Seattle Seahawks: 3 Big takeaways from loss vs. Chargers in Week 9
By Samuel Teets
The Seattle Seahawks fell to 4-4 with a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday. Both the offense and defense struggled.
Sunday’s Week 9 contest was not a good game for the Seattle Seahawks. That’s the best way I can think to describe it. The Los Angeles Chargers just overwhelmed Seattle both on offense and defense. Frankly, neither of the Seahawks units rose to the challenge either, until the final minutes that is.
The best thing I have to say is, the game only ended up being a one-score difference and even came down to the last play of the game, even though it seemed like the Chargers dominated. The 25-17 score didn’t reflect how one-sided the game was most of the time.
With their most recent loss the Seahawks are now 4-4 and are back at a .500 winning percentage. This loss stings coming after a week when the Seahawks asserted themselves as serious postseason contenders, they were decimated by the Chargers. If I’m being honest, the Chargers were the real story on Sunday. They looked like a legitimate playoff team and the Seahawks didn’t, even though the game was so close.
There are so many potential takeaways from the telling, close loss, but these were three of the most impactful.
Special teams play is still a third of the game
Kicking was crucial down the stretch and it revealed that both teams had special teams deficiencies. Caleb Sturgis missed the only field goal he attempted on the day for the Chargers. He also missed two of the three extra points he attempted. On the Seahawks side, Sebastian Janikowski missed one of his two field goal attempts, but made both of his extra point tries.
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If the two kickers had converted on all their attempts, they would have added a combined extra eight points in the game. If Sturgis even hit the one field goal attempt or one of his extra point tries, the game would’ve been out of reach and the Seahawks final drive wouldn’t have mattered.
If Janikowski converted on his one missed field goal attempt, the Seahawks would’ve won the game with just a touchdown on the final drive, instead of needing the touchdown and a two-point conversion.
Janikowski has made nine of his 13 field goal attempts this season and hasn’t missed an extra point yet. It’s worth noting that Steven Hauschka, who was the kicker for the Seahawks from 2011 through 2016, has made 13 out of his 14 field goal attempts. He also hasn’t missed an extra point this season. would it have been better for Seattle to stick with Hauschka?