The Seahawks did enough good things on Sunday to have the now 13-win Minnesota Vikings on the ropes.
But they couldn’t score the knockout blow and now face a very narrow, and perhaps impassable, road to the playoffs.
Simply put, the Seahawks have to win both of their remaining games (at Chicago on Thursday, at the L.A. Rams to close the regular season) and have to hope the Rams lose to Arizona this week as well.
Like I said, a narrow road.
So as we wrap up coverage of a 27-24 loss to the Vikings, here are some things that were said in the post-game press conference that caught our attention.
“I was just as surprised as you all were”
Normally, we highlight things the Seahawks said and we will, but one thing stood out to us from Theo Jackson of the Vikings. He’s the defensive back that secured the game-sealing interception of Geno Smith in the final minutes. Jackson described what he saw:
“Honestly, I was just as surprised as you all were. We were in two-high, I saw him throw it, and I was kind of confused myself as to why he threw it. I’m going to catch the ones he throws to me so it was super exciting. I’m still coming down from the adrenaline right now,” said Jackson.
Saying he was confused as to why Geno threw the ball in his vicinity is something. Geno, the consummate leader, took full blame.
“Interception, man. Anything you see that goes wrong, put it on me. Anything that don’t look right, put it on me,” Smith said after the game.
Seahawks fans have expressed frustration with perhaps the timing of Smith’s interceptions, including one that gave Minnesota three points deep in Seahawks territory in the first half. Mike Macdonald wanted to set the record straight on his quarterback.
“Geno is our top competitor on our football team. We’re not sitting here with life at the end of December unless Geno has done the things he’s done. He’s a fighter, man. I thought he played a good game,” Macdonald said.
What now?
Certainly the playoff situation is bleak in comparison to what it was just a couple weeks ago, but no question the Seahawks are still fighting. We saw that fight even in a losing effort on Sunday. But make no mistake, the team is going into Chicago Thursday with their season riding on the outcome.
“It should hurt,” Macdonald said of Sunday’s loss.
“We’ve worked incredibly hard. We have been through a ton of adversity as a team. We’re going to stick together and go back to work. So we’re fighting for the right to stay alive, on a short week. What are you going to do?” he added.
“We just got to handle our part, which is win out. Then, let the chips fall where they fall. Hopefully, we catch a little luck and we can get in there. But, it’s tough in there,” said linebacker Ernest Jones IV.
“Yeah, we got to go in and put it behind us now. We got to get ready for Chicago. On these short weeks, you can’t really bask in this, especially when you lose, you can’t really bask in the previous game, because in three days we’ll be lining up against a whole ‘nother team that doesn’t care that we just lost the game. For us, the focus is move forward, handle business in Chicago in prime time, and then we’ll see what happens with that matchup against the Rams,” Jones added.
Jaxon’s breakout season continues
Seahawks 2nd-year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba continues to enjoy a breakout season. To that point, he surpassed 1,000 yards on the season with 95 receiving yards on 8 catches this Sunday.
On a disappointing day, it’s a sign of something special to come in the Seahawks receiving room.
“First, I would like to thank God for being healthy, feeling good, being able to go out there and put that Seahawk helmet on. It means a lot to me. Geno, too. I want to say thank you to Geno, and the rest of my teammates, receivers, getting me open, and the O-line doing their thing. Hopefully, it’s just the beginning,” said Smith-Njigba of his milestone, while giving credit to the veterans who showed him the way.
“It means everything. Everything to this organization. How he (Lockett) carries himself, just everything he’s done for this organization and city. He’s a leader, and I appreciate him so much. I feel like I’m in the best position possible, having T-Lock and DK and all these other guys. T-Lock, he’s a special guy, and I’m just blessed to have his friendship and have him be my teammate,” Jaxon said.
“(JSN is) playing great football for us, fighting his tail off. We love him. Happy for him,” said Macdonald.
The Seahawks now get back to work on a holiday week for a Thursday night game against Chicago, on the road at 5:15 p.m. on the 26th.
