You've got to hand it to the Seahawks: They unveiled a master class Sunday on how to turn the warm glow of anticipation into a cesspool of disgust and incrimination — all in 60 increasingly futile minutes.
It's hard to imagine a bigger buzzkill than what the Seahawks foisted upon their fans in a 30-13 defeat at Lumen Field that evolved into total capitulation after a somewhat promising start. All the positive energy and big-time dreams typical of a season opener were systematically shattered as the Los Angeles Rams sucked the life out of both the crowd and their opponent.
It was a day that began with a heartfelt ovation for Bobby Wagner in pregame introductions and ended with a chorus of boos as the Seahawks not only self-destructed in the second half but lost their composure as well with two unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties.
Or, as coach Pete Carroll put it, "I thought we lost our minds a little bit, and we'll talk about that. That shows you the frustration based on the expectations that we were going to be better than we were and not be in that situation. I don't like seeing that. It looks terrible."
The Seahawks, who had just 12 yards of offense in the second half — nine on the final play in the very essence of garbage time — could give a seminar on looking terrible. It's not hyperbole to say it was one of the worst losses of the Carroll era as far as being utterly manhandled.
They were thoroughly outplayed on both sides of the ball, and that leads to the inevitable conclusion that they were soundly out-coached and out-schemed as well. They had no cohesion on offense, no pass rush on defense, and let the Rams dictate the flow of the game virtually uncontested in the second half, when L.A. outgained them 257-12 and outscored them 23-0.
Most disturbing is the admission by both Geno Smith and DK Metcalf that the Rams simply played harder than them. That's a stunning, and damning, statement about a team that headed into the season with the firm belief that they are legitimate championship contenders. If they couldn't get up for the season opener, at home, against a divisional foe, you have to wonder what it will take to coax the necessary effort. One would hope that the embarrassment of Sunday's dismantling — against a team not expected to contend and playing without top receiver Cooper Kupp — will be motivation enough.
"Hats off to the Rams," Smith said. "They wanted it more, they played harder, and they executed better."
Unsolicited, Metcalf offered the same opinion: "I just felt like the Rams just played harder than us. Their defense played harder than our offense. And they reaped the benefits from it."
When asked if it was upsetting that they were out-desired in the opener, when motivation should be at a fever pitch, Metcalf replied, "Yes, sir. ... I mean, you never want to see another team or the opposing team, especially somebody in your own division, play harder than you."
Wagner, who played for the Rams last year and thus has a keener sense than most of their mindset, believes that the universal underestimation of L.A. heading into the game might have fueled them. Wagner said he "wouldn't be surprised" if the Rams played harder than them.
"I'm pretty sure a lot of people wrote them off, said that they weren't going to be anything this year," he said. "Coming into this first game, I'm pretty sure they were going to be fired up. Especially in a divisional game and playing us, you didn't expect anything less."
One game does not doom a season, a message that the Seahawks were spreading with alacrity after the game. If this doesn't elicit a maximum effort from them moving forward, nothing will. The other prevailing message was that this was a loss from which to learn lessons that will benefit them greatly down the road.
Yet there were so many concerning elements to this game, offensively and defensively, that it's hard not to wonder if the Seahawks' potential has been oversold. They certainly face a daunting game next week, traveling to Detroit to face a Lions team coming off a huge win over the Super Bowl champion Chiefs. In fact, three of their next four games are on the road.
Metcalf alluded to the need for cohesion when things are going south — and the Seahawks headed that direction on a bullet train. It's a valuable lesson, to be sure, but one that shouldn't have been necessary to impart this early.
"When things don't go our way, we have to overcome adversity and start leaning on each other and not go our separate ways," Metcalf said. "We all have the Seattle Seahawks jersey on. The coaches are in it together with us, and everybody in that locker room is in it together. You can't just start separating. You always have to stick together and play as a team."
Keeping a team together in times of turmoil and adversity is an area that Carroll has always excelled. The Seahawks have had other seeming crisis points over the years that he has successfully guided them out of. But Carroll will have to be at his motivational best to fix the Seahawks' deficiencies and turn back the notion that his unrelenting optimism heading into the opener was based more on bluster and wishful thinking than reality.
"I look at a little bit of misjudgment on my part that we would be able to do things we've been doing and be able to play a good football game," Carroll said in his postgame assessment. "Didn't work out that way."
For the Seahawks on a desolate Sunday, not much of anything worked out.
