RENTON — The raw stats indicated DK Metcalf made as little impact in Seattle’s 23-6 win over the Jets Sunday as he ever has.
Metcalf had just one catch for three yards on five targets. It was the second-fewest yards Metcalf has ever had in a game, ahead of only a contest against Arizona as a rookie in 2019 when he was held without a catch.
“I said to DK sometime in the fourth quarter that, ‘It’s one of those days,’’’ said Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. “The targets that we got, we just didn’t hook up on them. We went to him and went to him in a big way and down in the end zone for the touchdown, a couple of big [deep passes] that just didn’t work. It was just that day that the ball just didn’t get to him.’’
But to offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, Metcalf’s imprint on the game was much greater than the numbers, pointing to how he influenced one of the biggest moments of the game — a 12-yard Geno Smith touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson just three plays into the game that gave Seattle a 7-0 lead that it never relinquished.
On the play, Metcalf lined up split left against New York cornerback Ahmad “Sauce’’ Gardner but with nickel corner Michael Carter also taking a few steps his way at the snap.
And that, Waldron said, helped open things up for Parkinson, who was then left in man coverage on the right against safety Lamarcus Joyner.
“I thought he did a good job again in a game where it didn’t always work out for him where he’s running hard and same thing that ends up happening — he ends up pulling coverage away and other guys get to have some success off the attention that he is able to get throughout the course of the game,’’ Waldron said. “You saw it on Colby’s first touchdown where you’ve got DK where they go out to double him in the red zone and Geno does a great job of progressing through the play and ends up finding Colby for a big-time throw there.’’
And it’s worth noting that Metcalf’s 87 catches are already a career-high, and his 1,008 yards are the second highest of his career.
Still, the Seahawks didn’t make Metcalf the seventh-highest paid receiver in the NFL before the season to be a decoy, even if Metcalf has proven to be a good one.
And the Seahawks need more production out of him to beat the Rams in a must-win game for the postseason Sunday — and to advance in the playoffs if they get there.
The easy answer for what happened Sunday was good coverage by good New York cornerbacks in Gardner and former Seahawk D.J. Reed, as well as Seattle pulling in the reins some on the passing game once the Seahawks pulled ahead 17-3 early — Seattle’s 38 rushing attempts were its most this year and the 29 passes the fourth lowest.
Tyler Lockett also played just 23 snaps while dealing with a calf injury, which allowed New York to hone in its coverage on Metcalf. Asked what he thought the reason was, Metcalf said simply “I have no idea.’’
Just one of those days. Carroll, meanwhile, figures it won’t be a sign of things to come.
“He said he’s not worried about it,’’ Carroll said. “He was good. He was about it, because watch out this week.”
And indeed, Metcalf has always liked playing the Rams and star cornerback Jalen Ramsey — he had eight catches for 127 yards, his second-highest totals in each category — the last time the two teams played.
“DK gets excited for those big matchups and Ramsey and that defense and playing against Bobby (Wagner) again,’’ Smith said. “Those are the ones that we are thrilled to play. As long as we have those two guys with Tyler and DK, we’ve got a shot at doing some excellent things, and we are looking forward to seeing what they do on Sunday.”
10 Seahawks again sit out practice
For the second straight day the Seahawks had 10 players listed as sitting out practice — though only seven were the same each day.
But three were listed as resting, and a few others also appear to be mostly getting some time off to heal in anticipation of being ready for Sunday.
The 10 sitting out were: guard Phil Haynes (ankle), running backs Travis Homer (ankle), DeeJay Dallas (ankle) and Kenneth Walker III (ankle/illness), Lockett (shin), linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (foot), safety Ryan Neal (knee), nose tackle Al Woods (Achilles/rest), guard Gabe Jackson (knee/rest) and Metcalf (knee/rest).
Neal missed the last two games and appears questionable for Sunday and Haynes suffered a high ankle sprain against the Jets and also seems trending toward being iffy to play. It’s unclear the situation with Nwosu as he was not mentioned as injured following the Jets game.
It was expected Lockett, Walker and Dallas might take it easy this week, and Carroll indicated earlier that Homer has a chance to be back this week.
Three players were limited: tight end Noah Fant (knee), tackle Abraham Lucas (knee) and guard Damien Lewis (ankle).
Among full participants were DL Quinton Jefferson (illness) and DL Poona Ford (calf) who each sat out Wednesday. Fant also sat out Wednesday.
It was the second straight day Lucas was listed as limited as he attempts to come back from a knee injury that held him out against the Jets.