Seahawks choke vs. Rams: Who is most to blame for NFL playoff exit?

There are so many fingers to point at the Seattle Seahawks for blowing a home playoff game.

In front of a crowd of absolutely no one, the Seattle Seahawks did not protect their home-field turf, as the NFC West division winner lost to the division rival Los Angeles Rams 30-20 on Wild Card Weekend.

What used to be CenturyLink Field was a house of horrors for visiting opponents. Now that it is known as sleepy Lumen Field, it was the Seahawks who sung themselves to sleep up in the Pacific Northwest. It was a collective effort to not get it done at home vs. an injury-riddled Rams team, but somebody will end up being the scapegoat. Who will it be, but who is really at fault here?

Let’s play the Seattle Seahawks playoff loss blame game

It may have been fate, as Rams head coach Sean McVay does not lose games when his team holds a lead at halftime. Then again, the Seahawks rarely lose at home under head coach Pete Carroll, especially in the playoffs. He is the oldest head coach in the NFL today, so he will get a ton of blame here for the game potentially passing him by. Chewing gum is not a solution here.

If anybody is going to be blamed for this game, it will be offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. His hand-me-down offensive philosophy of Marty Ball does not work in the modern NFL. You can run the ball all you want, but if you cannot move the sticks aerially, you are going to have a bad time. Seattle may part ways with him after this game to try and save face.

Another person who deserves blame is general manager John Schneider who wastes more first-round picks than almost any other front office combined. Again, he did build this team and this team he built did not get it done vs. a team that started John Wolford at quarterback, who got hurt and had to be replaced by Jared Goff and his busted thumb. The architect needs a new blueprint.

But if anybody is going to face the harshest criticism from this choke-job of a playoff failure, it is quarterback Russell Wilson. It has been a long time since his rookie contract out of Wisconsin. He may play behind a wet paper bag of an offensive line for all eternity, which is entirely Schneider’s fault. However, he is seen as a tractor of a quarterback, but is playing more like a trailer recently.

A franchise quarterback cannot complete less than 50 percent of his passes at home in decent weather in a playoff game and expect to win. The Rams might have a fantastic defense, which is why defensive coordinator Brandon Staley is an NFL head-coaching candidate. However, Wilson was supposed to be the best player in this game and his team and his offense came up way short.

The blame game is always fun, except when it reveals major organization dysfunction such as this.