Pete Carroll's Seahawks have packed more excitement into three weeks than the Twelve Army has seen from the boys in blue over the last two YEARS. We've seen fuck-ups galore, but the revelation is that despite that parade of errors, Seattle's players now FIGHT. Where we once saw complacency and malaise, now we see hunger and urgency. Today was only the beginning of a string of terribly nerve-wracking and stressful afternoons for Seahawks fans. We won't win all of these type of games, but we will win MOST of them. The conclusion is inescapable: Seattle is headed for the playoffs, barring some unforeseen calamity. I'm a propagandist for this team, but I'm not a bullshitter. In many phases of the game, the Seahawks SUCKED today. We saw the offense completely disappear in the 2nd half, and we saw a baffling string of odd/harebrained play-calling/clock management decisions from the coaching staff. The defense gave up WAYYYYY too many yards through the air, and still had problems getting off the field on 3rd downs. This is not an elite team; on a neutral field they'd be fairly termed an average NFL team or worse...
But thank the ghost of Tom Catlin that half our games are at Qwest Field! There simply isn't a more hostile environment an enemy squad could experience, and it is no exaggeration to say the Twelves at Qwest deserve a game ball as much as Leon Washington... 6-2 at home? I'd be shocked if we did any worse. 7-1? Very feasible. 8-0? Why the fuck not? Shit, if we go 8-0 at Qwest, we'd likely win the division with just one teeny-tiny road win (at STL next week, for example).
I mentioned Leon: The Professional. Obviously, he's an amazing story, and every TD must be a dagger in Rex Ryan's rapidly shrinking gut... What bugs me is that you already have people whining about this being a "lucky" win for the Seahawks. A big part of that ignorance is the mistaken notion that Special Teams is somehow a series of random events, in some way less controllable than offense or defense. This is horseshit.
Yeah, the Chargers outgained the Seahawks 518-271. Who gives a fuck when you've got Leon Washington racking up 253(!) kickoff return yards and two god damn touchdowns? Yeah, Philip Rivers threw for 455 yards. Good for him and his fantasy owners. He also threw 2 key interceptions to Earl Thomas and took a pretty fucking brutal beating. Finally, the Chargers didn't turn the ball over five times. The Seahawks TOOK the ball away 5 times, you sumbitches!
Winning football can be defense, special teams, and an offense that doesn't fuck up too often. It worked today, and I think it can work at least seven more times this season. Don't you? Side note: This will sound weird coming from me, but I think this team could win with Whitehurst under center. I still don't think it's time to make the switch, but I'm less panicked about that notion than I was before today's game.
Enjoy this, my fellow Twelves. Enjoy one of the most exciting wins in recent history, and don't sweat the negative details. We'll win again in the Costco Warehouse STL calls an NFL stadium next week, and go into the bye commanding the NFC West at 3-1. Pretty sweet, huh?
Remember that "lucky" win over NYG in 2005? The Seahawks built on that... It was part of a special season. I don't expect the '10s to go THAT far, but I believe more strongly every week that we are destined to witness something special from our Seahawks this season.
What do you think, sirs?
(A final, special shout out to the reader who hooked me up with Sunday Ticket online. Watching at home and screaming like a girl at a Justin Beiber concert beats the shit out of trudging to a sports bar.)
8 comments:
This right here is my favorite attended Seahawks game. I've been to roughly 10 since 06, but none of them had the same emotion, frustration, and eventually, redemption as this one did. And this was the loudest it's been since my first year, where I managed to scrape up a ticket against the Ravens. The feeling that comes from putting so much energy and noise out onto the field, and to see it result in two straight false starts and a few delay of games, that directly denied San Diego their final, tying touchdown brings with it a gratification that can't be found anywhere else.
I picked the right time to pick up season tickets. Start the ride Carroll. I've got my safety bar ready.
Are you planning to go to any more home games this year? I'd find a lot of fun in meeting the man behind the screen.
Great Win, Bearded One! I love what is happening (wins) in the camp and...I just...sort of...think those sheep might be less sheepish than we are comfortably accustomed. Let's get that road win done!
Gotta love our top draft picks looking like studs. Golden still looks like a bit of a rookie (jumping to catch a punt??), but what do you expect from a guy who steals donuts? But Earl Thomas looked like Ed Reed. He had a hell of a game. When Okung gets back in the mix, it will demonstrate how brutally we destroyed the 2010 draft.
This win felt pretty good. And while we can't expect to run 2 kicks back in every game, we certainly can expect improvement from a young, energetic team that seems to be becoming a more cohesive group every week.
Got to agree on the fight in this team. Said to my wife in the 1st quarter that I don't mind if we stumble this season, as the team is showing heart and soul and won't just lie down like last season.
We knew Rivers would pass all day if he had to, and we knew Gates would light it up. But we absorbed it and found a way to win anyway. Just a magical turn of events.
Just let the 'experts' keep predicting losses and keep the spotlight away. And we'll keep showing up each Sunday.
Ugly wins are still wins. San Diego went 13-3 last year and might very well do it again, so I will take an ugly win over this good a team any day.
Something else to consider is that most of the people who contributed to this win weren't even in a Hawk uni a few months, or a few weeks ago. Watch out when they've got a few more weeks of practice on the same page.
18-1, baybee! 18-1!
As San Diego went 13-3 last year and are a perennial regular season elite team, and the personnel that did not come back this year have been ably replaced, it wasn't a huge surprise that it was such an ugly win.
And the ONLY fantasy stat I care about starts with a W. Let 'em have all the stats if I can have that one.
Anyone else notice that a large number of the critical plays in this contest were made by a lot of Pete and Schneider's 170something transaction players? Balmer and Brock combining for a 4th quarter sack? Thurmond and Roy Lewis (injury pariah and perennial camp fodder respectively) breaking up passes when Rivers picked on them after Tru was out? Another injury pariah breaking the team record for kickoff return yardage in only his 3rd game in blue? Jennings, Babineaux and Branch making crucial plays??? Have any of the pundits even considered that the new regime might know what the hell it's doing?
One of the easiest ways to spot a clueless hack is when they confuse activity with productivity.
18-1 bee-yotches!!! 18-1.
Leon Washington. I can sum it all up in just one word: courage, dedication, daring, pride, pluck, spirit, grit, mettle, and G-U-T-S, guts.
As somebody said on Field Gulls: "Kind of hard for the offense to get going when the return guy keeps housing it."
Seahawks special teams have gone from "sucky" to "scary" in three games. Can you even remember when we had a return guy that other teams were considered foolish to kick to?
I'm so bummed that I was out of town for this game and had to sell my tickets. But thrilled to hear the outcome. I didn't even get to watch it on tv. :(
Can't wait for the next home game.
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