Halftime Observations: Sluggish Seahawks Score Late TD, Trail Bucs 13-7 in Low Scoring Affair
With points at a premium on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Lumen Field, Sam Darnold threw a touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba inside 10 seconds left to play to help the Seattle Seahawks draw closer to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, entering halftime trailing 13-7.
Here are three quick takeaways from a sloppy first half for Seattle in a matchup of 3-1 teams:
1. Untimely penalties, botched Milroe package leads to three empty possessions.
On their first three drives, the Seahawks effectively moved the football on offense with Darnold completing seven of his first eight passes for 80 yards and the team averaging seven yards per play. But all three possessions were undone by critical mistakes, starting with a holding penalty on the opening drive against rookie guard Grey Zabel, turning a third and short situation into 2nd and 18. Unable to pick up the necessary yardage, Jason Myers sliced a 44-yard field goal wide left, keeping the game at 3-0 Buccaneers despite getting 55 yards on just five plays with a chance to respond early. On the next possession, Seattle again got past midfield and Ken Walker III took a shovel pass from Darnold on 3rd and 12 and turned the play into a thrilling first down conversion, only for an illegal man downfield penalty on center Jalen Sundell to wipe out the big play and set up a punt two plays later.
As bad as those penalties were, however, the Seahawks endured their worst missed opportunity on the next possession. Darnold linked up with Cooper Kupp and AJ Barner for back-to-back first down completions into Bucs’ territory and coordinator Klint Kubiak decided to dig into his bag of tricks, sending Milroe in and calling a speed option to the left. Tampa Bay wasn’t fooled on the play and the rookie quarterback unloaded an ugly pitch well behind Walker, who couldn’t hang on as the defense recovered the fumble for a critical turnover. Moments later, White made them pay with a touchdown run to extend the deficit to 13 points.
2. Unfazed by early miscues, Darnold shoulders the load for a critical touchdown drive.
Fortunately for the Seahawks, Darnold has endured his share of adversity in his eight-year NFL career and falling behind by two scores didn’t deter him. The quarterback came back slinging the pigskin inside two minutes to play, completing passes to five different receivers as he orchestrated a 10-play, 54-yard scoring drive. This included a pair of clutch third down completions to Kupp and rookie tight end Elijah Arroyo, with the latter throw going for 10 yards to advance into the red zone. After another first down completion to Barner advanced the ball down to the Bucs’ five-yard line, sandwiched around a risky throw to Tory Horton that almost was picked in the end zone, he first a missile to Smith-Njigba on a slant between three oncoming defenders to put Seattle on the scoreboard and got the crowd back in it.
3. Execution - as well as fortune - improved in red zone for Seattle’s defense - for the most part.
As has too often been the case for the Seahawks on their home turf, a defense missing starting cornerback Devon Witherspoon and safety Julian Love came out flat, allowing Mayfield to complete all six of his passes for 57 yards on the opening drive. Luckily, his third down scramble attempt in the red zone came up several yards short of the sticks and the Bucs were forced to settle for a short Chase McLaughlin field goal. On the ensuing possession, Mayfield again hurt Seattle with his legs, managing to evade Uchenna Nwosu as the defender crashed the pocket and turning a 3rd and 4 into an eight-yard gain and a first down. A roughing the passer penalty on defensive tackle Byron Murphy pushed Tampa deep into Seattle territory, but receiver Chris Godwin couldn’t secure a third down throw as he took a hit from safety Ty Okada, leading to another short field goal to make it 6-0.
Up until Milroe’s ugly pitch gifted the Bucs with great starting field position, the Seahawks excelled at bending but not breaking. Even though Tampa marched more than 55 yards on average on the first two possessions, the visitors had just six points to show for it, and their third possession ended in a three-and-out deep in their own territory with the shadow of the goal post looming over them. But the difference in the game so far boiled down to ugly tackling after Tampa recovered Milroe’s fumble, including a 17-yard reception by tight end Cade Otton that featured multiple misses on 3rd and long to extend the drive, allowing White to power his way into the end zone on a pitch for the first rushing touchdown allowed by Seattle all year.
