Among the easiest ways to lose a football game is to lose the turnover battle by a lopsided margin, but the Seahawks were able to overcome that on Monday night.
They turned the ball over four times, including a fumble by quarterback Sam Darnold that Texans defensive end Will Anderson recovered for a touchdown. There were also interceptions thrown by Darnold and wide receiver Cooper Kupp and a blocked field goal to make life difficult, but their defense forced seven punts and three turnovers on downs en route to a 27-19 win.
“Oh man, what a weird game,” Darnold said, via the team’s website. “Obviously I think the first half was really solid for us as an offense, then the second half, it was just a different story. I think we just got to hold onto the football. We can’t turn the ball over like that. I can’t turn the ball over like that. Again, our defense and special teams stepping up tonight was huge. So when you come out of here having a game like that offensively, and you still win the ballgame, can’t ask for more than that. We’re just going to continue to learn from our mistakes and get better.”
It’s not a script that the Seahawks or any other team would be advised to try to repeat if they want to wind up with a win, but the Seahawks can savor the oddity of the night because they wound up on top.
The Texans scored a touchdown with 2:04 remaining in the fourth quarter on Monday night, bringing the score to 27-19 and giving them a chance to send the game into overtime — if they could get the ball back. But they never did, thanks in large part to burning the two-minute warning on the ensuing kickoff.
By this point, every coach in the NFL should know that in such a situation, the smart play is to kick the ball out of bounds, which doesn’t take any time off the clock and will result in the clock stopping for the two-minute warning after the first play of the drive. But that’s not what the Texans did: Houston kicked off deep, Seattle burned six seconds off the clock on the return, and the two-minute warning was gone.
So why didn’t Texans coach DeMeco Ryans tell kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn to kick off out of bounds? Ryans said after the game that he did, but Fairbairn didn’t do it.
“The plan at the end of the game was kicking the ball out of bounds so we could utilize the two minute,” Ryans said. “We did not execute it. Just goes to the entire game, frustrating that we’re not executing the things we’re coached to do.”
Ryans is putting the blame on his players not executing what they’re coached to do, but it’s ultimately on the head coach to make sure the coaching is getting through — and to put different players on the field if the players he’s putting out there aren’t listening. After winning the AFC South in each of his first two seasons as head coach, Ryans has the Texans at 2-4 and 3.5 games behind the Colts in the division. It’s his job to get things turned around, in a hurry.
The Texans picked up four takeaways off of the Seahawks on Monday night.
But Houston’s offense struggled mightily to finish drives and Seattle ended up with a 27-19 victory to keep pace with the Rams and 49ers in the NFC West.
Seattle raced out to a 14-0 lead with a Zach Charbonnet 1-yard touchdown run and Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s 11-yard TD reception in the first quarter.
But with an interception off a trick play and a blocked punt, the Texans scored a pair of field goals to go into halftime down 14-6.
After a Seattle field goal early in the third quarter, Houston’s defense put up a score with Will Anderson’s strip-sack and fumble recovery in the end zone for a touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, keeping the score at 17-12.
After that, Jason Myers connected on a 47-yard field goal and Charbonnet put in a 2-yard touchdown to make the score 27-12 late in the third period.
But Houston continued to get opportunities. The club turned it over on downs from the Seattle 45 midway through the fourth quarter. Then after getting the ball to the 1-yard line following a Derek Stingley interception, the offense again failed to get into the end zone for a turnover on downs.
Woody Marks finally caught a touchdown with 2:04 left to narrow Seattle’s lead to eight points. But the Texans failed to kick the ball to a place where it couldn’t be fielded, and George Holani’s 29-yard return wiped out the two-minute warning.
With only one timeout, the Texans were unlikely to have much time to do anything even with a third-down stop. But then Tim Settle was flagged for unnecessary roughness for jumping on the pile on a third-and-3 run stuff, giving Seattle a free first down to effectively end the game.
It was a strong night for Seattle’s defense, which caused a rough performance for Houston’s offense. The Texans finished with just 254 total yards on 69 plays, which works out to an average gain of just 3.7 yards per play. Stroud finished 23-of-49 for 229 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He was also Houston’s leading rusher with 25 yards on two carries.
Dalton Schultz led the team with nine receptions for 98 yards. Nico Collins had four catches for 27 yards, but had to depart the contest early in the fourth quarter after being diagnosed with a concussion.
On the other side, Sam Darnold was 17-of-31 for 213 yards with a touchdown, an interception, and a lost fumble
Smith-Njigba had another terrific performance, catching eight passes for 123 yards with a TD. He became the second player in franchise history to record three straight games with 100 yards receiving. His five performances with at least 100 yards are tied for the second-most in franchise history.
He’s gone for at least 120 yards in four games this season.
Cooper Kupp had the team’s other interception on an ill-advised trick play late in the first half. He had one catch for 32 yards.
With the win, the Seahawks move to 5-2 — the same record as the 49ers and Rams atop the NFC West. Seattle will be on a bye in Week 8 before heading to the East Coast to play the Commanders on Sunday Night Football in Week 9.
The Texans are now 2-4. After a long, redeye flight home to Houston, they’ll host the 49ers at noon local time on Sunday.
It’s been a rough night on offense for the Texans and it may only get more challenging.
Receiver Nico Collins is being evaluated for a concussion and is questionable to return, Houston announced.
Collins hit his head against the turf early in the fourth quarter. He was shown on the ESPN broadcast entering the sideline medical tent and subsequently heading to the locker room for further evaluation.
Collins has four catches for 27 yards so far on Monday night.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Seahawks lead the Texans 27-12.
UPDATE 1:18 a.m. ET: Collins has been ruled out with a concussion.
The Seahawks have not been able to put the Texans away on Monday night and now Houston’s defense has made a big play to narrow Seattle’s lead.
Edge rusher Will Anderson strip-sacked Sam Darnold in the end zone and recovered the fumble for a touchdown.
Houston’s offense, however, was unsuccessful on the two-point conversion, keeping the score at 17-12, Seattle.
On third-and-7 from the Seattle 7, Anderson rushed from Darnold’s left and got to the quarterback in the backfield. Darnold couldn’t keep hold on the ball and it fell loose — with the fumble dropping right to the hands of Anderson for the defensive score.
It was Anderson’s fourth sack of the season and is the first touchdown of his career.
