James Dator from SBNation hooks it up with the Baptism of the Week! There's lots of talk from everyone from Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee, who ate the hit, to Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones about whether the hit was clean or not. Jones even seems to think that his mere suggestion of Tate getting a fine means it's a foregone conclusion that he will be fined, but I sure hope not. Whether or not the hit is clean or dirty to me is besides the point. Was it malicious? Was it outside the integrity of the game? Was it cheap and dirty? I think if you look at it objectively the conclusion would be no, it wasn't. Lee even said himself that he got hit in the chest and had the wind knocked out of him. End of story.
Now on to the real story! The Seahawks absolutely ambushed the Dallas Cowboys for the better part of 60 minutes. A very talented Cowboys team at that. The Seahawks dominated all three areas of the game, offense, defense, and the special teams play was especially special. You couldn't have asked for a better result or dreamed a better scenario, unless you enjoy nitpicking. Make no mistake about it, this was a banner win for Pete Carroll, John Schneider and Co. and you could feel that energy as the game progressed. Great stuff!
Big props go out to Special Teams Coordinator Brian Schneider. The special teams unit set the tone for the day and also directly staked the Seahawks to their early 10-0 lead. Chris Maragos forced a Felix Jones fumble on the opening kickoff that was recovered by the Seahawks deep in Cowboys territory. The Seahawks would ultimate kick a field goal. Then, Malcolm Smith blocked a punt right into the waiting hands of Jeron Johnson, who trotted in to the end zone for six. That's the 3rd season in a row under Pete Carroll that the Seahawks have had a blocked punt return for touchdown. Such a stark contrast to the previous regimes. Hauschka connected on his only field goal attempt of the day and Jon Ryan was his usual stellar self. While the return game was not as explosive as in the Arizona game, they were still solid and didn't hurt the team. All in all, a great performance from the special teams. Keep it up!
Last week, we wondered aloud whether the running game would steal the show. It might not have stolen it, but it was a damn big part of it. Marshawn Lynch, while only running for 2.2 yards per carry in the first half, had a monster second half and topped 100 yards for the day. The Seahawks stayed committed to the run all throughout and it paid off in a big way. They absolutely dominated the Time of Possession battle 34:39 to 25:21 and the disparity was even more exaggerated after halftime. DeMarco Murray on the other hand was bottled up by the stingy Seahawks Run D. Murray was limited to 44 yards on 12 carries for a 3.7 YPC. The Cowboys were stuck trying to play catch up and were almost forced in to passing the ball to try and cut the deficit but the Seahawks still showed that they could better match up with the scat backs who typically destroyed them in years past. The final stat line says all you need to know about the contrast in ground games. 16/49/3.1 vs. 41/182/4.4 respectively. Those are the attempts/yards/ypc for both, first for the Cowboys then the Seahawks. Utter domination!
We also called for the 12th man to step up in a big way and amazingly you guys somehow managed to set the bar even higher. Earl Thomas said he got goosebumps from the 12th man. That's pretty awesome right there. It just goes to show exactly how important a great relationship between a team and it's fans can be on gameday. But of course, we already knew that. There's nothing quite like watching a game played at the Stadium formerly known as Qwest, whether live or on TV. That's why I absolutely can't wait to be in attendance for the Jets/Seahawks game on November, 11!
Standouts for me were the entire coaching staff for implementing a great gameplan against a team that had 10 days to prepare. As well, Marshawn was his usual bad ass self, KJ Wright and Kam Chancellor had excellent performances and were all over the field delivering huge hits and making plays against the run and in coverage, Golden Tate was tremendous catching the ball and making plays in space as well as blocking in the running game, Russell Wilson looked like he was playing his 50th game in this system and not his 2nd, and a special shoutout goes to Frank Omiyale. The man dubiously known by the nickname 'Route 68' by Bears fans for his turnstile type play while with Chicago did a fine job handling DeMarcus Ware. I never would have thought that possible but it happened. To be fair to DeMarcus and his family who are surely reading this at home, Ware was playing with a hamstring injury. However, he played through the same injury last week against the defending champion Giants and registered 2 sacks, so I'd say that Frank did quite alright.
Overall, I loved the energy and the confidence that the team played with. That's more like it! We noted that every great fighter picks himself up, well the Seahawks did exactly that and then some. The result of this street fight was like watching Rocky beat up on Tommy Gunn in an alley, minus the minimal fight back from Gunn for theatrical effect. You could literally see the Cowboys spirit break during the 4th quarter. You don't see that too often in the NFL, but it happened today. Big W and some great momentum as the team prepares for a massive test in the Green Bay Packers next Monday night. Boy it's gonna be a long week! And just because I love this guy so much and think he's hilarious, I leave you with physical proof of the Cowboys spirits being reduced to rubble. You heard the man! Get the kids out the room!!
GO HAWKS!
No comments:
Post a Comment