Arizona Cardinals Edge Seahawks 23-20 in OT

(Don’t forget to vote in the RG3 poll in the post below this one.) 

What a tough way to end the season. The Seahawks just too too long to wake up in this game. They started slow, and really didn’t get things going on either side of the ball until the 2nd half. I could be wrong, but it felt like their heads really weren’t in it, like the season ended last week when they were eliminated from the playoffs.

I’m finding it tough to concentrate on actually discussing this game, and not it’s implications on the offseason. We’ll get to that stuff later, but for now, lets stick to just today’s game: Here’s my Game Notes:

• Marshawn Lynch was throwing up on the sidelines early in the game, and thus the Seahawks got off to a really slow start with Mostly Justin Forsett in there. I really hope I just saw Forsett’s last game as a Seahawk.
• Lynch just didn’t get the ball enough today. 19 carries for 86 yards wasn’t enough. Late in the game the Seahawks were way too pass happy when they didn’t need to be.
• Leon Washington finally had a positive impact on a game. He had a couple big returns and a huge run for a TD.
• Tarvaris Jackson demonstrated why everyone in Seattle is going to spend the entire offseason talking about finding another QB. Yes, he made a few plays, and his stat line (21/35, 222 yards, 1td, 1 int) wasn’t bad, but he couldn’t deliver when the team needed him too. After the score was tied up, Jackson had 3 separate drives to try and get the Seahawks into field goal range, and all of them with good field position, and simply could not get it done.
• Ben Obomanu had one of the worst game’s I’ve seen in a very long time at WR. He dropped multiple passes, and all of them ended up being big.
• Seattle 2 young corners had a pretty bad game to end the season. Browner had another horrible boneheaded penalty, and Larry Fitzgerald ate them alive in the end half for 8 catches for 145 yards. Fitz is really good, but the reason Browner in particular is even on this team is to stop guys like Fitz, and they simply failed.
• The Seahawks Special teams continued to be genuinely bad. That blocked FG came back to haunt them, and Patrick Peterson has a couple huge punt returns.
• Brandon Mebane continued to struggle. He was downright dominant early in the season, but over the past few weeks he’s struggled to hold the line against the run, and that continued today. I’m starting to wonder if he’s not hurt, because I’m simply not used to seeing him get pushed back 5 yards off the line on running plays.
• No recap of this game would be complete without some serious criticism of the offensive play calling. I’m not one to criticize the OC. Too many people jump to doing that way too quickly. Usually it’s the players needing to execute, but today really felt different. An end-around on first and goal? A 40 yard go-route on 3rd and 11 at the end of the game when FG wins the game? Multiple empty backfield sets when the offensive line was struggling to protect Jackson? The play calling was definitely confusing.