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| Bam Bam Kam strips AP (Photo Credit: ESPN) |
Hawk Haters dismiss Seattle's victory over the Vikings as mere luck.
They're wrong. Unless they're using the correct definition of luck: When preparation meets opportunity.
The Seahawks earned that win. Blair Walsh choked on his fourth and final field goal try because Richard Sherman came within a fraction of an inch of blocking his third attempt. Walsh and his holder hurried both the third and fourth attempts. In neither case did his holder dare to spend a split second to spin the laces away from the kicker. On that last kick, Walsh kicked it even quicker, and he shanked it. Go ahead and hate on the man if you've never missed a layup or a 2' putt under pressure.
Even if Walsh had split the uprights, Seattle still had a few seconds to get into field goal range. With Tyler Lockett returning kickoffs, Russell Wilson under center and Stephen Hauschka kicking the ball, I liked our chances.
(By the way, how cool is it that several members of the Legion of Boom make regular appearances on special teams? I love how Coach Carroll's ethic of selfless competition makes star players want to contribute wherever they can, even in relatively unglamorous roles. I hope we get to see Kam Chancellor hurdle the deep snapper again at some point.)
Seattle's defense certainly earned the win. The Vikings averaged more than 22 points per game during the regular season. Only two teams held Minnesota to fewer than 10 points: San Francisco in the season opener, and Seattle, both times we played them.
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| The Philippine Dream's one-handed snag (Photo Credit: The Big Lead) |
Tom Cable's O-Line earned the win. They helped Christine Michael outgain AP (70 yards vs. 45 yards) on a comparable number of carries against a similarly stout run defense. They provided decent pass protection for DangeRuss against a tough Vikings pass rush. Aside from a few errant snaps, it was a solid performance.
Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell wisely used designed rollouts and read options to provide some additional protection for Wilson.
But Seattle consistently failed to sustain drives. Given the tendency of balls to travel shorter distances in the cold, I wouldn't have called quite as many long passes--none of them worked. Moreover, instead of letting headset problems waste most of our timeouts and incur delay of game penalties, I would have turned DangeRuss loose to run a no-hurry no-huddle offense. (It works just like the two-minute offense, only slower.)
After three quarters of frustration, the offense finally came to life in the fourth quarter. Only a consummate athlete like Wilson could make something of a play when the snap sails past him. A slower quarterback would be wise simply to fall on the ball, but DangeRuss knew his speed bought him time to take stock of the situation, scoop up the ball, roll right and hit Lockett for a big gain. Wilson and the rookie receiver earned their share of the win on that play.
Two plays later, Doug Baldwin fulfilled Cris Collinsworth's prediction by using the referee as a pick to get open for a touchdown. With that reception--and his spectacular one-handed grab--the Philippine Dream earned a victory. Last night on the NFL Network, Nate Burleson claimed that after his circus catch, Baldwin told Vikings cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, "I'm the Captain, now."
I'm not normally a proponent of smack talk, but I hope that's true. The only way to improve it would have been for Baldwin to add, "And you're Tennille."
Except that Angry Doug and Munnerlyn are both too young to know about "Muskrat Love."
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| The Captain & Tennille (Photo Credit: The Daily Mail) |
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