Closing Thoughts: Seahawks Bad Day in LA Changes Landscape of NFC Playoff Picture

Another loss to the Rams serves as evidence that Sean McVay still has Pete Carroll’s number as Seahawks miss out on opportunity to take over the NFC’s top seed.

It only took about eight hours for the NFC West playoff picture to be turned on its head Sunday, thanks to the 49ers victory in New Orleans and a Seahawks performance so pitiful it makes you wonder how they won 10 of their first 12 games.

In one of the worst efforts of the Pete Carroll era, the Seahawks lost to the Rams 28-12 in a game that looked much closer on the scoreboard than it did on the field. As a result, if the playoffs started today, Seattle would get one of the wild card spots instead of the bye that accompanies with a division title.

Seriously, this game felt as impactful and out of hand as it did in December of 2017 when the Rams announced their presence as the new king of the division with a 42-7 win in Seattle. If you put together a list of "Things To Do To Lose A Football Game," the Seahawks accomplished them all.

• No pass pressure on Rams quarterback Jared Goff - check.
• Failure to convert key third and fourth downs - check.
• Dropped passes on many of said third and fourth downs - check.
• No rhythm on offense - check.
• Poor defensive game plan - check.

It’s that last point that’s most alarming, and for Seahawks fans no doubt frustrating. Known as one of the NFL’s defensive masterminds, Pete Carroll seemed to have no plan for a Sean McVay-led offense that he should know as well as any coach in the league. Indeed, the entire Seahawks offseason and draft seemed to center on building a back seven on defense better suited to match up against the Rams dynamic offensive scheme. Yet, there they were, once again, playing mostly base defense with three linebackers over and over against the Rams, regardless of down and distance. Worse, even when it clearly wasn’t doing anything to slow Los Angeles down, there were no adjustments. If not for Quandre Diggs' heroics, they might have given up 40 points.

It was as if Carroll and his staff took the Rams, 8-5 heading into this game, lightly - an inexcusable slight if true. Even cornerback Shaquill Griffin indicated after the game that the team may have been up on a “high horse” and needed to be knocked down a peg or two.

If so, how does that happen? How does a coaching staff allow a team on the verge of a special season, after two years of successful roster rebuilding on the fly while still maintaining a winning record, allow this squad to go into a game of this magnitude emotionally and schematically unfit to compete?

These are the questions I have as I bang out this week’s edition of our weekly morning-after column, and as much as I try keeping things positive here, it's difficult not to overstate the magnitude of this loss.

So as the Seahawks now sit at 10-3 after slipping to the No. 5 seed in the NFC West, here are my Closing Thoughts, presented with as much forced optimism as I can muster.

THE DIVISION CAN STILL BE WON

Yes, the Seahawks can still win the division. If they win their remaining games, including the looming Week 17 matchup at home against the 49ers, they’ll be NFC West Champions. But after their lack of effort and ingenuity Sunday, it’s fair to ask how confident fans may be today in this scenario.

THE DEFENSE IS STILL A PROBLEM

Despite looking like a changed unit in their thrilling Week 10 win over the 49ers, and similar effective efforts versus the Eagles and Vikings that followed, Seattle’s defense was shredded Sunday in every facet of the game. The Rams had their way through the air and on the ground to the tune of 455 total yards, and it felt as if they could have gained even more if they’d needed to. The aforementioned lack of pass pressure was key as Goff has shown time and again he’s much less effective under pressure, but the poor rushing defense was just as glaring. Carroll’s justification for playing so much base is that it gives his team their best chance of stopping the run. That simply didn’t happen.

McVay’s offense was complex, diverse, and dangerous. Carroll’s answer on defense was to be basic and inflexible. That needs to change if they want to have any chance at beating San Francisco a second time.

WITH PENNY OUT, HAWKS NEED TO FIND TRUST IN SOMEONE ELSE

Carroll used to have a reputation as a guy who would lean heavily on his younger players. Both while at USC and in his early days in Seattle, if a player was talented enough he would play regardless of tenure. Then why, with Rashaad Penny sidelined early in this contest with what appears to be a season-ending knee injury, was there such hesitancy to use anyone other than Chris Carson? As good as Carson is, he’s a back who thrives more on physical, inside runs. The added element of shiftiness, quickness, and cutback ability Penny was contributing proved to be a challenge for opposing defenses the last two weeks.

Yet once Penny went out,there was but one carry for C.J. Prosise and nary a touch for rookie Travis Homer. That made slowing down the run easy pickings for an outstanding Rams defensive front.

NOW WHAT?

Carroll’s Seahawks teams have shown a penchant for bouncing back from bad performances, and games against a reeling Panthers team and the struggling Cardinals (a combined 8-17-1 at the moment) over the next two weeks provide opportunities to right the ship. But a glance at the 49ers schedule doesn’t present much hope for another mark in their loss column prior to that Week 17 showdown in Seattle.

From what I’m seeing on social media, many Seahawk fans are brushing this loss off as just a rare bad day at the office, one that can easily be forgotten if Seattle rights the ship over the next 20 days. Indeed, we’ve seen what this team can do when the game plan and effort match up as they did against San Francisco last month. When Carroll's team plays like that, they can beat anybody. Forgive me, however, if I lean towards this latest loss to the Rams as much more of a warning sign than an anomaly.