Maybe I'm naive, but when I woke up this morning, I fully expected to spend half my morning reading about the Seattle Seahawks win over the St. Louis Rams yesterday. And I was wrong to think so.
Aside from the Seattle papers, little is being mentioned about that game nationally. Peter King gave it one line, in his "Fine Fifteen" part of his MMQB column. One line? Ok, I know you were in Green Bay this weekend Peter, but c'mon. One line in your entire column?
The Seahawks-Rams game was right there in terms of excitement with the Falcons-Patriots game, and it got one line in one of more well-respected NFL columns. The same amount of time was devoted to the type of coffee he drank this morning and how much Bobby Jenks weighs. You're better than that, Peter.
What I Liked About the Seahawks-Rams Game
1. Matt Hasselbeck. "Ok, Matt. You're going into St. Louis, who have beaten you guys 4 straight times. Sole possession of 1st place in the NFC West is on the line, and to make things more interesting, your top 2 targets on offense are out." How does Hass respond? 27-38, 316 yards and 2 TDs. Oh, and ZERO turnovers. Great performance.
2. Joe Jurevicius. I didn't think he'd make the roster, but man am I glad he was there yesterday. The guy came up with a tremendous performance, snagging 9 balls for 137 yards and a TD.
Speaking of the WRs, idiots like Sterling Sharpe, Michael Irvin and Chris Berman still like to mention the dropped passes of a year ago. Here are some interesting numbers for you three, since you're too damned lazy to do your own research:
In 2004, the Seahawks dropped 38 passes.
In 2005, the Seahawks have dropped 7 passes. Over a 16-game season, that would come out to 22.
Of the 7 that have been dropped thus far, only 3 have been by the WRs (2 by Engram, 1 by Jackson).
And if you think that Joe Jurevicius or DJ Hackett is going to drop a pass anytime soon, you didn't watch yesterday's game.
3. Lofa Tatupu. Another game, another big performance out of #51. The "rook" is leading the team in tackles (33), has 2 sacks and yesterday made an athletic play for his 1st NFL interception. He also caused Marshall Faulk (yes, that Marshall Faulk) to drop a short pass on 3rd down. For you Patriots fans who miss Tedy Bruschi, take a look at #51 for the Seahawks.
What I Didn't Like About the Seahawks-Rams Game (since I'm fair)
1. Mike Holmgren's Play-Calling on the 2nd-to-Last Drive. "Ohkay Mike, you've got a 6-point lead on the road in a must-win game. You have the ball at your own 20 yard line, and the Rams can only stop the clock once. You have the NFL's leading rusher and two All-Pro offensive linemen against a bad run defense. What do you do?". Well, if you're Mike Holmgren, you call 3 straight pass plays! They took a total of 45 seconds off the clock with that series before punting the ball away. Fortunately for Holmgren, Jordan Babineaux made a great play on special teams, forcing a fumble which the Seahawks recovered to preserve the win.
2. Michael Boulware's Injury. You never like to see any player taken off the field on a cart, but I had a tremendous lump in my throat on that one. Boulware is a special player, and someone the Seahawks are going to need if they want to go deep into the playoffs this year. Initial results are that he's going to be ok, and he was walking around in the locker room, and did fly back to Seattle with the team. Hopefully he'll be alright.
3. Special Teams Penalties. Maybe they're starting to come together on that unit, but Josh Scobey had a great kick return nullified by a holding penalty. They average about 2 of these per game, and it's got to stop. Scobey is the 1st KR the Seahawks have had in awhile that has the ability to take it all the way, so holding isn't exactly necessary.
Audibles
- You just knew that the Bengals would struggle in Jacksonville. That's a very tough defense Jack Del Rio has, and they made life very hard on the once 4-0 Bengals. Despite their struggles against good defenses (Chicago and Jacksonville), the Bengals have managed to get it going in the 2nd half. That's a positive sign for Marvin Lewis.
- Arizona continues to shoot themselves in the foot. One pass was picked off in the end zone, and Anquan Boldin gets stripped of the ball just as he about to break one for another long gain. They're a young group, but I'm wondering what 1-4 feels like to those pundits that predicted they'd win the NFC West. I'm guessing it doesn't feel very good...Carolina escapes with another win. Hey, I don't care if it's 3-0, a win is a win. And Carolina needed that one with Tampa and Atlanta losing yesterday.
- Donovan McNabb had a Roger Clemens-like performance yesterday, as the "Well, he's hurt" excuse is always at the ready when he doesn't do well. Ok, I'll buy that for McNabb, but what about Andy Reid? Did they forget their running plays at home?
- The ruling on the field is, Washington and Denver are both very good teams, but both may miss the playoffs due to a tough divisional schedule.
- I'm guessing the schedule makers really love the Colts. After a tough game against the San Francisco 49ers, they come home to play the hapless Rams on Monday Night Football. Then they get to play the winless Texans. Tough road to hoe for them Colts...I give the 49ers a lot of credit. There will be more games like this year for this group, but Mike Nolan has them pointed in the right direction. Frank Gore is going to be a very good RB in this league. There's absolutely no quit in that guy.
- After further review, the Texans are terrible. Do you know that David Carr is on pace to be sacked 108 times this year? Forget about Matt Leinart, they need help along that offensive line...Congratulations to Jarrett Payton, Walter's son, who scored his first NFL touchdown yesterday.
- I didn't see anything for either the Jets or Bucs to feel good about after that game. U-G-L-Y was the only word to describe it.
- Good win for the Patriots yesterday, but they don't win that game if Ron Mexico is playing QB. Next they travel to Denver, and with the depleted ranks in the defense, 3-3 wouldn't be a bad place to be heading into the Colts game...Allen Rossum is one of the best KRs in the NFL. He's also one of the worst CBs in the NFL.
- I guess it's true what they say about Gus Frerotte and the road. Miami's tough goal-line defense is all that kept this from being a blowout.
- Can you believe the Browns are 2-2? Another great game from Trent Dilfer yesterday. I always like seeing him do well. And with each passing week, Kyle Orton looks more and more like a rookie.
- When is reality going to set in for the Baltimore Ravens? With the talent they have on defense, they should not be 1-3 right now. And they should never lose by 18 to the Detroit Lions!...Speaking of which, Dre Bly? You are not Ed Reed. Take a knee next time.
- At 1-4, do you doubt that the Packers can win the NFC North? I don't doubt it, not for a second. However, they need to get Ahman Green back, because Tony Fisher isn't going to cut it with that offensive line....Yesterday's New Orleans Saints performance was brought to you by the United States Postal Service.
- Tonight's MNF Predicition: San Diego 31, Pittsburgh 17
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