Seahawks Can’t Overcome Mistakes In Overtime Loss To Rams

In a wild, back-and-forth game that was full of big plays and costly mistakes by both teams, the Seahawks put together a memorable comeback to force overtime against the Rams on Sunday. In the extra period, however, a fourth-and-1 rush attempt was stuffed on Seattle’s opening drive, and the Rams responded by driving the length of the field for the game-winning touchdown to secure a 26-20 victory.

Here are six rapid reactions to Sunday’s loss, which drops Seattle’s record to 4-5 heading into the bye week:

1. Once again, turnovers and penalties proved incredibly costly for the Seahawks.

A common theme in Seattle’s losses this season has been an excess of costly turnovers and penalties, and Sunday’s loss to the Rams was no different.

Most notably, Geno Smith was intercepted three times, including twice deep in the red zone, one of which was returned 103 yards for a touchdown that put the Rams ahead 20-13. The interceptions weren’t entirely Smith’s fault—the first went off Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s hands and should have been a catch. The second, which was returned for a score, was inaccurate because Smith’s arm got hit as he threw it. On the third, the Seahawks appeared to have a pretty legitimate complaint that the intended target, AJ Barner, was held—but regardless of the reason behind the turnovers, they still had a massive impact on the game.

With those three interceptions, the Seahawks have now turned the ball over 11 times in five losses, including multiple turnovers in four of those five games. And while Smith battled back to lead an impressive game-tying drive, and finished his day with 363 yards and three touchdowns, that wasn’t enough to overcome the damage caused by the turnovers.

As for the penalties, the Seahawks had 12 enforced against them for 95 yards, and many of them had big effects on the game, including two defensive penalties, an illegal contact and a roughing the passer call, both of which the Seahawks vehemently disagreed with, that extended a Rams scoring drive after apparent third-down stops, and two holding calls that negated long completions to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.