SEATTLE — “It doesn’t have to be close.”
The Seattle Seahawks feel they’ve earned the right to feel that way entering every game, because of all the work they’ve put in and everything they’ve put on tape since the beginning of the season. But one benefit of a nail-biter is that players get to bask in moments like the one Devon Witherspoon felt in the final seconds of the Seahawks’ fourth consecutive victory.
Seattle’s defense trotted onto the field nursing a two-point lead over the Indianapolis Colts with 11 seconds remaining. Before assuming his place in the formation, Witherspoon galloped in a circle with his right arm extended toward the 68,771 fans in attendance, imploring them to go from noisy to chaotic.
A few seconds later, Witherspoon helped Seattle secure a 18-16 win by deflecting a wobbly pass from Indianapolis Colts quarterback Philip Rivers into the hands of safety Coby Bryant. While the defense joyously mobbed Bryant in the end zone, Witherspoon pumped his chest and hugged some of the fans that followed his command and turned the volume up at Lumen Field.
“It feels amazing, bruh,” Witherspoon said. “You know everything the 12s give us, and in the past, we wasn’t giving them what we should have been. Now we’re just doing what we’re supposed to do at home.”
The Seahawks (11-3) entered this season wanting to protect their home turf, knowing it would help them achieve their other goals of winning the NFC West and making a deep playoff run. They’re now .500 at home in two seasons under coach Mike Macdonald, and, thanks to another good defensive performance and clutch kicking by Jason Myers, the Seahawks still have everything within their control.
They are fifth in the NFC and second in the NFC West behind the Los Angeles Rams (11-3), who visit Seattle for a massive rematch Thursday night. The Seahawks’ odds of earning the No. 1 seed (and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs) would increase from 28 to 52 percent with a win, according to The Athletic’s playoff simulator.
“We’ve been waiting for this one as a team,” Seattle defensive back Nick Emmanwori said of the Rams rematch. “This is what we want right here. As a defense, as a team, as an offense, this is what we want. We’re looking forward to it on Thursday.”
To remain in the driver’s seat, Seattle once again needed its defense and special teams to shoulder most of the burden while the offense struggled to execute. This was the third consecutive game in which the offense managed only six points through the first half. Two of Myers’ six field goals came during two-minute situations — one before the end of the first half and another on the game-winning drive.
On the latter possession, receiver Rashid Shaheed gave Seattle manageable field position with a kickoff return to the 37-yard line, then caught two passes for 25 yards to set up Myers’ 56-yard boot with 22 seconds remaining.
“Sheed came in clutch,” receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba said. “That’s what we expect from him, to get open. He does that. He runs great routes, and he’s somebody we rely on, and we can depend on him.”
They were also able to depend on Myers, who hasn’t missed since his would-be game-winning attempt from 61 yards fell short against the Rams in Week 11. Myers hit field goals of 47, 52, 46, 32, 30 and 56 yards on Sunday. But two of those kicks came on stalled red zone drives.
“We’ve got to start faster as an offense; we’ve got to finish in the red zone,” quarterback Sam Darnold said. “I feel like it’s becoming a thing now, and we’ve got to get it figured out.”
When asked about Myers’ performance, Darnold said: “Hopefully we don’t need to use him as much as we are. Hopefully they’re PATs and not field goals. But he’s been doing a great job for us.”
The same can be said of Seattle’s defense. Macdonald’s unit allowed 16 points to a team led by a 44-year-old quarterback, but the Colts averaged just 3.7 yards per play and had only two scoring drives longer than 30 yards. Rivers threw for 120 yards, his longest pass gained 17 yards, and his leading pass catcher was running back Ameer Abdullah. Jonathan Taylor (87 yards) and Abdullah (15) barely combined to rush for over 100 yards, and they needed 29 carries to do it.
“It was a little interesting” playing against Rivers, said the 21-year-old Emmanwori. “He was rusty, obviously. Some of his throws were not on time or a little odd. But we handled business and did what we were supposed to do.”
Rivers’ best throw of the afternoon was a back-shoulder toss to receiver Alec Pierce that gained 16 yards to Seattle’s 49-yard line with 1:55 to play, while trailing 15-13. After that play, the Seahawks sent the house expecting a run play — and they were correct. Taylor was stuffed for no gain. That was Taylor’s fifth time being stopped for either a loss, no gain or just 1 yard.
On that drive, and the one that ended with Bryant’s interception, Rivers and the Colts were in what Seattle likes to call the Death Zone.
“It’s like you and somebody, y’all just across from each other and y’all just battling, and whoever dies first, that’s who dies first,” defensive tackle Byron Murphy II. “That’s what the Death Zone is.”
The Colts gained 7 yards on their next two plays and kicked a 60-yard, go-ahead field goal with 47 seconds remaining. Then it was time for Darnold to lead his second game-winning drive of the season and his first since Week 4. Murphy jogged off the field and roared to the crowd from the sideline, confident that his offense would come through.
“At that point, I was like, ‘We got it. We won this game,’” Murphy said.
As has been the case the past few weeks, Seattle’s offensive players were happy to win but unsatisfied with their performance. Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet combined for 48 rushing yards on 17 attempts, with just four first downs (all by Charbonnet). They had only 75 rushing yards and three first downs in Week 14.
The Seahawks do not have a run game they can lean on. They’re at their best in pass-heavy, hurry-up mode at the end of halves. Those situations can sometimes be the difference between a win and a loss. For all the struggles on offense, that part of Seattle’s training is translating to the games.
“It’s good to have those drives when we need it,” Darnold said.
The Seahawks have a top-10 offense by points per drive (according to TruMedia), and Shaheed’s emergence the past two weeks is very encouraging given their need for a weapon to complement Smith-Njigba. But Macdonald’s team cares about the process as much as the results. Right now, the offense’s process in these wins has been a bunch of slow starts that burden the two other units.
“There’s probably a lot of things happening (on offense),” left guard Grey Zabel said. “I didn’t play my best game. I gave up way too many pressures. I was having Sam move off his spot. I’ve got to be better up front. (We’ll) go and do a deep dive here. I know it’s a short week, but still got to understand it’s not good enough. I think there’s a lot of guys up front that are probably saying the same thing.”
Thanks to the Death Zone defense — which forced at least one turnover for the third consecutive week — and a special teams unit that is playing well in multiple phases, Seattle still has a direct path to home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. For now, Thursday’s game is the only remaining one scheduled at Lumen Field. To ensure the fans are treated to at least one more, the Seahawks need to play a complete game and avenge that Week 11 loss to Los Angeles.
“We know what these upcoming games mean for us as a team,” Darnold said. “We’re just going to continue to do our process and go from there, with the understanding that it does mean a lot.”