Defense carries the day

That was more like it.

The Seahawks defense played inspired football today, applying consistent pressure on Cardinals' QB Kevin Kolb, and imposing smothering coverage on his receivers. Seattle held All-Universe wideout Larry Fitzgerald without a catch in the second half, though it Trufant got flagged for PI once in the process.

Brandon Browner stopped being a victim, using his size and strength to harry Fitzgerald and other Arizona receivers.

Kam Chancellor came up big by jumping a route and picking a pass intended for Arizona tight end Todd Heap.

Earlier in the game, Trufant nabbed a nice interception, and his excellent tackling prevented our opponents from capitalizing when they did catch the ball. How good is Trufant? Not only is he always in position to tackle the man he's covering, he's often in position to tackle other receivers, too.

The image of Chris Clemons rushing around the edge will likely haunt Kevin Kolb's nightmares for weeks to come.

Our defense held Arizona to 10 points, though they received an assist in the form of Jay Feely's inability to convert long field goal attempts. Since he once missed 3 easier attempts in Seahawks Stadium a few years back--when he played for the Giants--Feely must hate playing in Seattle.

The defense was good enough to compensate for our own special teams miscues, including a 10-yard punt, an uncharacteristic lapse by the normally clutch Jon Ryan, who earlier had launched some balls with ICBM-like trajectories.

The Seahawks defense was even good enough to compensate for our offense, which gave its least anemic performance yet. Our O-Line perpetrated some passable run blocking, permitting our most competent ground performance to date in 2011. Unfortunately, they continued to allow opposing pass rushers to abuse Tarvaris Jackson--who endured 5+ sacks, again.

Our offensive coaches finally gave T-Jack a game plan that allowed him to capitalize on his mobility. His chemistry with Sidney Rice met expectations, but someone should introduce him to Mike Williams, the big target who usually lines up on the opposite side of the field.

Jackson's performance showed heart, particularly his touchdown run.

But 13 points isn't enough to win most NFL games.

Today represented a huge leap forward for our defense, but the offense still needs significant work.

Still, we just recorded our first victory of the season, and against a divisional opponent at that.

Well done, Seahawks. That'll do, birds.