Colts’ rally sends Seahawks to first loss after 4-0 start
INDIANAPOLIS – Their first regular-season loss in more than 10 months, the Seattle Seahawks promised afterward, won’t linger.
“We’ll flush it right after we watch it tomorrow,” Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman said after the Colts rallied to beat the Seahawks 34-28 Sunday afternoon.
Until then, though, they will undoubtedly lament all the missed opportunities and blown chances that led to their nine-game regular-season winning streak coming to an end.
“We had a lot of situations today that we could have controlled a little bit better, and for whatever reason we didn’t make those,” quarterback Russell Wilson said after Seattle’s first regular-season defeat since a 24-21 loss at Miami last Nov. 25. “And the thing is, we will make them in the future.”
They didn’t Sunday, though.
Instead, they converted just 2 of 12 third downs on offense, which also forced them to settle for field-goal tries on five of their seven possessions that reached at least the Indianapolis 30.
They allowed the Colts to convert 7 of 12 third downs, including 5 of 6 in the second half as Indianapolis rallied from a 25-17 deficit midway through the third quarter.
The Seahawks allowed a blocked field goal that was returned for a touchdown, turning the momentum of the game after Seattle had for the first time this year gotten off to a fast start, holding a 12-0 lead with just under five minutes left in the first quarter.
And they were penalized seven times for 85 yards, twice on third-down pass-interference calls that kept Colts scoring drives alive.
“The tale of this game will come down to the big plays that they made and they came through on,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “We had our shots and we didn’t hit the ones we needed. We had, for us, a number of different ways, a number of things to look at, that we needed to do better.”
For the first 10 minutes or so, though, it looked like Seattle might get a surprisingly easy win in a game that pitted two of the best defenses and rushing attacks in the NFL.
Seattle scored the first two times it had the ball to take a 10-0 lead, then got safety on a blocked punt from Jermaine Kearse.
Then, after stopping Seattle, the Colts took advantage of blown coverage in the Seahawks secondary with a 73-yard Andrew Luck touchdown pass to T.Y. Hilton to get right back in the game.
On Seattle’s next possession, a 48-yard field goal attempt by Steven Hauschka was blocked and returned 61 yards for a touchdown by Delano Howell.
From there, while the Seahawks got the lead back and held it much of the rest of the way, they never again seemed to have control.
A Wilson touchdown pass of 28 yards to Kearse gave Seattle a 19-17 halftime lead. But in the second half, all Seattle could manage was three Hauschka field goals on three possessions inside the Colts’ 29.
Still, Seattle held a 28-23 lead going into the fourth quarter, and was generally moving the ball well – the Seahawks finished with 423 yards, with Wilson and Marshawn Lynch each rushing for 102 yards. But the Colts moved down the field, helped by a pass-interference penalty and successful challenge of a spot, to take a 31-28 lead with 8:55 left on Donald Brown’s 3-yard TD run and successful two-point conversion.
Seattle then went three-and-out. The Colts responded with a 42-yard drive that consumed 4:33 and concluded with another Adam Vinatieri field goal to make it 34-28 with 1:55 left.
Darius Butler’s interception of a Wilson pass with 1:23 left essentially ended the game.
“I love those situations,” Wilson said. “Normally we make that, and for whatever reason, we didn’t today.”
Colts 34, Seahawks 28
| Seattle | 12 | 7 | 9 | 0 | — | 28 |
| Indianapolis | 7 | 10 | 6 | 11 | — | 34 |
Sea—FG Hauschka 42
Sea—Tate 10 pass from Wilson (Hauschka kick)
Sea—Kearse safety
Ind—Hilton 73 pass from Luck (Vinatieri kick)
Ind—Howell 61 blocked field goal return (Vinatieri kick)
Sea—Kearse 28 pass from Wilson (Hauschka kick)
Ind—FG Vinatieri 41
Sea—FG Hauschka 36
Sea—FG Hauschka 41
Ind—Hilton 29 pass from Luck (pass failed)
Sea—FG Hauschka 46
Ind—D.Brown 3 run (Wayne pass from Luck)
Ind—FG Vinatieri 49
A—66,608.
| Sea | Ind | |
| First downs | 21 | 20 |
| Total Net Yards | 423 | 317 |
| Rushes-yards | 34-218 | 29-109 |
| Passing | 205 | 208 |
| Punt Returns | 1-14 | 0-0 |
| Kickoff Returns | 2-39 | 4-107 |
| Interceptions Ret. | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 15-31-1 | 16-29-0 |
| Sacked-Yrds Lost | 2-5 | 2-21 |
| Punts | 2-38.5 | 3-31.0 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-1 | 2-2 |
| Penalties-Yards | 7-85 | 3-35 |
| Time of Poss. | 31:22 | 28:38 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Seattle, Lynch 17-102, Wilson 13-102, Turbin 4-14. Indianapolis, Richardson 18-56, D.Brown 6-37, Luck 4-9, Heyward-Bey 1-7.
PASSING—Seattle, Wilson 15-31-1-210. Indianapolis, Luck 16-29-0-229.
RECEIVING—Seattle, Baldwin 5-80, Tate 5-61, Willson 2-28, Kearse 1-28, Rice 1-8, Lynch 1-5. Indianapolis, Wayne 6-65, Hilton 5-140, Fleener 2-15, D.Brown 2-3, R.Hughes 1-6.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—Seattle, Hauschka 48 (BK).