Bifurcation: Although both teams came in with the same record, Seattle pretty comprehensively showed how vast a gulf of talent and will can gape between two teams with the same winning percentage.
Restoration: The Legion of Boom roared back with a vengeance.
Elimination: Richard Sherman returned to All-Pro shutdown corner form, completely erasing Torrey Smith, Santa Clara's #1 receiver. Sherman held Smith to zero catches on one target.
Redemption: Cary Williams, typically the weekly weakly victim of our secondary, stepped up and held future Hall of Famer Anquan Boldin to just one catch, despite several targets. (The wideout caught two more balls while covered by other Seahawk defenders.)
Decapitation: Strong safety Kam Chancellor intimidated, as usual.
Predation: In the open field, free safety Earl Thomas III and middle linebacker Bobby Wagner streaked like lasers to level opposing ball carriers.
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| After one of these sacks, Bennett kissed his biceps a la Kaepernick |
Frustration: Seattle held the 49ers to a mere 61 yards rushing. Santa Clara punter Bradley Pinion saw more action than James Bond, as his team kicked the ball away more times (10) than they made first downs (8). (By the way, "Pinion" is the best surname ever for a player at that position.)
Suffocation: There were no interceptions because the dominant defensive display completely cowed Colin Kaepernick, who did not dare attempt a bold pass at any point. Nor did he ever try to run with the ball. In the face of a fierce Seattle defense, his paralyzing fear of failure completely precluded the possibility of success for the 49er offense.
Expropriation: Seattle completely bogarted time of possession to the tune of 38:05 to Santa Clara's 21:55.
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| Resistance is futile |
Incineration: Quarterback Russell Wilson torched Santa Clara twice, with a 36-yarder to Jermaine Kearse, plus the 43-yard touchdown bomb to Tyler Lockett.
Contemplation: If quarterback Russell Wilson and offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell had made better decisions,
Seattle would have hung a fortyburger on Santa Clara. This matters not because running up the score is intrinsically good, but because our offense needs the reps to best better defenses going forward. Scoring 17 points in the first half is good; scoring only a field goal in the second half is simply unacceptable.
DangeRuss played well overall, but he still takes more sacks than he should. Pass protection remains poor, but Bevell continues to fail to install schemes to help Wilson escape our eternally collapsing pocket.
Recriminations: Neither of Wilson's interceptions were necessary. Both stemmed from greed, hubris and poor judgement.
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| Baldwin was triple-covered, but Tramaine Brock was wide open |
If he had glanced to a little to the left, the quarterback would have seen Jermaine Kearse wide open in the middle of the end zone, which is why the Husky alumnus was in such good position to tackle cornerback Tramaine Brock after interception for the touchback.
DangeRuss might not have seen Kearse, but he must have seen Chris Matthews hanging near the right sideline at the 10-yard line, as alone as Coleridge's ancient mariner, with not a single defender within twelve yards of him, his thirst for the end zone unslaked, his black hands ready to take the ball and bake the 49ers. There are few safer throws in football. If Wilson had gone that way, then Hardball would have either scored or gotten tackled out of bounds to stop the clock: First and goal for Seattle inside the 5-yard-line with 0:45 and one timeout remaining.
Why force the ball to a triple-covered receiver when you have two wide open options and you're ahead 17-0? C'mon, Man!
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| Bad throw by DangeRuss, but nice catch by Santa Clara corner Kenneth Acker |
We still led 17-0 when Wilson threw the second pick in the third quarter. On 2nd down with 6 yards to go on the Seattle 35, DangeRuss had to slide left to avoid the pass rush. He forced the ball to a double-covered Jermaine Kearse when he could have thrown the ball away or tossed it to Marshawn Lynch, who was open in the right flat.
Refutation: Let's dissect Wilson's take on that second interception:
"We had a deep play. Jermaine and I kind of got confused a little bit." We were all confused, Russ. You threw at a double-covered receiver.
"I think he thought I was scrambling..." You were scrambling. Kearse should have broken off his route and come back to you, because both defensive backs were in front of him and he had no chance of overtaking them.
"...so I was trying to get him a shot..." He was double-covered. The way you threw it, he had no shot at the ball. Just toss it away and try your luck on third down. Or dump it to Beast Mode for a big gain.
"...and we were off on the timing of the original play, I felt like." This was not an issue of timing. Receivers don't get much more covered than Kearse was.
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| Not his finest moment |
"It's one of those things, a long punt I guess." Thanks, but we've got Jon Ryan for that.
"The cool thing is giving those guys a chance." The 49ers?
"I put it a little too far." Finally, some candor. But being off target would not have mattered if you had made the right mental decision.
"We've got to be in attack mode, and I'm not going to shy away from that." I dig me some attack mode, but throwing into double coverage is not attack mode. It's self-injurious behavior. We were lucky it didn't hurt us this time.
I have long argued that the best aspect of Wilson's game is his beautiful mind, and continue to believe that, last week's aberrations notwithstanding. DangeRuss will revert to his customary excellent judgement and avoid repeating those mistakes.
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| Action Jackson & Beast Mode back in their Buffalo days |
Running Back Blues... and Reds
While Beast Mode appears fully recovered, the rest of backfield is in some disarray, with fullback Derrick Coleman suspended for a hit-and-run, backup tailback Thomas Rawls ailing from a calf injury and the hulking Will Tukuafu still splitting time between backup fullback and reserve defensive lineman.
It appeared that Fred Jackson might face some discipline for crashing his Corvette into a stop sign--the journalistic giants at TMZ claimed he had been racing Marshawn Lynch at the time--but Renton police debunked that notion and concluded their investigation of the incident.
As insurance against the injury to Rawls, Seattle signed Bryce Brown, a Buffalo castoff who joins fellow former Bills alumni Beast Mode and Action Jackson in the Seahawks backfield.
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| BJ Daniels, a once and once again but not anymore Seahawk |
Whither Art Thou, BJ?
I wish the Seahawks would stop waiving BJ Daniels every time they need to free up a roster spot. If Wilson were ever to get injured--a distinct possibility considering the pounding he's taking this year--we shall surely need him. Daniels and Tarvaris Jackson each saw only limited action at QB during the preseason. Because of T-Jack's high ankle sprain, BJ played quarterback without preparation after having practiced the entire offseason as a wideout and kick returner. In that small sample, Daniels looked a lot better running the offense than Jackson did.
In the meantime, BJ contributes on special teams and as a receiver. I regard him as more valuable than Ricardo Lockette or Chris Matthews, and I really like those two guys.
I fear that some other team might pick up Daniels, for his versatility, for inside intelligence on Seattle's schemes, and because a lot of teams--like BJ's original team, the 49ers--desperately need better options under center.
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