Jermaine Kearse's heroic effort might have cost Hawks a win

Earlier today I caught a little bit of the 4th quarter. I got to the two point conversion, and watching it in slow-motion, I have to say that the Rams are extremely fortunate the play was not converted by Seattle.

As many of you remember, the play was an empty backfield pre-snap, with Robert Turbin lined up on the outside WR spot to Wilson's right. Jermaine Kearse was inside of him, and there were some receivers lined up on the opposite end too.

This play was basically a repeat of the slant that Lynch scored with in the Denver game. Kearse and Turbin each try to cut inside to run a slant, and both are blatantly held for roughly a second with no flags. Wilson is only given a moment before he's pressured, and rather than scramble he throws a jump ball to the area where Robert Turbin would have been if not held.

Recognizing that Turbin and Kearse have not yet separated, Wilson puts a ton of air under the pass, hoping that one of them can break free and get to the ball. Turbin does exactly that. But unfortunately, so does Kearse.

Kearse is not aware of Turbin's trajectory. In Kearse's mind, he's the only Seahawk with a prayer of getting the ball, so he goes balls out for it. Even with a diving effort, Kearse is only able to get one hand on the ball, a few fingers really. The fruit of his effort is that the ball is effectively batted away.

Which is a real shame, because Robert Turbin was right there. Had Kearse just watched, the ball would have fallen perfectly right into Turbin's gut, a catch anyone could make. Turbin had a step on his defender too, it would have definitely been a Turbin catch if not for Kearse getting a hand on it and knocking it away.

Immediately after the ball hits the ground you can see visible frustration from Turbin's body language, huffing his arms as if to say "AAAAARRRGGH!"

Anyway, just thought I'd share this. I in no way blame Kearse for this play or for the loss. He simply did what he's trained to do, and if the pass had been a little different or if he had been a couple inches taller, he might have made the score himself. I chalk it up to bad luck. This game, and really this season, have been about Seattle not catching the breaks they got in 2013.

I wondered about this during the game, but it was hard to tell Wilson's intent. Thanks for spending some time with the footage and giving your take. It's hard to blame Kearse, but that sucks kind of a lot.

PC and Turbin both said the pass was to Kearse. He just couldn't get it.

Yeah, I saw that, too. It looked like Wilson put it in the only place neither could get to it. A little less on it, I think Kearse grabs that thing. A bit more... looked like Turbin could have had a chance whether or not Kearse made an attempt.

Just as painful to us fans as it was Turbin.

I saw that too
it really looked like Turbin was expecting that ball

Kind of reminds you of those times two of our DBs bounce off each other and neither gets the pick. I seem to remember it even happening with 3 of the LOB!

You could see it on Turbin's face, tho. It was going right towards him.

The ball has to start bouncing our way eventually.........right?

I don't mean to hijack this, but since we are on the point of 2 pt conversions I'm very curious as to why we didn't try a two point conversion.When we made it 21-12.

Had we made the conversion, the score would have been 21-14, a one score differential.

The point is, had we missed it, it would have put us basically in the same situation as if we kicked an extra point, meaning we still would have been down a 2 score differential.

Besides, a two pointer is not guaranteed, so attempting the 2pts gives us greater odds at converting one.

Just curious, if we were within a one score differential, it might have changed how the Rams called their plays etc.

Bobblehead":2gf4veop said:

I don't mean to hijack this, but since we are on the point of 2 pt conversions I'm very curious as to why we didn't try a two point conversion.When we made it 21-12.

Had we made the conversion, the score would have been 21-14, a one score differential.

The point is, had we missed it, it would have put us basically in the same situation as if we kicked an extra point, meaning we still would have been down a 2 score differential.

Besides, a two pointer is not guaranteed, so attempting the 2pts gives us greater odds at converting one.

Just curious, if we were within a one score differential, it might have changed how the Rams called their plays etc.

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I would argue that it was too early to go for two when we did.

Seanhawk":6ek8r6gx said:

Bobblehead":6ek8r6gx said:

I don't mean to hijack this, but since we are on the point of 2 pt conversions I'm very curious as to why we didn't try a two point conversion.When we made it 21-12.

Had we made the conversion, the score would have been 21-14, a one score differential.

The point is, had we missed it, it would have put us basically in the same situation as if we kicked an extra point, meaning we still would have been down a 2 score differential.

Besides, a two pointer is not guaranteed, so attempting the 2pts gives us greater odds at converting one.

Just curious, if we were within a one score differential, it might have changed how the Rams called their plays etc.

Click to expand...

I would argue that it was too early to go for two when we did.

Click to expand...

I seriously can't remember the last time we were successful with a 2 point conversion....have we ever?

Seanhawk":3etgyz8l said:

Bobblehead":3etgyz8l said:

I don't mean to hijack this, but since we are on the point of 2 pt conversions I'm very curious as to why we didn't try a two point conversion.When we made it 21-12.

Had we made the conversion, the score would have been 21-14, a one score differential.

The point is, had we missed it, it would have put us basically in the same situation as if we kicked an extra point, meaning we still would have been down a 2 score differential.

Besides, a two pointer is not guaranteed, so attempting the 2pts gives us greater odds at converting one.

Just curious, if we were within a one score differential, it might have changed how the Rams called their plays etc.

Click to expand...

I would argue that it was too early to go for two when we did.

Click to expand...

I would argue that the line of thinking that's it's too early is wrong and that it's better to know what you will need to do earlier in the game than waiting until the waning minutes is better.

gargantual":1vr7zfsf said:

Seanhawk":1vr7zfsf said:

Bobblehead":1vr7zfsf said:

I don't mean to hijack this, but since we are on the point of 2 pt conversions I'm very curious as to why we didn't try a two point conversion.When we made it 21-12.

Had we made the conversion, the score would have been 21-14, a one score differential.

The point is, had we missed it, it would have put us basically in the same situation as if we kicked an extra point, meaning we still would have been down a 2 score differential.

Besides, a two pointer is not guaranteed, so attempting the 2pts gives us greater odds at converting one.

Just curious, if we were within a one score differential, it might have changed how the Rams called their plays etc.

Click to expand...

I would argue that it was too early to go for two when we did.

Click to expand...

I seriously can't remember the last time we were successful with a 2 point conversion....have we ever?

Click to expand...

Too early, thats the common sentiment, that I Have gotten, but late in the 3rd quarter, we are two scores down, whether we make a extra point, or fail on a two pointer. I'd have seen if we could make it a one score game. 4th quarter when your behind maybe to late.

This play just shows how a minor adjustment by Wilson or Kearse and the game is tied. But this play also reminds me of how close it came last year of having Baldwin mess up the catch by Kearse against the 9ers. Very close to a similar result with Baldwin ducking out of the way at the last moment.

Game of inches they say.

Jermaine Kearse kinda sucks, I know nobody likes to hear it but he is seriously not a great receiver. Doesn't have the killer instinct to track the ball when in tight coverage. He consistently lets the defender get position on him to break up his catches. He never comes back to the ball which is like the #1 trait of a good receiver.

He didn't even jump for this 2 point conversion pass he just kinda reached up and fell over like he is mentally challenged, like he thought he could get the ball without leaping. Even a 18-24 inch jump coulda easily got that ball, Kearse just isn't that good.

He is 56% catch rate so far this season, I'm busy and rushing this response right now but I wouldn't be surprised if that's the lowest on our team just like Kearse has always been... bad hands.

Tokadub":2svr6tg2 said:

He never comes back to the ball which is like the #1 trait of a good receiver.

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Except when Wilson is trying to throw it away to avoid the sack

themunn":6d4bmxi9 said:

Tokadub":6d4bmxi9 said:

He never comes back to the ball which is like the #1 trait of a good receiver.

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Except when Wilson is trying to throw it away to avoid the sack

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I don't recall the play you are referring to can you elaborate? If it's just like one play in his entire career that he did that, I'm not sure if that's a strong point for you...

There was absolutely nothing heroic about Kearse in this entire game, sorry Kearly that's just a misleading title.

And anyone saying that we should of gone for the 2 point conversion when we were down 12-21... you are embarrassing me as a Seahawk fan. You clearly don't have the slightest clue about probability and statistics.

You don't go for a 2 point conversion when you would still need another Touchdown to tie the game and there's over 15 minutes remaining... seriously guys? do you have no football understanding whatsoever?

You only go for 2 points when you put yourself in a situation that you can equalize with the opposing team. For example if the other team scores a TD you need another TD to tie the game and to tie the game with 1 more TD you would need a 2 point conversion before they scored...

I donno this just seems like football 101... If anything we may have gone for the 2 point conversion too early but I agree with the decision the way this game was going...

Tokadub":1ugacbdn said:

And anyone saying that we should of gone for the 2 point conversion when we were down 12-21... you are embarrassing me as a Seahawk fan. You clearly don't have the slightest clue about probability and statistics.

You don't go for a 2 point conversion when you would still need another Touchdown to tie the game and there's over 15 minutes remaining... seriously guys? do you have no football understanding whatsoever?

You only go for 2 points when you put yourself in a situation that you can equalize with the opposing team. For example if the other team scores a TD you need another TD to tie the game and to tie the game with 1 more TD you would need a 2 point conversion before they scored...

I donno this just seems like football 101... If anything we may have gone for the 2 point conversion too early but I agree with the decision the way this game was going...

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I would like to ad to this than wnehever you score a touchdown in the 4th quarter to take a 7 point lead, it should be an almost nobrainer to go for 2 to make it a 9 pt lead and a 2 score game. I really dont get why teams always tend to kick it in these situation, since the potential benefit of a 2 score game far outweights the difference gained between a 7pt and an 8pt lead

And Tokadub with the all or nothing analysis that gives no insight...

The end zone camera makes it look to me like Wilson never made it to even seeing where Turbin was, he got pressure and tried to make the lob to Kearse, who had set his guy up with a jump cut. This is a straight up basketball post play, and they know there is no inside help because the inside LB has spy duty on Russell, mirroring his every move.

But bad pass pro from Britt and Sweezy sped the play up.

Tokadub":1dmqln80 said:

And anyone saying that we should of gone for the 2 point conversion when we were down 12-21... you are embarrassing me as a Seahawk fan. You clearly don't have the slightest clue about probability and statistics.

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If you go for it earlier then you know where you stand, doesn't seem bad to me. Can make more accurate coaching decisions for the rest of the game. You're exaggerating at the very least, because our coaches are not as clueless as you say any fan is that agrees with their decision.

Regarding Kearse not jumping - It was a broken play, so he probably didn't see the ball in time to get his feet under him. That's where we need taller targets. Available time to react (and jump) is less in the red zone, so height and arm length become more important. I'd put that play on coaches/front office before Kearse. They're the who have us throwing over defenders to a 6'1 WR and 5'10 RB in the end zone.

I think kearly has a point, but I still find it good that Pete, Turbin, and Kearse are all saying the right things. With that said, this play, to me, just shows that we're still not quite on the same page. Sure, the play might have been broken due to the holding (eff you, refs!!!) but it just seems that last year communication we better during these situations or that guys knew what to do a little sooner.

Just a random thought.