Seattle Seahawks: “Skittles Squad” All About the Shoes

It’s sometimes funny how things work in the NFL. For the Seattle Seahawks, it’s all about the shoes right now. In Houston last week, if not for the shoes, well, we’d be looking at a much different 3-1 record on that win-loss board.

Let me explain what you’ve already seen but may not have noticed.

The Kicks of Marshawn

I don’t really care why Marshawn Lynch does what he does with his uniform options for his feet. All I know is that those shoes, those beautiful neon-green cleats which Lynch got fined for by the league were instrumental in the victory last week. You can see and hear here that Brian Cushing wasn’t a fan of them, goading Lynch with a “nice sponsor” sound byte while he was mic’d up for the game.

The sponsor is Skittles.

Then Beast Mode went into full effect for the 42 yard run down the right sidelines early in the game. He fumbled the ball away in the second quarter but recovered nicely (not THE fumble but FROM the fumble) and finished with 98 yards and a touchdown on the day, which is solid against that Texans defense and really, any defense in the NFL.

The Kicks of Baldwin

If not for a simply dazzling toe-tapping grab by Doug Baldwin on third down of the biggest drive of the game with just under 10:00 to go, the Texans win the game. Coincidentally, it looks as if Mr. Baldwin had put on some neon-green kicks as well (in the Marshawn clip Jermaine Kearse and Zach Miller did it as well), but did the league notice that? Probably not, as non of those guys are taunting people on their way into the endzone these days.

At any rate skittles worked for Dougie on this day and it’s not the first or the last time this season he’ll amaze us with one of these colorful catches. The kid is an acrobat with sticky fingers.

The Kicks of RW3

Russell Wilson, my friends, is an incredible cat to watch. His “whirly-bird” (as Steve Raible described it on Seahawks radio) escape of J.J. Watt and the rest of the Texans defense to pick up 13 yards and give the Hawks a manageable attempt on third down later in the same drive as the Baldwin catch was incredible.

Then he did it again, reversing and escaping a Texan 12 yards in his backfield and diving back to the 3 after dodging two more Houston defenders on fourth down. Truthfully, his shoes (well, feet) have been most instrumental in putting this team at 4-0. His kicks aren’t the coolest, but I think some of Marshawn’s skittles-dust might have rubbed off onto RW3’s plain blacks, cause he’s got the magic too.

Sep 29, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) scrambles in overtime against Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt (99) at Reliant Stadium. The Seattle Seahawks beat the Houston Texans 23-20 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

The Kicks of Sherman

Finally we come to Richard Sherman, who was wearing the bright white cleats last week (heck it doesn’t look like anybody was wearing the same footwear honestly, maybe they should all be fined for this). All Sherman did was try and outdo his teammates by taking only one shoe with him for his game changing play, quipping afterwards that it “might be the longest run in the NFL with only one shoe, you’ll have to check that”. I mean you all saw it, so I won’t get into it any more than that.

Sep 29, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman (25) intercepts the ball in the fourth quarter against Houston Texans tight end Owen Daniels (81) at Reliant Stadium. The Seattle Seahawks beat the Houston Texans 23-20. in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

I know we got the Legion of Boom on one side of the ball, but I’m gonna start calling this offense the Skittles Squad. It may or may not catch on, but it seems like the shoes are the focus of every big play for Seattle right now and it’s fitting to me. Can’t wait to see the wardrobe winners tomorrow in Indy.

Go Hawks!