Seahawks can't overcome mistakes in loss to rams

In a wild, back-and-forth game full of big plays and costly mistakes from both teams, the Seahawks pulled off a memorable comeback to force overtime against the Rams on Sunday. In overtime, however, a fourth-and-1 rush attempt was stuffed on Seattle’s opening drive, and the Rams responded by driving the length of the field for the winning touchdown to secure a 26–20 victory.

Here are six quick reactions to Sunday’s loss, which drops Seattle’s record to 4-5 heading into the bye week:

Once again, turnovers and penalties proved incredibly costly for the Seahawks.

A common theme among Seattle’s losses this season has been a glut of costly turnovers and penalties, and Sunday’s loss to the Rams was no different.

Most notably, Geno Smith was intercepted three times, including twice deep in the red zone, one of which was returned 103 yards for a touchdown that gave the Rams a 20-13 lead. The interceptions weren’t entirely Smith’s fault; the first went out of the hands of Jaxon Smith-Njigba and should have been a catch. The second, which was returned for a score, was inaccurate because Smith’s arm was hit when he threw it. On the third, the Seahawks seemed to have a fairly legitimate complaint that their intended target, AJ Barner, was being held, but regardless of the reason behind the turnover, they still had a huge impact on the game.

With these three interceptions, the Seahawks have now turned the ball over 11 times in five losses, including multiple goals in four of those five games. And although Smith battled back to lead an impressive game-tying drive, finishing his day with 363 yards and three touchdowns, that wasn’t enough to overcome the damage caused by the turnover.

As for the penalties, the Seahawks had called 12 for 95 yards, and many of them had major consequences on the game, including two defensive penalties, an illegal contact, and a roughing passer call, both of which the Seahawks vehemently disagreed with . , which extended a Rams scoring drive on apparent third-down stops, and two holding calls that negated long completions for Jaxon Smith-Njigba.