Instant Reactions: 710 ESPN Seattle on Seahawks’ loss to Washington

As we do each week, we have collected the initial thoughts of 710 ESPN Seattle’s hosts of the Seahawks’ 17-14 loss to Washington. Read what they have to say below, and tune in to 710 ESPN Seattle on Monday for even more in-depth reaction to the game.

Tom Wassell of Bob, Groz and Tom

My exact words to end Friday’s show were: “They could run into trouble. Something bad’s gonna happen. I’m officially nervous right now.” Check the tape. Let’s just skip to the end. After the completion to Paul Richardson, SPIKE THE BALL. SPIKE IT. SPIKE IT. SPIKE IT. I know it worked last week to keep running plays against Houston, but they were closer to the end zone in that situation. They could have reset what they were doing instead of just trying to wing it around. Horrible loss.

Mike Salk of Brock and Salk

That was a complete team loss – as in everyone deserves blame. All three phases failed in key moments, and the coaching failed them as well. Teams that commit 16 penalties, miss three field goals, blow two 2-point conversions, mishandle timeouts, mismanage the clock and give up 70-yard touchdown drives in 35 seconds generally don’t win football games, nor should they. The Seahawks watched their main competitors in the NFC all win this week, then messed around with an inferior team and let them win. They may be talented enough to often overcome their lack of discipline, but it sure looks bad when the mistakes negate their talent instead. They are talented enough to win every game and go to the Super Bowl, but their lack of discipline has now cost them some of their margin for error in December.

Bob Stelton of Bob, Groz and Tom

The Seahawks reverted back to form today. By that, I mean the defense played extremely well (until Washington’s final drive) and the offense did little to nothing to help itself. It was a sloppy, penalty-riddled day for the Hawks. Russell Wilson had a solid day running the ball and a not-so-solid day passing with two interceptions (he was also picked on a 2-point conversion attempt). Blair Walsh missed three field goals. And 16 penalties for 138 yards killed drives and any momentum they may have had going. Despite all of that, the Hawks’ offense was able to put together a drive that resulted in a go-ahead TD pass from Wilson to Doug Baldwin, only to have the defense allow Washington to drive to down the field with just over 1:30 left and score to take the lead. The Hawks failed to even get in range for a potential game-tying field goal attempt and ended up suffering a brutal loss. The only silver lining is they don’t have much time to dwell on it as they play Thursday night in Phoenix.

Jim Moore of Danny, Dave and Moore

Yet another example of the unpredictable nature of the NFL, a depleted Redskins team beat a Seahawks team playing at home with Duane Brown making his Seattle debut, upgrading the offensive line. I didn’t think it would be close. I figured the Redskins would fight gamely for a while but not for as long as they did. There are all kinds of questions about the Seahawks now, from wondering about Blair Walsh’s job security to wondering if Thomas Rawls has regained his role as the No. 1 back to wondering if Earl Thomas’ presence would have made a difference on the Redskins’ final drive. I have no idea how the Seahawks can go from having all kinds of firepower against the Texans last week to fizzling this week against the Redskins. And more specifically, how Russell Wilson could go from throwing for more than 400 yards to looking so out of sync for most of the day. If you’re looking for someone to blame for the loss, I’d blame the Seattle secondary more than Walsh for allowing the Redskins to go 70 yards and score the game-winning touchdown in four plays.

Dave Grosby of Bob, Groz and Tom

I know there was so much not to like – penalties galore, abysmal offensive line play, questionable play calling, the defense giving up that last drive after having an amazing afternoon, the list goes on and on – but the simple matter is that if the Seahawks make their field goals, they win the game fairly handily. They didn’t, of course, so what you have is a terrible loss against a conference foe that was limping in and unable to muster much offense at all until the final drive. Sloppy play was the order of the day. Everyone will be talking about not taking a timeout in the final drive, but count me out. I like Wilson’s odds against a hopefully rattled defense, even though he was having a tough day, but it was not to be. It’s the kind of game a Super Bowl-caliber team wins. Right now it’s hard to call the Seahawks that. They’re more like an up-and-down team, capable but inconsistent. Fortunately it’s only the halfway point of the season so obviously no reason to panic, but there’s still certainly disappointment. Don’t forget it’s a short week with a Thursday division matchup in Arizona, so there’s not much time to dwell on it.