Seattle- The Seattle Seahawks scrapped out a victory in overtime against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a go-ahead touchdown to win 40-34. The Seahawks are now 7-2, and if the playoffs started right now, they would be the 5th seed in the NFC. However, the victory over the Bucs was short-lived. Seattle gave up a total of 418 yards and struggled to harass Bucs’ QB Jameis Winston in the pocket. Winston and the Bucs tested the bend-but-don’t-break defense of the Seahawks and almost stole the game from them. Winston took advantage of the middle of the field and the man on man coverage when Mike Evans was lined up against a matchup the Bucs liked. Evans killed the Seahawks’ secondary with 12 catches for 180 and one touchdown.
“To feel like you know when somebody is going to do something and you still can’t stop it, that’s when you know that you’re in trouble,” Seahawks safety Bradley McDougald said via Seattle times after the game. “It’s kind of the feeling that we’ve been having a lot lately,” McDougald continued. “We’re happy to get the win … but we all know that we still got improvement. We have to get better.”
Each week, it’s the same storyline with the Seahawks and their defensive struggles. They are ranked 25th in the league with yards allowed per game and seem to rely on one big play from their defense. Their defense is very young and still has a lot to learn. The questions that a lot of people are asking in Seattle is how long can we rely on Wilson and the offense, and can we actually win a Super Bowl with the type of defense that we have now?
Seattle is taking everything in stride, and with an experienced QB who always wears his cape to clean up the Seahawks’ disaster. The Seahawks are right in the mix of a very interesting playoff race. Seattle will begin their grueling second-half schedule with a combination of teams that have a record of 40-18-1. If the Seahawks do not find a solution with their defense and an accurate kicker, they could be a team with a 10-6 record missing the playoffs.
