Seahawks win; Williams must find the end zone

After the Seattle Seahawks win over the Arizona Cardinals Sunday afternoon, head coach Pete Carroll remarked that Sunday was “a really good day for us in a lot of ways.” Indeed, Carroll is correct. With the win, the Seahawks reclaimed NFC West supremacy in convincing fashion, doubling-up on the Cardinals, 36-18. Matt Hasselbeck, back after missing last week’s shellacking at the hands of the New York Giants due to a concussion, engineered an offensive attack that accumulated nearly 500 yards of total offense. The Seahawks dominated all facets of the game and now, at 5-4, hold a legitimate shot at earning a spot in the postseason.

Wide receiver Mike Williams continued to dominate, catching eleven passes for 145 yards. Across the NFL, Williams resurgence is being heralded as the comeback story of the year. After his eleven catch performance Sunday, Williams has 46 catches on the season, seven for 20 or more yards. And he’s making catches in a variety of ways: down the sideline, over the middle, in front of press coverage, and over-top of smaller defensive backs. Standing at 6’5” and weighing 230 pounds, Williams has the prototypical size, hands, and physical ability to dominate like many of his counterparts – Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald, Baltimore’s Anquan Boldin, and New York’s Hakeem Nicks. However, unlike all these similarly sized and talented wide receivers, Williams is not producing in perhaps that most important aspect of the game: the end zone.

Williams has only one touchdown catch. Compare that to his counterparts: Fitzgerald has four touchdown catches, Boldin has six, and Nicks is leading the NFL with nine. And it’s not as though Fitzgerald, Boldin, and Nicks are simply catching more balls than Williams. In fact, only Fitzgerald has more catches than Williams at this point (he has 49).

It’s problematic when a team’s leading receiver, who absolutely has the ability to dominate offensively, like Williams, is not scoring touchdowns.

Considering Williams total catch numbers, it is mind-boggling that he has only found the end zone once – a touchdown catch in the first-half of their first win over the Cardinals. Why can’t he find the end zone?

The answer lies in the Seahawks inability to convert in the red zone. Olindo Mare, the Seahawks field goal kicker, kicked five field goals Sunday. He converted from 41, 34, 19, 23, and 19. He also missed a 29-yarder late in the game.

On the season, Mare has attempted field goals of 29 yards or less eleven times, converting nine of those tries. In other words, the Seahawks are relying on their field goal kicker to convert points in the red zone rather than their most dominate receiver.

Failing to connect with Williams in the red zone is, perhaps, the Seahawks most glaring offensive weakness at this point in the season. Williams is catching balls all over the field, in many different ways. There’s no good reason why he isn’t catching more balls on his way to the end zone.

‘Tweet’ thoughts –
Does Brian Billick even watch the game?

Forget Defensive Rookie of the Year: Earl Thomas is a Pro Bowler.

Matt Hasselbeck looks TERRIBLE; where’s Touchdown Jesus?

Greg Tolar sucks.

Seahawks lead 10-0 at the half at Qwest

The Seattle Seahawks finally capitalized on an Arizona Cardinals miscue under six minutes to go in the second quarter. Cardinals rookie Andre Roberts muffed a punt (and really, that’s an understatement) and two plays later, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck found Mike Williams on a fade route – Willliams’ first touchdown catch since 2006. Olindo Mare added the extra point for a 10-0 Seahawks lead. Capitalizing on a Cardinals mistake was the exception in the first half for the Seahawks rather than the rule.

Cardinals quarterback Max Hall (everyone’s favorite Mormon) is playing like garbage. He looks overwhelmed nearly every play. Early on, Seahawks Safety Earl Thomas ran underneath a Hall pass downfield and appeared to be the intended target. I doubt Thomas will have a simpler interception all year.

Cardinals punter Ben Graham, known league-wide for his penchant to drop the ball inside the opponent’s twenty yard line, shanked one for seven yards and put another in the end zone for a net of twenty yards. Both times, however, the Seahawks failed to respond on the ensuing drive.

Both offenses look extremely anemic and Hasselbeck was sacked four times in the first half, and clearly held on to the ball too long on two of those sacks.

Again, the Seahawks lead 10-0 at the half but, considering the awful mistakes the Cardinals made in the half, should be leading by a much larger margin.

On the bright side, Walter Thurmond – starting in place of Kelly Jennings – is playing phenomenally occupying the corner opposite Marcus Trufant. He broke up two passes intended for Cardinals electrifying receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Rookie defensive back Roy Lewis had a solid first half as well, and Trufant forced a Tim Hightower fumble in the second quarter and recovered it.

Marshawn Lynch ran well in the first half, carrying the ball 10 times for more than sixty yards. Justin Forsett has not been a factor.

Brandon Stokely caught a Hasselbeck pass to extend a drive and Deon Butler has two catches as well.

Devastatingly, Russell Okung, coming off a remarkable performance last week against Julius Peppers, left the game and will not return. No word yet on the extent on the injury but he did have that, “my season just ended” look on his face limping off the field.

Maybe she deserved it

In her defense, people who attend anger management are generally pricks.

Colt McCoy will get a shot to succeed early in his career (sarcasm)

Pleased to see the decimated Cleveland Browns plan to trot out first-round pick Colt McCoy Sunday for his first NFL start against the Steelers. Yeah, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Cleveland Browns:Seneca Wallace didn’t work out, but Colt McCoy will – trust us.

Kevin Johnson’s fiancee, Michelle Rhee, out in D.C.

Kevin Johnson, the Mayor of Sacramento, was in Seattle last week as the first keynote speaker in a public education series put on by the League of Education Voters. Now, the Associated Press is reporting that his well-known, controversial fiancee, Michelle Rhee, is out as the head of D.C. public schools.

Will Rhee now take the helm at St. Hope? And what does her resignation mean for public education reformers around the nation? Is the so-called public education “revolution” dead?