Observations from Seahawks vs. 49ers

Observations from Seahawks first regular season game, a 31-9 victory over the visiting San Francisco 49ers. 

Offense:

•  After throwing a bad interception on the first play of the game and being unable to convert on any third downs for most of the first half, Matt Hasselbeck threw a near touchdown pass to Mike Williams and then finished off the drive with a touchdown run that was reminiscent of the game in San Francisco last year when he injured his ribs. He popped up quickly this time though and found a good rhythm later, connecting on two more touchdown passes. A few of his throws were risky and ill timed, but overall it was a good performance by Hasselbeck.

• The receiving corp performed well enough considering their lack of experience. Deon Butler had a nice touchdown catch, as did Deon Branch. Hasselbeck seemed to gain trust for his receivers as the game wore on and hopefully this will continue as the season progresses. He spread the ball around nicely.  

• With Tyler Polumbus starting at left tackle, the offensive line did a suprisingly good job protecting Hasselbeck—he was not sacked once in the game—but they were unable to create any holes big enough for the running backs to find. Granted, the 49ers have an excellent run defense but if the running game does not improve in Seattle it will be hard to win close games down the stretch. None of the running backs on the roster stood out in this game.

• At one point in the second quarter the 49ers had possesed the ball for 20 of 24 minutes and Seattle looked terrible. Thanks to the defense, and a questionable holding call on the 49ers’ Nate Clements, the Seahawks were finally able to convert a third-down and actually take a lead in the game. It seemed like all the lucky breaks went Seattle’s way in this suprisingly lopsided victory.

Defense:

• The defensive line held up well against Frank Gore and the 49ers’ offensive front for the entire game. Chris Clemons might just be a wonderful find for the Seahawks. He played excellently all game and caused all sorts of problems for Alex Smith.

• Marcus Trufant and Earl Thomas were standouts in a secondary that played very well. Thomas was all over the field on running and passing downs, making excellent tackles of Frank Gore and conributing on special teams as well. Trufant looked like the pro-bowler of old. He completely shut down whichever 49ers receiver he defended, not to mention returning an interception for a game-changing touchdown at the beginning of the third quarter. The secondary seems much better than last year and didn’t seem to miss Josh Wilson one bit.

• Aaron Curry still looks like a bit like a rookie. He made bad mental mistakes throughout the game, jumping into the nuetral zone for a penalty in the third. However, he often lined up in a defensive end position and did a good job of stuffing Gore on early downs. The linebackers played great overall and clearly the presence of Lofa Tatupu is important.

Other Observations:

• While the 49ers played terribly for most of the game, the Seahawks seemed like a team that had been playing together for years—especially on defense—instead of a group of unknown backups and youngsters.

• In the third quarter, one of the TV announcers said, “Crowd noise a major factor,” and clearly the 49ers were uncomfortable in their surroundings. Keep it up Qwest!

• Coach Carrol sure got his team pumped up. The ultimate motivator was at it again and the results were obvious. We have yet to see how this team will preform outside of the divison against better teams, but itt was an impressive start for the Seahawks and an important win, considering that basically everyone in the world had picked the 49ers to win.

Football Worth Watching

            One sunny afternoon when I could be throwing a Frisbee in a grassy park or digging my toes into the hot sand at Fort Warden beach, I instead find myself watching preseason football and enjoying it immensely. Is something wrong with me? How can I waste such a gorgeous summer day—especially when there are so few of these days left this year—sitting inside, watching grown men hurl their unusually large bodies at one another in an apparent effort to carry an oblong toy to the other end of a field? According to my girlfriend, I’m deranged.

            Perhaps she’s right. I agree that watching television on a perfect summer afternoon is generally bad for my mind, body and soul, but I can’t help myself and apparently I’m not the only one.

According to PilotOnline.com, the Hall of Fame Game between the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals “drew the highest NFL preseason [television] ratings in six years,” indicating that while many more of us should be enjoying the sunshine, too many of us are so excited about the upcoming season that we’ll waste our time watching a terribly sloppy game, which is mostly played—except for the first possession—by perennial benchwarmers and unproven rookies.

While the game was low-scoring and filled with penalties, it remained interesting simply because it was football and that’s why I, along with millions of other people, kept watching.

            When the Mariners are losing, like they have been for the past few season, the summer contains an alarming paucity of interesting sports for Northwest fans. Granted, the Sounders are always entertaining and the Storm are in the playoffs, but while the popularity of these sports is on the rise, they cannot yet compete with the nationwide fanaticism that accompanies football.

            Something deeply prideful, and deeply local, overcomes people when their football team is winning. Qwest Field will erupt like a volcano when the Seahawks run onto the turf on September 12^th for the first regular-season game against the San Francisco 49ers. There are few other places on earth where you can see full-grown adults screaming at the top of their lungs for three hours straight. Even if their throats are sore, they will be screaming. 

            Yesterday it was raining and the crisp smell of fall reminded me of two things: mushrooms and football. Whether it be the Seahawks, the Huskies, or the Cougars, there are hard hits and deep balls on just the other side of the tunnel. And I can hardly wait. Like the rest of America, I’m ready for some football.  

For Seattle Sports Fans

            The moment I read that the Seattle Seahawk’s first-round draft choice, Russel Okung (OT), had suffered a high ankle sprain in last weeks preseason match against the Greenbay Packers, I started punching a pillow.

            Having grown up in the Northwest and watched Seattle sports for the entire 25-years of my life, I’ve experienced only a modicum of success amongst a giant heap of complete and utter failure. This new development does not bode well for a change in that trend.

            Is there a reason, besides bad luck, for this seemingly perennial underperformance? And how should we, as Seattle sports fans, react to another precursor of our impending doom?

            There is definitely a mentality amongst Seattle fans that our teams are often dealt the worst card in a deck of make-or-breaks. Think of the 2005 Super Bowl during which the referees made blatantly incorrect calls that affected the game, a transgression that, five years later, those same referees have finally apologized for.

Some people, including myself, were so dumbfounded by the calls that they questioned whether there might be some conspiracy at play. Perhaps NBC wanted to see Jerome Bettis get a Super Bowl ring so he could flash it for the cameras when he retired from playing and began broadcasting. There certainly was a sense that we had been cheated and it didn’t feel good.

            There are countless instances like this that have occurred during the regular seasons of the Mariners, Seahawks, and Sonics of old, but I’m beginning to realize that we must stop blaming hard luck and start looking for real problems, like management.

            The Bill Bavasi era for the Mariners and the Tim Ruskell era for the Seahawks were moments in our sports history that we would all love to forget. As if in seconds, Seattle watched the World Record Mariners of 2001 and the Super Bowl contending Seahawks of 2005 crumble to the ground in a heap of broken bodies, bad trades, huge contracts, dugout brawls, pre-emptive retirements and losing seasons.

And lets not forget the good old Super Sonics, the only professional team, besides the Storm, to win a championship in the history of Seattle sports. Thanks to Howard Schultz, Clay Bennet, David Stern and Greg Nickels, that franchise endured their own Trail of Tears and is now playing, and playing well, in the Ford Center of Oklahoma City.

The likely reaction that a Seattle sports fan will have to this recollection of failures is to punch a pillow. It makes me angry and it should make you angry that these teams have allowed these atrocities to happen. Now, with the news that our newest left tackle, the man who is supposed to protect Matt Hasselbeck’s fragile blindside, is potentially injured into the beginning of the regular season, it seems like the bad luck is coming around again.

However, I say have faith. As Steve Kelly writes in his latest column, “There are signs everywhere that sports in Seattle are emergent.” The Storm are looking good. The Sounders are improving and peaking at the right time. The Pete Carrol era seems promising and positive, even if Russel Okung does miss a few games. Maybe things are on the up and up.

Anyway, while Seattle sports fans complain about their terrible teams, terrible management, terrible bad luck, they still come out and watch the games and they still have hope at the beginning of the season, no matter how bad a team looks. So even though I’m punching the pillow with all my might, I know I’ll be watching that first game on September 12^th and rooting loudly for the guys in green and blue, with or without big Russel on the left.