Four Downs with Bob Condotta and Adam Jude: Answering four Seahawks questions after their victory over the Rams

The Seahawks are NFC West champs once again.

With their 20-9 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, the Seahawks (11-4) clinched the division title and guaranteed themselves at least one home game in the playoffs.

What did we learn about the Seahawks from the victory Sunday? Let’s discuss here in our weekly Four Downs series with Seahawks beat writers Bob Condotta and Adam Jude:

1. Sunday’s win was the Seahawks’ most complete game: true or false?

Condotta: True. Given the opponent and stakes, this was Seattle’s best victory of the year. The Rams had scored 20 or more points in six consecutive games — the Seahawks held them without a touchdown for the only time this season and a season-low nine points. Seattle had just 292 yards, but the Rams entered the game allowing the fewest yards in the NFL this season. Give Seattle’s offense credit for figuring some things out at halftime and going on marches of 70 and 85 yards for touchdowns. And another was promising until the DK Metcalf penalty that negated a successful third down. Seattle was 8 for 17 on third down and 2 for 3 in the red zone — the offense made the plays when it mattered. And special teams, though making one big mistake on a roughing penalty, again were otherwise stellar — two field goals from 45 or longer and solid punting. The Rams’ average drive start was the 21-yard line, while Seattle’s was the 31. That adds up over the course of a game. 

Jude: Considering the circumstances, this is true. It’s absolutely true about the defense, which played its best game of the year. And it’s probably also true about special teams, which has been consistently great all season. The offense was good enough in the second half — against a great defense — and we saw flashes of a classic Russell Wilson performance. This was exactly the kind of game coach Pete Carroll feels most comfortable in, and the identity he wants in his team — a team that looks built to win in the playoffs.

2. Jamal Adams called Seattle’s defense the NFL’s best. Do you agree?

Condotta: No. I can’t go that far yet, even though what Seattle has done of late has been impressive. As Tim Booth of The Associated Press noted, the Seahawks have allowed fewer than 20 points in five consecutive games — they hadn’t done that since the 2014 season, which was one of four years when the Seahawks led the NFL in fewest points allowed in the Legion of Boom era. Seattle’s turnaround from midseason is staggering — the Seahawks are playing smart, disciplined football and making big plays when they are needed the most. But the Seahawks did benefit from some unforced Rams errors, mostly by quarterback Jared Goff, who to be fair played much of the second half with a broken thumb. Still, this game illustrated the difference between an elite quarterback (Wilson) and one who isn’t consistently at that level. Adams’ comment will get a lot of attention as Seattle heads into the playoffs, and it’s there where we will find out if the defense can live up to his boast, having to go against the likes of Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees. 

Jude: The Seahawks belong in that conversation, yes. And the fact that we can even ask that question tells you just how far this defense has come. Seriously, has there been a greater six-week turnaround in the history of the NFL? We saw the No. 1-ranked defense in the NFL — the Rams — up close Sunday. The Rams played well on defense. The Seahawks’ defense was better. And, sure, the quarterbacks the Seahawks have faced the past five weeks — Carson Wentz, Colt McCoy, Sam Darnold, Dwayne Haskins and Jared Goff — aren’t playing for anyone’s fantasy team these days. But Seattle has done what a top defense should do against those quarterbacks. And with Adams lighting up offenses as much has he has lately, I’m not going to argue with him.

3. Has the offense found its winning formula for the playoffs?

Jude: For the most part, yes. The Let Russ Cook era, as brief as it was, was thrilling — there’s no denying that. And I understand some of the consternation from a particular faction of the fan base that’s screaming for coach Pete Carroll to again give Wilson more freedom. But Carroll does not view offensive football in a vacuum; he does not see defensive football in a vacuum, either. When he talks about “balance” and a “complementary” style, he is talking about his offense and his defense helping each other out. We saw a prime example of that not happening in the Buffalo game, when Seattle’s four offensive turnovers put its defense in peril. Carroll is not going back to that. The Seahawks’ September offensive surge was, in hindsight, a mirage. There was nothing normal about the buildup to the 2020 season for anyone — limited practices, no preseason, new testing routines, etc., and offenses around the league had the upper hand early. Seattle’s offensive success in the first half of the season created unrealistic expectations. Defenses have adjusted; they’re making it harder for the Seahawks to execute those big plays downfield — the defeat against the Giants being a prime example of that. Wilson tried three deep passes Sunday; the throws for Metcalf and Tyler Lockett fell incomplete. The 45-yard pass to David Moore was the play of the game on offense. You can call Carroll’s approach conservative, but you have to also acknowledge it’s a proven approach in the playoffs — and one the Seahawks used to win a playoff-type game Sunday.

Condotta: Yes. True, it took a little while for Seattle’s offense to find its footing Sunday. But as Carroll noted later, a big factor was the Seahawks not turning the ball over — one of just five times this year Seattle has done that. All have been wins. And I think some of the “slow start” was in part not wanting to make a game-turning mistake. As long as Seattle was within one possession of tying or taking the lead, the Seahawks were going to preach not screwing things up on offense, especially early. You saw Wilson get more aggressive in the second half and that was by design. True, Seattle averaged just 4.8 yards per play, lowest of the season other than the defeat against the Giants. But that rose to 6.3 in the second half when Seattle had five of its seven longest gains, with Wilson completing 10 of 13 passes for 141 yards against statistically the NFL’s best pass defense. In Carroll’s perfect world, Seattle might rush for more than 95 yards. But Seattle had 4.0 per attempt, and Chris Carson had 21 yards on three attempts on the final touchdown drive that moved the ball and kept the clock running (or forced L.A. to use its timeouts). It felt like the running game was just enough to make a difference, which is what Seattle will need in the postseason.

4. Given 2020’s challenges, is this the best coaching job of Pete Carroll’s NFL career?

Condotta: It’s still hard to beat 2013 — Seattle was widely expected that year to win the Super Bowl and then did just that with a young roster consisting of strong personalities. I think there always will be a risk of taking that season for granted, especially when wallowing in the disappointment that they didn’t win more. But winning the division this year is up there. How many times were there stories written about the end of the Carroll-era Seahawks — anyone remember Sports Illustrated’s story about the “unraveling” of the Seahawks that called them the Titanic? Seattle has gone 32-15 since that story was written, winning at least 10 games each season, as well as a playoff game and a division title. Only three other teams have also won at least 10 games each of the past three years — Baltimore, Kansas City and New Orleans. So if the Seahawks were the Titanic, Carroll did an amazing job keeping them afloat.

Jude: Yes, there is a good case to be made. The Seahawks have had only one player on the NFL’s reserve/COVID-19 list during the regular season — and that, Carroll said this month, was because of close contact, not a positive test. That is a significant feat and a tribute to Carroll’s management. Carroll had a clear vision for how to run day-to-day operations in the midst of the pandemic, and credit to him, his staff and the players for executing it almost flawlessly. Add to that his head-on approach to discuss the issues of racial and social equality — further evidence of his off-the-field success matching (and coinciding) with his team’s on-field success. The best coaching job of his career? Maybe. My guess is Carroll would acknowledge that this has been one of the most rewarding seasons of his career — and it still has a chance to get even better.