Game Recap, Week 10 – Washington Commanders at Seattle Seahawks

November 13, 2022

By Noonefromtampa

Commanders Lose Close Game on the Road 29-26

First Quarter

Washington started on offense with Antonio Gibson returning the opening kickoff 33 yards to the Commanders 35 yard line. After an incompletion to Curtis Samuel, Sam Howell hit John Bates for 12 yards. Brian Robinson gained two yards on a carry up the middle. On the next play, Howell was under pressure from a blitz on the next play and lofted a throw to Robinson on the left sideline and Robinson raced 51 yards to the end zone for the touchdown. Joey Slye hit the upright on the extra point attempt, which was his first miss of the season. Commanders 6, Seahawks 0.

Washington continued its trend of allowing opening drive scores by the opposing team. Geno Smith hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba for 10 yards to start. Kenneth Walker III rushed for 4 yards. After an incompletion by Smith, he threw short to Smith-Njigba, who took it 20 yards up field. After a 10 yard offensive holding call, Smith passed to Will Dissly for 6 yards. Emmanuel Forbes was called for unnecessary roughness for contact to the helmet. After the New York operations reviewed the play, Forbes was disqualified and ejected from the game. On third and 10, Smith-Njigba gained nine yards. Seattle elected to go for it on fourth down but were called for delay of game. Jason Meyers hit a 45 yard field goal. Commanders 6, Seahawks 3.

Gibson returned the kickoff 27 yards out to the Washington 29 yard line. After a no gain rush by Robinson on first down, Howell hit Terry McLaurin for 13 yards. The Commanders gained only four more yard and put themselves into a third and long after a false start on Charles Leno. Tress Way punted it 43 yards with no return. Seattle then picked up one first down and 17 yards before being forced to punt.

Second Quarter

To start Washington’s next drive, Gibson gained 6 yards on a run and 7 yards on a catch. Bates caught a pass for 9 yards. Logan Thomas picked up 17 yards on a short pass to the right. After Alex Armah caught a three yard pass the drive stalled out and Slye kicked a 49 yard field goal. Commanders 9, Seahawks 3.

Seattle responded with a scoring drive of their own. The key plays were pass completions to Dissly for 16 yards, 13 yards to Lockett and 15 yards to D.K. Metcalf. Meyers nailed a 43 yard field goal. Commanders 9, Seahawks 6.

The next three possessions, two by Washington and one by Seattle, all went three and out with punts.

Seattle began the next drive with a 6 yard run by Walker and 13 yard scramble by Smith. Smith then threw 7 yards to Lockett and Walker picked up 13 yards over right guard. Jake Bobo caught an 11 yard pass. Seattle gained 9 yards on three plays with a key stop by David Mayo on on third down. Seattle went for it again on fourth down but again were called for a penalty, false start, and settled for a 33 yard field goal. Commanders 9, Seahawks 9.

Washington used its timeouts on the previous drive to reserve time for Howell, but then went three and out. Seattle was able to move into field goal range twice having been called for offensive holding. In a bizarre end to the half, Smith was called for intentional grounding with 7 seconds left and with no timeout left by Seattle, the 10 second runoff rule was enforced.

Third Quarter

Seattle opened the second half on offense. They went three and out with a sack by Jonathan Allen on third down. After Seattle’s punt, Robinson gained 1 yard on first down. On second down, reminiscent of the first half, Howell scrambled and hit Robinson, who raced 48 yards down the left sideline. With the ball at the Seattle 21, Howell threw two straight incompletions and was sacked on third down. Slye hit a 47 yard field goal. Commanders 12, Seahawks 9.

After the kickoff, Smith hit Metcalf for 11 yards to open the drive. Under pressure, Smith dumped the ball off to Walker; however, Percy Butler slipped trying to make the tackle and Walker took it 64 yards to the house and the extra point was good. Seahawks 16, Commanders 12.

After a 5 yard run by Robinson, Howell kept the ball on an RPO play and ran for 15 yards but lost the ball fighting for additional yardage. On the subsequent drive, Seattle put themselves in a hole with a first down offensive holding penalty. They only gained 13 yards before being forced to punt.

Washington was able to cobble together a short drive, starting with a 9 yard pass to Thomas. Byron Pringle caught a 7 yard pass and Dyami Brown caught a 6 yard pass for a first down. The next three plays saw an incompletion, 6 yard sack on Howell and another incompletion. Way‘s punt went 53 yards.

Fourth Quarter

Seattle was able to move the ball 55 yards in 10 plays on the next drive. Lockett caught a 15 yard pass from Smith. Zach Charbonnet ran for 11 yards and 10 yards on successive plays. After a Jamin Davis 4 yard tackle for a loss, Noah Fant caught an 8 yard pass. Lockett came up 1 yard short on third down reception, but Charbonnet picked up 7 yards on fourth down. Seattle first fourth down attempt they did not get called for a penalty. The drive petered out after that, and Myers hit a 45 yard field goal. Seahawks 19, Commander 12.

Washington’s next drive was their best effort of the second half. Robinson ran for 15 yards and 12 yards on back-to-back plays. Gibson ran for 7 yards on two plays and Thomas caught a 4 yard pass for a first down. After an incompletion, Robinson caught a 16 yard pass and on the next play Gibson hauled in a floating pass for Howell for a 19 yard touchdown. Slye converted the extra point. Seahawks 19, Commanders 19.

Seattle answered on their next drive. Lockett had an 11 yard reception and one play later a 20 yard catch. Washington’s defense then held Seattle to 5 yards and put them in a fourth and 5 yard situation. Benjamin St-Juste was called pass interference on a questionable call giving Seattle a first down. After a 16 yard catch by Lockett, St-Juste was called for a facemask penalty. Lockett caught a 5 yard touchdown two plays later. Seattle 26, Commanders 19.

With 3:40 left on the clock, Howell went to work. McLaurin picked up a first down on third down with an 11 yard catch. After two incompletions, Gibson had a 9 yard reception and McLaurin caught an 8 yard slant on fourth down. After two more incompletions, Howell hit Brown on a deep curl and Brown raced 35 yards for the touchdown. Slye converted the extra point. Seahawks 26, Commanders 26.

With 52 seconds left, Charbonnet caught two short passes to start the drive. Smith hit Metcalf on two passes for 17 and 27 yards to move into field goal position. Seattle was able to get downfield and spike the ball with three seconds left. Myers drilled the 43 yard game winning field goal. Seahawks 29, Commanders 26.

Thoughts

NFL officiating is becoming a clown show with all the inconsistent calls and obvious no calls. With the NFL’s push into gambling this is going to be an even bigger issue going forward.

The revamped defensive line is unable to create consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Don’t be too upset if the Commanders use a high round pick on a pass rusher in the draft.

Without the pass rush, the linebackers and secondary are exposed.

Sam Howell is the real deal and if you don’t think so now, you know nothing about football.

In four years, how have these coaches not learned how to manage a game clock?