Seahawks 2022 Season Rewind: My 10 favorite offensive plays

We’re a week away from Seattle Seahawks training camp, less than a month out from the preseason opener, and inside of two months out from Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams. Before embedding ourselves into the new Seahawks season, let’s take a look back at the highlights from last regular season with top-10 plays on both offense and defense.

Today’s column will focus on the offense, and I must stress again that this is my personal list and without any consultation. I do have a bias towards plays that occurred in Seahawks wins, or at least games where they were competitive. There will be a couple of slightly unconventional picks but nothing to alarm anyone!

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10.) Toe-Tappin’ Tyler Lockett (Week 14 vs. Carolina Panthers)

Every year there is some ridiculous Tyler Lockett toe-tap touchdown where it looks physically impossible for him to come up with the ball and stay in-bounds. Unfortunately this one was in a terrible loss, but it’s still incredibly impressive that he hauled this in from a hurried Geno Smith, who narrowly avoided a sack and for all the world it looked like an overthrow. Not when Tyler Lockett is on the roster.

9.) Geno Smith’s magical 4th down touchdown to Marquise Goodwin (Week 10 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

Seattle’s offense couldn’t do anything for roughly three quarters, and then down 21-3 turned into a monster that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers couldn’t stop. Down 21-9 in the 4th quarter, the Seahawks had no choice but to go for it on 4th and 1. Their rushing attack wasn’t doing anything substantive, so Geno went to the air for this absolute dime to a diving Marquise Goodwin. This gave the Seahawks hope of a stunning turnaround from 21-3 down. If the defense was even vaguely interested in stopping the run against a horrendous rushing unit, perhaps we could’ve seen a remarkable comeback against a Tom Brady-led team in Munich.

8.) The rookies step up (Week 18 vs. Los Angeles Rams)

The Seahawks didn’t even get a touchdown out of this drive and indeed made a meal out of the ensuing goal-line sequence, but the point of this cracking the top-10 is the glimpse into what we hope is an extremely bright future. First-round draft pick Charles Cross with a perfect block for second-round pick and eventual Offensive Rookie of the Year runner-up Kenneth Walker III on a season-deciding 4th down toss. Keep in mind the Seahawks were down 3 and still at least got a field goal out of this, so no conversion likely means no playoffs.

7.) WE TALKED ABOUT THE BOOT! (Week 9 at Arizona Cardinals)

This is honestly my favorite drive of the season but we’re only focusing on the plays. Arizona cut the deficit to 24-21 with 3:30 to go and timeouts remaining. In this same matchup in 2020, Seattle was in a similar situation and punted, gave up the tying field goal, and lost in OT. The 2022 edition had a much better ending, in large part due to the Cardinals’ steadfast refusal to defend any bootlegs to tight ends. Noah Fant’s 51-yard catch-and-run was the unofficial door slam on a Cardinals comeback, and the bonus is Vance Joseph’s frustrated reaction watching his unit get smoked by the same concept yet again.

6.) Tyler Lockett’s redemption (Week 8 vs. New York Giants)

This goes down in the books as Geno Smith’s first game-winning drive—it must happen in the 4th quarter or overtime and be the last lead change, based on the Pro Football Reference definition. What makes this Smith-to-Lockett touchdown one of my top plays is the context. Lockett had lost a fumble on offense for the first time in his career, which led to the Giants’ only touchdown. He later dropped a wide open touchdown in the 3rd quarter which would’ve given Seattle a 17-10 lead. Lockett came into this matchup as a game-time decision due to injury, and it looked like he was having the rarest of off-days.

I guess it wasn’t a total off-day. Adoree’ Jackson was cooked on the double move, and Geno delivered a perfect ball before Kayvon Thibodeaux could deliver a hit.

5.) Uncle Will the Thrill (Week 1 vs. Denver Broncos)

Longtime Seahawks fans may recall that Week 17 NFC West title win over the Rams back in 2010 with Charlie Whitehurst starting. There was a monstrous roar when Whitehurst unleashed a deep pass to Ruvell Martin on the opening possession, which set up Seattle’s only touchdown. I came into that game with the expectation of a painful, unwatchable loss given Whitehurst’s previous performances, and within a few plays my desire to tank for a better draft pick was gone.

This wasn’t quite the same feeling, but watching Geno evade the blitzing Alex Singleton before stepping up to find a wide open Will Dissly wasn’t too far off of those 2010 vibes. It was, frankly, a peak Russell Wilson play with Russ on the opposite sideline. This was a sign of things to come that, why yes, the Seahawks would be fielding a more than competent and often times exciting offense.

4.) Kenneth Walker’s dagger (Week 7 at Los Angeles Chargers)

This was the big test for the Seahawks on the road against an eventual playoff team. They stormed out to a 17-0 lead, almost self-destructed their way into giving it up in the 2nd quarter, but righted the ship and led by double digits for the entirety of the 2nd half. After Justin Herbert’s 4th down conversion pass to Mike Williams was ruled short of the sticks, Seattle had the task of killing clock and/or adding points on the board. They didn’t kill a lot of clock, but they did kill the game off with Kenneth Walker’s 74-yard touchdown run. The execution was flawless and Walker showcased that incredible speed.

T-3.) Rashaad Penny’s Daily Double (Week 4 at Detroit Lions)

Yeah I guess this means these are my 11 favorite offensive plays, but we’re rounding down.

The Seahawks genuinely had no choice but to score on virtually every possession in the 2nd half because, well, the defense allowed nothing but touchdowns after Tariq Woolen’s pick-six. Faced with 3rd and 16, Geno audibled to a run play and punished Detroit’s blitz with the give to Rashaad Penny, who did the rest. Shoutout to DK Metcalf for avoiding a blindside block penalty with a faux block that made Alex Anzalone stumble in his (probably futile) pursuit.

The 2nd touchdown was pretty much the deciding score, again running on what could be considered a passing down on 3rd and 5. Damien Lewis pulled and led the way for what ended up being Penny’s final touchdown in a Seahawks uniform.

2.) How the hell did this throw fit in there?! (Week 5 at New Orleans Saints)

Seriously... how the hell did this work?! That was the real “Holy shit!” moment for me with Geno. His accuracy in this particular game was off the charts, and he really deserved the W if not for some untimely penalties and the existence of Taysom Hill.

1.) DK Metcalf’s game-winner on Jalen Ramsey (Week 13 at Los Angeles Rams)

This was the Seahawks’ only win during their brutal six-game stretch that put them in playoff peril. It was also Geno Smith’s first 4th quarter comeback in a Seahawks uniform, fittingly against the team whom he faced when Russell Wilson busted his finger. In some ways it was poetic that he finished the job he couldn’t quite finish in the 2021 home game.

For all of the players the Rams were missing on both sides of the ball, Jalen Ramsey sure as hell was on the field. This was shaping up to be an embarrassing loss to the worst and most depleted Rams team for years, but Smith put the team on his back and couldn’t have been more clutch. The throw to DK was perfect and it had to be. DK’s catch was outstanding. And against Ramsey?! Priceless.

This meant a lot for Geno, for DK, and the entire Seahawks season.

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Honorable mentions: Geno’s improvised flip to DeeJay Dallas vs. New York Jets, Marquise Goodwin jump ball touchdown at Los Angeles Chargers, Kenneth Walker’s first career score, Walker’s big run off a fake botched snap/direct snap

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Check back on Friday for my 10 favorite defensive plays! What were your favorite offensive plays from the 2022 regular season? Name them in the comments below.