On a night when offense came at a premium, the dropped passes were tough to swallow in the Seahawks 13-6 loss against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night.
Even more tough to swallow was the fact that Golden Tate dropped two of the five. Last year, Tate didn't drop a single ball, the News Tribune reported.
"I had a few opportunities where I could have made some plays, and I didn't come through," Tate said. "It's uncharacteristic of me. But I'm not discouraged at all. I'm going to continue to work hard, and I'll be back next week."
Tate finished the game without a catch, and was pulled after his second dropped pass of the evening in favor of Braylon Edwards. He would later return to finish the game. At the start of the third quarter, Tate dropped a perfect pass from Wilson with a lot of wide open space around him.
"I tried to make a body catch when I should've caught it with my hands," Tate said. "Looking at the replay, I felt I could've done what I do best, which is getting some yards after the catch."
Dropped passes are an everyday part of the life of a wide-receiver, but they are more evident with a Seattle Seahawk team that features a rookie quarterback and one of the worse pass offenses in the league. The Seahawks are ranked 31st in the NFL at just 161.9 passing yards per game.
In a defensive, grind out game like the one on Thursday night, those dropped passes really magnify when scoring comes so difficultly.
"I feel like I definitely should have made one of those, and that's all we needed," Tate said. "We needed one of those to be caught, and we would've scored or got a field goal before the half. And we would've taken the momentum into halftime."
Tate has 13 receptions for 191 yards and three touchdowns on the year.