do: the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles finished the regular season at 9-7 and won their division, and if they were in any other division other than the NFC East, most likely would not be in the playoffs.
The Seahawks have already beaten the Eagles in Philadelphia earlier this season. This is a game they absolutely should win, even as injured as they are, but this is the NFL playoffs, and crazier things have happened.
If the Saints take care of their business at home against the Vikings, the Seahawks will get one more crack at the 49ers if they beat the Eagles. This time in Santa Clara, where they beat the 49ers earlier this season, and were the first team in the league to do so. If they can beat the 49ers in the playoffs, this regular season defeat will be forgiven and forgotten by the 12s.
As beat up with injuries as they are, the Seahawks have twice shown that they’re capable of beating the #1 seed in the NFC. They just have to do it, but they now have to do it on the road. Given they’re playing significantly better on the road this season than at home, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they could represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.
The Seahawks finished the regular season at 11-5, one game better than last season’s 10-6 record. If they can notch a playoff victory against the Eagles, that will be one more playoff win than they had last season as well. So it will be an improvement, and after another solid draft, the Seahawks could put themselves in a position to dominate the NFC next season.
But for now, on to Philadelphia, and hopefully, no more injuries.
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