GLENDALE, Ariz. — Not only did the Seattle Seahawks enter their Week 18 game against the Arizona Cardinals unable to control their playoff future, but they couldn’t even control when they’d learn their fate.
At the bottom of the video board in the east end zone at State Farm Stadium on Sunday afternoon were the results of the other games around the league. The one that mattered to the Seahawks was Chicago playing at Green Bay. A Seahawks win and a Packers loss would have kept Seattle’s season alive. That game moved at a quicker pace than Seattle’s game against Arizona, so the Seahawks were able to learn that result before their game finished — whether they wanted to or not.
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Some players tried not to look. Others couldn’t help but peek. Regardless of their personal preference, though, the bottom line is the decision was basically taken out of their hands. And that is Seattle’s season in a nutshell.
“Sad that we just left our fate out of our own hands,” safety Julian Love said. “It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.”
Seattle quarterback Geno Smith learned that the Bears suffered a 17-9 loss just moments before he led his team on a five-play, 67-yard scoring drive, culminating in a 34-yard touchdown to Tyler Lockett with 1:54 remaining. In the huddle before the touchdown pass, Smith told everyone they were going to score — and that they’d go for two points after they did. Smith then converted the try with a pass to Lockett to take a one-point lead.
.@genosmith3 to @TDLockett12 never gets old 🙌 pic.twitter.com/a4iFwFVL0Y
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 8, 2024
.@genosmith3 x @TDLockett12 x ✌️ pic.twitter.com/qIJ0i4eGJX
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 8, 2024
Defensive tackle Leonard Williams didn’t know the Packers had won until after the Cardinals had responded to Seattle’s touchdown drive by marching to the 33-yard line, setting up a potential game-winning field goal on the final play.
“Obviously, I still want to win,” Williams said of his thoughts at that moment, “but I realized what was happening.”
Arizona’s Matt Prater pushed the 51-yard kick wide right — his second miss in the final three minutes — and the Seahawks stormed the field and celebrated a 21-20 victory that ended their season with a 9-8 record. The final two drives were emblematic of Seattle’s season. Smith led a game-winning drive, his fifth of the season. It was the seventh time he’d thrown a go-ahead touchdown pass in the fourth quarter or overtime, which is an NFL single-season record, according to ESPN.
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However, his latest came against a four-win Cardinals team, in a game that probably shouldn’t have been that close.
And even after the offense regained the lead, Seattle’s defense — one of the worst in the league this season — nearly squandered it. The Seahawks gave up their 13th explosive play of the day when quarterback Kyler Murray completed a long ball to receiver Michael Wilson for 21 yards to the Cardinals’ 46-yard line. Six plays later, Arizona was in Prater’s range, and a Seattle team that had struggled to play complementary ball all year was true to its identity, down to the final moments.
But, fortunately for the Seahawks, Prater missed, and the visitors were able to finish the regular season on a high note, as they had intended.
“It frustrates me a little bit because we had a chance to get into the playoffs and see what we can do,” Smith said. “But we won today. That’s all we could have done is get the win today. The rest is, you know, up to what we did last week (losing to Pittsburgh). For us, we got a win today, and that was all that mattered.”
Rap music blared and cigar smoke filled the locker room as Seattle conducted its postgame celebration. Love passed cigars around to each guy and was among the players posing for pictures with the celebratory stogies.
“A lot of players know every year is emotional, there’s ups and downs,” Love said when asked about the cigars. “This team will not be the same next year. It never is. Just to celebrate your guys, your work all season. That’s all it was.”
(Love later posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he received the cigars as a gift following the birth of his son, Noah, who arrived Dec. 22. He said he wanted to wait until the season ended to share them.)
Linebacker Bobby Wagner, who led the league with 183 tackles this season, was asked about the mixed emotions of winning the final game in dramatic fashion and the postgame locker room on a day when the team missed the playoffs.
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“I’m old school,” Wagner said. “It’s nice to get a win. We didn’t make the playoffs, and we didn’t do what we needed to do early on. It’s a lot of mixed emotions, but you understand you got a young team, and as they progress in their career, they realize how hard wins are to come by and, so, it’s a balance.”
When asked if that’s part of having a young team, Wagner answered in the affirmative. Asked if he would have a victory cigar, he gave a short response.
“No,” Wagner said. “Not at all.”
In response to a question that began with, “You guys had cigars in there,” Lockett interrupted and said: “They had cigars. I didn’t have a cigar.” Lockett went on to describe the cigars as celebratory in the larger context of individual milestones, not necessarily the singular accomplishment that was beating Arizona.
“Sometimes you’ve got to be able to celebrate the little victories,” he said. “Everybody is going to have something to say. They’re going to feel whatever they’re going to feel, but at the end of the day, the only people that care are the people that are in this room because we know what each and every person had to go through. We wanted to be able to go out on top.”
Seattle’s postgame locker room scene and some of the responses to it — including former Seahawks punter Jon Ryan, who posted a photo of the celebration and said, “I’m shaking with anger, but I’ll just say I’m really disappointed” — illustrate the oddity of this season.
The Seahawk way is a bit different these days I guess. I could say a lot of things right now because I’m shaking with anger but I’ll just say I’m really disappointed. pic.twitter.com/ePoFQw7UPE
— Jon Ryan (@JonRyan9) January 8, 2024
The Seahawks have a winning record under coach Pete Carroll for the 11th time in 14 seasons. But this is only the fourth time since Carroll arrived in 2010 that they aren’t going to the postseason. Only five teams have a better win percentage in that span. And yet, this season is undoubtedly a disappointment.
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After being blown out of the playoffs by San Francisco last season, Seattle entered 2023 hoping to contend for a division title. The Seahawks finished 2-4, their only wins coming over Arizona. Seattle’s minus-38 point differential this season is the second worst of the Carroll era; only the 2010 team, his first season, was outscored by more points (minus-97).
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“We didn’t do enough,” Smith said. “We didn’t meet our goals. We got high expectations. We believe that we can do some great things together as a team. For us not to make the playoffs is a disappointment for me, personally.”
Smith is not alone in that thought, which is one reason why Carroll was asked about his job security after the victory. Carroll said he expects to be back next season.
It’s unclear whether the same can be said of Seattle’s offensive and defensive coordinators, whose sides of the ball fell short of expectations. Shane Waldron’s offense was inconsistent and bad situationally. Clint Hurtt’s defense was just bad. Many of the team’s key contributors — most notably Wagner, Williams and linebacker Jordyn Brooks — are set to become free agents. The Seahawks don’t have much cap space, and the last few years have exposed a gap between them and the NFC’s contenders.
Perhaps then it’s best they found joy in their final postgame celebration together, sharing hugs and handshakes before boarding their flight to Seattle. Because if the Seahawks are going to reach their goal of fielding a championship-caliber team, that was likely one of the last moments many of those players and coaches will have together.
(Photo of Geno Smith: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
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