Kam Chancellor’s huge play saves the struggling Seattle Seahawks
Imagine if Kam Chancellor wasn’t in just the right spot to make the biggest play of the Seattle Seahawks’ season to date. Imagine if the great Calvin Johnson had secured the ball better, or been a few feet further along and crossed the plane of the goal line. Or imagine if the officals had called K.J. Wright for illegally batting Johnson’s fumble out of bounds, giving the ball back to the Lions.
The hypotheticals don’t matter in the standings. Chancellor punched the ball out just before Johnson crossed the goal line, which would have given the Detroit Lions the lead with less than two minutes left, and Seattle took possession. Wright knocked the ball out of the end zone, which is illegal, former NFL official Gerry Austin said on ESPN’s postgame report. No penalty was called.
The Lions never got the ball back, and Seattle won 13-10. it was an enormous play by Chancellor, who held out for almost two months because of a contract dispute before reporting after Week 2. The Seahawks improved to 2-2, and the Lions are 0-4.
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But if Seahawks fans are being honest with themselves, there’s a lot more relief than joy over the win, and the win put a big spotlight on a lot of concerning issues moving forward. A 1-3 start for the Seahawks would have been really difficult to get out of, and that was very, very close to that happening.
The Seahawks’ offensive line is a mess. Russell Wilson might have been sacked double-digit times on Monday night if he wasn’t so good at escaping the pocket and making plays. For a long time in the game, the Seahawks’ only offensive strategy seemed to be just that, letting Wilson run around after the offensive line broke down and let him try to pass to someone on the move. Very rarely was that someone Jimmy Graham.
Graham, who the Seahawks traded center Max Unger and a first-round pick for, had little impact with four catches for 29 yards. If the Seahawks didn’t plan to use Graham, they would have been better off keeping Unger and using the first-round pick on the offensive line as well.
The running game, which is usually the Seahawks’ calling card, wasn’t very effective without Marshawn Lynch, who was injured and inactive. Wilson made some yards on unplanned scrambles, but it’s not like that’s a sustainable long-term offensive strategy.
Credit Wilson though, becuase he kept making the plays. He rolled out and found Jermaine Kearse on a third and 2 on the series after Johnson’s fumble for a first down. That sealed the win. But the win wasn’t pretty.
When the Seahawks lost at the St. Louis Rams to start the season, it was chalked up as a tough game against a division rival that always plays them tough. Then they lost at the Green Bay Packers, and there’s no shame in that. A win over the Chicago Bears in Week 3 was necessary, but the Bears aren’t very good. Neither are the Lions, really. And the Seahawks needed an enormous defensive play by Chancellor (and a non-call by the officials) to save the win.
Seattle has been in each of the last two Super Bowls, and their season won’t be a success unless it ends in another Super Bowl. But after just barely beating the NFL’s last remaining winless team at home, an NFC title seems like a long way away. Unless a lot of things get fixed, that goal seems pretty unrealistic at this point for the Seahawks.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
