Seattle Seahawks Secure a 21-20 Victory Over Arizona Cardinals but Miss out on Playoffs

The Seattle Seahawks’ season is over. They played their part defeating the Arizona Cardinals 21-20; however, by that time Green Bay Packers had outdone Chicago Bears to edge out Seattle from any hope of a postseason. 10 teams with 10+ wins, a Cincinnati Bengals team that was only The schedule then included six of the seven worst teams by record. This was one of the toughest schedules in recent Seahawks memory, by a wide margin. Seattle finished the season 3-8 against teams with winning records, and that alone is telling even to someone who knows little about American football. They’re good enough to beat a team as well-highlighted as the Detroit Lions but bottom enough so they are not clearly better than Titans, Cardinals or Commanders.

I feel apathetic. This year’s Seahawks have done something to me. Is it that I wanted them to make the playoffs? Absolutely! Was I sad when it was apparent that they were going to miss? Not really. Individual game-winning drives and late heroics were exciting to watch at the time, but as a whole team over full games was not particularly entertaining. I am irritating what the record not as much is its process that feels too familiar.

This is the last of Winners and Losers for Seahawks game coverage this 2023 season.

Winners

Tyler Lockett

I can’t tell if it will be a lock that Lockett is with the Seahawks in 2024 strictly because of contractual reasons. It’s still great to see him get a game-winner touchdown on an in-depth throw, something really rare this season compared to the years passed. Lockett had just two catches but for 71 yards, and TD, plus the go-ahead two point conversion. I do not want to be the end of a player who has been righteous on and off the field. If it is, what an ending for one of the great receivers in franchise history.

Will Dissly

The former Washington star finally gets his first touchdown of the season, better late than never. As for Dissly, we don’t know what the future holds given his lack of snaps and contract-type deals but I still think that it is a great feat in itself to have played four full or half seasons after everything he went through with regards to injuries at the start of his career.

Devon Witherspoon

He has such an effort and motor that it is inspirational. Seattle somehow managed 8 tackles for loss, and Witherspoon had three of them. He had a stellar rookie season and I am not able to wait what the second one would be. He’s already the best corner for Seahawks.

Jason Myers

On the season, Myers had 35 made field goals and he did not miss in any of his last five games. He also made all his PATs. Yes, in the season Myers had some significant missed field goals but at the same time Seahawks depended on him too much damn. 42 field goals attempted by him, tops all kickers.

Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet

The 1-2 running back combo racked up 141 yards on 25 touches with Charbonnet making a couple of key grabs during the game’s winning drive. Walker had to improvise his 76 yards rushing because the blocking was… well, inconsistent at best. That being said, I look forward to watching them behind a better offensive line next season.

Clutch Time Geno Smith

Even if we acknowledge some of Geno’s incompletions were clock-preserving throwaways, I don’t think he played particularly well with his overall 16/28 performance. It felt like I was more dissatisfied with the offense than defense due to what was riding on this and that 3rd quarter, it sucked. The real conversation to be had is could or should Geno start next season and beyond, but he has performed so much better with the game on line than any of us would have thought they were going into it when they became starters.

On occasion, Geno has brought the need of a late-game drive but it’s no similar to the Seahawks not having driven in many games before with Russell Wilson providing numerous game winners. It felt like he finished the year better than what we saw at the end of 2021, and stats since this Dallas Cowboys game demonstrate it.

I suspect some of you would’ve prefer not to know Geno lead a win with draft picks reasons though.

Bobby Wagner

That could have been Bobby’s last game as a Seahawk (for real this time). No, this will not be considered one of his best seasons but it is a notable career achievement.

Team Discipline

0 penalties! Good it took until late into the season to rectify all those penalties.

Julian Love

To clarify the record on Cigar-gate, something none honestly mind you. I for one have already watched an entire season’s worth of the Seahawks getting creamed instead of being on top, smoking…

Losers

Clint Hurtt

Arizona had a season-high 466 yards of offense and more than 200 rushing yards(though part of that is due to some Kyler Murray scrambling helping boost the total). This is the sixth time that Hurts’ defense has given up 200+ on ground, more than any other NFL team since hiring of Hurtt.

A Seattle had a “sack” on Kyler Murray when he ran out of bounds voluntarily, otherwise pressure was minimal. For the third game in a row, neither of the Seahawks forced any turnovers and finished with only 11 interceptions to their credit that was tied for being one of fewest record performances ever recorded by this team.

The Seahawks defense outside the first two drives looked unimpressive in a game that was crucial to win. Giving Hurtt another shot as defensive coordinator is tough to rationalize, no matter how much he’s running Pete Carroll’s defense.

DK Metcalf

1 catch for 10 yards on the day for DK, and an insignificant injury in the second quarter, however that isn’t all there is. He had a drop that killed the opening drive, a catch stolen because of Seattle accepting to take pass interference call and another catch taken away on replay review which in my eyes saw no reason why they should overturn the initial call. Metcalf also had a blown block on an open screen to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but Geno missed him badly on a play where he was open with space. Despite the miserable day for Metcalf, he was left with his 2nd lowest catches (66) and 2 nd highest receiving yards in a season –1,14.

Devin Bush

Pete Carroll’s first-round draft bust revival project number umpteen also did not go well. The two TFLs are helpful for Bush but he filled in again Jordyn Brooks who was injured and it seemed painful watching end-around during the 4 th a nd 1. Seattle has to look at and deal with the linebackers much more effectively than they’ve done for years now.

Riq Woolen

if he cannot do something to assist as an open-space tackler or in the run defense, then not only is going to be losing snaps but also his job. Woolen had a nice play with Quandre Diggs to track down a read-option keeper from Kyler Murray, but the bad moments exemplified his sophomore slump. That trick play touchdown he was less responsible for he covered two people with one man but the James Conner rushing TD effort left much to be desired. He is a solid man coverage cornerback but at this point, the issues of coverage busts run support and tackling can be seen legitimately. Hopefully, he can get back on track next season.