Fast Facts: Seahawks lose to Steelers 23-20 in OT, fall to 2-4
Oct 17, 2021, 9:13 PM | Updated: Oct 18, 2021, 1:33 am
The Seahawks put up a fight in their first game with Russell Wilson on injured reserve, but they fell 23-20 in overtime to the Steelers on Sunday night and will come home to Seattle with a 2-4 record on the season.
Steelers 23, Seahawks 20: Gustafson’s Takeaways | 710 reacts | Stats
The result of the game was less important than a serious injury situation with Seahawks defensive end Darrell Taylor, however. Taylor was carted off the field late in the fourth quarter with an apparent neck injury, a scary scene that halted the game for over 10 minutes.
Pete Carroll provides update on Seahawks LB Darrell Taylor
Here is a closer look at the game.
Key plays and scores
• First half
The first quarter sure wasn’t anything to write home about as neither team found the end zone. Instead, the Seahawks and Steelers traded punts back and forth on each of their first three series.
Pittsburgh broke through in the second quarter, however, starting with an eight-play, 54-yard drive that was capped off by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Najee Harris with 10 minutes to go before halftime. A 25-yard run by Diontae Johnson was the big play that helped set up the TD.
After another Seattle punt, the Steelers’ offense kept rolling. A pair of Seahawks penalties helped Pittsburgh’s cause along a 14-play, 84-yard scoring drive that was capped off by a 1-run Eric Ebron rush over the goal line.
Offense was nonexistent for the Seahawks before halftime, especially in the second quarter, as you can see from Stacy Rost’s tweet below:
All Steelers in the second #SNF pic.twitter.com/oCRaB3HbUq
— Stacy Jo Rost (@StacyRost) October 18, 2021
• Second half
After a frustrating first half, the Seahawks needed a score in the worst way. And that’s exactly what they got.
Seattle’s run game finally got established on the opening drive after halftime, with Alex Collins rushing eight times for 58 yards, the longest carry going for 21. He was the entire offensive gameplan in the series other than a 9-yard DK Metcalf catch and 5-yard DeeJay Dallas run, and naturally was given the ball to finish it off with a 2-yard touchdown run.
Back in it. 👊@Budda03's touchdown will put us on the board!
📺: #SEAvsPIT on FOX pic.twitter.com/sYXZ6h9pKK
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) October 18, 2021
Following that 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive, Pittsburgh answered with a 27-yard Chris Boswell field goal to push its lead to 17-7. The Seahawks weren’t done yet, though.
With attention now on Collins, Geno Smith got the passing game going with completions of 14 and 41 yards to Tyler Lockett and Gerald Everett, respectively, to set up an eventual 2-yard TD pass to Will Dissly.
.@lightningstrk12 WON'T QUIT. 😤
📺: #SEAvsPIT on FOX pic.twitter.com/FobkQKY0VL
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) October 18, 2021
That seemed to spark the Seahawks’ defense, who turned in a three-and-out to let Smith and the offense get right back to work. Seattle was then able to tie the game at 17-all with a 40-yard Jason Myers field goal.
Though Seattle got the ball back quickly after a Steelers fumble, the score remained knotted until Pittsburgh got Boswell a field goal attempt from 52 yards with only 1:30 left, which was good. That came just two plays after a possible interception hit Jamal Adams in his facemask.
The Seahawks had an answer after a chaotic play in the waning seconds where DK Metcalf made a catch along the sideline and fumbled. Freddie Swain recovered the ball for Seattle and got it back to the line of scrimmage for Smith to snap and spike before time ran out, and after a long review to figure out what exactly happened, the officials put three seconds on the clock and made Seattle repeat the spike. Myers then nailed a 43-yarder at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
Madness on this play.@Seahawks get into field goal range with seconds left.
📺: #SEAvsPIT on NBC
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/xKD5WbIfKH— NFL (@NFL) October 18, 2021
• Overtime
Russell Wilson, despite not being on the active roster, came out to call tails and win the coin toss, allowing the Seahawks the chance to win with a touchdown. But with Seattle near midfield on third down, Steelers superstar T.J. Watt sacked Smith to force a Michael Dickson punt.
Rookie Seahawks cornerback Tre Brown made a huge tackle on third down to make Pittsburgh punt, but Smith fumbled while Watt tackled him as he scrambled forward, giving the Steelers the ball back for Boswell to hit the game-winning field goal from 37.
TJ WATT FORCES THE FUMBLE. #HereWeGo
📺: #SEAvsPIT on NBC
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/SbUBpLy0qI— NFL (@NFL) October 18, 2021
Standout players
With Chris Carson joining Wilson on IR, Alex Collins turned in the first 100-yard rushing game of the season for the Seahawks, picking up 101 on 20 carries with a touchdown.
Geno Smith threw 23 of 32 for 209 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. He was sacked five times for a total loss of 44 yards, however.
DK Metcalf led Seattle receivers with six catches for 58 yards.
Linebackers Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks tied for the game lead in tackles at 14. Wagner had eight solo tackles while Brooks and cornerback D.J. Reed each had seven.
Jamal Adams had Seattle’s lone tackle for loss.
Seattle had one sack of Ben Roethlisberger, which was credited to the team rather than any individual players.
Jason Myers hit both of his field goal attempts and two extra points, while Michael Dickson punted eight times for 364 yards (45.5 average), including a long of 65.
For Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger threw 29 of 40 for 229 yards and a touchdown.
Najee Harris ran for 81 yards on 24 carries.
Diontae Johnson caught nine passes for 71 yards.
Minkah Fitzpatrick and Cameron Heyward each had nine tackles to lead the Steelers. Heyward added a sack and two tackles for loss.
T.J. Watt had two sacks, both in overtime, to go with three tackles for loss, six solo tackles and seven total tackles.
Seahawks Injuries
In addition to the injury to Taylor, here are additional injury notes tweeted out by the Seahawks PR account:
.@Seahawks injury update: G Damien Lewis (shoulder) and CB Sidney Jones IV (chest) are Questionable to return.
— Seahawks PR (@seahawksPR) October 18, 2021
.@Seahawks injury update: G Damien Lewis will not return.
— Seahawks PR (@seahawksPR) October 18, 2021
Up next
After the 10-day break between their Week 5 and Week 6 games, the Seahawks get another longer break than usual before playing their third straight primetime game on Monday, Oct. 25 against the 3-2 New Orleans Saints. Coverage will begin on 710 ESPN Seattle and KIRO Radio 97.3 FM with the pregame show at 2 p.m. that day, with kickoff set for 5:15.
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