The Seahawks played with fire and got burned on their last play in a 41–35 loss to the Cowboys on Thursday Night Football.
With a little over a minute remaining in the fourth quarter, Seattle faced a fourth-and-2 at midfield, a conversion the Seahawks had to have if they wanted any chance to tie or win the game.
Any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons ran untouched into the backfield and pressured Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith into making a hurried throw that bounced harmlessly incomplete, clinching victory for Dallas. After the game, Smith told reporters that the play design called for Seattle to not block Parsons, a two-time All-Pro selection.
MICAH ENDS IT 😤 pic.twitter.com/FuMgBN4tsB
— NFL (@NFL) December 1, 2023
Geno Smith says the #Seahawks’ last play was by design: right tackle pinches down vs 0 blitz, Micah Parsons unblocked off the edge, and he just couldn’t get the pass over him to RB DeeJay Dallas in the flat.
— Gregg Bell (@gbellseattle) December 1, 2023
Parsons unblocked with the game on the line? That was the scheme pic.twitter.com/YJq0HWqVxH
As Smith explains, the Seahawks executed correctly on their final play. But Smith’s explanation begs the question: Whom on the Seahawks coaching staff thought it was a good idea to let Parsons, who has three double-digit sack seasons in three NFL seasons, have a free path to the quarterback on the biggest play of the game?
It’s difficult enough for offensive lines to contain Parsons with one even two linemen accounting for him. Letting him run free untouched? Seattle may as well have served up Smith on a silver platter.
