However, Smith’s one mistake suddenly didn’t look so bad once Howell entered the game and the offense was nearly out of commission. The third-year quarterback played his first meaningful action since being acquired in a trade in March. He played like a deer in headlights, struggling to throw the football accurately and taking a ton of penalties from an aggressive Green Bay defense. In its first six drives, Seattle gained negative yards on 15 dropbacks, completing five of 13 passes for 24 yards and throwing a terrible interception right into the hands of linebacker Edgerrin Cooper. He also collected four sacks in the half and often held the ball for far too long while additional rushers were sent after him.

After rushing for over 170 yards last week in Arizona, even against a top-10 Packers run defense, it seemed like a strong possibility that the Seahawks would look to continue relying more on Zach Charbonnet and an offensive line , which had shown significant improvements over the last few weeks. But even with the flow of the game down by 14 to start, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb seemed hell-bent on handing out Green Bay with three- and four-way shotgun sets and passing plays on offense on 15 of 22 snaps in the first half to control. As expected, the lack of balance allowed the visitors to pick off Smith and sack him twice on the third to end drives.

After Howell checked in and the Seahawks trailed by three points, Grubb was unable to return to the running game much, with the only exception being Charbonnet’s 24-yard touchdown run on a Buck sweep that briefly gave the team a glimmer of hope by 10 points. Aside from that series, they only rushed eight more times in the final two quarters, with three of those coming from undrafted rookie George Holani on the final drive of the game when they ran out of time and the game ended mercifully. Even though they averaged five yards per carry, there just weren’t enough opportunities to keep up

With the Seahawks allowing just 97 rushing yards per game during their four-game winning streak, they faced their toughest test yet against Jacobs, one of the NFL’s best all-around backs. Unfortunately, Macdonald’s unit was no match for the task from the opening whistle, as the Packers did the damage in both the running and passing games, handing him the ball on eight of nine offensive snaps, culminating in him holding off until the end penetrated zone for a one-yard score. In the first half alone, he rushed 14 times for 73 yards and added 38 yards on three catches in the passing game, causing major problems for defenses both inside and outside the tackles as pre-snap movements made things even more difficult.

After halftime, Seattle made some schematic adjustments to keep Jacobs in check, stuffing him for turnovers on fourth downs on two separate occasions and holding him under four yards per carry in the final two quarters. Late in the game, however, Green Bay had great success incorporating throwbacks and jet sweeps from its receivers, including a 13-yard run by Jayden Reed. In total, the visitors rushed 34 times for 140 yards and averaged 4.1 yards per carry, doing more than enough damage to sustain long drives, keep the chains moving and put points on the board. It was a disappointing step backwards for a unit that has been one of the league’s best in recent weeks, and the Seahawks need to go back to the drawing board with three games left.

In one of the clear effects of Green Bay’s early success hitting the rock, Seattle’s pass rushers remained on their heels for most of the evening, which put Love’s life on both standard dropbacks and play-by-play Action made much easier. He was red hot from the start, had a consistently clean pocket in front of him and threw to all three levels of the defense. In the first half, he completed 12 of 13 passes for 142 yards, including a 36-yard completion to speedy receiver Christian Watson fumbling down the sideline after hitting cornerback Riq Woolen vertically.

The Packers did a fantastic job of protecting Love on offense, occasionally mixing in a bootleg to get him out of the pocket to help things schematically and allow him to use his legs. As a result, Jacobs pounded them to the floor and set up prime play opportunities. The Seahawks totaled just six quarterback hits and no sacks on 28 dropbacks as the quarterback completed nearly 75 percent of his passes with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a healthy passer rating of 123.8.

During their defensive renaissance since Week 11, the Seahawks have not only improved their run defense but also limited big plays in the passing game. However, a versatile pass rush contributed to that success, and without them being able to put much pressure on Love, the secondary wasn’t nearly as strong as it was last month. Facing Watson, one of the few receivers in the league quick enough to challenge him, Woolen not only gave up a 36-yard reception but was also called for a 34-yard defensive pass interference- Penalty warned inside the five-yard line, which allowed the Packers to score a short field goal before halftime.

Outside of Woolen, Josh Jobe was also called for pass interference in the second half against Watson, giving the Packers another automatic first down with a 39-yard gain. With the game already decided, Devon Witherspoon allowed a 22-yard touchdown reception to Romeo Doubs with five minutes to play, giving Green Bay four receptions for 20 yards as well as two more penalty gains and a 19-yard run-by Jacobs. While it wasn’t the Seahawks’ worst performance this year in delivering explosives, it was another step in the wrong direction after weeks of making great progress on that front.