12 Thoughts after the Seahawks slipped past the Commanders in Week 10

A collection of FTR thoughts that weren’t turned into their own articles …

One of the things I pointed out in the last 12 Thoughts article was that “overlooking the Washington Commanders would be a mistake” that the Seattle Seahawks could ill-afford to make.

For much of last Sunday’s game, I feared that Geno Smith & Co. were doing exactly that.

Thankfully, the game ended with the home team on top, so . . .

Let’s dive in to this week’s thoughts.

Thought No. 1

Here are three interesting things I heard the broadcast crew say during the Seahawks game on Sunday:

One. Jason Myers has now made at least one field goal in 24 straight games. That’s a franchise record.

Two. The Seahawks generated just 6 first downs vs. the Baltimore Ravens which was their lowest total since 1992.

Three. Seattle’s defense has only allowed 3 points in the final 2 minutes of the first half this season. That’s the best mark in the league.

Thought No. 2

I’m a little sad that Christian McCaffrey’s streak of 17 consecutive games with at least one touchdown ended on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Mostly because I wanted the Seahawks to end it.

(Shortest thought ever.)

Thought No. 3

From an emotional standpoint, this thought – No. 3 – couldn’t be for anything other than the official defensive return of Damar Hamlin who entered the Monday Night Football game between the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos with just under 2 minutes to play.

Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

2023’s Comeback Player of the Year is now all the way back.

And, yes, I’m saying that Damar Hamlin will win the Comeback Player of the Year award this season – and I expect that it will probably be a unanimous vote.

Thought No. 4

Here’s Exhibit A for the NFL being unpredictable:

When the season started, the Over/Under on wins for the Buffalo Bills was 10-1/2.

Heading into Week 5, they were 3-1, had just throttled the Dolphins, 48-20, a week after the Dolphins hung 70 points on the Broncos, and had a 95% chance of making the playoffs.

Today? Their playoff chances are 33%.

After losing to the Broncos on Monday Night Football, their record sits at 5-5, and three of their next four games are against the Philadelphia Eagles (in Philly), the Kansas City Chiefs (at Arrowhead), and the Dallas Cowboys (in Buffalo).

Methinks their playoff chances are going continue to fall, and anyone that put money on the Under is probably gonna collect a nice payout.

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Exhibit B:

When the season started, 12s feared that the Arizona Cardinals would end up “earning” two of the top five picks in the 2024 NFL Draft – their own, plus the R1 that Arizona received from the Houston Texans when the Texans traded up to No. 3 to select DE Will Anderson Jr. in this year’s draft.

As things stand right now, Arizona’s native pick would be No. 4, but the pick they got from the Texans would be in the mid-20s because the Texans are currently sitting in 7th place in the AFC which means they’d be a playoff team if the season ended today.

Thought No. 5

An NFL record FIVE games ended with final-play, game-winning field goals on Sunday with the Seahawks’ Jason Myers being the last of the five kickers to etch their name in the record books.

The other four:

Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland kicker Dustin Hopkins delivered a 33-31 win in a game that saw the Ravens take a 7-0 lead via a pick-6 on the second play of the game. Baltimore led the game for a mindboggling 59:20, only to surrender the lead on the game’s final play.

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Houston Texans at Cincinnati Bengals

In Week 9, rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud led the Texans on a 6-play, 75-yard drive to steal a win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers so when the Cincinnati Bengals tied this game at 27-all with 1:33 to play . . . yeah, the writing was on the wall.

Interestingly, the Texans had just signed their game-winning kicker, Matt Ammendola, a few days earlier (after their incumbent kicker, Ka’imi Fairbairn, landed on Injured Reserve).

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Atlanta Falcons at Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals notched their second win of the year and all it took was:

1. Kyler Murray’s return;
2. An 11-play, 70-yard drive over the final 2-1/2 minutes (with the Cardinals trailing by 1); and
3. The “old” leg of kicker Matt Prater (who, at 39, is the oldest kicker in the league)

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Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Chargers

In a 41-38 shootout between the Lions and Chargers, it was Detroit kicker Riley Patterson who scored the final points.

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The previous record for final-play, game-winning field goals in a single day was 3 games, which apparently happened a fair number of times.

Oh, and for what it’s worth, Jason Myers’ 43-yard kick was the longest of the five.

The full list, from longest to shortest:

• Seattle: 43
• Detroit: 41
• Cleveland: 40
• Houston: 38
• Arizona: 23

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Note: Monday night’s game between the Broncos and Bills also ended with a last-play, game-winning field goal, bringing the week’s total to SIX games – and, yes, that’s also an NFL record (for final-play, game-winning field goals in a single week).

Thought No. 6

If it’s been a while since you checked in on Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos, well . . . you’re not alone.

Here’s a quick recap of the Broncos’ season:

Wilson and his new ego-driven head coach started the season 0-3 with the ultimate lowlight being a 70-20 butt-whooping by the Miami Dolphins in Week 3.

The Broncos then lost two of their next three games to fall to 1-5.

Put a fork in ‘em, right?

Not. So. Fast.

Wilson & Co. have now won three straight games, including a 15-point victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9 and a 24-22 win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football to close out Week 10.

Somewhat surprisingly, the 4-5 Broncos (a) have the 2nd-longest active win streak in the league (tied with the Philadelphia Eagles), and (b) are only one game out of a playoff spot with eight games to play.

Granted, the Broncos would have to leapfrog SEVEN teams to earn a playoff spot . . . and they’ll probably need RW3 to be a bit more productive than he’s been.

Fun Fact: Wilson has only cracked 200 passing yards three times this season and the last one was way back in Week 4.

Thought No. 7

Geno Smith had a career day against the Washington Commanders, but most of the focus in the aftermath of that was on his egregious intentional grounding penalty at the end of the first half and/or on how Geno performed in the first half (16/27 for 152) compared to how he performed in the second half (15/20 for 217 with 2 TDs).

I have a much more interesting comparison . . .

Week 9: 13 of 28 (46.4%) for 157 yards with 0 TDs, 1 INT, and a passer rating of 49.3

Week 10, first half: 16 of 27 (59.3%) for 152 yards with 0 TDs, 0 INTs, and a passer rating of 74.9

Yep, that’s right, for however “bad” you might consider Geno’s first half versus the Commanders, his entire game versus the Baltimore Ravens was WORSE.

Thought No. 8

I’m going to pile on a little bit . . .

Including the playoffs, and his three starts in relief of Russell Wilson in 2021, Geno Smith has started 30 games for the Seahawks.

Yardage-wise, his three worst games have all come this season:

• Week 1, vs. the Los Angeles Rams: Geno completed 16 of 26 passes (61.5%) for 112 yards with 1 TD, 0 INTs, and a passer rating of 84.1
• Week 4, at the New York Giants: Geno was 13-of-20 (65%) for 110 yards with 1 TD, 0 INTs, and a passer rating of 95.8
• Week 9, at Baltimore: 13 of 28 (46.4%) for 151 yards with 0 TDs, 1 INT, and a passer rating of 49.3

Thought No. 9

As much as I dislike our division rivals, I’ve sort of missed “the flying squirrel” (aka Kyler Murray) and I will admit that I was concerned that the ACL injury he suffered last December would rob him of his game-changing speed.

He put those fears to rest on Sunday.

I kid you not, the first time I watched that play, I thought someone sped up the tape or at least used AI to speed up Kyler Murray.

But, no, he’s really just that much faster than everyone else around him.

Thought No. 10

Speaking of quarterbacks with injuries . . .

According to NBC sideline reporter Melissa Stark, the New York Jets could get Aaron Rodgers back before Christmas.

I laughed the first time I heard him say he might return this season.

Now, not so much.

Let’s start with the fact that he’s been walking without crutches for a while now.

Then there’s this clip of him throwing pregame passes:

According to the article I linked to at the top of this thought, Rodgers operation involved a new technique that “places an internal brace over the repaired Achilles to accelerate the rehabilitation process and recovery time for the injury”.

Unlike a “normal” procedure, the projected recovery time for this procedure is only four months which is why Rodgers has been saying (from the start) that he could be back in time for the playoffs (assuming the Jets qualify).

Apparently he’s tearing up his rehab though and could be back even sooner.

All I can say is, “Wow!”

Thought No. 11

Speaking of Wow . . .

Dak Prescott had himself a day on Sunday.

Yes, it was against the lowly New York Giants, but still . . .

Prescott ended the day with 26 completions on 35 attempts (74.3%) for 404 yards with 4 TDs, 1 INT, a QBR of 97.2, and a passer rating of 138.3.

The most impressive part?

He spent the entire fourth quarter on the bench.

Thought No. 12

As a rookie, Kenneth Walker III had 1,050 yards rushing and 165 yards receiving.

At his current pace of 66.1 yards per game, K9 will surpass his 2022 rushing total in Week 17 against the Stealers and end the season with 1,124 yards on the ground.

The receiving yards is another story though.

Why?

Because he’s already topped last year’s mark . . . with eight games left to play (!!).

• Last year: 27 catches on 35 targets (77.1%) for 165 yards (6.1 per reception)
• This year: 16 receptions on 22 targets (72.7%) for 175 yards (10.9 per reception)

Adding to that . . .

K9 had recorded 6 first downs as a receiver last year and has already matched that mark this year.

Then there’s the touchdown he scored against the Commanders as a receiver, which was the first one of his career.

More of that, please!

Go Hawks!