Seahawks end season with a ‘W’ on missed field goal against Cardinals

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Seahawks’ 2023 season ended Sunday as the needed combination of wins to get them into the playoffs didn’t happen.

And that brought with it all of the expected disappointment and regret of a season during which the playoffs for a while almost seemed a given.

“A total crusher,” coach Pete Carroll said. “We needed one more [win]. We should have had three more to have the season that we could have had.”

Before Seattle headed off into a winter of uncertainty, the Seahawks gave themselves one last moment of glory.

Dominated for most of the second half, Seattle used the gift of two missed field goals by veteran Matt Prater in the final 2:56 to stun Arizona 21-20 at State Farm Stadium, scoring the winning TD and two-pointer with 1:54 left.

And in the moments when Tyler Lockett scored both the touchdown and the two-pointer on passes from Geno Smith, the Seahawks could leave a field for one final time this year with something to feel good about.

“We really had one thing we could get done today and that was come out here and win this football game regardless of what happened anyplace else, and I’m so proud of the way this happened,” Carroll said.

The win set off a celebration that included safety Julian Love handing out some cigars to commemorate the birth of his first child two weeks ago.

“Smells like Yogi Berra’s bedroom or something,” Carroll said of the locker room as he took the podium to talk to media afterward.

But while Seattle ultimately did its job, it didn’t get the help it needed as Green Bay beat Chicago 17-9 to clinch the seventh and last NFC playoff spot.

That win became official just a few minutes before Prater missed the first of his two field goals that likely would have given the Cardinals the win — a 43-yarder with 2:56 left and Arizona leading 20-13.

Given new life, a Seattle team that had punted after each of its previous four second-half possessions moved 67 yards in four plays, with Smith hitting Lockett from 34 yards out for the score on a play that snapped just after the time out for the two-minute warning.

That made it 20-19.

Smith said later he anticipated Lockett getting man coverage.

“The funny part about it was that I was in the huddle, and we knew that it was going to be a touchdown,” Smith said. “I told the guys that when we score right here, we are going for two so be ready. It happened exactly how we saw it happening so that was pretty cool.”

Had Seattle still been alive for a playoff spot, Carroll admitted he might have erred on the side of caution and kicked the extra point to force a tie.

But since there was nothing left to play for at that point but a game, Carroll waved the kicking team off the field quickly to leave the offense on.

“Everybody wanted to go for two,” Carroll said. “That was the easiest decision ever.”

Given lots of time to scan the field, Smith hit Lockett in the back of the end zone for two.

“I mean I figured we were going to go for two after we saw the Bears lost,” Lockett said. “We were all for it. We wanted to be able to go for two, and Pete made the call. Geno did a great job going through his reads, his progressions, staying poised in the pocket, and he made a great throw, and I just had to catch it.”

Still, Arizona had time and two timeouts to get into field goal position and did just that on a 12-yard Kyler Murray pass to Michael Wilson to convert a third-and-8. They were close enough for Prater — who earlier in the game became the 12th kicker in NFL history to make 400 career field goals — to get a shot at redemption.

This one, too, went just wide right.

When it did, the Seahawks celebrated wildly their sixth win this season by one score, with the winning points in each coming in either the final two minutes of regulation or overtime.

The comeback allowed Seattle to overcome what had been dispiriting second half. The Seahawks led 13-6 at halftime, at which point the Packers led the Bears just 7-6 — giving hope that the needed playoff scenario could happen.

But before the second half could begin, the Packers had grabbed a 14-6 lead.

Seattle played like a team that was out of it.

Arizona tied the game with an 87-yard drive to start the half, then took the lead on a 61-yarder capped by a Murray TD pass on a trick play — the Cardinals appeared to be lining up for a field goal on a fourth down before Murray circled back to stay on the field, grab a quick snap and hit tight end Trey McBride from eight yards out.

Seattle went three-and-out on its next drive, and the game seemed done when Prater lined up for a 43-yarder. At that point, Arizona had outgained 232-41 in the second half.

Smith said he knew at that point the Packers had won.

“You are looking up there at the score, but that is not going to dictate the way that I am playing the game,” Smith said. “I am going to go out there and try to win at any cost so, shoot man, it took for us to go out there and get it done in the second half and for us to really take it down on that last drive. I liked the way the guys finished. They played until the end.”

But despite Sunday’s win, the Seahawks were 4-6 in their last 10 games to squash the optimism built by a 5-2 start that had Seattle leading the NFC West heading into November.

Carroll, though, largely stressed the positive afterward.

“I don’t know how to put it all in the capsule here other than to say that I love this team and I love the way that these guys play,” he said. “I’ve told you that for such a long time that they continue to keep coming back. They continue to keep believing. They stick to the essence of what we’re trying to get done.”

Will that be enough for Carroll to want to come back — and the team to want him back?

The day began, interestingly enough, with a report in the morning from The NFL Network that the Seahawks are “evaluating and updating contingency plans” in the event that Carroll “decides to walk away.”

The NFL Network also noted Carroll’s contract, which was reported by the team when it was signed in 2020 to go through the 2025 season, actually only goes through the 2024 season but with an option for 2025. It is not clear who has the option or when it can be exercised.

But Carroll, who turned 72 in September, offered no evidence that he plans to do anything other than coach the Seahawks in 2024.

Asked if his love for the team makes him want to come back next season Carroll said, “Yeah. Of course, I’d love to do that.”

So then came the obvious follow up — is he expecting to be back as coach?

“I do,” Carroll said. “I do. At this point I do, yeah.”