Grading the Seattle Seahawks’ 17-15 loss to Washington

Here’s how the Seattle Seahawks grade out in their 17-15 loss to the Washington Football Team on Monday night at FedEx Field:

OFFENSE

Russell Wilson had to be better in his third game back from injury, right? Apparently not. For the most part Seattle’s franchise quarterback continued to look a shell of himself, making bad decisions and missing on throws. The Seahawks had a stretch between the second and third quarters where they went three-and-out on five straight possessions. Seattle’s run game was non-existent, DK Metcalf was nowhere to be found in the passing game, and Alex Collins’ second-quarter fumble was a killer. Maybe the 96-yard touchdown drive at the end of the game, which was vintage Wilson, is the kindle that re-lights Wilson’s flame?

Grade: D-

DEFENSE

Yes, Seattle gave up four marathon drives. Yes, the defense was trucked twice in the second half when the game was in the balance. And yes, the defense was helped by the fact that Washington didn’t have a kicker in the second half and therefore wasn’t able to take the gimme points that would have sealed the game. But Jamal Adams’ interception in the second quarter kept Seattle close, the D was the victim of some questionable officiating on Washington’s second-quarter scoring drive, and everything needs to be seen through the lens of the defense being forced to spend 40-plus minutes on the field every week because of the offense’s ineptitude.

Grade: C

SPECIAL TEAMS

Had Seattle somehow won this game, it would have been because of the special teams. Rasheem Green created a three-point swing out of nothing when he blocked an extra point and returned it for a bonus two points to tie the score at 9-9. And Seattle recovered an onside kick with 15 seconds remaining, only to have it nullified because one player was lined up two steps too close to the kicker. Punter Michael Dickson was a busy man, and he had some excellent punts and a couple not-so-good ones. The return/coverage game was average.

Grade: B

COACHING

Whatever the coaches are doing to try and fix the offense isn’t working, and any adjustments made at halftime clearly didn’t work. Metcalf, who’s a gamebreaker, didn’t have a target until midway through the third quarter. There were a couple good play-calling moments, such as the deep pass to Tyler Lockett immediately following the interception and the quarterback draw to finally get a first down early in the fourth quarter. But when a team has the same issues week after week — can’t convert on third down, struggles to defend screen passes, has the defense on the field way too long — one has to point the finger at the coaching.

Grade: F

OVERALL

This was a nutty game, particularly with an ending sequence that see-sawed multiple times in the final three minutes between the game being over and Seattle having hope. But the main takeaway should be that the Seahawks lost and they deserved to lose. The offense isn’t right, Russell Wilson isn’t right, and the defense isn’t good enough to compensate. Somehow the results over the weekend broke in a way that meant Seattle still had an outside chance of making the playoffs had they won to improve to 4-7. But in the end it was just another ugly game in an ugly season.

Grade: D

– Nick Patterson, Herald writer