Seahawks Send SOS To Tarvaris Jackson In 6-3 Loss In Cleveland
When you saw the final score of the Seahawks-Browns game today you would have thought it was a baseball game instead of a football game. With the loss Seattle falls to 2-4 on the season while Cleveland gets to .500 at 3-3. Coming into the game Seattle was without starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson and runningback Marshawn Lynch who was a late scratch in pre-game warmups.
Backup Charlie Whitehurst got his third start of his career and it was the game where Charlie could become Kevin Kolb or Charlie Frye. Prolong your career and maybe impress enough to get another chance to start either in Seattle or somewhere else. Or, fall off the radar and most likely not get another chance to start in the NFL.
By the end of the second drive for Seattle it was clear Whitehurst was about to chance his last name to Frye. After a holding penalty that ended their first drive Whitehurst fumbled the ball on an intended screen pass to Sidney Rice. From that point on Seattle’s offense was DOA.
Seattle’s first drive lasted 3:48 and eight plays. That would be the longest sustained time of possession Seattle had the entire game and the second most plays in a drive (nine plays on the field goal drive). On the flip side Cleveland had five drives of 10 or more plays and five drives that lasted longer than four minutes.
Even with the time of possession in Cleveland’s favor 42:56 to 17:04 Seattle’s defense never let McCoy and Co. in the end zone. The Seahawks bread and butter is their run defense which is allowing just 97.8 yards per game, eight in the NFL. Second year runningback Montario Hardesty finished with 95 yards on 33 carries with Colt McCoy ineffective and inconsistent.
Seattle’s defense and special teams led the way with two blocked field goals by Red Bryant and an interception by middle linebacker David Hawthrone. While both defenses played strong it really was an offensive struggle, especially for the Seahawks who couldn’t break the 100 yard mark in either passing or rushing.
Charlie Whitehurst finished 12 of 30 for 97 yards and one interception to go along with one fumble. He finished with a 35.0 quarterback rating which was just the beginning of Whitehurst’s problems. While he didn’t have Marshawn Lynch he still has to make due with his options available, which are pretty good. Whitehurst never got settled and it was clear he wasn’t on the same page with any of his wide receivers.
Sidney Rice finished with two receptions for 38 yards and five targets (his second reception went for 38 yards). Mike Williams had one reception for 10 yards and rookie standout Doug Baldwin didn’t record a catch in three targets. Clearly something wasn’t clicking for Seattle in Cleveland.
With this being Whitehurst’s final year of his original two-year contract it’s likely this will be his final start in Seattle and quite possibly in the NFL baring injury to Tarvaris Jackson. During the game there were several questionable calls by the officials on both sides which got several reactions from Pete Carroll.
“I hope they made the right choices on those things, because it’s pretty hard to live with otherwise.”
Regardless of the flags Seattle was dead on arrival offensively and it’s clear that Whitehurst is now done in Seattle. In essence Seattle sent a “Save our Seahawks” to Tarvaris Jackson with the offensive performance today.
Game notes:
-CB Walter Thurmond is likely out for the season with a broken fibula.
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