SEATTLE, Wash. – For a few brief moments, Geno Smith looked ready to slay his demons against the San Francisco 49ers, opening a promising first drive for the Seattle Seahawks by connecting with DK Metcalf on a crossing route for a 30-yard completion down to the opposing 30-yard line.
But only a few plays later, with standout rusher Nick Bosa blasting him as he threw, Smith’s third down pass to Tyler Lockett on a corner route sailed over the receiver’s head and into the hands of rookie safety Malik Mustapha at the one-yard line, abruptly ending the drive without any points. Up until the final minute of the first half, the Seahawks wouldn’t even make it back into 49ers territory, punting three times and losing a possession thanks to a special teams fumble by Laviska Shenault.
Going into the locker room trailing 16-3, Seattle’s offense failed to produce more than seven points in the first two quarters for the third consecutive game, including Smith underthrowing on a deep ball to Metcalf that easily could have resulted in six points. Despite a valiant comeback effort, those struggles and missed chances put the team too far behind the eight ball in an eventual 36-24 defeat on Thursday Night Football, dropping the team to 3-3 after winning their first three games under coach Mike Macdonald.
Brusque with reporters after Thursday’s loss, a frustrated Smith pointed to poor execution for Seattle’s chronic slow starts, as the team has been hurt by a mostly ineffective run game, drive-killing penalties, and far too many turnovers.
“Not starting fast. Not executing. That’s the main thing, not executing. Lack of execution. This is a game of inches as they say,” Smith said. “The margins are small, especially up here at the big boy league. You got to do all the right things all the time. We failed to do that today.”
Starting at a snail’s pace has become an unfortunate theme for Smith and the Seahawks, who have been outscored 47-20 in the first half during their three-game skid. Making the numbers look even worse, seven of those points came on a 102-yard fumble return by safety Rayshawn Jenkins, meaning the offense has contributed a mere 13 total points against the Lions, Giants, and 49ers.
As has been the case for the better part of a month, the Seahawks eventually found traction in the second half against the 49ers as Smith led a 13-play, 94-yard drive that culminated in a Ken Walker III touchdown run to cut the deficit to 23-17 late in the third quarter. The quarterback also threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Lockett late in the fourth quarter, but that came after a critical interception targeting Metcalf on the previous drive, leading to a quick San Francisco touchdown with short field.
For a third straight game, turnovers led to Seattle’s undoing more than anything. Metcalf lost fumbles against Detroit and New York that led to opposing scoring drives and on Thursday, Smith’s two picks resulted in 10 points for San Francisco and Shenault’s special teams fumble tacked on another three points. Losing by 12 on the scoreboard, erasing those miscues could have led to a dramatically different outcome, but self-inflicted wounds continue to derail Macdonald’s squad.
“Obviously we’re not emphasizing it enough,” Macdonald said of Seattle’s turnover problems. “That’s the starting point. The guys know that. I mean, add that to the list of things we have to attack. But we can’t be giving the ball to the other team. We have to be playing more precise.”
Unfortunately, Macdonald and his staff don’t have to get back to the drawing board on offense and special teams only. Heading into a mini bye before a Week 7 road clash with the Falcons, with Jenkins’ fumble return being the lone exception, the Seahawks’ defense hasn’t been much better starting games as of late either.
Playing without Byron Murphy II, Leonard Williams, Boye Mafe, and others during the course of their three-game losing streak, injuries have been part of the equation. But just like on offense, execution-related issues have been the biggest problem, starting with second level run fit issues that have cropped up far too often and led to big runs for the opposition.
One week earlier, sixth-round pick Tyrone Tracy rushed for 48 yards on just six carries in the first half on his way to his first career 100-yard performance for the Giants, capitalizing on several plays where the Seahawks left a gap wide open enough for a semi truck to drive through. This ugly trend continued into Thursday night as Jordan Mason exploded through the B-gap with linebacker Tyrel Dodson consumed by a block at the second level and ripping off a 37-yard run on the 49ers opening possession to set up a Matthew Wright field goal.
San Francisco ended up rushing for 105 yards in the first half and also scored a 76-yard touchdown when safety Julian Love couldn’t make a play on an underthrown ball from Brock Purdy to Deebo Samuel, allowing the receiver to take off for nearly 50 yards after the catch on a blown coverage. It marked the third straight game Macdonald’s defense allowed at least 225 yards of total offense in the first half, and things didn’t improve out of the halftime break in any of those games either, as Seattle allowed four touchdowns and a field goal in the third quarter of those contests.
“These drives get strung out together because we just aren’t disciplined enough, consistently,” Love remarked. “We have the players, we have the scheme, we have the right mindset. It’s just cleaning it up. We have to attack this week. It’s a long season ahead of us.”
Asked about the issues giving up long drives to open both halves, Macdonald doesn’t think the poor results have happened because the Seahawks haven’t been ready to play. Instead, he pointed to himself and the coaching staff, admitting they need to do a better job of preparing their players and putting them in a position to execute at a higher level out of the gate.
“I don’t think we’re flat,” Macdonald responded. “Teams have openers and you have to stop those openers. That’s just what it is. That’s a combination of understanding how teams are attacking you, how that’s evolving, and keep putting them in better position to make plays and our guys have got to go make the plays. Our guys are ready to play.”
For the Seahawks to turn their season around, players and coaches will have to do some soul searching during a three-day break before kicking off preparations for the Falcons next week. From going back to the drawing board with ball security drills to revisiting how they are attacking game planning during the week, they will need to find tangible solutions quickly to avoid the slow starts that ultimately have doomed them over the past three weeks.
As far as Lockett is concerned, all options should be on the table, even if Seattle needs to open games thinking they already are behind on the scoreboard as a means to coax better first half performance out of the offense. With plenty of football left to play ahead of them, regardless of what measures it takes to get the unit playing at its best early in games, he’s confident the team will be able to figure things out and help get them back on the winning track.
“We just got to be able to figure out what is it going to take for us to be able to play in the first half the way that we do in the second half, and if that means we got to play catch up, then hey, let’s get that mentality where at the beginning of the game we’re already losing if that’s what it takes for us to be able to play at the high level. I don’t know. I think for us, it’s just going back to the drawing board and being able to look at what happens in order for us to be able to play it our best. Are we overthinking it? Are we over-energized? What is it? Because sometimes, when you’re down, you don’t overthink, right? You’re not over-energized. Sometimes, you just have to breathe.”
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