Instant reaction: 710 ESPN Seattle voices on Seahawks’ loss to Saints

After each Seahawks game, we poll the voice of 710 ESPN Seattle to give their initial reaction. Here’s what they had to say about Sunday’s 25-20 loss to New Orleans:

Jim Moore of “Danny, Dave and Moore”

We all saw the bad non-calls on picks set by Saints receiver Willie Snead, allowing Brandin Cooks to make a touchdown catch and get a critical first down late in the game. I could see one being missed, not two. It’s as if they sent Pac-12 officials to New Orleans for this game.

Would the Seahawks have won if those calls were made? Hard to say, but the Cooks touchdown came on a third-and-goal play. A field goal for the Saints there would have given them a 19-17 lead instead of a 22-17 lead.

And on a Cooks reception that went for 20 yards to the Seahawks’ 24-yard line, if offensive pass interference had been called, the Saints would have been looking at a third-and-15 from New Orleans’ 46-yard line. They more than likely would have had to punt. Instead, they increased their lead from 22-20 to 25-20, forcing the Seahawks to get a touchdown to win.

The penalty disparity seemed absurd – 11 for Seattle, two for New Orleans.

In spite of allowing points on the Saints’ last six possessions, the Seahawks’ defense played well enough to give the offense a chance to win in the final two minutes.

The lack of a running game, as pointed out by Steve Raible during the postgame show, will continue to prevent the Seahawks from closing out games when they have a lead. It will also cause them to sputter on offense while leaving the defense on the field far too long, particularly troubling after the overtime affair last Sunday night in Arizona.

Though disappointing, the loss didn’t hurt the Seahawks in the NFC West. Arizona lost 30-20 at Carolina and remains 1 ½ games behind at 3-4-1. The Seahawks are 4-2-1 and reach the halfway point of their season against Buffalo next Monday night at CenturyLink Field.

Bob Stelton of “Bob, Groz and Tom”

There will be much to complain about in this loss. The Seahawks’ offense couldn’t take advantage of the worst defense in the NFL. The Saints were dead last in points allowed at 32.5 per game, yet the Seahawks offense’ managed only 13 points (the other seven were scored on the fumble recovery TD). It’s still very clear that Russell Wilson is not close to 100 percent. The running game still isn’t even close to any level of consistency. And the O-line? They are what they’ve been… not good. The officiating was atrocious. Some terrible calls and non-calls went against Seattle. But the Seahawks also did just as much damage to themselves with undisciplined penalties of their own doing. The Saints went 0-3 on their first three possessions. Then, they scored on all remaining six possessions. “Tell-the-truth Monday” should be interesting for these guys.

Mike Salk of “Brock and Salk”

It probably shouldn’t be too surprising to see the Seahawks lose a 10 a.m. start, on the road, coming off a physically draining 75-minute battle for their lives in Arizona. And yet after being in control early, it was surprising nonetheless. Fans will have plenty of culprits, from the officials to the offensive coordinator to the quarterback to a defense that couldn’t get off the field when it needed to. But the Hawks’ offense scored just 13 points against a poor New Orleans defense and couldn’t keep Drew Brees on the bench long enough to help their tired teammates on the other side of the ball. The Seahawks are still in control of the division, but they’ve missed two straight opportunities to put the division to bed and go hunting for first-round byes. The best silver lining: the running game they rediscovered in the second half. If they can carry that forward against better defensive units, they should be just fine.

Brady Henderson, 710Sports.com Editor in Chief

I understand the disapproval of the Seahawks’ final play call and the desire to throw the ball to either your go-to receiver (Doug Baldwin) or your 6-foot-7 tight end (Jimmy Graham) in that situation – in the red zone and with the game on the line. But there are different ways to look at it. Another is that the Seahawks had to like the matchup with Jermaine Kearse (who has made countless big-time catches) vs. B.W. Webb (a backup, journeyman cornerback who is on his fourth team in as many seasons). There’s a tendency to reflexively blame offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell in instances like this, but in my view, the execution was the bigger issue on this play. Russell Wilson’s throw was so deep that it didn’t give Kearse much of a chance. Similarly, it’s hard to fault Bevell for only calling three running plays in the first half. For one thing, Seattle’s offense only had 19 plays total in the first half, and five of them were on the final drive when the Seahawks were in hurry-up mode and running wasn’t an option. Also, three first-half penalties by the offensive line backed the Seahawks up, as has often been the case this season. Those three penalties left Seattle in second-and-24, third-and-16 and first-and-15. Hard to run the ball in challenging down-and-distance situations like that.