While the Seahawks repeatedly let the Pittsburgh Steelers' runners slip through their fingers on Sunday, they also lost control of their most valuable possession heading into the penultimate weekend of the NFL season – control of their postseason fate.
The math had been so simple for the Seahawks. Beat the Steelers and Cardinals in the last two games and they were in the playoffs.
But if Pittsburgh knocks out Seattle and pulls out a 30-23 win at Lumen Field, the Seahawks will now have to win next Sunday at Arizona and hope the Packers or Vikings, who won Sunday night, lose next week. (Seattle's loss secured the Rams a wild card spot, leaving only one spot remaining.)
Postgame coverage Steelers 30, Seahawks 23
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“We lost control of it,” said a dispirited Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. “We had control of it and we gave that up today.”
As time went on, they might have given up any pretense of really looking like a playoff team.
A Steelers offense that ranked 28th in the NFL in scoring and 26th in yards receiving met little resistance from Seattle's defense.
The Steelers finished the season with a season-high 468 yards, including 202 on the ground – 122 from Najee Harris and 75 from Jaylen Warren – the second-most yards allowed by Seattle all season and also the second-most yards allowed by the Steelers achieved throughout the year. Pittsburgh's 30 points were also its second-most, just behind the 34 in a surprise win last week against the Bengals.
But until the outbursts of the last two weeks, the Steelers had been one of the most disappointing offenses in the NFL – so much so that they fired coordinator Matt Canada in late November.
On Sunday, the Steelers largely did what they wanted.
“They just beat us at the line of scrimmage,” said linebacker Devin Bush, who started in place of the injured Jordyn Brooks. “They physically beat us. That's it.”
That they were able to do so so easily surprised Carroll, especially after comeback wins over the last two weeks against the Eagles and Titans that had given Seattle control of its playoff future. Seattle only allowed 17 points in each game, with their tackling improving.
But those wins may have masked a run defense that has been extremely leaky of late – Seattle has now allowed 162 or more yards rushing in five of the last six games.
“Once again we weren’t really defensive in the running game, so there were always repetitions,” said Carroll. “I see it.”
To be fair, it was impossible to miss.
“We didn’t make any tackles,” middle linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “We didn’t get their run going and didn’t make enough plays to win this game.”
Not that the pass defense was much better.
Seattle had a sack of Steelers backup quarterback Mason Rudolph, a sixth-year player making just the 12th start of his career, allowing him to complete 18 of 24 passes for 274 yards, the third-most of his career.
“We have to be disciplined,” said Wagner. “We have to find a way to get off the field and we have to make tackles.”
All of this increased the pressure on the offense to be near perfect.
But while the offense produced enough big plays to produce a season-high 7.5 yards per snap, it once again failed to execute when it mattered most, making just three of nine third downs. Only three field goals were made in the last six possessions.
Still, Seattle was able to pull off another miracle in the fourth quarter, as it has done the past two weeks, when the Seahawks regained possession with 7:07 left, trailing 27-20. But on the first play, Geno Smith was sacked by Nick Herbig and fumbled the ball away, leading to a Steelers field goal with 4:31 left that essentially spelled the end.
Still, Seattle kept trying, with Smith leading a drive to the Steelers' 5. But three incompletions forced a field goal to cut the lead to 30-23, and then Carroll called for an onside kick with 2:01 left. However, like most things on Sunday, that didn't work as Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson recovered the kick at the 44 and Pittsburgh then got two first downs to run out the clock.
“If we [could’ve kicked] “If the ball came out of the end zone, we would have done that,” Carroll said. The Seahawks stepped into the open end, where the ball doesn't typically travel as far. “But we didn’t hit the ball well enough for that. That was the first thought. So we have to throw it out, and they'll bring it back, put it out again. You can't just stop the clock automatically. For me the onside kick thing is a chance to get the football, and not a very good chance, but we definitely have to stop it. I have to stop them in three plays, whether it's here or here. So we had the opportunity to get the football and that’s why we went for it.”
And given the way the Steelers kept football away from Seattle, perhaps it was worth the risk.
Smith later pointed out how little it seemed like Seattle had the ball – just nine possessions and a time of possession of 22:27, including just 10:35 in the first half and 3:28 in the first quarter.
“If you're honest, I think by and large teams are playing at distance,” Smith said. “There are teams that have control of the ball and use the clock in the first quarter. That’s been in the last two weeks.”
Smith called it “the ultimate sign of respect when teams do this” to keep Seattle’s offense off the field. However, the biggest problem is their ability to implement this strategy.
“This is a game we should have played better and won,” Wagner said. “But we didn’t.”
Now Seattle has to beat Arizona and hope for the best – a task that doesn't seem any easier after the Cardinals went to Philly and beat the Eagles on Sunday.
Many Seattle players later pointed out that the team was in the same boat as a year ago, when the Seahawks were also 8-8 and beat the Rams and then had to hope the Lions could upset Green Bay at Lambeau Field, which everything happened.
“I never thought we would be in this situation again, but here we are,” Smith said. “What we can do is keep fighting and prepare for next week. Arizona played a great game today, got a win and we know they will fight until the end. Next week won't be an easy game. We have to go out there in their place and make it happen. We are the type of team that always bounces back. We have the right leadership. We have the right coaches, the right players and we will make it happen. We will find a way to make this happen.”
Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or [email protected]; on twitter: @bcondotta. Bob Condotta covers the Seahawks for the Seattle Times. He reports on the team daily throughout the year.