The Seahawks are heading into halftime trailing the Las Vegas Raiders 10-7, and honestly, the biggest gut punch is how little our offense has even seen the field. We’ve run a measly 17 offensive plays in the first half, compared to a whopping 35 for the Raiders. That’s a huge problem, Seattle.
Fernando Mendoza Is Showing Up Big
The Raiders rookie quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, is making his first NFL start, and man, is he making an impression. He led their opening drive, capping it off with a 10-yard scramble for a touchdown. That kind of escapability is something new for them, definitely not what you expect from a guy like Kirk Cousins. Mendoza picked up another 12 rushing yards on four more runs, including a seven-yard gain that helped set up the field goal putting the Raiders up 10-7. He is also looking pretty good through the air, completing 11 of 13 passes for 90 yards, though our Seattle defense did get to him for a pair of sacks. It’s frustrating to see a rookie come in and move the chains like this against our guys.
Offense Needs To Find A Rhythm, Fast
Our Seahawks offense has had some flashes, but we just haven’t been able to sustain anything. The team’s quarterback had a rough start, losing a fumble on only our second offensive play, though he did recover it. He later managed to evade the Raiders rush long enough to connect with Cooper Kupp for a touchdown pass, which was a huge moment to get us on the board. He’s 4-of-5 for 62 yards so far, which isn’t bad efficiency, but the sheer lack of opportunities is killing us. You can’t win football games when the other team is dictating the pace and owning the time of possession like this.
This game is still incredibly close, with only three points separating us, but the play count tells a story we don’t want to hear. Both teams also picked up significant injuries during the first half, so we’ll need to keep an eye on that moving forward. Our Hawks need to come out of that locker room fired up and find a way to get the ball moving in the second half. There’s a whole lot of game left, and we need to turn this around. Go Hawks!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pro Football Talk.
Leave a Reply