Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks: Full Report Card Grades for Seattle
The Seattle Seahawks turned the ball over for the fifth time in the game with just over five minutes remaining, down by 12 and Green Bay taking over on their own 43-yard line. To that point in the game Seattle had scored just seven points on a fake field goal and had been largely ineffective throughout the contest.
Cue up the theatrics of Seahawks football this year, as their fourth-quarter outbursts came to life once again. Marshawn Lynch helped direct a seven-play 69-yard touchdown drive after the Packers went three-and-out, accounting for 44 yards on the drive.
Still the score left just a few ticks over two minutes remaining in the game, but Seattle managed to recover an onside kick that slipped right through the hands of Packers tight end Andrew Quarless. With Seahawks starting from the 50, it seemed inevitable that they would score.
Russell Wilson would scramble for a 15-yard gain and cap the drive off three plays later with a 24-yard touchdown run by Lynch. A miracle two-point conversion made it a three-point game, which it turned out the Seahawks definitely needed as Aaron Rodgers quickly directed a game-tying drive to close out the quarter.
The momentum stayed with Seattle into overtime, however, as they would win the coin toss and eventually hit pay dirt. It took six plays to move 87 yards, but most of the action happened on the game's last two plays, with Wilson completing back-to-back 35-yard passes. Seattle pulled out the win 22-28.
It was the one of the most improbable comebacks in league history, aided by some questionable coaching decisions by Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy. Twice early in the game, the Packers started inside the Seattle 25-yard line. Both times they were stopped at the 1-yard line, and both times they kicked field goals.
Those decisions allowed Seattle to stay in a game that could have and should have gotten out of hand in a hurry, but came back to haunt the Packers in the end. Instead, the Seattle Seahawks will return to the Super Bowl to defend the title as world champions.
The performance by Seattle's defense cannot go understated as it did everything it needed to do keep its team in this game.
Final Game Stats
| Green Bay Packers | Category | Seattle Seahawks |
|---|---|---|
| 306 | Total Yards | 397 |
| 171 | Passing Yards | 203 |
| 4.9 | Yards Per Attempt | 5.8 |
| 135 | Rushing Yards | 194 |
| 4.5 | Yards Per Attempt | 5.5 |
| 2 | Turnovers | 5 |
| 5-45 | Penalties | 8-40 |
| 32:15 | Possession | 31:04 |
| 3-14 | Third-Down Conversions | 8-16 |
Quarterback
1 of 10
It was a day that ended with tears of joy for Russell Wilson, in a game in which he threw four interceptions and completed just 14 of 29 passing attempts for a quarterback rating of 44.3. Seventy of Wilson's 209 passing yards, or roughly 33 percent, came on the game's final two plays in what was an awful outing for the Pro Bowl quarterback.
Wilson started the day going 2-of-8 for 12 yards and three interceptions for the entire first half. It was a nightmare start to the game for Seattle as it went to the locker room down 16-0. Obviously, Wilson would get enough done, with Marshawn Lynch's assistance, to help get his team the W.
He would finish the day going a much more acceptable 12-of-21 for 197 yards, one touchdown and one more interception. Wilson would also scramble for 25 yards on seven carries and a touchdown. But he held onto the ball too long on several plays, taking unnecessary sacks in the process.
If this game ends with a different result, the grade is an "F" and the questioning of what happened to him Sunday would be heard until next season. It was a near-Jake Delhomme-type of effort.
Grade: D
Running Back
2 of 10
Could you imagine if Marshawn Lynch had worn his gold cleats and was suspended for the day? Lynch was nearly the lone bright spot for the Seahawks offense, often carrying the team for ultimately pointless drives as the passing game struggled immensely.
Lynch would account for 183 total yards and a score, racking up 157 yards rushing and 26 yards through the air. He averaged a whopping 6.3 yards per carry on 25 totes with his long coming on his 24-yard touchdown gallop.
Robert Turbin carried the ball twice for eight yards and also had a reception for a loss of two in the game. He was used sparingly, as Lynch was clearly the focal point of the offense. Fullback Will Tukuafu contributed to the passing game with an eight-yard grab as well.
It was an incredible effort from Lynch, helping to give the overworked defense some rest early and keeping drives alive late.
Grade: A+
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
With Russell Wilson struggling it was a tough day for the receivers and tight ends as well. All four of Wilson's interceptions came on passing attempts to Jermaine Kearse, with the first and fourth looking eerily similar. Both came on slants with the ball tipping off of Kearse's hands and into the hands of PAckers' defenders.
The other two interceptions were definitely Wilson's fault as he tried to force them, for whatever reason, but he would eventually complete a pass to Kearse in overtime for 35 yards and the game-winning score. The touchdown grab was Kearse's only catch of the day, on six targets, and it could not have been more important.
The key receiver in the game, however, was Doug Baldwin. Baldwin made six catches for 106 yards, including a 29-yard reception on 3rd-and-19 and the 35-yard completion right before Kearse's overtime score. All of the other Seattle targets hardly made an impact.
Ricardo Lockette had two catches for 25 yards, while Luke Willson made two catches of his own for just 11 yards. Seattle didn't any other production from its tight ends. Baldwin was the other catalyst for Seattle's comeback, but this grade gets dragged down a bit by Kearse and other guys dropping passes.
Grade: C+
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
Garry Gilliam is the envy of every offensive linemen in the league after this one, after hauling in a 19-yard pass on Seattle's third-quarter fake field goal. The play resulted in Seattle's first score of the day and helped spark life in the team.
Overall, the offensive line gave a pretty strong performance against Green Bay. Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers caused some problems, and Russell Wilson was sacked five times, but some of those sacks were Wilson's fault.
Justin Britt was far from being a solid pass-blocker in the regular season, but he was missed in Sunday's game. Alvin Bailey struggled, along with the rest of the unit, early but they all performed well on runs and Wilson had plenty of time to throw on several plays.
Wilson was hit nine times in the game, and the unit allowed six tackles for a loss of yardage. One of the bigger issues with Sunday's performance was the false-start penalties the team was called for. Seattle entered the game being called for the penalty more than any other team, and the problem reared its head again in this one.
Grade: B
Defensive Line
5 of 10
The Seahawks struggled to generate any kind of a pass rush, as Cliff Avril accounted for the team's sole sack in the game. Aaron Rodgers' gimpy leg was rarely even tested, though the star quarterback looked well overall.
Rodgers was hit a total of six times in the game, with four of those coming from defensive linemen. The Packers rushed for 135 yards, but the defense made some huge stops, including their own 1-yard line early in the game to keep things close.
Eddie Lacy and James Starkes combined to rush for 117 yards on 26 carries. With the lack of depth at defensive tackle and Lacy's sheer size, it's a solid performance in run defense from the unit. "Forcing" the Packers to take field goals twice help this grade, as the Seahawks proved they could make stops when they needed them.
Mike McCarthy should have gone for it on fourth down on at least one of those drives.
Grade: B
Linebacker
6 of 10
As usual, Bobby Wagner led Seattle in tackles with 10 and played a key role in stopping several runs from going for much bigger gains. Bruce Irvin was effective as a pass-rusher, getting two hits on Aaron Rodgers and keeping the Packers running backs from bouncing runs outside.
Irvin finished the day with two tackles. K.J. Wright did a solid job in coverage. He had one pass defensed and had six tackles for the afternoon. While starting tight end Andrew Quarless was quiet for most of the day Richard Rodgers gave the unit some difficulties, accounting for four grabs and 35 yards.
Still the underneath passing game was not as useful a part of the Green Bay passing game as the team had hoped. The Packers running backs combined to make two catches for three yards.
Grade: A-
Secondary
7 of 10
The Legion of Boom simply has Aaron Rodgers' number. For the second time this season Rodgers was held to less than 190 yards, falling in line with the quarterbacks' prior performances in road games against top-five defenses. In fact, Seattle held Rodgers to just 178 yards passing or 11 yards fewer than Week 1.
Rodgers also threw two interceptions and completed about 56 percent of his attempts. Richard Sherman picked off a pass in the end zone on Green Bay's first drive, though Seattle would turn the ball back over to the Packers almost immediately.
Byron Maxwell had the other interception and may have saved the game for Seattle, as Green Bay was looking as though it would score another touchdown. Earl Thomas and Sherman each suffered injuries in the game, with Thomas missing some action.
Thomas would return to the field, but Sherman's injury appeared to be worse, despite him not missing any snaps. They'll both have two weeks to recover.
Grade: A+
Special Teams
8 of 10
Doug Baldwin fumbled a kickoff early, setting up the Packers' second field goal of the day, as he handled return duties for the injured Paul Richardson. The fake-field-goal touchdown throw from punter Jon Ryan helped balance out that costly play.
Otherwise, things were fairly even on special teams. The Seattle punt-coverage unit did allow a 29-yard punt but performed well overall. Ryan averaged over 42 yards per punt and landed two of them inside the Green Bay 20-yard line.
Bryan Walters had a 14-yard return of his own on a punt return late in the game, and the kick-return coverage was even.
Grade: B+
Coaching
9 of 10
Here's the game in a nutshell: The Packers head coach played it safe twice on 4th-and-inches, while Pete Carroll called a fake field goal, down 16-0 late in the game. These coaching changes all could have had major swings in the game, but the Packers played it safe, and the Seahawks played to win.
It's not as though Seattle was outcoached early; Russell Wilson and Jermaine Kearse did a good job of trying to obliterate any chance of a Seattle victory. The Seattle defense showed how astoundingly good it is in the modern-day NFL and kept its team in it.
Seattle made the choice to focus on the ground game at halftime, and it helped open some things up in the passing game late for the comeback.
Grade: A+
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Overall Grade |
| QB | D |
| RB | A+ |
| WR/TE | C+ |
| OL | B |
| DL | B |
| LB | A- |
| DB | A+ |
| Special Teams | B+ |
| Coaching | A+ |
| Cumulative Grade | B+ |
Five turnovers and a 59-yard first half were not enough of a handicap for the Green Bay Packers to come out of Seattle with an upset victory. I'm not sure that Seattle could have started the game much worse than in this one, yet it still managed to come out of it victorious.
The Seahawks are the first Super Bowl team to return to the big game the following year since the New England Patriots, who may very well be their opponent in the game. This Seattle club has proven itself to be a tough out.
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