SEATTLE — A day that began as promisingly as could be — an interception on the first play and a touchdown two plays later to give Seattle a lead just 28 seconds in — ended as disastrously as possible.
And when Josh Jacobs rushed 86 yards for a touchdown to give the Raiders a stunning 40-34 overtime win at Lumen Field Sunday, it threatened to throw a promising Seahawks season into turmoil.
With the loss, Seattle fell to 6-5, and if the season ended today, out of the playoffs in the NFC. While Seattle was losing, the 49ers won their fourth straight to improve to 7-4 and take control of the NFC West.
Jacobs run gave him 229 yards on a day when the Raiders offense dominated throughout, finishing with 576 yards, the third-most Seattle has ever given up.
The TD came on the Raiders’ second possession of overtime. On the first, Las Vegas’ Daniel Carlson missed a 56-yard field goal that appeared to give Seattle life.
But the Seahawks couldn’t move it, going three-and-out on a day when their running attack was again nonexistent — 65 yards rushing on 23 carries — and was forced to punt.
On the first play of the next drive, Jacobs took a handoff up the middle and got crushing blocks that took out Seattle middle linebacker Jordyn Brooks and safety Quandre Diggs and opened a wide path for one of the more stunning finishes in recent Seahawks history.
It was Diggs who had two interceptions in the first quarter — including on the first play — to give Seattle an early lead and what seemed like an expected easy win against a Raiders team that came into the day at 3-7.
But Seattle’s defense could never consistently stop the Raiders, who had six drives of 57 yards or longer.
Seattle hoped that returning home following a bye and following a loss in Munich in Tampa Bay would turn things around.
Instead, all the worries about the defense elicited during a tough five-game stretch to start the year were revived, and with the running game on offense showing no life, the Seahawks are suddenly a team that will need to do a lot of work just to get to the postseason.
The Raiders led 24-20 at the end of a wild first half, that began with an interception by Diggs on the first play of the game via an off-target pass from Derek Carr.
That led to a 12-yard TD run by Kenneth Walker III that put the Seahawks ahead 7-0 with 14:32 to play in the first quarter.
Another Diggs interception, on a pass deflected by teammate Cody Barton, led to a field goal.
But the Raiders rallied to take a 21-13 lead midway through the second quarter thanks to their own interception of a Smith pass by linebacker Denzel Perryman that set up a 30-yard TD run by Jacobs.
The Raiders also scored on a 36-yard pass on a flea-flicker from Carr to Mack Hollins
But just when the Seahawks seemed to be teetering, Geno Smith completed five straight passes on the next drive for 70 yards, including a 35-yard TD to Tyler Lockett, that quickly cut the lead to 21-20 with 5:21 to play in the second quarter.
The Raiders drove for a go-ahead field goal to end the half, but made a somewhat odd decision to kick it on a second down with 14 seconds remaining.
Smith was 12-of-17 for 159 yards and a touchdown in the first half, with five of his completions going to Metcalf for 55 yards.
The Raiders, though, stayed in it early by gaining 230 yards in the first half and 6.4 per play.
The Seahawks regained the lead on a 75-yard, seven-play drive to start the second half, capped by a 14-yard run by Walker in which he got a got a lot of help from teammates who jumped in the pile to push him into the end zone, notably
That made it 27-24 Seattle with 11:46 left in the third quarter.
The Raiders then used their running game to move to the Seattle 7 on their next drive. But Diggs and Tariq Woolen combined to tackle Ameer Abdullah a yard short of a first down on third-and-4 and the Raiders settled for a Daniel Carlson field goal to tie the game at 27 with 5:03 to play in the third quarter.
Carr misfired on a pass to a wide open Adams that helped Seattle force a Raiders punt on their next drive.
An 18-yard Smith-to-Travis Homer TD put Seattle ahead 34-27 with 5:37 remaining.
The Raiders drove to the Seattle 10 on their next drive.
Jacobs lost the ball on the next play but officials ruled his forward progress had been stopped before he did.
A false start then moved the Raiders back 5 more yards.
Facing third-and-goal at the 5, Carr rolled right and hit tight end Foster Moreau in the back of the end zone. The PAT by Daniel Carlson then tied it at 34 with 1:54 remaining.
Smith then hit Metcalf for a diving catch for 12 yards to the 47 in front of Raiders cornerback Amik Robertson with 57 seconds remaining.
But after a lengthy review, it was ruled that Metcalf did not have full possession of the ball before he rolled out of bounds.
That set up third-and-10 and Maxx Crosby — who came into the game with nine sacks — bull rushed Seahawks rookie right tackle Abe Lucas to sack Smith.
Las Vegas’ Keelan Cole then mishandled a 59-yard Michael Dickson punt with the ball momentarily sitting there for the Seahawks’ taking. Cole, though, got it back at the Raiders’ 9.
But that appeared to be enough to cause the Raiders to play it safe and despite having 40 seconds and two timeouts left, the Raiders decided to run out the clock and play for overtime.
The Raiders won the toss and started at their own 25.
On third and five at the 30, Carr hit Cole for a 9-yard gain.
The Raiders then reached the Seattle 37 with a third-and-1.
But once again the Seahawks came up big when it mattered most as Neal led a big push through the line that allowed Shelby Harris to tackle Jacobs for a one-yard loss.
The Raiders sent on Carlson to try a 56-yard field goal into the open end zone, where kicks are notoriously tricky.
The kick was wide right and Seattle took over at its own 46.
However, the Seahawks couldn’t move with Smith rushed into a hurried pass on third down when Crosby broke through the line.
And then came Jacobs’ long run sending the Seahawks into a tough week of wondering where this season is headed.
