A Grip on Sports: Seahawks’ defense played well enough Sunday to defeat Minnesota all by itself, which is good and not-so-good
A GRIP ON SPORTS • You know what’s lower than zero? Nothing. Not on a scoreboard anyway.
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• The Seahawk defense pitched a shutout Sunday. Kept the Vikings from the end zone. Turned them over every time they were close enough to attempt a field goal. Heck, the group even scored points.
In other words, even if the offense had been locked in the locker room, Seattle would have trotted off Lumen Field as the sun set with their ninth win of the season.
How good is that? Well, consider these Jeopardy-like facts: The Hawks haven’t pitched a shutout since 2015; there have been just four this NFL season; and the Vikings have scored as many as 48 points in a game this season.
OK, we just threw that last one in for giggles, but still, holding any NFL team – the Vikings may be 4-8 and may not have an NFL-caliber quarterback but they are still in the league – to zip in the points category happens less than 4% of the time. No matter how poor the opponent may be.
The best part of yielding no points?
No matter what, you can’t lose. Tie? Sure. But lose? Nope.
Then again, the defense isn’t completely in control of that fate. The offense, as Minnesota’s did in a key second-quarter play, can give away a score. Heck, Sam Darnold has been known to throw a pick-six or two himself. It’s a part of why he’s no longer Minnesota’s quarterback. He imploded in the Vikes’ final two games last season – including the showdown for the NFC North title and a first-round playoff game – and sealed their decision to go cheaper in 2025.
That decision, to hand the offense over to J.J. McCarthy, the second-year quarterback from Michigan was a gamble, considering McCarthy missed last season due to injury and the Vikings have been a playoff-caliber team for a while.
The Seahawks are. And Darnold, who has been solid if not spectacular, is a reason why. He has had good games, bad games and everything in between. Sunday was another example of the last one. Not great, not awful. Good enough.
When he and the offense value the football, especially the past two months, the Hawks have been unbeatable. That didn’t happen in Los Angeles two weeks ago. At least not for three quarters. But despite Darnold’s four picks, thanks to the defense, Seattle still had a long shot to win in the final seconds. Jason Myers’ 61-yard field goal fell about three yards short and L.A. survived 21-19.
They didn’t Sunday, losing 31-28 at mediocre Carolina and allowing Seattle to move back into a tie for the NFC West lead. By record if not by tiebreaker.
Five more games remain. They include games with the Rams (at home) and 49ers (away). Whether Mike Macdonald’s team wins the West, make the playoffs through the wild-card ranks or stay home is still to be determined.
What isn’t is this: Post five more shutouts and they finish 14-3. And go down in Seattle yore.
• It’s December. Officially. The month of Christmas. Shopping. Music. Snow. And bowl games. For once the Cougars’ bowl destination isn’t etched in stone.
With the current and former members of the Pac-12 having success in their far-flung conferences, there are enough bowl eligible teams that 6-6 WSU will probably be thrown into the grab bag that is the ESPN-controlled games.
That has to be better than another visit to El Paso, right? We’ll see. Though that won’t happen until all the moving parts that is the College Football Playoff plays out. And the more prestigious bowls make their picks. And then the ones with tie-ins with the shattered conference do the same – for the final time.
No matter. The fact the Cougars have earned bowl berths nine times in the past non-Covid seasons is remarkable. Only a trio of former Pac-12 schools – Washington, Oregon and Utah – can say that. Not USC. Not UCLA. Not Arizona State.
Heck, earning a bowl bid the last two seasons, what with a made-for-emergency schedules the school had to put together, is remarkable in its own right.
At some point Cougar fans will look back at this recent stretch and brag about their school’s football program. Hopefully it is tomorrow. It is deserving.
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WSU: Greg Woods decided to focus on one player in his look back at the win over Oregon State. Running back Angel Johnson. It was a good pick. … The NFL legacy of Mike Leach in his time at Washington State? Weirdly one of the best offensive minds in modern college football history turned out a bunch of defensive backs that have had long pro careers. Chau Smith-Wade wasn’t technically one of them, signing with the Cougars right after Leach left for Mississippi State. But the ground work was laid before he left. And he has done what Jaden Hicks, Jalen Thompson and Jaylen Watson have done, earn a spot in an NFL secondary. Smith-Wade’s performance Sunday leads off Colton Clark’s weekly look at local NFL players. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner also has this year’s weekly ranking of next year’s Pac-12 football schools in the S-R and a look at the Cougars’ bowl accomplishment in the Mercury News. … The CFP field is overcrowded. And could get even worse considering what happens in the conference title games. … Lane Kiffin’s decision wasn’t a surprise. But it certainly upended the first Sunday after college football’s regular season ended. Talk about dominoes falling. … Washington is close. Close to be considered among the best Big Ten teams. But that last step isn’t easy. It is Jedd Fisch’s job to make it happen. … Michigan State fired Jonathan Smith on Sunday. Hired former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald. John Canzano has his thoughts on Smith’s seemingly misguided decision to leave Oregon State two years ago. … The Beavers’ new coach is bringing a few folks for Alabama with him as he tries to right the ship. … Oregon moved up in the football polls after the win in Seattle. … Stanford finished 4-8, culminating in a blowout loss to Notre Dame. But, hey, there is a new coach on the way. … Deion Sanders is still Colorado’s coach. … The same is true for Kyle Whittingham and Utah, though that may change. … USC needs help from the transfer portal. … Will UCLA have to find a new quarterback as well as a new coach?… Recruiting never stops at Arizona. … The Mountain West’s convoluted tie-breaking computers gave us Boise State and UNLV. In Boise. Haven’t we seen this already? … San Diego State is probably the MWC’s best team. Maybe it is New Mexico and Jason Eck. But neither are playing. … Jim Mora was in Fort Collins on Sunday. It was snowing. He thought it was beautiful. … In basketball news, the Oregon women remained undefeated by rallying past previously undefeated Auburn in the second half. … Colorado lost on a last-second shot by Montana State. … Third-ranked UCLA routed No. 14 Tennessee. …The Arizona men have a lot of time off this month. … Fresno State took me back to my youth with a game at Selland Arena in downtown Fresno. Though it was smaller when I covered games there in the early 1980s. … Colorado has a matchup with Cal Baptist. Both team are undefeated.
Gonzaga: The women finished up their Thanksgiving trip Sunday by playing their best basketball of the season late against Marquette. The stretch led to a 65-61 win in the consolation game at the Coconut Hoops Classic at Florida Gulf Coast University. Greg Lee watched and has this story. … The men may end up in the top 10 when the polls are released today. The Bulldogs were fifth in the first NET rankings of the season.
EWU: The Eagle women fell 73-58 to host Portland on Sunday.
Seahawks: We shared our thoughts about how good the Seattle defense has been the past few weeks. We were not alone. Dave Boling watched the Hawks at Lumen Field yesterday and sung the group’s praises in his column. … We can also pass along Bob Condotta’s game story as well as three takeaways from Tim Booth. … Jaxson Smith-Nigba was held in check. Ernest Jones IV wasn’t. … The defense was really good. … The NFC’s top seed is still in play for Seattle.
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• What would you rather see your favorite NFL team feature: A hard-to-control offense or a defense that flies around and causes havoc? I’m in the latter category. Always have been. But I understand the draw of an exciting offense. Until later …