Seahawks-Washington final score: Seattle plays poorly, loses heartbreaker 17-14

The Seattle Seahawks had every reason to defeat a banged up Washington team that was missing 4/5ths of its starting offensive line, as well as its starting tight end and its best wide receiver. That did not happen, as the Seahawks committed an ungodly amount of mistakes, whether through penalties, turnovers, missed assignments, you name it, and the defense collapsed late in the 4th quarter to allow Washington to pull off the 17-14 upset. Seattle drops to 5-3 while Washington is 4-4 and right back in the wild card hunt. The Los Angeles Rams are now in first-place in the NFC West.

1st Quarter

Offense was at such a premium to start the game that the only points came via a Seahawks safety. Bobby Wagner sacked Kirk Cousins in the end zone to make it 2-0 Seahawks just past the midway point of the quarter.

On the ensuing possession, Blair Walsh missed a 44-yard field goal wide left, just his second FG miss of the season.

Seattle not only wasted that post-safety opportunity, but they’d previously failed to get into field goal range despite a recovered fumble in Washington territory by Nazair Jones, and Wilson ended the quarter with an interception to Kendall Fuller.

2nd Quarter

Washington failed to capitalize on the Wilson interception, and the Seahawks were on the move. The running game picked up some yards, and Washington committed a couple of penalties, including a dirty horse collar tackle by Josh Norman on Jimmy Graham. Thankfully, Graham returned later in the series. Seattle’s own penalty woes pushed them out of the red zone, and Blair Walsh missed from 39 yards out, also wide left.

Unlike Walsh’s previous miss, Washington would not let the Seahawks off the hook. Kirk Cousins and Vernon Davis hooked up on three occasions, and they found the end zone off a one-yard plunge by Rob Kelley. 7-2 Washington.

Seattle’s sloppy first-half continued with a big Doug Baldwin catch negated by a (surprise, surprise) Germain Ifedi penalty. An Ethan Pocic false start turned 3rd and 10 into 3rd and 15, and Russell Wilson ran for 13 yards (after the original call had him making first-down yardage) before yet another punt. They did get the ball back one more time before the half, and Walsh went wide left from 49, with boos all around for a pathetic showing.

3rd Quarter

The Seahawks again went three-and-out, much to the dismay of the fans. Washington quickly found themselves at the Seattle 13 thanks to a big play to Ryan Grant, combined with a 15-yard penalty on Jarran Reed for roughing the passer. The defense stiffened up in the red zone and held them to a Nick Rose field goal. 10-2 Washington.

Seattle picked up a couple of first downs on its next possession, but the constant pressure was still in Wilson’s face, and it was Zach Brown’s hurry that led to a terrible Wilson interception to Will Compton.

Washington went nowhere, but Seattle’s offense was maddeningly inept. Too many penalties, mistakes by Wilson, blown blocks, near-picks, and a lot of headaches. It was a total 180 from last week against Houtson.

4th Quarter

A 22-yard catch-and-run for Thomas Rawls put the Seahawks inside Washington’s 40. Jimmy Graham put the Seahawks in the red zone, and then Luke Willson got the Seahawks into the end zone.

The two-point conversion was a disaster, as D.J. Swearinger picked off a quick slant at the goal line, and the wacky, lateral-filled return nearly went for two points the other way. Emphasis on nearly. 10-8 Seahawks.

Seattle appeared to take the lead on a Dwight Freeney strip-sack and fumble recovery for a touchdown by Branden Jackson, but Kirk Cousins was clearly down, so it was just a sack. Tyler Lockett returned the punt to midfield, but Tedric Thompson set them back 15 yards with an utterly stupid illegal blindside block. The Seahawks got stopped on 3rd and 1 and punted the ball back to Washington with 7:45 to go.

Washington advanced to Seattle’s side of the field in just five plays, including when they were backed up at 1st and 20. A dangerous throw to Vernon Davis could’ve been an interception, but instead turned into a 10 yard gain. However, a block in the back penalty turned 3rd and short to 2nd and 12 again. Michael Bennett lassoed Cousins down for a sack to set up 3rd and even longer, and Jay Gruden called a draw play just to get a few yards for field position.

The Seahawks regained possession with 2:22 to go at their own 29. Russell Wilson, two timeouts in hand and in position for another game-winning drive, completed his first pass to JD McKissic for 9 yards, but the decision not to get out of bound meant that the Seahawks did not run another play before the two-minute warning. Wilson scrambled to find a wide open Jimmy Graham for 21 yards to the Washington 41. He threw away the next pass after Washington’s blitz hassled him. Wilson scrambled for 11 yards and a first down plus a stopped clock. One play later, Doug Baldwin got free for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:34 remaining. The two-point conversion went through the hands of Jimmy Graham. 14-10 Seahawks.

On a penalty-filled day, the Seahawks were offside on the kickoff, so Washington began their final drive at their own 30. Cousins’ first down pass was tipped by Freeney and fell incomplete. The next pass was a deep throw to a wide open Brian Quick to the Seahawks 40. Quick got behind Justin Coleman on the play. Cousins then fired a deep ball to Josh Doctson, who beat Shaquill Griffin to get to the 1. Griffin did not touch a diving Doctson, and Bradley McDougald had to touch him before he could cross the goal line. Rob Kelley punched it in on the next play to give Washington the lead back with :59 to go. 17-14 Washington.

Seattle started on the 25 after a Nick Rose touchback, needing a field goal to tie or a touchdown to win, and all three timeouts were exhausted. JD McKissic gained 5 yards on a sideline pattern to stop the clock. Wilson spun out of pressure to find Tyler Lockett for a first down. His next throw to Lockett was almost intercepted. The 2nd and 10 pass went behind Jimmy Graham and fell incomplete at the feet of another Seahawks receiver. Paul Richardson made a huge grab to get Seattle to the 38. With the clock ticking, they ran another play, but Wilson was sacked. There was initial confusion as to whether or not it was ruled a sack or incomplete, but it was ruled a sack. Upon further review, the clock was set at :04, and Washington called timeout, ball at the Washington 46. Wilson’s Hail Mary throw hit several hands and then fell out of the end zone, incomplete. Ballgame.

Seahawks Injury Report

Running back Eddie Lacy left in the second quarter with a groin injury and did not return.

Fullback Tre Madden did not return with an achilles injury.

Special teams ace D.J. Alexander was carted off with an ankle injury.

Marcus Smith II collided with K.J. Wright while trying to tackle Rob Kelley, and suffered a concussion.

Next week

Seattle goes on the road for a Thursday night (Nov. 9) game against the 4-4 Arizona Cardinals. That game will air live on NBC/NFL Network/Amazon Prime at 5:25 PM PT.