Seahawks come back late but can’t close door in 17-14 loss to Washington

The door was left open in the fourth quarter for Russell Wilson. He and the Seattle Seahawks walked right through it – and subsequently failed to close it behind them.

Despite taking the lead inside the final two minutes thanks to two touchdown passes in the final frame, Washington defeated the Seahawks 17-14 after two long pass plays set up a 1-yard score by running back Rob Kelley with 59 seconds left.

Final stats

Here’s a breakdown of each quarter of the Seahawks’ loss.

FIRST QUARTER

Seahawks 2, Washington 0

The Seahawks’ streak of consecutive games without scoring a touchdown on their first drive hit 21, and there wasn’t much going on any other time they had the ball in the first quarter, either. Fortunately for Seattle, the defense and special teams did their part to not only keep Washington off the board but put the Seahawks in the lead. Rookie defensive lineman Nazair Jones recovered a fumble, and though the Seahawks went three-and-out on the ensuing series, a strong punt by Jon Ryan pinned Washington deep in its own territory and Bobby Wagner came up with the sack of Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins for a safety. Special teams standout Neiko Thorpe had a big quarter, first getting his hand on Washington’s first punt of the day for a partial block, then putting down Washington returner DeAngelo Hall as soon as he fielded a Ryan punt. After that all set the tone, Seattle’s offense did start to move the ball in the middle of the quarter, getting to Washington’s 26 with a seven-play, 43-yard drive, but Blair Walsh was wide on his initial field goal attempt of the day. Russell Wilson was also picked off shortly before the end of the quarter.

SEA – Bobby Wagner safety minus-6, 6:48 (2-0 SEA)

SECOND QUARTER

Washington 7, Seahawks 2

Bobby Wagner was having himself quite the game, but the play of Seattle’s Pro Bowl linebacker wasn’t enough to keep the Seahawks in the lead into halftime. After giving Seattle a safety early in the game, Wagner played a big part in slowing a Washington scoring drive down in the second quarter. Washington persevered to find the end zone on the 13th play of a 71-yard drive series, though, Rob Kelley punching in a 1-yard touchdown run to give Washington a 7-2 advantage with 2:52 to go before the break. The Seahawks’ offense sputtered in the second quarter just like it did in the first, and when the teams went to their respective locker rooms, Seattle’s drives had all ended either with a punt, interception or missed field goal. There were nine points left on the board in the half by Seattle as kicker Blair Walsh missed three field goal attempts – all to the left – on a cold, wet day at CenturyLink Field. Walsh entered the game 12 for 13 on field goals in his first season with the Seahawks.

Notable: Seahawks strong safety Kam Chancellor has a history of knocking around Washington tight end Vernon Davis, especially from Davis’ days with the San Francisco. Chancellor added to that history, sending Davis to the ground with another hard hit that resulted in Davis taking a short break on the sideline. … Running back Eddie Lacy was deemed doubtful to return with a right groin injury after rushing for 20 yards on six carries.

WSH – Rob Kelley 1 run, 2:52 (Nick Rose kick, 7-2 WSH)

THIRD QUARTER

Washington 10, Seahawks 2

Three quarters in, the Seahawks’ offense had still yet to find any bit of success against Washington. Seattle went three-and-out on its first series out of the locker room, and on the next Russell Wilson was picked off for the second time near midfield. That opened the door for Washington to add to its lead, but luckily for the Seahawks they were still within one score of Washington after Nick Rose’s 28-yard field goal. A sizable portion of Seattle’s problems had been penalties, of which there were 13 through the third quarter, the majority of which were offensive.

Notable: The Seahawks’ list of injuries ballooned to four with DE Marcus Smith being evaluated for a concussion, FB Tre Madden dealing with an Achilles issue and LB D.J. Alexander suffering an ankle injury. They joined Eddie Lacy, who hurt his right groin in the first half.

WSH – Nick Rose FG 28, 10:19 (WSH 10-2)

FOURTH QUARTER

Washington 17, Seahawks 14

After three quarters of offensive ineffectiveness, the Seahawks suddenly came alive in the fourth. A 22-yard pass to running back Thomas Rawls got momentum going for Seattle, and Luke Willson hauled in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Russell Wilson four plays later to mark the first time all day the offense found the end zone. A two-point conversion attempt was picked off (and nearly taken to the house by Washington), preserving a two-point advantage for Washington. Seattle nearly erased that on the very next series for Washington as Dwight Freeney appeared to make a strip sack and Seattle recovered the fumble in the end zone, but after a review it was determined Kirk Cousins’ knee was down before the ball became loose. The game remained at that score until the Seahawks received the ball back from Washington inside the final three minutes, and Wilson wasted no time getting Seattle in control, finding Doug Baldwin for a 30-yard touchdown to cap off a five-play, 71-yard drive. The Seahawks’ defense was unable to hold down Washington, however, with a sprawling, highlight reel catch by Josh Doctson amounted to a 38-yard gain, putting Washington at the Seattle 1. Rob Kelley punched it in on the next play, and though the Seahawks crossed midfield on the final drive, the Hail Mary on the last play fell incomplete.

SEA – Russell Wilson 10 pass to Luke Willson, 11:48 (Pass failed, WSH 10-8)
SEA – Russell Wilson 30 pass to Doug Baldwin, 1:39 (Pass failed, SEA 14-10)
WSH – Rob Kelley 1 run, :59 (Nick Rose kick, WSH 17-10)

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