Takeaways from Seahawks 27-24 loss to Vikings

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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 22: Geno Smith #7 of the Seattle Seahawks is helped up by Sataoa Laumea #63 during the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at Lumen Field on December 22, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

SEATTLE - The Seattle Seahawks nearly authored their biggest victory of the season only to see the win slip away in a 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday afternoon.

And now the team's playoff hopes are nearly dead and no longer in their own control with two weeks left to play.

A 39-yard touchdown strike from Sam Darnold to Justin Jefferson with 3:51 left to play put the Vikings back on top. Geno Smith was sacked to blunt the following drive and a desperate 60-yard field goal try from Jason Myers missed the mark looking for the tie. A final gasp resulted in a Smith interception as Seattle's playoff chances slip further and further away.

In fact, the Seahawks can nearly be eliminated from playoff contention next weekend even if they get a victory over the Chicago Bears on Thursday night. A Los Angeles Rams win over the Arizona Cardinals will all but clinch the NFC West for the Rams as Seattle will likely lose the strength of victory tiebreaker to the Rams. Seattle needed to beat the 12-win Vikings to push the strength of victory tiebreaker into their favor. Instead, a cascade of results would have to go in Seattle's favor to flip the tiebreaker into the Seahawks' favor.

"We still have a ton of football to play for," head coach Mike Macdonald said. "A break here or there, we're right back in it and rolling. So we'll dust ourselves off, chin up, chest out, and move forward. Onward we go."

The Seahawks managed to dig out of a 10-point deficit late in first half. Then doubled up with a touchdown before halftime and a field goal on the opening drive of the third quarter to bring the game back tied. A.J. Barner's 4-yard touchdown catch with 4:21 left to play gave Seattle their only lead of the game and within reach of a key victory for their playoff hopes.

Then it all went wrong with a Justin Jefferson touchdown, a failed 60-yard field goal try, and a final Smith interception to send Seattle to the verge of playoff elimination.

While the loss to the Vikings may be the game that effectively erased most of Seattle's remaining playoff hopes, the loss to a bad New York Giants team earlier this season is probably the single game most at fault for the team's current fate.

There is much discuss about this one, so let's get into the takeaways:

– Too much wrong with Seattle's offense to accomplish biggest goals.

As much as the offensive line has been a problem for the Seahawks this season, it wasn't the glaring problem in Sunday's loss to the Vikings. There were plenty of issues to go around.

Geno Smith threw another poor interception that led to an easy three points for the Minnesota offense. A banged up Smith dropped back to throw 46 times on 60 offensive snaps as the running game continues to be nonexistent, and just way too many procedural penalties across the board.

"Against a team like this, the unforced errors has to get cleaned up," Macdonald said. "It starts with me. So we'll look at it just like we do every week. Look at it and make adjustments and move forward. But we have to clean up the procedural stuff."

The Seahawks had 11 penalties in the game, with seven of the penalties behind pre-snap alignment or motion calls. False starts on Sataoa Laumea, Charles Cross, A.J. Barner and Abe Lucas, an illegal shift on Jake Bobo, a defensive offside on Tre Brown, and an illegal formation on a kickoff.

Those mistakes forced Seattle's offense to dig out of holes on multiple possessions. Some of those still broke through as both Jaxon Smith-Njigba's touchdown and A.J. Barner's go-ahead score came on drives with procedural penalties.

"I thought we had some highs, some lows," Smith said. "I really like the fight, though, the way we played. Just everyone was dialed in, ready to go. Unfortunate we didn't get it done at the end."

Smith finished the game with 314 yards passing with three touchdowns and two interceptions for Seattle. Smith said he felt "OK" after his knee injury last week.

"I was good enough to play so I felt OK," he said.

Nevertheless, it may not have been the best course of action to ask him to drop back to pass on 46 of 59 total offensive plays. He finished with 43 pass attempts, a scramble and two sacks on those plays. Meanwhile, Ken Walker III (eight carries), Kenny McIntish (three carries), Zach Charbonnet and Smith-Njigba (one each), only combined for 13 rushes.

"We’ve got to start faster on defense and put ourselves in better position," Macdonald said of the pass-heavy day. "Some of it was Minnesota’s personnel groups, how they're matching us. I think in some of those either-or spots when we are able to pass it, that was efficient as well."

Smith was intercepted by Dallas Turner on the first play of a drive after Minnesota grabbed a 14-7 lead. Seattle's defense was able to hold to force only a field goal, but the mistake let the Vikings take a two-possession lead with under six minutes left in the second quarter.

Former Seahawk Shaquill Griffin and linebacker Blake Cashman each had drops on possible interceptions of Smith as well. Theo Jackson finally did come up with a second Minnesota interception to seal the win for the Vikings.

"Anything you see that goes wrong, put it on me. Anything that don't look right, put it on me," Smith said.

The play of the offensive line wasn't nearly as porous as last week's effort against Green Bay, but immediate pressure on the final play led to the Jackson interception of Smith as he had to get the ball out early. The multiple procedure penalties didn't help either.

"For the most part, I thought we were able to execute some long drives and pick up a lot of the pressures in the game. But, we've just got to execute better at the end," guard Laken Tomlinson said.

The offense also was just 2-of-10 on third downs in the game.

On the defensive side, the Brown offside wiped out a third down stop Seattle's defense had seemingly been able to make. Instead, Brown was beat on the next play by Justin Jefferson for his first touchdown of the day.

"That was a hell of a catch," Brown said. "Late hands. It’s hard to see the ball right there. I wish I could’ve had that play back. He’s one of the highest paid [wide receivers]. I respect him. But I feel like I could’ve made that play.

The blocking issues, Smith forcing a few interceptions, lack of running game (either by success or volume), and the procedural penalties just undercut Seattle's chances for a big victory to close out the home schedule.

– Jaxon Smith-Njigba crosses 1,000-yard mark for season.

One of the few bright spots on Sunday and in the season overall for the Seahawks is the emergence of receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Smith-Njigba became the 10th different receiver in franchise history to record a 1,000-yard season as he added eight catches for 95 yards to his season totals.

"It means a lot to me. Geno, too," Smith-Njigba said. "I want to say thank you to Geno, and the rest of my teammates, receivers, getting me open, and the O-line doing their thing. Hopefully, it’s just the beginning."

Smith-Njigba is also well within reach of the all-time franchise record for receptions in a year. With his eight catches against Minnesota, Smith-Njigba has 93 receptions on the year. Tyler Lockett's 100 receptions in the 2020 season is the current benchmark for most receptions in a year by a Seattle receiver. With two more receptions, Smith-Njigba will move past Doug Baldwin and Bobby Engram, who are tied for second with 94.

The nine other receivers to reach 1,000 yards in a season for Seattle are Steve Largent (8 times), Lockett and Brian Blades (4 times), DK Metcalf, Darrell Jackson and Joey Galloway (3 times), Baldwin (twice), and Koren Robinson and Engram.

"He's a great player. Been having a tremendous season," Smith said. "Those things are to be expected of him. I think he's only going to continue to get better. He's a fighter. Got a lot of heart. That's something that goes a long way."

– Riq Woolen benched to start the game for team rule violation.

Head coach Mike Macdonald made the decision to bench Riq Woolen for the start of Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings for what he called a team rules issue.

"Just a team rule thing," Macdonald said. "We made it right and that's what we decided to do, what was best for the football team. We'll move forward."

While Macdonald didn't specify the rule that was violated, it comes on the heels of a rough outing last week against the Green Bay Packers. Woolen had a roughing the passer penalty, was dragged into the end zone by Romeo Doubs, and gave up big completions to Doubs and Christian Watson in the loss to Green Bay.

"I think it's just a play-to-play mentality," Macdonald said of Woolen last week. "When he's locked in, I think he's as good as it gets. When he's not as locked in, then that's when some technique errors show up. But it has nothing to do with his ability, it's all about just the approach pre-snap."

Josh Jobe started as the outside corner opposite Devon Witherspoon, with Tre Brown coming on in nickel situations. Woolen returned to the lineup for Seattle's second defensive series. He had a nice pass breakup on a throw for Jordan Addison near the end zone. He also broke up a pass for Jalen Nailor as well late in the first half, and a third down pass for T.J. Hockenson with 11 minutes remaining.

However, it seems as though another lapse might have been responsible for the winning touchdown by Jefferson.

"They made a great play. I think we Cover 2 to that side and threw a seven cut. Just couldn't get there," Macdonald.

In a Cover 2 defense, there are two safeties covering half the field each deep, and five underneath defenders. Woolen is the outside flat defender in a standard Cover 2, which is why he lets Jefferson run behind him. However, there was no receiving threat to the underneath layer on Woolen's half of the field. Running back Aaron Jones remained in the backfield as a blocker and the other three receiving targets were on the opposite half of the field.

Additionally, it's JUSTIN JEFFERSON, who is arguably the best receiver in the entire NFL and a touchdown is the only thing that beats you. While it may not be an error on paper for Woolen to play that snap the way he did, it seems like a likely situational mistake. Perhaps Julian Love could have done more as well, but the throw from Darnold was perfectly placed away from Love's arrival.

It's also notable Macdonald didn't place the blame for the play on Woolen after the game.

"I felt like he played a good game," Macdonald said. "Again, we'll see what the opportunities were. He did have a couple pass break ups so it was good."