Seahawks Pull Off Another Christmas Miracle, Beat Titans With Late Touchdown
Even with a different quarterback at the helm less than a week after narrowly beating the Philadelphia Eagles, the Seattle Seahawks found themselves in the same spot, with the same stakes and facing the same deficit late in the fourth quarter for a Christmas Eve matchup on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.
But instead of Drew Lock tossing the game-winning touchdown, it was Geno Smith in his return from a two-game absence that found tight end Colby Parkinson for the go-ahead five-yard score with 57 seconds left to give Seattle a 20-17 win, the same final score the Seahawks had six days ago against the Eagles at Lumen Field.
The win and the loss by the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday puts Seattle into the final NFC Wild Card spot at No. 7 if the season ended today.
© Christopher Hanewinckel, USA TODAY
"We executed beautifully in that situation where you gotta wait and be patient to make plays and Geno did a great job," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said.
Smith went 25 of 36 passing for 227 yards and two scores. It wasn't always pretty for Seattle up front, as Kenneth Walker had 16 carries for 54 yards while Smith was sacked three times. However, the veteran quarterback played turnover-free and made some key throws to Tyler Lockett (eight catches, 81 yards), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (six catches, 61 yards) and DK Metcalf, who snagged a one-handed touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give the Seahawks their first lead of the game at 13-10.
But after he had just () rushing yards on () carries in Week 15, Titans star running back Derrick Henry was back to his productive ways, including late when the Titans needed it most. He capped off an impressive 15-play, 75-yard drive for Tennessee in the fourth quarter with his second of two total touchdowns on a two-yard score to put the Titans back in front at 17-13.
Henry rushed 19 times for 88 yards and the score while also finding tight Chigoziem Okonkwo for a 12-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, but it wasn't enough on a day where veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill was sacked six times by the Seahawks and went 18 of 26 for just 152 passing yards.
With rookie starter Will Levis out due to an ankle injury, Tannehill stepped in and made some plays with his legs, finishing with 37 rush yards on two carries. Okonkwo led the way for Tennessee with six catches for 63 yards and the score.
The Seahawks will now need to win their final two games if they want to make the postseason.
