The Seattle Seahawks entered week 12 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a record of 7-2-1. Tampa’s offense and defense looked very strong in this home game, embarrassing the visiting Seahawks 14-5. From start to finish, the Seahawks seemed extremely rough, allowing two Tampa touchdowns in the first 13 minutes of the game. The Seahawks left Raymond James Stadium at 7-3-1, but maintain first place in the NFC West. In this article, we take a look at the Seattle Seahawks week 12 takeaways.
Seattle Seahawks Week 12 Takeaways
Offense
The offense was less than disappointing. Seattle could not seem to get anything done and if they did, there was an offensive penalty that pulled the play back. The amateur offensive line could not hold up their blocks against the powering Tampa bay defense, allowing four sacks on quarterback Russell Wilson in the first half, and six total in the game.
The offense had a total of three turnovers; two interceptions by Wilson, and a fumble by tight end Jimmy Graham.
Russell Wilson
In the first few weeks of the season, Russell Wilson battled against two injuries. But the high ankle sprain and MCL sprain didn’t stop Wilson from stepping out on the field. Nevertheless, it left Wilson with less mobility to run the field as we’ve grown accustomed to. In his first seven games of the season, Wilson threw for only five touchdowns. In his last three, he had six touchdown passes.
Getting closer to his usual, healthy self, Wilson went into this game with high expectations. But he fell short. Wilson completed only 51 percent of his passes (17 for 33 attempts), and finished with 213 yards, with zero touchdowns and two interceptions. Wilson, along with the rest of the offense, completed zero third down conversions in the game.
Defense
Seattle’s defense allowed two Tampa touchdowns in the first quarter of the game, managing to hold them off for the final three quarters. There were only two exciting plays on defense the whole game. The first came when Tampa tight end Luke Stocker held Seahawks defensive end Frank Clark in the end zone, resulting in a safety. The second, was a pick by safety Kam Chancellor in the end zone in the final five minutes of the game.
Seattle’s defense allowed a total of 338 yards and two touchdowns, but managed to snag two turnovers.
Conclusion
The Seahawks have looked very strong so far in 2016, until this game. Since their back-to-back Super Bowl appearances in 2014 and 2015 (one win and one loss), they have been vying for another chance after being eliminated in the divisional round last year against the Carolina Panthers.
The Seahawks performance against the Buccaneers showed a team that fans have not been familiar with for several years, since before Pete Carroll took the reigns. The underwhelming performance came as a surprise after winning their last three matchups against the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, and Philadelphia Eagles. Ultimately, it was very disappointing and they have a lot of practice to get in before their playing the Panthers back at home next week.
