Week 12 of the season kicked off with a surprise as the Houston Texans not only kept them in the chase of the playoffs, but also made a statement win. The Texans defeated the Buffalo Bills at home 23-19 on Thursday Night Football, giving the Bills their second loss of the last three games.
There were many aspects of this game to take note of. One is that the Bills are beatable even with the reigning MVP quarterback, Josh Allen. Another is the stellar defensive performance from the Texans accounting for eight sacks and 28 pressures on Allen. Houston was able to win despite a bad performance from backup quarterback Davis Mills.
From a Seattle Seahawks perspective, this game sheds any negative narratives that Seattle hasn’t defeated any good teams this season. The Seahawks defeated the Texans in Week 7’s Monday Night Football game 27-19, where it truly didn’t feel close.
Seattle had four turnovers, including a strip-sack-fumble recovery in the end zone on quarterback Sam Darnold from Texans’ star edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. for a defensive touchdown. The offense was on fire for the first half, but the defense played elite the entire game. The Seahawks’ defense accounted for three sacks, ten tackles for loss, 12 pass breakups, and seven quarterback hits on starting quarterback C.J. Stroud.
After the Seahawks’ 21-19 Week 11 road loss to the Los Angeles Rams, the trolls and critics of the Seahawks and Darnold came out and said that the team couldn’t defeat good teams. It came after the Seahawks had their first real test to see if they were truly the league’s best team, facing another elite team. The Seahawks have three losses this season, including the Rams, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Seattle, however, has three wins over teams that are currently expected to make the playoffs or have winning records, including the Texans, the road win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the road win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. In all of those games, the Seahawks’ defense was elite, and the offense got off to a solid start thanks to Darnold and star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
The Seahawks got a statement win in Week 10 as they went on the road to dominate the Washington Commanders 38-14. Seattle dominated a Commanders team that looked to restart their path back to the NFC Conference Championship game with the return of quarterback Jayden Daniels.
The narrative that the Seahawks haven’t defeated can’t be used anymore, considering there are good teams they have already defeated, especially the Texans. Houston looks capable of making a serious playoff run even without Stroud. If there is anything to take away from this game regarding the Seahawks, it's that they are much better than anticipated.
Sam Darnold finds himself in the company of former Seahawks rival
NFL analyst predicts ‘full-on bloodbath’ between Seahawks, Titans
3 Seahawk players that need to step up Week 12 against Titans
Richard Sherman sure Sam Darnold will bounce back from bad game