Author’s note: This is the fifteenth installment of my weekly column, Barely Relevant.

I say, blah. Blah to all of the hey, the Seattle Seahawks kept up with a 13-2 team, and blah to all of the it’s the first year of a completely new coaching staff pretension. Fine. That’s all fine. Fine and blah. We should have beaten the Vikings. Riq Woolen should have played as promising as he looked in the preseason (and his Pro Bowl rookie year), and DK Metcalf should run the route that’s been drawn up. DK had a pretty good game (3/7 for 57 yards and 1 TD), but for some reason, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb decided to put the game in his hands when it mattered the most. You don’t do that; all the rest of us have learned. You pass it to JSN.

DK flubbed the route… as he’s done many times before. There’s a great Maya Angelou quote that’s a little weird to insert in this context, but I’m going to do it anyway: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them….” I don’t know if it applies to football, but damn if DK Metcalf, now in his sixth season, hasn’t shown us who he is time and time again.

This isn’t a DK hate post. I really like the guy, but he’s not to be trusted. It’s like one of those relationships where you love someone but have become completely aware that the relationship doesn’t have a future anymore. It’s gonna hurt. It might take some time, and maybe some Fireball once they’re gone, but slip out the back, Jack. Make a new plan, Stan. No need to be coy, Roy. Just listen to me.

But our trust issues extend beyond DK. Who do you trust on the coaching staff, and does it really end at Mike Macdonald? On the offensive side of the ball, we have several first-year NFL coaches. Do they deserve a little time to grow and develop like rookie players do? Like our new head coach does?

Probably. But who cares? The Seahawks are headed for mediocrity again this year, and it all feels so blah. But why? This is the process. The Seahawks went 7-9 under Pete Carroll during his first season (2010) and made it to the playoffs. In Holmgren’s first season as head coach (1999), the Seahawks went 9-7 and made it to the playoffs. For Dennis Erickson’s first season (1995), we went 8-8, and Chuck Knox (1983) took us to 9-7. There’s been worse (Mora), but you get my point.

Mediocrity is basically the name of the game during a head coach’s first season. At least in Seattle. New coaches don’t get hired because a city has a banger team. Do we need to just trust the process?

The Seahawks appear to be headed for a 9-8 season, by my estimation, and whether or not the Rams pick up and continue to have steam determines our playoff fate. That’s right about in line with what everyone thought this season might look like in August, anyhow. But then something funny happened. We had streaks of greatness. Like starting off 3-0. But then we lost three in a row. But then we beat the 49ers on the road and swept Arizona. Jaxon Smith-Njigba became a top-five wide receiver, and on defense, Witherspoon, Leonard Williams, and Julian Love found their stride… and Tariq Woolen misplaced his.

I guess this ping-pong effect – back and forth – is precisely what mediocrity is: win three in a row, lose three in a row, win four in a row, etc. But it still sucks. And I think I know why. It’s because we’re from Seattle. Which, unfortunately, has been the land of professional sports mediocrity for much too long.

Pete Carroll spoiled us. During his tenure, he was the winningest coach in Seahawks history. The Seahawks had a winning record 11 of 14 seasons during his reign (not even including the 2010 playoff win) and our first Lombardi. But the thought of going back to what we once were? It’s too much to bear. Oh boy, were we were mediocre. Just look at how consistently mediocre we were prior to 2010, when Pete Carroll taught us what consistently winning actually looked like.

And it’s not just football. Seattle happens to be the home of the Mariners, the absolute poster children of mediocrity, who have never even participated in a World Series.

Of course, the Seattle SuperSonics won it all in 1979, but they couldn’t quite do it again. But they did return to the big game in 1996 (and once before they won the trophy [1978]). The Sonics made the playoffs a LOT. Except for their last ten years, when they were pretty darn mediocre. And then they weren’t at all anymore.

Mediocrity is a curse. One we’re undeniably and decidedly headed for again this year. There are a lot of reasons why mediocrity sucks, but the biggest one is because we’re from Seattle. And we feel mediocrity a little differently up here.

It stings right now, and I’m pissed. But this is where I have to remind myself that that’s because there were so many surprising moments this season that gave me hope. And to trust the process. This moment in time – week 16 of the 2024 season – is but a blink of an eye. An eye that could still even be watching the Seahawks (mediocre or not) in the playoffs this year. And the lemon squirt in the eye of this one is that we really could’ve won it. Our mediocre butts could have beaten a 12-2 Vikings team if only we could have cleaned up a few stupid mistakes, somehow replaced Riq Woolen AND Tre Brown, and not thrown it to DK when the game was on the line.

Our new coach, Mike Macdonald, he’s a smart guy. There’s no debating that. And smart guys know how to clean that sort of stuff up. Trust the process. This is how Mike Macdonald’s tenure was supposed to begin. As familiar as it all feels, it’s not. It’s new. But still, blah.

SEATTLE – Showers this evening will slowly decrease overnight, with mild temperatures overnight. We will see dry skies to start the week, but we will be seeing a lot more rain by the middle of the week. 

It was a mild evening, with highs today in the low 50s through this evening. 

It was a mild evening, with highs today in the low 50s through this evening. 

Showers will slowly taper overnight, with lows by Monday morning staying very mild. 

Showers will slowly taper overnight, with lows by Monday morning staying very mild.  (FOX 13 Seattle)

Skies will be dry for most of Monday with sunshine in the forecast, clouds return by the evening hours. 

Skies will be dry for most of Monday with sunshine in the forecast, clouds return by the evening hours. 

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Temperatures will again be well above average, peaking in the low 50s. Rain returns by 11pm for Western Washington along with more wind. 

Temperatures will again be well above average, peaking in the low 50s. Rain returns by 11pm for Western Washington along with more wind. 

We will also see increasing wind speeds later Monday with the strongest gusts coming from the east through the Cascade gaps and through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. 

We will also see increasing wind speeds later Monday with the strongest gusts coming from the east through the Cascade gaps and through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. 

Another around of atmospheric moisture will move into Western Washington Wednesday and Thursday for more rain, wind, and mountain snow. We will see more rain and breezy conditions and pass level snow through next weekend. 

Another around of atmospheric moisture will move into Western Washington Wednesday and Thursday for more rain, wind, and mountain snow. 

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SEATTLE (AP) — Sam Darnold connected with a well-covered Justin Jefferson with 3:51 left for his third TD pass of the game, and the Minnesota Vikings outlasted Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks 27-24 on Sunday to keep pace with Detroit for the top spot in the NFC.

After the Seahawks took the lead on Smith’s third TD pass, Darnold led a 30-second drive that was aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty. He stepped up in a collapsing pocket and launched a deep ball that Jefferson hauled in just short of the goal line with two defenders closing in.

Jefferson finished with 10 catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns as the Vikings (13-2) won their eighth straight. If they can beat Green Bay and Detroit to close out the season, they will earn the top seed in the conference and a first-round playoff bye.

Darnold threw for multiple touchdowns for the 11th time this season and more than 200 yards for the 10th. He finished 22 of 35 for 246 yards, helping Kevin O’Connell become the first Vikings coach with multiple 13-win seasons.

Not bad for a veteran who was signed to a one-year deal as a placeholder after the Vikings drafted J.J. McCarthy, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the preseason.

Smith threw for 314 yards and his 4-yard TD pass to AJ Barner gave the Seahawks a 24-20 lead with 4:41 left, but he couldn’t rally Seattle (8-7) after Jefferson’s TD catch. Jason Myers missed a 60-yard field goal try after the two-minute warning, and Theo Jackson picked off Smith with 49 seconds left to seal it.

The Seahawks have lost two straight after a four-game winning streak and fell one game behind the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West.

Smith also had scoring passes of 25 yards to DK Metcalf and 18 yards to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He was also intercepted twice. Smith-Njigba had eight receptions for 95 yards.

Minnesota improved to 8-1 in one-score games this season.

The Vikings ran a 12-play opening drive, consuming 6:54 on the way to a 7-0 lead on Darnold’s 5-yard pass to Jordan Addison, who was open in the middle of the end zone for his third catch of the series.

Smith found Metcalf in man-to-man coverage with Stefon Gilmore early in the second quarter in the right corner of the end zone. It was Metcalf’s first TD reception since Week 7.

Darnold responded two drives later to make it 14-7 on a 14-yard pass to Jefferson over Tre Brown, who was left in single coverage on the All-Pro’s corner route.

Joshua Metellus pressured Smith on the first play of Seattle’s ensuing drive and Dallas Turner stepped in front of a pass to Noah Fant for an interception that set up Minnesota at the Seattle 31. The Vikings settled for Will Reichard’s 52-yard field goal after Boye Mafe sacked Darnold.

Smith drove the Seahawks 88 yards in 1:05 on five plays to cut the lead to 17-14 with 20 seconds left in the half. He found Smith-Njigba three times on the drive. The first, a 13-yard reception, put the second-year player over 1,000 yards receiving for the first time. The second, for 25 yards to the Vikings 18, drew a biceps flex from Smith-Njigba for the cheering crowd. And the third went for the score.

Receiving milestones

Metcalf shook off a long scoreless streak to catch his 47th career TD with the Seahawks. That helped him pass Hall of Fame receiver Steve Largent and move into sixth on the team’s career touchdown list.

Smith-Njigba became the 10th Seahawks receiver to record a 1,000-yard season.

Injuries

Vikings: S Harrison Smith (foot) was inactive, missing a game for the first time since 2022.

Seahawks: Placed LB Trevis Gipson (ankle) on injured reserve. … RB Kenneth Walker III left the game with an ankle injury.

Up next

Vikings: Host Green Bay next Sunday.

Seahawks: At Chicago on Thursday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl