Rost: What the Seahawks’ 30-13 loss to Packers showed

If you wanted to see what the Seattle Seahawks look like with Sam Howell under center, you got a taste of it Sunday.

If you wanted to see what the Seattle Seahawks look like against an NFC playoff team, you saw even more.

It didn’t look good.

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Quarterback Geno Smith took a low hit midway through the third quarter that forced him to the sideline. He looked livid after getting back up — angry perhaps at the referee for not calling a penalty on what probably felt like a shot to his knees (it was just a low tackle wrapping up his ankle). Or perhaps it was a boiling over of frustration with an offense that had made too many mistakes — including a bad red-zone interception by Smith himself — and wasn’t moving at all in a game the Seahawks desperately needed to win.

So, Seahawks fans saw their first extended look at Sam Howell at QB in the regular season. There were no fireworks outside of a lone touchdown by Zach Charbonnet. And really, that had been the case the entire night for a Seahawks team that felt thoroughly outmatched against a Packers team that improved to 10-4. Seattle’s defense made a few key stops in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to climb out of a halftime deficit — not when the offense couldn’t convert third-and-shorts and found little to celebrate.

It was never going to be easy. The Packers entered with just one more win than the Seahawks (now 8-6) but nearly stole one from the Lions last week and had scored 30 or more points in three consecutive games. Running back Josh Jacobs, central to their offensive identity, gave Seattle echoes of his career-best performance. Nevermind that he didn’t finish with 300 yards this time around; it simply felt like a night in which Seattle was bullied more often than not.

• Long-term thought: Seattle needs to focus on improving the offensive line and making sure it can be consistent with the run game. Week 14 was fun but now feels less predictive. It will, undoubtedly, be a key talking point all offseason. The defense struggled in this one, but I’m slightly less concerned considering Green Bay’s scoring track record against some pretty good units this year (31 points against the Lions, 29 points against the Vikings). Raise a red flag if they look like this against Chicago, and start waving it frantically if they continue to get dominated at the line of scrimmage.

• Short-term thought: Is Geno Smith OK? It’s nice to know your backup, Howell, has starting experience, but Smith is the better passer of the two, red zone woes or not. And in a tight NFC West race, Seattle needs him.

• Big picture thought: Here, in primetime on Sunday night, was a chance for a first-place team to prove themselves. Instead, they proved they have quite a few steps left to take.

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