'Every problem came back to bite them': The national media respond to Seahawks' loss



SEATTLE – Even the Seattle Seahawks will admit that Sunday’s loss to the Washington Redskins was not exactly their best effort.

Penalties, missed kicks, underthrown receivers, dropped interceptions, poor running game: There’ll be plenty to keep Pete Carroll and his coaching staff busy during this short week of practice before Seattle plays the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday.

Here’s how media around the country saw the game.

The Sporting News’ David Steele wrote that the game shows just how thin the Seahawks’ margin for error is:

Six of the Seahawks' eight games have been one-score margins, including now three decided by three points. They’re 3-3 in those games. That’s a lot of lost sleep over what single thing could have gone differently to change the outcome.

Sure, the Seahawks had won four straight before Sunday, but every problem out of which they had maneuvered during that streak came back to bite them this week, with a few more ladled on top. Missed field goals, for one; Blair Walsh might need to keep his head on a swivel the next day or so, especially with their next game zooming up on Thursday at Arizona.

The Legion of Boom is not so scary anymore. For the second consecutive week, the secondary of the Seattle Seahawks looked highly vulnerable. The Seahawks may not have allowed 400 passing yards and four touchdowns as they did last week, but with a lead late in the game, they let the Redskins’ Kirk Cousins cover 69 yards on two passes, setting up Washington’s game-winning touchdown run. Playing without Earl Thomas certainly did not help.

There can be honor in defeat, a hard-fought contest between worthy rivals in which one team just makes more winning plays than the other. Tip your cap and say, “Well done, I’ll try to get you next time.”

This was not that kind of loss for the Seattle Seahawks. This was not Seattle getting beat, but rather the Seahawks beating themselves.