Metcalf made a difference in the first half, scoring a touchdown thanks to a double move that was so devastating, all Smith had to do was toss the ball to him in the end zone. But Metcalf — and the rest of the Seahawks’ offense — disappeared in the second half, totaling just 12 yards as a team.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, played as if their lives depended upon the outcome.
“I really can’t speak for everybody else’s, but my part was just effort,” Metcalf said. “And play after play, just 100% effort, it wasn’t just there like it’s been in the past. So, I know that’s one thing I’ve got to clean up. And just playing as a team. When something goes wrong or adversity hits, we just can’t start pointing fingers or just looking around for somebody else to make a play or just to have an answer. Can’t look for the coaches.
“We just have to look inward and rely on ourselves or our teammates and the practices that we’ve had, all the connectedness that we’ve had since late July. All we got to do is just start depending on each other and just start playing as a team more.”
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll needs that type of effort from his players if Seattle is going to return to the postseason, starting with Week 2.
“I feel like at the end of the game we didn’t play very well on offense. I thought we got in trouble a little bit,” Carroll admitted on Wednesday. “Defensively, I pointed out how hard we played at the end of the game. It wasn’t a conditioning issue; we got a little distracted. Things didn’t go very well. We need to find our rhythm better on offense.”