Seahawks’ fourth-quarter magic runs out as defense sputters in ill-timed loss to Steelers

SEATTLE – In the process of time and again Sunday letting Pittsburgh Steelers runners slip through their hands, the Seattle Seahawks also lost control of what had been their most valuable possession heading into the second-to-last weekend of the NFL season – control of their postseason destiny.

The math had been so easy for Seattle: beat the Steelers and the Cardinals in the final two games and make the playoffs.

But Pittsburgh bludgeoning Seattle on the ground to take a 30-23 win at Lumen Field means the Seahawks now have to win at Arizona next Sunday and hope that whichever of the Packers or Vikings won on Sunday night loses next week (Seattle’s loss clinched a wild card berth for the Rams, leaving only one spot left).

“We lost our control of it,’’ a visibly disheartened Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “We had control of it, and we gave that up today.’’

Along the way, they might also have given up any real pretense of looking like a playoff team.

A Steelers offense that ranked 28th in the NFL in scoring and 26th in yards got little resistance from Seattle’s defense. The Steelers finished with a season-high 468 yards, including 202 on the ground – 122 from Najee Harris and 75 from Jaylin Warren – the second-most Seattle has allowed all season and also the second-most the Steelers had gained all year. Pittsburgh’s 30 points were also its second most, just behind the 34 of a surprising win last week against the Bengals.

But until the outbursts of the last two weeks the Steelers had ranked as one of the more disappointing offenses in the NFL – so much so that they fired coordinator Matt Canada in late November.

Sunday, though, the Steelers pretty much did what they wanted.

“They just beat us on the line of scrimmage,’’ said linebacker Devin Bush, who got the start in place of the injured Bobby Wagner. “They beat us physically. That’s it.”

That they could so easily surprised Carroll, especially in the wake of comeback wins the last two weeks against the Eagles and Titans that had given Seattle control of its playoff future. Seattle allowed only 17 points in each game with the tackling showing improvement.

But those wins might have masked a run defense that has been exceedingly leaky of late – Seattle has now allowed 162 or more yards rushing in five of the last six games.

“We weren’t right on defense in the running game again, so it’s been repetitive,’’ Carroll said. “I see it.’’

To be fair, it was impossible to miss.

“We didn’t make tackles,’’ said middle linebacker Bobby Wagner. “We didn’t fit up their run and we didn’t make enough plays to win this game.”

Not that the pass defense was much better.

Seattle had just one sack of Steelers backup quarterback Mason Rudolph, a sixth-year player making just the 12th start of his career, allowing him to complete 18 of 24 passes for 274 yards – the third most of his career.

“We got to be disciplined,’’ Wagner said. “We have to find a way to get off the field and we have to make tackles.”

All of that put the pressure on the offense to be just about perfect.

But the offense, while producing enough big plays to average a season-high 7.5 yards per snap, again failed too often to convert when it mattered most, hitting just 3 of 9 third downs and held to just three field goals on its final six possessions.

Still, Seattle was in position to pull off another fourth-quarter miracle as it had the past two weeks when the Seahawks got the ball back with 7:07 left, down 27-20. But on the first play, Geno Smith was sacked by Nick Herbig and fumbled the ball away, leading to a Steelers field goal with 4:31 left that basically ended things.

Still, Seattle kept trying, with Smith leading a drive to the Steelers 5. But three incompletions forced a field goal to cut the lead to 30-23, and then Carroll called for an onside kick with 2:01 left. Like most everything else Sunday, though, that didn’t work as Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson recovered the kick at the 44 and Pittsburgh then got two first downs to run out the clock.

“If we kick the ball out of the end zone, we would’ve done that,’’ said Carroll – the Seahawks were kicking into the open end, where the ball typically does not fly as far. “But we weren’t hitting the ball well enough to do that. That was the first thought. So we have to kick it and they’re going to return it, bring it back out. Can’t just stop the clock there automatically. To me, the onside kick thing, it’s a chance to get the football and not a very good chance, but we have to stop them no matter what. Got to stop them in three plays right there whether it’s back here or here. So we had an opportunity to get the football, and so that’s why we went for it.’’

And with the way the Steelers were keeping the football away from Seattle, maybe it was worth the risk.

Smith pointed later to how little it seemed Seattle had the ball – just nine possessions and 22:27 time of possession, including only 10:35 in the first half and 3:28 in the first quarter.

“I think just overall, if you’re going to be honest, teams are playing keep away,’’ Smith said. “You’ve got teams running the ball, milking the clock in the first quarter. That’s been the past two weeks.’’

Smith pointed to that as “the ultimate sign of respect when teams are doing that’’ as a way to keep Seattle’s offense off the field. But the biggest issue is that they are able to execute that strategy.

“This is a game that we should’ve played better and won,’’ Wagner said. “But we didn’t.”

Now Seattle has to beat Arizona and hope for the best – a task that looks no easier after the way the Cardinals went to Philly Sunday and beat the Eagles. Many Seattle players pointed later to how the team is in the same boat as a year ago when the Seahawks were also 8-8 and needed to beat the Rams and then hope the Lions could upset Green Bay at Lambeau Field, all of which happened.

“I never imagined we’d be in this situation again, but here we are,’’ Smith said. “What we can do is continue to fight, get ready for next week. Arizona played a great game today, came up with a win, and we know they’re going to fight all the way to the end. Next week is not going to be an easy game. We’ve got to go out there in their place and make it happen. We’re the type of team that’s going to always bounce back. We’ve got the right leadership. We’ve got the right coaches, right players, and we’re going to make it happen. We’re going to find a way to make it happen.’’