The Seattle Seahawks fell 17-14 at home to the Washington Redskins after Russell Wilson's Hail Mary attempt tumbled to the turf. The three-point spread hurts after the Seattle defense allowed the Redskins to drive for the go-ahead touchdown on a 35-second drive with a minute remaining.
More painful is the nine points left on the field by Blair Walsh. The Seahawks' streaky kicker missed attempts from 44, 39, and 49 yards, all wide left.
"I didn't help my team today, that's for sure," Walsh said, via ESPN.com. "The thing is, though, is that this is the first time this year where I haven't really come through, and I've got to remember that. As much as it sucks, and as much as I want to be there for my teammates and help us win, I've got to remember that I'm capable of doing good things here."
Walsh refused to blame the nasty weather for his flubs: "Those kicks were all me," he said.
Walsh signed a one-year deal with the Seahawks to replace Stephen Hauschka, who struggled with his own misses -- particularly PAT flubs. Walsh famously missed a chip-shot field goal while a member of the Minnesota Vikings that would have eliminated the Seahawks from the 2015 playoffs. The miss stuck with Walsh, who has had problems with consistency since that day.
Walsh's teammates and coaches refused to put the loss on kicker's shoulder.
"You don't want to be a finger-pointer," defensive lineman Michael Bennett said when asked about Walsh. "Every point in the game, somebody could have made a better play and did something better, so you don't want to point fingers. You want to always be able to always be behind your teammates, whether they played good or played bad. They're still your teammates, and Blair is a great kicker. Sometimes things happen, and you want to be able to constantly believe in him, and I believe in him in every facet of the game."
Added coach Pete Carroll: "I'm disappointed for him. He had trouble in the pregame, when [the wind] was blowing. The weather was kind of nasty early on. I'm disappointed for him. If we had a shot, I was totally counting on him to kick the game-winner. I wasn't thinking anything but that."
Carroll continued to back his struggling kicker Monday morning.
