The Seattle Seahawks are not feeling too hot after their latest loss.
Despite having Geno Smith in the lineup — he suffered a right elbow injury during the previous week against the Los Angeles Rams — the Seahawks were unable to muster much offense as they were soundly defeated by the San Francisco 49ers, 31-13. Not only was Seattle blown out by their biggest rivals, they failed to score an offensive touchdown, with their lone touchdown coming from an interception returned by Jordyn Brooks.
While the Seahawks scored just 13 points — their second-lowest output of the season — they were especially abysmal during the first half, scoring just three points and posting a total of just 52 yards across six drives. Smith — who was questionable all week heading into the game — was especially underwhelming, going just 6-for-9 for 55 passing yards with one interception and two sacks during the first half.
Head coach Pete Carroll was asked if Smith’s injury affected his play and the Seahawks’ offensive struggles in the first half, a notion that the head coach quickly shut down in the postgame press conference.
Pete Carroll’s opening statement focused on the brutal first half. He later said Geno Smith’s arm was fine. “That had nothing to do with it,” he said.
Seahawks Struggling Drastically on Offense in Recent Weeks
The Seahawks have now gone 20 consecutive possessions — dating back to the first quarter of their Week 11 loss against the Rams — without an offensive touchdown.
Carroll stressed that Smith and the Seahawks — who went 3-of-11 on third-down conversions against the Niners — need to be better on third-down conversions.
“We need to help him be effective. That’s what this is. That’s by running the football and by catching the football and making our plays and converting on third downs. We have to help him in every way we can.”
Pete Carroll Explains Why Seahawks Struggle on Offense Despite Talent
The Seahawks arguably feature the most talented offensive supporting cast in the league in former Pro Bowl receivers such as DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett along with young players such as Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Kenneth Walker, Zach Charbonnet and Noah Fant. Despite all of that talent, Seattle is averaging just 20.8 points per game, ranking 19th in the NFL.
Carroll tried to answer why the Seahawks struggle to score points and move the ball despite featuring so much talent on the offensive side.
Via Brandon Gustafson of Seattle Sports:
“We do have guys that we like to go to, and we would like to utilize everybody and you’d like to feel like we’re really smart and we’re using all the guys and all that,” said Carroll after the game. “But when there’s not many plays, it just doesn’t feel like it works out that way. And we’re never going to be able to satisfy all those issues right there because we like all of our receivers … It’s a problem. It’s a good problem, though. And it’s one I just wish we were settled more. We’re getting late in the year now and we’ve got to get it together and make sure that we do a better job than we’re doing right now.”
Although the Seahawks will match up with the Niners one more time — Week 14 in San Francisco — the loss essentially sealed their chances of winning the NFC West. As noted by Jonathan Alfano of Sports Illustrated, Seattle’s chances of winning the division are now at 0.7%. The Seahawks currently hold a 6-5 record, while the Niners are currently 8-3.
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Seahawks’ Pete Carroll Gets Blunt on Geno Smith’s Struggles in 49ers Loss