Takeaways from Seattle Seahawks 18-16 win over Colts

SEATTLE - The most prolific kicker in franchise history helped save the Seattle Seahawks from losing to a 44-year-old quarterback in Philip Rivers, who had been retired for five years.

Jason Myers converted a 56-yard field goal with 29 seconds left to play for his sixth field goal of the game to give the Seahawks an 18-16 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Myers became the first kicker in Seahawks' history to convert six field goals in a game. It's also the longest game-winning field goal in franchise history.

Additionally, it's just the fourth time in team history the Seahawks have won a game where they didn't score a touchdown. However, it's the first time they've done that at home, and the first time it's required double-digit points to emerge victorious.

"You’ve got to give the Colts a lot of credit," head coach Mike Macdonald said. "They had a great game plan; executed it well. I'll tell you what, our guys just fought tooth and nail to the absolute end and wins in this league come in all different shapes and sizes and great teams figure out a way to win games. That's what we're trying to be, so I'm proud of our effort."

While it wouldn't be quite as embarrassing as losing an NHL game to a 42-year-old Zamboni driver who works for your team (shout-out to Steve Dangle), losing to an actual grandfather who hasn't played since 2020 would have been a massive fumble for a team chasing an NFC West title.

The Seahawks continue to collect wins, even if the path to getting there has been a bit treacherous at times. It now sets the stage for the biggest matchup in the NFL so far this season when the Seahawks host the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night for the lead in the division.

"I think for us we just got start faster as an offense, finish in the red zone," quarterback Sam Darnold said. "I feel like it's becoming a theme the (last) few weeks, and we got to get it figured out. I feel like our defense is playing really, really good football. But, yeah next we just got step it up a little bit as an offense. You know, that starts with me."

The sloppy performance from Sunday on offense likely won't have fans feeling super comfortable heading into the game, especially considering Darnold threw four interceptions the last time the two teams squared off last month.

First, we'll dive into the win over the Colts before taking a look ahead to Thursday night:

Self-inflicted mistakes set the Seahawks back.

The Colts themselves didn't do anything outlandish to take a 13-6 halftime lead over the Seahawks. They stayed within themselves and received the benefit of many miscues from their opponent to grab the advantage.

The Seahawks were called for five penalties in the first half, with four of them being accepted for a total of just 25 yards. While that doesn't seem to be insurmountable, it kept Seattle from generating any positive momentum of their own. The Seahawks lost the field position battle most of the afternoon, starting inside their own 20-yard line on five of their first nine possessions.

"We’ve got to improve, be better, start faster," Macdonald said. "We'll look at our openers here. Couple games where our openers weren't hitting as well as we want. We'll look at it. But we want to start fast. 

"The field position in the first half, we were in tough situations. Like the field was definitely tilted against us. When we're in those situations we’ve got to get out of those things. And when we did, then we have a big kick return there at some point, and so it flipped again. We’ve got to improve in that area."

Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a bad drop to begin a series with the offense backed up, and then A.J. Barner's 15-yard reception on the next play was wiped out because Barner lined up offsides in the neutral zone.

Sam Darnold was sacked on third-and-8 and the Seahawks had to punt.

An illegal block from Eric Saubert on a kickoff return backed Seattle up again on their next drive, and a Charles Cross false start further backed up the offense.

Another punt followed.

It was an uphill battle for Seattle most of their afternoon. They didn't reach the Indianapolis red zone until the final play of the third quarter. And despite scoring on five of their final six possessions, they never cracked the end zone. 

"I think it's just about going out there and executing. It sounds cliche but it's true. We got to do a better of all 11 doing our job, and again, like I said, that starts with me," Darnold said.

Seattle did amass 214 yards of offense in the second half, and scored on four of five real possessions in the half. But overall, it's still been a little bit scattered for the Seahawks' offense.

Rushing attack was non-existent. 

While the Seahawks have appeared to slowly improve their rushing attack incrementally over the second half of the season, that progress slammed into reverse against the Colts.

Seattle had nine carries at halftime with seven coming from skill players on non-scrambles by quarterback Sam Darnold. Though seven carries netted exactly one rushing yard combined from Ken Walker III, Zach Charbonnet and Rashid Shaheed.

A jet sweep to Shaheed went for a loss of three, and Charbonnet was stuffed for a two-yard loss on his only carry of the half. That wiped out the six total yards gained by Walker on five carries in the half.

"When you don't have the ball it's hard to stick (to) and find a bunch of different runs to get to," Macdonald said. "That's the first thing. We have to be more effective early so we can get down to our game plan and find some ways to run it. We got to start faster, block it better, run it better, game plan it better, the whole thing. 

To give credit where it's due, the Colts' run defense entered Sunday as the sixth-best rushing defense in the league, allowing just 98.6 yards per game.

Seattle was mildly more successful on the ground in the second half, but it wasn't the complimentary piece for the offense the team was hoping for.

"I think they have some good guys over there, they are competing hard," recevier Cooper Kupp said. "I do think it does come back to us. We have to be better. As good as those guys are over there, you play in the NFL, and they’re the best in the world. We gotta be better than that. That’s on all of us. We all have a hand in that pot, and we’ve got to do a better job of getting the job done and being able to count on being able to hand the ball off and get our running backs loose to the second and third levels. Yeah, unacceptable, and I’m sure we have a lot of stuff to clean up in that regard."

The Seahawks had gone over 100 yards rushing in five straight games, averaging 140.2 yards per game over that span.

Those games had Olu Oluwatimi playing center in place of an injured Jalen Sundell, but Sundell was back in the lineup for Seattle on Sunday.

Is that just happenstance? Or is there a correlation there?

"First of all, Olu did a phenomenal job filling in for him," Macdonald said. "Felt like Jalen was a starter before and he was healthy and ready to go and had a great week of practice, so we went with Jalen."

Jason Myers continues stellar Seahawks run.

The reigning NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November came through again in a big way for the Seahawks to bail them out on Sunday.

After Blake Grupe hammered a 60-yard field goal to give the Colts the lead with 47 seconds left to play, Myers was able to respond with his game-winning kick from 56 yards to give the Seahawks the victory.

"Once we get the ball back, whether it is end of half, end of game, we still need to just get into our routine on the sideline and get ready for our opportunity," Myers said.

"This is cliché, but you’re just trying to stay in your routine. I work hard on that in the offseason. I work weekly with a guy, back home. You’re trying to make every kick the same, whether it is a PAT in the first quarter or a game winner. You’re sticking to the routine and just trusting that and trusting all the work you’ve done and the preparation. Just attack the ball, for sure."

Myers moved past Stephen Hauschka's 175 field goals made earlier this season to become the franchise's most prolific kicker in franchise history. After his six kicks on Sunday, Myers has 196 field goals in 114 career games for the Seahawks.

He also has the team's record for longest field goal made at 61 yards, and now adds another record to his ledger with the most successful field goals in a single game.

"J-My has been incredible all year, you know, again, like I keep saying, 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 great job for us," Darnold said.

Myers has converted 23 of his last 24 field goal attempts, and has been a perfect 42-of-42 on extra point tries this season. His lone miss since the start of November came from 61 yards at the end of the team's loss to the Rams in mid-November.

"You’re trying to make every kick the same," Myers said. "You just gotta trust that, trust the work and preparation you’ve put in and just stick to that. If you try to make it bigger than it is, then when things kind of speed up. I just try to stick to my routine, hit my cues, and attack the ball."

The six field goals aren't a personal record for Myers as he once kicked seven field goals in a game while with the New York Jets, also, ironically, against the Colts in 2018. The Seahawks had made five field goals in a game eight times previously, with Myers responsible for two such games in 2023. Hauschka accomplished it once in 2011, Olindo Mare twice in 2010, Todd Peterson once in 1999, and Johnson once each in 1987 and 1988.

It's also the longest game-winning field goal in team history, surpassing the 54-yard kick from Josh Brown against the St. Louis Rams in 2006 and Rian Lindell against the San Diego Chargers in 2001.

"Just talk about picking each other up, just being there when we need him, being ready, steady," Macdonald said. "I think our field goal operation and protection was really good, too. But, yeah, it was just six field goals. It's not what you want, but when needed, it's great to have them."

Valiant performance from Philip Rivers.

Full props to Philip Rivers.

The 44-year-old Rivers, who was a semifinalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class for 2026 before coming out of retirement, did exactly what the Colts were hoping he'd be able to provide when they signed him to take over for Daniel Jones this week.

Rivers' arm isn't what it used to be, but he still looked perfectly comfortable managing an NFL game from the quarterback position. 

"They had a really good game plan in terms of how they were operating and you’ve got to take your hat off to Phil," Macdonald said. "Just did a great job managing the game. Didn't put the ball in jeopardy until he had to. We could have probably forced more (tough) situations but they did a good job."

Rivers finished with only 120 yards with a touchdown and an interception on 18 completions and 27 attempts, but that's what the Colts needed him to do; provide a steady veteran presence that gave them a chance to win.

"It was a blast, but obviously the emotions now are disappointment, right?" Rivers said. "Disappointment. This isn't about me. We got a team that was scrapping like crazy to try to stay alive and get in the postseason. 

"So obviously we're all disappointed. Came up just short. The game kind of played out almost kind of how we thought it was going to play out in terms of how we were going to win the game, kind of one of those grind-it-out kind of games. And, you know, we didn't find a way to get it done is the bottom line." 

Rivers' impact showed up most before the ball was even snapped. He often change a play at the line of scrimmage to get the Colts to a better option against a specific look from Seattle's defense.

"It was huge," head coach Shane Steichen said. "We checked a couple there. One run popped for about 12 that he checked to. Obviously, that third down to get in field goal range was huge. Couple other things here and there that he did to keep the offense moving.

"That was what the plan was going into it, run the football, control the clock. That was the type of game that we thought it was going to be."

Because his arm strength isn't what it used to be, Rivers had to try to throw a bit earlier to get the ball where it needed to go. A late back-shoulder completion to Alec Pierce against Josh Jobe helped set up the go-ahead field goal from Grupe, but such throws also made it easier for Seattle to make a play. Additionally, Josh Downs had Jobe beat on a double-move in the third quarter, but he didn't pick up the ball in the air with how early Rivers threw it.

That's just the reality of playing quarterback in the NFL at 44 years old.

But Rivers was also the only quarterback with a touchdown pass in the game as well, which saw an emphatic fist pump follow.

"It was pretty special to see that. I'm not going to lie," Steicher said. "It was awesome to see him, how excited he was. Brought back the flashbacks of five, six years ago, the way he operated out there and the communication on the sidelines with the O line walking up and down. He was confident, I can do it."

Seattle held Jonathan Taylor to just 87 yards on 25 carries as they keep their streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher in over a full calendar year alive. The Colts managed just 215 yards of total offense and just 3.7 yards per play. It was just a little bit too such for Rivers and the Colts to see across the finish line.

"It was one of those grind-it-out games," Rivers said. "I know we didn't have a ton of yards total offense, but we controlled the ball. We did all those things that you want to do. Again, I know that on the end of the book it says we turned the ball over, but we didn't turn the ball over. That was obviously in desperation mode. 

"So, all in all, disappointed. You know, thankful and nothing but gratitude from the standpoint of getting to be here and be a part of it again, but disappointed we didn't get it done, as I will have been disappointed in any other loss, I've ever been a part of where I was the quarterback."

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