The Seattle Seahawks had a 13-3 lead on the Los Angeles Rams after looking incompetent on offense for almost the entire half. Then they caught fire before halftime, lost competency for the rest of the 2nd half, caught fire again, and had a wet fart of an overtime finish. Meanwhile, the defense was strong for almost the whole game, stronger than we’ve generally seen against previous Rams offenses under Sean McVay, and then fell apart in overtime.

It’s another Winners and Losers following a Seahawks loss. This one was a heartbreaking 26-20 overtime defeat.

Winners

Jaxon Smith-Njigba

What a superb game, dropped pass turned INT notwithstanding. He caught 7 passes for 180 yards and 2 touchdowns, and that doesn’t do him justice. JSN also had a couple of 40+ yards plays negated due to penalties on Michael Jerrell, which aren’t his fault. That’s the breakout game we were hoping for out of JSN, and he delivered some clutch plays on Sunday.

Moving forward, JSN has hopefully earned the trust of Geno Smith and the coaching staff after this performance. He can be a downfield threat even absent DK Metcalf, even if he’s not the type of mega speedster that Metcalf is.

Tyler Lockett

We might not get too many of those Lockett deep ball touchdowns these days. Cherish them when you can. He’s still a pristine route runner with phenomenal hands and feel for tracking the ball down the field.

Cody White

I’ve been semi-joking but semi-serious regarding overhyping of guys who look good in preseason against barely NFL level opposition. White made the most of his opportunities, catching two passes for 44 yards and drawing a (ludicrous) pass interference penalty. He also blocked a punt, which the Seahawks also wasted, but it’ll be interesting to see if he gets another call-up any time soon.

Run Defense

That was an extremely encouraging performance by Seattle’s defensive line and the linebackers against the Rams’ rushing attack. Kyren Williams was held to just 69 yards on 22 carries and zero carries of more than 10 yards. That was impressive given the struggles throughout the season, and they gave themselves a fighting chance against the pass as a result.

Ernest Jones IV

He’ll get one demerit for a dropped interception, but he really is a sound tackler and doesn’t let people get by him in run defense. I’m looking forward to his development over the rest of this season.

Coby Bryant

It ultimately didn’t matter but Bryant’s break-up of the deep shot to Damarcus Robinson before the end of regulation was clutch, and I’m glad that BS flag was picked up. Bryant has earned more playing time in Rayshawn Jenkins’ absence, and depending on the injury to K’Von Wallace, he’ll be relied upon even more.

Losers

Geno Smith

Inarguable. That pick-6 was more than enough to put him in the Losers column because it’s the single worst decision and play he has ever made in a Seahawks uniform. The third interception was maybe a hold by Braden Fiske on AJ Barner but I’m pretty sure that play was DOA to begin with.

Smith led the game-tying drive and I commend him for battling back but it never should’ve been a game-tying drive. This should’ve been a Seahawks win in regulation instead of two turnovers and a -7 out of red zone passes. His final statline is a rollercoaster 21/34 for 363 yards, 3 TDs, and 3 INTs. The magnitude of his interceptions override the good he did.

I’ve defended Geno for quite a bit, but the Geno era unofficially ended today. Even if he’s still the Seahawks starting quarterback in 2025 (the last year of his deal), he definitely isn’t here for 2026. If the Seahawks are way out of the playoff race, Sam Howell is probably starting. I don’t think Geno has played so poorly that he should be benched but the 2nd half performance before the tying drive could’ve easily been benchable in another circumstance.

I think Smith is a good quarterback who is sometimes great. He is not a great quarterback, and that’s perfectly fine considering he was previously one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. Because he was Russell Wilson’s successor, he’s been fighting an uphill battle of his own reputation and the successes of Russ. The problem for Geno is that he’s in his mid-30s and the conditions in which he can best succeed are not attainable with this current roster. Does anyone think Jared Goff is suddenly a top-3 QB? No? I thought so. But he has an elite offensive line, elite running backs, a great tight end, a great number one wide receiver, and a brilliant offensive coordinator. The Seahawks look nowhere close to having that offensive line, which is enough to know it puts a cap on Seattle’s ceiling.

Seattle has a good quarterback in the short-term. It needs a great quarterback in the long-term, because there is no evidence this team is contending in the short-term. That means thinking long-term instead of pretending this is a competitive roster.

Anthony Bradford

At least two of those seven sacks on Geno Smith were on Bradford. Add in the two penalties and he was the worst performer on the offensive line. Somehow worse than Connor Williams.

The supposed quality of Bradford as a run blocker hasn’t been there, either. Seattle still cannot run the ball effectively and if Bradford is bleeding pressures and sacks against passable interior linemen, what is he good at? And how concerned should we be that Christian Haynes isn’t close to taking his starting job?

Connor Williams

The Seahawks are going to be looking for another center next season if Williams keeps this up. He had two atrocious snaps again and several other shaky ones, which is unacceptable for a team this reliant on shotgun passing. He also gave up a sack after being turnstile’d off the snap. Maybe his knee injury has sapped him of his prime but he’s been a disaster for two weeks running.

Michael Jerrell

Tough one for the rookie. A couple of back-breaking penalties and he also allowed at least one sack and a few pressures. There’s a reason he was healthy scratched for much of the season, it seems.

Riq Woolen

Almost everything after the interception was bad. He had a BS illegal contact penalty on him, yes, but he gave up both touchdowns to Damarcus Robinson (including the game-winner) and had a pass interference on the last drive of regulation. Given a chance to get an interception in overtime, Woolen bizarrely chose to stay rooted to his spot instead of attack the ball, leading to Tyler Johnson swooping in for the catch and a first down. A former wide receiver has to have better instincts there.

Woolen has had a very good season but outside of the pick, which I stress was awesome, that was one of his worst games I can ever recall.

Ryan Grubb

There have been many, many bad offensive lines in recent Seahawks history. He’s the first OC Seattle has had who seems unable or unwilling to adjust to his offensive line being bad. And with the game on the line, four consecutive (mostly ineffective) runs by Kenneth Walker III in overtime was reminiscent of what happened in the Washington vs. Oregon game last season. Not even a threat of play-action on 3rd or 4th and 1 while his OL gets shoved back.

I get that the OL handcuffs what he wants to do, but to watch this team be so reliant on dropback passing even when they’re playing with leads is just absurd. And I’m over the shotgun-heavy offense.

Scott Huff

I haven’t put him on the Losers list or even mentioned him but that was such a shambolic offensive line display that he can’t escape criticism. In college, talent generally wins out regardless of who’s the coach. Huff’s group gets bullied in the run game consistently, false starts at a preposterous rate, and has too many miscommunications and blown assignments. It is a terrible, terrible unit. At least Tom Cable’s guys could run block in between all of the horrendous pass blocking.

Jason Myers

That missed PAT did get tipped but that was a pretty big miss. Seattle’s special teams has improved and yet is still prone to devastating mistakes.

John Schneider

I know some of you are also Portland Trail Blazers fans like I (unfortunately) am. This is a comment from Blazers Edge from the start of the year related to the Blazers no longer having to pay Andrew Nicholson, whom the Blazers acquired in a trade and then never played another NBA game. Portland paid him to not play for SEVEN YEARS.

You don’t have to know much about the Blazers or even the NBA to know how much of this comment resonates with the Seahawks, who coincidentally share the same ownership. Read the first and second paragraph from “Layman’s terms” regarding ex-Blazers GM Neil Olshey and then think about the moves the Seahawks have made for years.

I can attest to similar aspects of team building. Portland would generally make the playoffs, lose early, and then try and build depth by trying to cheaply revive the careers of first-round draft busts or trade way too much for mid-level talents. Coincidentally, Olshey also gave up two first-round picks for Robert Covington a defensive specialist the same year Seattle acquired Jamal Adams, and the Blazers had one of the worst defenses in NBA history in Covington’s first season. He was traded midway through the second season and is out of the NBA. Portland went from a perennial playoff team and a Western Conference Finalist to one of the worst teams in the NBA and trying to rebuild. Many fans are generally apathetic and want the team sold (which will happen, we just don’t know when).

Schneider isn’t caustic like Olshey, who was fired for cause, but he has lost benefit of the doubt as far as I’m concerned.

This is his roster, whether in conjunction with Pete Carroll or moves he’s made post-Pete. To add to this, it’s also his coaching staff since he assembled Macdonald’s staff in addition to hiring Mike. The repeated cheapness of this offensive line in quality and actual dollars spent is entirely on him. If you can at least look at his draft strategy and see a lot of bad investments like Rees Odhiambo, Germain Ifedi, John Moffitt, Jamarco Jones, etc., his refusal to do almost anything major in the trade or free agent market at this specific position is untenable. A bunch of one-year stopgaps like Luke Joeckel, Bradley Sowell, J’Marcus Webb, B.J. Finney (who didn’t even play), Laken Tomlinson, etc. have clearly not worked out, and his two meaningful offensive line trades were Gabe Jackson (didn’t work out) and Duane Brown (did work out, forced into trading for him because of George Fant’s ACL tear). I can even go back to the Robert Gallery disaster to point out how many bad OL free agent signings the Seahawks have made under his watch.

Seattle has only extended the contract of one offensive line draft pick (Justin Britt) and most of the free agent/trade acquisitions have not lasted beyond one season. At some point, it’s a Schneider problem. The “guards are overpaid” line may irk me forever given Seattle’s guard situation right now.

The Seahawks aren’t built to compete now and I’m not entirely sure they’re set up for a great future. Schneider got a reprieve with the immediate aftermath of the Russell Wilson trade, but enough time has passed that it does not look nearly as lopsided a “win” for Seattle as it did in year one.

Schneider isn’t getting fired this season—his contract runs through the 2027 draft—but I wonder if that changes if the Seahawks really bottom out to end 2024. At the very least, barring some incredible turnaround, his seat needs to be hot for 2025.

Final Notes

• AJ Barner had 4 catches for 27 yards and other than one ugly drop, he’s been surehanded all season. His blocking? It’s not good, and that’s worrisome since that’s what he was advertised as being great at.
• The pass rush was good but didn’t get home in the form of sacks. Dre’Mont Jones, Leonard Williams, Derick Hall, and Boye Mafe got pressures but Stafford is excellent at avoiding sacks, and Seattle isn’t good enough at converting pressures into sacks.
• The officiating was bad. Derick Hall didn’t rough Matthew Stafford. Woolen didn’t commit illegal contact. Ahkello Witherspoon’s DPI on Cody White was an atrocious call that just happened to benefit Seattle. Both teams earned a lot of their sloppy, undisciplined penalties but there were some ticky-tack and non-existent calls made by Clay Martin’s crew.
• I’ve no issue with Mike Macdonald going for it on 4th and 1 in overtime. You play to win the game, and a touchdown wins the game in overtime. If you can’t get a half-yard in two downs, you deserve to lose. Kicking a field goal (and making it, which is no guarantee with this special teams groups) would’ve meant the Rams could still tie the game or win it. Seattle tried to defend a winning field goal and gave up a touchdown anyway. I do take issue with how disjointed this group looks with the penalties.
• The Seahawks are probably done. If they had an easier schedule I wouldn’t call them done, but there’s not a single team left on the schedule (including the New York Jets) they’re demonstrably better than. The NFC is not looking at formidable now as it did a couple of weeks so so perhaps 9-8 will still get a wild card spot. I don’t think Seattle is sniffing that. I could’ve accepted 4-5 if I saw signs of cohesive play and young talents developing. They’re not cohesive and other than JSN today, I’m not seeing a lot of young talent emerging as possible Pro Bowl level players. I see a lot of pretty good players, and the Seahawks need great players.
• This bye week is welcome if only because I have found this team to be as detestable to watch as the Jim Mora season, except I actually have faith in Mike Macdonald in the long-term. Schneider is a very different story.