SEATTLE -- When wide receiver Doug Baldwin lost his cool on the sideline at MetLife Stadium two weeks ago, he was upset with how the Seattle Seahawks' offense couldn't get out of its own way. They weren't being outplayed on that side of the ball so much as they were hurting themselves with penalties, dropped passes and other unnecessary mistakes. It wasn't the playcalling or the Giants, Baldwin said afterward -- it was the Seahawks themselves.

They showed again in their 17-14 loss to the Washington Redskins on Sunday that they can still be their own worst enemy.

"This was a really difficult game for us," coach Pete Carroll said. "We made this so hard on ourselves."

Blair Walsh's three missed field goals might be the lasting image of this game, particularly since it was decided by three points, but the Seahawks' problems went well beyond their kicker. They committed 16 penalties. Russell Wilson was picked off twice and was lucky that some of his other errant throws didn't end up in the hands of defenders. Seattle's defense dropped two sure interceptions and, after playing so well for most of the game, allowed Washington to drive 70 yards on four plays for the game-winning touchdown.

The common thread in some of the issues that sunk Seattle on Sunday was that the Seahawks hurt themselves.

"All of the things that happen when you lost a game showed up: turnovers, penalties, getting beat deep, the easy scores for them, the difficult challenges just moving the ball down the field because we were in our own way," Carroll said. "We really played against ourselves all day long."

Said Baldwin: "I don't want to take anything away from the Redskins. They did win the game. However, I don't think they beat us. We beat ourselves."

That was particularly true with Seattle's 16 penalties, a season-high. Ten were on offense, including at least one apiece from all five starting linemen. That constantly left the Seahawks in unmanageable down-and-distance situations. Of their 14 third-down plays, eight required seven or more yards to convert. It's no wonder Seattle only converted 5 of 14 opportunities.

"When we do that, it puts us behind the eight ball a little bit," Wilson said.

Seattle now leads the NFL in penalties with 82 through eight games. This is nothing new, of course. The Seahawks were the most penalized team in the league in 2013 and 2014, when they reached back-to-back Super Bowls. But it's becoming a pronounced problem in 2017 and it's clearly what rankled Carroll the most from Sunday's loss.

"We've had enough penalties already in this season where you could say one of these games it's going to jump up and bite you, and that's exactly what it felt like today," Carroll said. "It's really important that we find our way and find our way back and play good football. That was a bad day for us. I totally feel responsible for that. I don't see anything other than that. I have to keep these guys from making penalties. I have to get it done. So we have to get at that."

As always, bigger-picture context is important when assessing individual games. In that regard, the Seahawks have been prone to occasional shoddy performances, even in their best years. The 2013 team that won the first Super Bowl in franchise history needed overtime to beat the Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- who combined for six wins that season -- and lost 17-10 at home to the Arizona Cardinals. The Seahawks suffered one of their more dispiriting losses in recent memory last December -- 38-10 to the Packers in Green Bay -- then won two of their last three games to finish 10-6, their fifth consecutive season with double-digit victories.

It isn't always easy for the Seahawks. This season has been no different.

That doesn't mean they won't be kicking themselves after this one. The Seahawks' loss to Washington means they won't take full advantage of maybe the most favorable stretch in their schedule, which includes at least four straight games against teams at or below .500.

That stretch continues this week with a Thursday night game against the Cardinals, who are 4-4 and are playing without quarterback Carson Palmer. Players generally loathe the quick turnaround ahead of a Thursday night game, but Carroll acknowledged it might be beneficial coming off a loss like the one Seattle suffered Sunday.

"We have to bounce back. We go Thursday night," he said. "It's really crucial that we turn the corner and get right back on track and get ready to play some football. It's a long season. This game has nothing to do with the rest of the season at this point. There's a lot going on and a lot to be done. We have to make sure that we come back out of this strong, and I do a good job and get us on track and keep us from getting in our own way."