MUNICH, Germany — As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end.
Early Sunday morning, it was the Seahawks' four-game winning streak that reached its conclusion, as Seattle lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL's first-ever regular-season game in Germany.
Following the trip overseas, the Seahawks will have a bye week to rest up before taking on the Raiders on Nov. 27 at Lumen Field.
Here are three takeaways from the Seahawks' disappointing loss across the pond:
Struggles stopping the run
Tampa Bay came in with one of the NFL's worst rushing games, ranking dead-last in yards per attempt coming into Sunday's game. The Buccaneers proceeded to gash the Seahawks for 161 yards on the ground, including 105 from backup Rachaad White.
Time of possession was also heavily in favor of the Buccaneers, as Tampa Bay grinded the clock and kept the Seahawks' offense on the sideline for the majority of the game.
To add insult to injury, the Buccaneers converted 10-of-15 attempts on third down. After a few solid performances in a row, this was a step back for defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt's unit.
Geno is human after all
The Seahawks' quarterback came crashing back to earth on Sunday, as he and the offense were held scoreless throughout the first 30 minutes of game action.
Although his typical counting stats look solid, much of that came late as Seattle narrowed the margin late, but ultimately failed to overcome the early deficit.
Smith finished with 23-of-33 completions for 275 yards with two touchdown passes and one interception. He also had a very costly fumble on a confounding play in the third quarter, losing it at the Bucs' 9-yard line and ending a promising 10-play Seahawks drive with no points to show for it.
Third-down woes
The Seahawks defense had a hard time getting off the field, and the offense had an even tougher time staying on it. Seattle converted just 1 of its 9 attempts on third down Sunday, and the team ran 24 fewer plays than the Buccaneers did.
Sustaining drives is key to winning consistently in the NFL, and a lackluster running game forced Smith into a number of difficult situations where the defense knew he was going to throw.
Seattle totaled just 39 rushing yards, including a paltry 17 on 10 carries for Kenneth Walker III. Getting the ground game back into a groove should be a focus once the team returns from its upcoming bye week.