Gut Reaction: Seattle vs. New England

Oct 14, 2012; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman (25) intercepts the ball from intended for New England Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch (84) during the 2nd half at CenturyLink Field. Seattle defeated New England 24-23. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-US PRESSWIRE

Seattle’s offense sucks. I don’t care what statistics you can point to, the offense is terrible. Seattle is a playoff caliber team in every way, except for the passing game (which sucks).  And because the success of the running game is a function of the passing game, the playoff caliber ground game is now struggling.  At this point Seattle is going to struggle mightily to end the season at .500.  As a fan, it’s like a car wreck. It hurts to watch, but I can’t take my eyes away because it’s my team.

Before everyone has a stroke, I wrote that at the start of the fourth quarter when Seattle had gone three-and-out after getting their second interception and trailing New England 23-10.  Clearly, the game was far from over but I had no faith in Seattle’s capability to conduct a late game scoring drive and win the game.  Seattle’s defense decided that they weren’t going to lose the game on its watch and prevent New England from scoring at all in the fourth quarter.  It also helped that Russell Wilson decided to force me to eat my words and show that he is capable of winning games toward the end. So before, everyone freaks out, let me tell you that my words tasted delicious (especially with some horse radish and au jus).

This was a game Seattle needed.  The NFL’s top defense versus the top offense is always an interesting matchup.  The last time I remember it happening was in the Super Bowl in 2003 when Tampa (top defense) beat Oakland (top offense). I’m sure it’s happened since, but that’s the last I remember.  In that case the top defense won, and that held true today as well.  The defense took out New England’s starting running back and played decently in the secondary but the soft spot that everyone knew existed (short and across the middle) was exploited all day.  Brady also faced very little pressure for the majority of the game.

Some events that stick out when I think back over the game are Russell Wilson’s ridiculous scramble where it seemed like he was going to safety himself but somehow turned it into a gain.  He must have run about 50 yards for a gain of about five.  I think the most amazing thing was that there wasn’t a holding call on the play and Russell Okung took out two defensive linemen with a great block.

Another play that stands out is the final touchdown thrown to Sidney Rice that gave the ball back to New England with about 78 seconds left.  At first I was terrified that we were giving the ball back with too much time left on the clock.  Then I realized the play was brilliant in a crazy-like-a-fox kind of way.  Everyone (New England, the announcers, me) was expecting Seattle to grind out the clock and march down the field with the hopes of getting a touchdown at the last minute.  Instead, Seattle called a deep bomb down the field to Sidney Rice who gave a slight wiggle to the right before bee-lining it for the end zone, beyond the coverage with a ball being perfectly delivered.  Nobody was expecting it and it worked perfectly.  Century Link went ballistic (I like to think my profane celebratory yelling also made it to the Clink) and Seattle put the game back into the hands of its defense which is exactly where I’d want it.  Take the shots you have and have the team you trust handle the hard part.  New England turned the ball over on four downs and the game was over.

Zach Miller continued to be involved in the offense as did Golden Tate, Braylon Edwards (why doesn’t he play more?), and Doug Baldwin.  Robert Turbin had some good runs and receptions as well. Overall, Seattle reacted well to having its run game stopped (only 85 yards), which teams were bound to do eventually, and the passing game responded.

I am very happy to see Russell Wilson do well. I hope his progress continues and continues at a quick place. Unfortunately, one game does not a quarterback make, just ask Alex Smith after last week, but this is a huge improvement over the passing game from the first games. Wilson’s arm strength and his ability to throw with velocity while on the move are incredibly impressive. I just want to see his decision making improve as he goes through his progressions and continue to stay in the pocket.

It’s easy to forget the first 50 minutes of the game and only focus on the final ten, and ultimately the final ten were the ones that decided the game, but there were still things that need to be looked and corrected to make sure that Seattle can beat San Francisco this Thursday, and Detroit the following week.  Then Seattle will be halfway through the season and the most difficult part of the schedule will be over.

That being said, Seattle must win some division games.  They already have favors to St. Louis and Arizona that need to be reciprocated. To maintain the chance of having a winning division record Seattle must win in San Francisco this week, which is definitely possible, but will be difficult. Niner fans are already talking all kinds of garbage and will undoubtedly make numerous pathetic references to how many rings they have. They don’t seem to realize that those rings don’t mean squat in the present.

That’s it for now. Sorry for being somewhat of a Debbie Downer. I have always been the type of person that believes I, and my teams, should win. We should be happy when we win, but also realize it’s expected and that we should focus on the future and correcting the mistakes that were made in the expected victory. Losing should be abnormal. Winning should be routine. It seems like Seattle is on its way to embodying that reality.