Grading The Seahawks After The Rams Game:

Dec 9, 2012; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman (25) is accompanied by safety Kim Chancellor (31) and free safety Earl Thomas (31) on a 19-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Seahawks finished the 2012 season on a winning note. This game did not come as easily as the past 3 games have. The St Louis Rams made this game very difficult for the Seahawks. But in the end the home team Hawks came away victorious with smart hardnosed football and great Halftime adjustments.

Offense B-

After the last 3 games this game on the outside looks like a complete failure. Although, we have to keep in mind that we will not win every game by 30, 40, or even 50 points. Offensively the Seahawks struggled to contain the Rams pass rush. The Rams did not have to throw a lot of blitz packages at the Hawks; they were able to create pressure that Russell Wilson hasn’t had to deal with in over a month. Wilson was bottled up and Chris Long forced Wilson to step up instead of being able to roll out of the pressure. The Seahawks Offense allowed a season high 6 sacks.

Russell Wilson still was able to control the tempo of the game in the 2nd half by again not turning the ball over and throwing the ball 15-19 for 250 yards with 1 touchdown (tying the rookie mark for touchdowns with Peyton Manning at 26.) Wilson also added 58 yards on the ground and 1 rushing touchdown (Wilson had an opportunity to set the mark for rookie touchdowns but selflessly ran the ball into the end zone.) The Seahawks used a lot of bootlegs and rollouts in the 2nd half to give Wilson the added time that he needed.

Marshawn Lynch was in full out Beast Mode in the 1st half of this game. At one point he had 7 carries for 70 yards, and he finished the game with 100 yards and 1 touchdown.

Defense B

The Rams game was another very strong game for the Seahawks Defense, the secondary played outstanding. Richard Sherman again was very dominating in his performance and had the game icing interception late in the 4th quarter. It will be interesting to see what the Seahawks do with Jeremy Lane who started another game and again looked good. He will lose his starting spot to Brandon Browner as he returns from suspension although the game experience Lane has gotten the last month will hopefully show with the other injuries in the secondary. Marcus Trufant had a great pass deflection in the end zone although he seemed to be terrorized as the nickel corner with all of the underneath passes that the Rams threw.

Bobby Wagner again had a strong 10 tackle day, and he has positioned himself to have a shot at Defensive Rookie of the year after having 140 tackles on the season to go along with 3 interceptions.

It has become increasingly obvious that the biggest issue on this defense is the lack of a consistent pass rush. Sam Bradford seemed to have all day in the pocket and the Hawks didn’t get a single sack. Chris Clemons and Bruce Irvin are clearly the only consistent pass rushers on this front 4 now that Jason Jones is on the IR. If our secondary was not as strong as it is this issue would be even more obvious then it was against the Rams.

Special Teams B+

Jon Ryan had a punt that was not blocked but extremely rushed that ended up giving the Rams decent field position in the 1st half on one drive. Steven Hauschka continues to have a accurate leg within 50 yards, he was 2 for 2 and 2 extra points.

Leon Washington again continues to scare Seahawks fans when runs his kick-offs out of the end zone from 9 yards deep. Although, he offers so much excitement and big play ability that we have learned to live with it.

It is important to start talking about how great our kick coverage has been. Out of 5 punts, Danny Amendola was only able to return 2 of them for 8 yards. This has been a huge upgrade this year that has gone unnoticed but has helped out in the field position game all season long.

Wrap Up

This was not the blowout that Seahawks fans have grown accustomed to in the last month. But this was a good eye opener with the Playoffs right around the corner. The Seahawks will have their work cut out for them this week and a hard fought win like this should show them that they can win on both spectrums. #InRusswetrust (Russell Wilson)