Seahawks lose to Packers & lose Geno Smith to injury

After winning four straight games to take over first place in the NFC West, the Seahawks were looking for a big win over another NFC playoff contender in prime time. Instead, the Packers jumped out to a big early lead and never looked back en route to a 30-13 victory at Lumen Field. To make matters worse, the Seahawks also saw quarterback Geno Smith leave the game early with a knee injury, a blow to their comeback chances and, depending on the severity of the injury, a concern for their playoff hopes going forward.

Here are five quick reactions to Sunday’s loss, which dropped Seattle’s record to 8-6:

1. A bad night got worse with an injury to Geno Smith.

Things were already going badly for the Seahawks when the game took a turn for the worse late in the third quarter. Geno Smith, who had been under pressure most of the night, hit a low shot while dropping a pass. Smith first limped to argue the lack of a flag for a low blow, then took the field to be attended to by team doctors and athletic trainers.

Announced as questionable to return with a knee injury, Smith did not return in the game, with Sam Howell ending that drive and playing the fourth quarter in his most significant playing time as a Seahawk.

With Smith out and the Seahawks having to play a one-dimensional brand of attack from behind, the Seahawks went three-and-out on their next two possessions before using a Packers turnover and the short field that followed to score their the only touchdown of the game, a 24-yard run by Zach Charbonnet.

Faced with tough circumstances where the Seahawks were supposed to be pass-heavy, Howell was under significant pressure, completing 5 of 14 passes for 24 yards and an interception.

2. The Seahawks defense settled down in the second half, but not before the Packers built a big lead.

The Seahawks defense came into Sunday’s game having played very well in five straight games, winning the last four, but that unit had a tough time with the Packers offense in the first half.

Green Bay opened the game with a 63-yard touchdown drive and scored points on all four of its first-half possessions to build a 20-3 halftime lead. In the first half, the Packers gained 235 yards and 15 first downs while averaging 7.6 yards per carry. game, and running back Josh Jacobs rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries while adding 38 receiving yards on three catches.

The Seahawks settled down on defense after halftime and allowed just one field goal on Green Bay’s next six possessions, with the other five resulting in a punt, punt, fumble, punt and turnover on downs. Unfortunately, the offense, missing its starting quarterback for most of the second half, was unable to get back into the game, so a late interception gave the Packers a short field that they would turn into their only touchdown of the second half.

The Packers mustered just 134 yards in the second half and were 2 for 8 on third down after going 3 for 4 in the first half, but given the damage they did in the first half, as well as Seattle’s inability to get much going on offense, that second-half turnaround by the defense wasn’t enough to change the outcome of the game.