Military Sea Hawkers

Military Sea Hawkers

The military chapter of the official booster club of the Seattle Seahawks

‘Hawks thump Lions at home, head to Atlanta for Divisional Round

The Seahawks turned a scoreless first quarter into a second and fourth quarter scoring extravaganza, revitalizing the run game and nearly shutting out the Detroit Lions as they rumbled to a 26-6 win on Saturday night.

Thomas Rawls rushed for 161 yards on 27 carries (5.96 ypc). The offensive line- a constant source of frustration, threw key blocks, and fullback Marcel Reece blew the doors off of Detroits’ defensive linemen while the Rawls train kept churning up yards. Rawls added a rushing score on the ground, and even when Alex Collins carried in relief of Rawls, the Seahawks ate the clock up. Rawls’ longest carry came on a 32 yard run that looked like he could find the end zone. He appeared rejuvenated, coming off of multiple games with less than 50 rushing yards/game.

Russell Wilson looked energized, his first game ditching his knee brace (even if he ended up with negative yards rushing). He fluidly moved in and out the pocket, finding Doug Baldwin for 11 times on 12 targets for 104 yards and a touchdown. One of those targets was an unbelievable sight, with Baldwin  pinning the ball to his butt cheek as he went to the ground. It was called an incomplete pass, but Baldwin pleaded with Pete Carroll, who challenged the call and got it overturned. The touchdown was a byproduct of two Lions defenders getting beat simultaneously by Jermaine Kearse and Baldwins double moves. Wilsons intended receiver was Kearse, but Baldwin and him arrived in the same spot, with Baldwin reaching out and tipping the ball to himself. Jimmy Graham caught 3 of his 4 targets for 37 yards. Grahams’ numbers may seem low (target wise), but he averaged 12.3 yards per reception.

The darling of the night though, was Paul Richardson. Richardson caught his second touchdown of the season, (his first coming at home versus Arizona two weeks ago). He caught 3 of his 4 targets for 48 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown was a thing of pure beauty, a leaping left handed catch (on 4th down from the two yard line!) that was marred instantly by his placement of his right hand, which got caught in a Lions cornerbacks face mask, as the cornerback was trying to push him sideways. The refs initially called pass interference on the Lions, when it appeared it should have likely been offsetting penalties and a replay of downs. He also made another spectacular catch near the sideline with (you guessed it!) one hand. He seems to be filling in seamlessly for Tyler Lockett.

Even if you take the Richardson touchdown away, the ‘Hawks would still have won this game handily. Detroit never got closer than the Seattle 35 yard line, and only crossed midfield twice to kick two field goals. Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett teed off on Matt Stafford for three sacks total. DeShawn Shead defensed 3 passes (Bennett had one as well), but smothered receivers that he was assigned all game long. Most of Detroits receivers struggled to get momentum, as quick passing drives backed the only option available after Zach Zenners 11 rushes for 34 yards didn’t give them much spark (he did catch all six of his targets in the passing game for 59 yards receiving). Seattle destroyed a Detroit 4th down attempt for a loss, giving them prime field location.

Ziggy Ansah and Haloti Ngata combined for three sacks, but the Detroit defense only recorded one pass defensed of Russell Wilson, further cementing what we already knew: Wilson was on fire in regards to passing.

Steven Hauschka kicked two field goals, and missed just one of his three PAT kicks. Newly signed long snapper Tyler Ott seemed to fit in just fine in his first game as a Seahawk, as did veteran kick and punt returner Devin Hester. That will be essential going forward, as now the ‘Hawks go on the road to face a well rested Atlanta Falcons team fresh off of a bye week for the divisional round of the playoffs.

Seattle returns to Atlanta for divisional round, the first time since 2012 when a furious Russell Wilson comeback (to take the lead in the fourth quarter after the ‘Hawks were down big) saw Atlanta march down the field and kick a field goal to win the game. This game comes after the hotly contested Seattle victory at home in Week 6, where we first witnessed Richard Sherman’s outburst on the sidelines after blown coverages allowed the Falcons to score 21 points in the third quarter. Atlanta tried to get in position to deliver the fatal Field Goal, but the pass fell incomplete to Julio Jones as he got tangled up in Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman.

Atlanta’s fan base felt they were robbed of a pass interference call, when there was a missed illegal hands to the face committed by Jones on Sherman. One thing is for sure-Atlanta has whipped most of the teams they have faced handily by running up the score early due to a dual rushing attack by Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman. Their receiving corps has benefitted greatly from their offseason additions, and there is the potential that this is a shootout game, similar to the Pittsburgh Steelers matchup of last season. Seattle finds themselves without Earl Thomas this time, but was missing Kam Chancellor then. Both Michael Bennett and Thomas Rawls were both injured in that game, and Seattle still put up a worthy fight.

After the game, head coach Pete Carroll said that: “Boy that one really felt good. That was the game that we’ve been looking for, style wise, fit wise.” He also added, when asked if Doug Baldwin was the best receiver he’s had that: “He’s the quickest that I’ve ever coached. I’ve never seen anybody that can change direction so quickly, and abruptly control his body, at the line of scrimmage, or down the field.” With back to back 1,000 yard seasons, the praise just seems to write itself. Seattle will need another big game out of him, Graham, Kearse, and Richardson if the new found run game cannot find footing against Atlanta S 29th ranked run defense. The game is on FOX, Saturday at 4:35pm.

– GO ‘HAWKS!

Thrilling fourth quarter comeback falls short, Hawks lose to the Cardinals at home

Christmas Eve was supposed to bring a Seahawks victory at home over a hated divisional rival, and tighten the vice grip on the #2 seed in the playoff race for the NFC. Instead, Hawks fans were attributed to some of the worst first half football that Seattle has played all year. The effort was so poor that fans at Century Link field actually booed. The fourth quarter was a thrilling example of what kind of expectations one can have about the offensive prowess of a Russell Wilson led team, while also reminding us of some of last seasons fourth quarter defensive struggles.

If you were looking for as weird of a game as the 6-6 tie in Arizona earlier this season, this game had plenty of that going on. Russell Wilson looked like he was being guarded by gingerbread men on the offensive line, getting sacked an alarming six times, five alone in the first half. Injuries once again played a role, with Thomas Rawls (shoulder) leaving after compiling 8-yards on 8 carries, Kam Chancellor (ankle) out for the majority of one quarter, and Tyler Lockett (leg) broken on the 1-yd. line. The ‘Hawks had a FG, PAT, and Punt blocked. It was a nerve wracking time indeed.

The ‘Hawks early offensive struggles were set up by a busted handoff from Wilson to Marcel Reese, which Arizona’s Calais Campbell recovered. David Johnson would rumble for one of his three rushing touchdowns a few plays later. Johnson had a field day against the Seahawks, rushing for 95-yds (longest 33), and adding another 41 through the air. Hasuchka’s first Field Goal attempt was blocked at :38 in the 1st Quarter, adding insult to (actual) injury. Johnson was expected to be the focal point of the Cardinal offense, but JJ Nelson erupted for a 3 reception, 132 yard, one touchdown receiving line. The touchdown came in the 2nd quarter on an 80-yard catch and go that found Steven Terrell and Jeremy Lane running into each other within the ten yard line. Arizona was up 14-0 almost in the blink of an eye.

As if this wasn’t bad enough, the ‘Hawks got down on the goal line and failed four consecutive times to score points, with both Wilson attempting a sneak and Thomas Rawls trying to force his way on the ground. On 4th and goal, the Cardinals sensed play action, and sacked Wilson for a loss of 7-yards. David Johnson fumbled and K.J. Wright recovered it, giving Seattle another three cracks at the goal line They ultimately settled for another FG attempt, this one good from 27 yards, and the first points of the half, ironically right before halftime.

In the third quarter, the ‘Hawks started out strong, with rookie Alex Collins deftly running in space, and catching passes along with Doug Baldwin. That drive consisted of running plays by Collins, and bailout catches by Baldwin. After an early incompletion in the series, Wilson found Jermaine Kearse in the back of the end zone for a fantastic leaping touchdown, Seattle clawing their way back in to make it 14-10. Jeremy Lane did (technically) intercept Carson Palmer on the next play, but it was negated by a defensive pass interference penalty. Chandler Catanzaro’s FG attempt from 53 was just short, and the ‘Hawks squandered away another chance to score, with rookie tight end Brandon Maxwell getting tossed aside as Arizona blocked Jon Ryan’s punt and got the ball back at it’s own 57-yard line.

In the 4th quarter, Seattle’s offensive line stopped playing as offensively (word play, here obviously) as it did in the first half, and Wilson threw three touchdown passes. The first  was to Doug Baldwin for 42-yards in which he fleetly out moved and embarrassed Arizonas’ closing corners and safeties. Wilson then later found Jimmy Graham in traffic for 37-yards, a run that took five Cardinals players with him into the end zone. After a heroic defensive stand by the ‘Hawks, Wilson again drove them back down the field and hit Paul Richardson wide open in the left corner, which tied the game at 31. Hasuchka would miss the ensuing PAT, and the ball went back to the Cardinals with 1:00 to go (and a timeout) to attempt a field goal to win the game.

Unfortunately, what many of us viewed as an ‘easily winnable’ game (versus the eliminated from playoff contention Arizona Cardinals) the Cardinals improved to 3-0 at Century Link Field. Carson Palmer succinctly found receivers and Johnson for enough yardage to set up two of Johnson’s three rushing TDs in the 4th and a pair of field goals by Catanzaro. On the last drive, big plays by Nelson and Johnson set up the field goal going through the uprights as time expired to give the Cardinals the final score of 34-31.

In spite of this, Seattle out gained Arizona in 1st downs (24-21), third down efficiency (AZ, 1 for 9, Seattle 8 for 17), total yards (313-276), and time of possession (33:42 for Seattle, 26:18 for Arizona). Both teams turned the ball over only once, on fumbles to running backs, and Arizona actually had more penalties (7 for 85, Seattle 5 for 40). Arizonas six sacks, blocked field goal, PAT and punt had an effect that even 4th quarter wizardry couldn’t overcome. Wilson looked to be pleading with Darrell Bevell to go for 2 a second time, just as Hauschka missed his PAT kick. It was a cruel irony, as Bevell’s play calling was directly responsible for the offensive juggernaut that Seattle looked like in the final quarter of the game, yet also the reason it started out so slow.

Though a casual observer would blame the struggles in the penultimate seconds on the defense, a characteristically slow and bumbling offense in the first half most likely laid the groundwork for the points cushion to not be larger. Scoring 3 points after getting seven cracks at the goal line in the span of just over 1:30 highlighted the below average play that we’ve come to know as typical.

Wilson would end the day with 350 passings yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs, and did some serious damage on an overworked and injury ridden Cardinals defense. The Cardinals knew this would happen, and set D.J. Swearinger, Calais Campbell, Marcus Golden, Chandler Jones, Alex Okafor, and Rodney Gunter at Wilson all day long with their ears pinned back. If you had to take a few seconds to read all of those names, just think that in the time it took you to finish reading THIS sentence, Wilson was sacked. He was constantly under pressure, and it appeared to work. The post halftime adjustments on the offensive line saved Seattle from repeating their egregious mistakes of earlier in the day. Doug Baldwin totaled 171 yards on a career outing, as all of the other receivers ate up double coverages and hovered around 40 receiving yards on average.

The defensive mantra of ‘bend, don’t break’, the mentality appeared to not work. Yes, Richard Sherman traveled with Nelson for most of the game, but on the 80 yard touchdown play, Nelson was the responsibility of Steven Terrell and Jeremy Lane. So when Nelson took off for the goal line again, Sherman closed in and pushed Nelson out at the 2-yard line. Michael Bennett notched the only sack for the ‘Hawks, but if you look at the tackle numbers, the players that jump out the most are those that you would expect to step up: Wagner with 10, Chancellor with 7, Wright with 6, and Sherman/Clark with 5.

Twice the defense killed key drives of the Cardinals, with arguably the most important of them coming with just over 2:00 remaining in the game. You cannot pin this totally on the defense, and after seeing the offense put up a ton of points in the final quarter, you may not totally put this on them either. That leaves special teams, whose level of play has been downright scary in a few instances this year. But for some reason, even that doesn’t seem to be like a popular culprit. It seems them, on Christmas day, all three aspects of the game gave us lumps of coal instead of the W we hoped to be wrapped under the tree.

At 9-5-1, the ‘Hawks need to win at San Francisco to have a chance to regain the #2 seed (and a crucial bye week). If Seattle can win and the Atlanta Falcons (current #2 seed) lose to the New Orleans Saints, they will drop to 10-6, and Seattle’s earlier season tie with the Cardinals will give them the slightest of advantages in the W/L record to sneak back into a first round bye at 10-5-1. Both teams play at the same time, adding nerves to an already suspicious game.

The 49ers have recently rediscovered some offense, sweeping the L.A. Rams last week. Seattle cannot afford a loss here. Another sobering note- Seattle’s chance to be the #1 scoring defense for the 5th year in a row rests on them shutting out the 49ers and hoping the New England Patriots get 33+ points hung on them when they travel to Miami to take on the Dolphins, currently playing with a backup quarterback. The game is on FOX at 4:25.

-GO ‘HAWKS!