'I've Got to Be Better': Sam Howell Endures Historically Poor Seahawks' Debut

With the Packers generating consistent pressure on him, Sam Howell slogged through one of the worst outings by a Seahawks quarterback in franchise history.

Dec 15, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Green Bay Packers defensive end Kingsley Enagbare (55) sacks Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Howell (6) during the third quarter at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

SEATTLE, Wash. - Trailing the Green Bay Packers by 10 points inside six minutes to play, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Howell took the shotgun snap on 2nd and 16 and wasted little time unloading the ball once he reached the end of his three-step drop, believing tight end Noah Fant would come open down the seam.

Unfortunately, after lucking out on several close calls on earlier passes in his first extended opportunity to play for Seattle, Howell's good fortunes ran out as he paid dearly for a poor decision against a Cover 2 look from Green Bay. Somehow not seeing the linebacker drop back into his hook assignment, the third-year signal caller telegraphed a pick right into Edgerrin Cooper's hands, and the rookie defender returned it 22 yards to put the nail in the coffin.

Putting the cherry on top of a blowout sundae in front of a national audience, Jordan Love threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs moments later as the Packers secured a signature 30-13 victory over Howell and the Seahawks, who saw their four-game win streak snapped in ugly fashion at Lumen Field.

"They were playing a lot of Cover 2. Kind of had a four vertical concept and kind of thought I had Noah [Fant] there in between the two linebackers," Howell said after the game. "Just got to make a smart decision."

Thrust into the lineup midway through the third quarter after starter Geno Smith suffered a knee injury at the tail end of a low hit by Cooper, Howell checked in amid an unideal situation on all fronts. At the time, Seattle already trailed 20-3 on the scoreboard, and with the third-year quarterback coming in cold off the sidelines, he was being thrown into the fire with a feisty Packers pass rush ready to feast on an offensive line that had struggled to pass protect all night.

As coach Mike Macdonald noted in his post-game press conference, the Seahawks were dealing with a double-edged sword, as the offensive line wasn't doing a good job keeping defenders out of the pocket and Howell wasn't able to get rid of the ball quick enough on several occasions. Making things tougher, the Packers did a great job of covering on the back end, allowing the pass rush to consistently collapse on the quarterback.

"Wasn't good enough to win. I know he's disappointed," Macdonald remarked. "Just didn't feel like we were getting the ball out on time and then it wasn't complemented with our pass protection. I know we gave up a bunch of sacks, and they did a good job, too. They covered the routes and rushed the passer, and it was a complementary game on their end."

While circumstances were far from perfect and factors outside of his control clearly impacted his performance on the field, Howell's regular season debut as a Seahawk proved to be an unmitigated disaster coming in for relief duty on Sunday night.

As Sam Howell acknowledged after the game, this is just basic Cover 2. If you really understand that coverage, you have to know there's going to be a linebacker dropping here. Even if that pass is lofted more, the chance of it being completed to a non-Packer is barely above zero.… pic.twitter.com/s5WVsVctJ6

— Corbin K. Smith (@CorbinSmithNFL) December 16, 2024

On seven possessions after replacing Smith under center, Howell managed to complete only five out of 14 pass attempts for 24 yards, averaging a poor 1.7 yards per attempt and uncorking the unsightly interception right into Cooper's hands. Along with posting a 35.7 percent completion rate, he also took four sacks on 18 drop backs, with two of those coming on plays where he held onto the ball for more than three seconds.

With the exception of a touchdown drive culminating in a 24-yard touchdown run by Zach Charbonnet, Howell led five possessions that resulted in either a punt or a turnover. On 19 drop backs, the Seahawks produced five net yards with the Packers pushing them backward 21 yards on the aforementioned four sacks, and three of those drives concluded with punts after moving nowhere but backwards.

"At the end of the day, I’ve got to be better," Howell said. "I think my job is to be ready to go in there and play well and help this team win, and I didn't do that today. I’ve just got to be better, watch the film, learn from it. Definitely we had chances there in the second half. Defense played well; put us in good position."

From a historic standpoint, Howell turned in a performance for the ages spelling Smith, but not in a good way. Struggling with accuracy and decision-making throughout the second half, he became only the fourth Seattle quarterback in franchise history and first since Jeff Kemp in 1988 to throw at least 10 pass attempts and finish with under a 40 percent completion rate and fewer than two yards per attempt.

If there's a silver lining, Kemp finished with one completion on 12 attempts in that game against the 49ers nearly 40 years ago and also threw three interceptions. From that perspective, Howell could have played much worse in the grand scheme of things, and at least he completed a handful of short throws to set up Charbonnet's touchdown run.

Given how he poorly Howell played overall, albeit in a difficult situation for any quarterback to enter, the Seahawks will be keeping their fingers crossed Smith dodged significant injury and make it back for a must-win Week 16 home finale against the Vikings. But if they have to turn to their backup to make his first start of the season, Macdonald remains confident in his ability to lead the offense and that he will rise to the occasion with a full week of prep and game planning as the starter.

"That's why we have Sam, to come in and help us win games if he needs to. But, look, tough situation. He hasn't played yet this year. We got faith in Sam. Guy is a great player. If he gets another opportunity, he'll do a great job."

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