BALTIMORE — Based on the first half of the season, it seemed like we were in for an entertaining battle between the Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
Instead of a competitive game, the Ravens dominated the Seahawks in a convincing 37-3 win at home.
Here are three takeaways from the Seahawks' loss.
Gashed by the run
This game felt very reminiscent of the 2022 season when the Seahawks were among the worst at defending the running game (30th in rushing defense).
Baltimore rushed 41 times for 298 yards and three touchdowns in a stunning rout. Four Ravens had at least 40 rushing yards in the game.
Lamar Jackson (10 rushes, 60 rushing yards) didn't even need to test the Seahawks defense as a passer, because the Ravens built up enough momentum on the ground to keep pounding the rock.
Meanwhile, Seattle's running back duo of Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet combined for 13 rushes for 24 yards.
This was a thorough domination in this facet of the game by the Ravens.
Geno's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day
It doesn't look much better if you look at the Seahawks passing attack.
Geno Smith was flustered all game, took four sacks, averaged just 5.6 yards per attempt and completed fewer than 50% of his passes for the first time all season.
Smith's 157 passing yards is the third-lowest total he's recorded all season.
If there was one positive, however....
Rookie watch
At least Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a good game? We're grasping at straws here -- from a positivity standpoint.
The rookie led all Seahawks in receptions (6), receiving yards (63) and targets (7). Smith-Njigba hasn't had his breakout game quite yet, but he's trending in the right direction after a rough start to his career.
