Seahawks Beaten by Colts

The Indianapolis Colts stayed unbeaten and quarterback Peyton Manning moved into a tie with Fran Tarkenton for most career passing touchdowns along the way, thoroughly dispatching the Seattle Seahawks, 34-17. The Seahawks put together only one sustained drive in the entire game when it mattered. That drive stalled in the red zone, forcing Olindo Mare to provide the Seahawks their only points of the game until late in the fourth quarter.

The Colts led 21-3 at halftime.

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Emotional ‘Hawks fans

Nice Jerry Brewer column. I agree with his conclusion, but at this point, Seahawks fans seem unable to listen to reason. So as reasonable at Brewer is, I’m just going to tell all Seahawks fans to calm down because yelling about the Aaron Curry/Mark Sanchez faux controversy is really just a way to vent about Deion Branch, Tim Ruskell and a plethora of injuries.

The Hawks traded a 2007 first-round pick for Branch, a smallish, quick wide receiver whose claim to fame was earning Super Bowl MVP honors for catching eleven Tom Brady passes while playing with the New England Patriots. At the time, Ruskell was quoted as saying, “I will always be big on draft picks, but this is a known commodity. The first round can be a crapshoot from top to bottom.” Really? A crapshoot? Remember, this is a man whose front office has pulled gem after gem from the draft, no matter the round. Clearly, he made the trade because he liked Branch’s ability and winning pedigree and believed he would help the Hawks continue their winning ways. Needless to say, it hasn’t worked out and the anger has been bubbling for awhile and it appears to be boiling over.

And now Matt Hasselbeck is sidelined with a fractured rib. And Marcus Trufant is out. And Brandon Mebane is sidelined. And now T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Ken Lucas are on the injury report. Add another half dozen names here. Paying attention to the Seahawks injury report is like watching the list of baseball players linked to steroids. Will it ever stop growing? And, of course, when the unexplainable happens, emotional football fans must find a scapegoat. Ruskell fits perfectly. He drafted Deion Branch, and everyone is angry with Deion Branch because he’s barely ever on the field. He decided not to draft Mark Sanchez, and now Hasselbeck is hurt and Sanchez is playing well. Further, the player he did draft, Curry, a linebacker some liken to Lawrence Taylor, is being piled on for overrunning a Frank Gore touchdown run last week. Just one question: Did Curry overrun Gore’s multiple long jaunts in 2006, too? I didn’t think so.

So, in the end, the anger and talk isn’t about Aaron Curry or Mark Sanchez. It’s about frustration. It’s about misplaced anger. It’s about football fans trying to explain the unexplainable. Well, I’m here to tell everyone, it won’t get this franchise anywhere. So calm down and leave Tim Ruskell alone. After all, he did draft Lofa Tatupu and Leroy Hill (crap, they’re both injured too).

Injuries mount for 1-1 ‘Hawks

It is unlikely that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck will miss time with a bruised rib – thank goodness. However, eleven starters are now out of the line up for the Hawks. Ouch.

Remember,in 2008, the injury bug hit the Hawks so hard it was almost laughable.

But as Jeremy Grey in Wedding Crashers said, “Rule number 76: No excuses, play like a champion.”

Seahawks fantasy numbers:
Let’s just say if you were depending on your Seahawks player to put you over the top this week, you probably didn’t make it.

Can the ‘Hawks Make Big Plays?

Once again (see here and here), Frank Gore shredded the Seattle Seahawks defense on Sunday. Basically, the Hawks lost because Gore broke two long touchdown runs – one for 79, one for 80. Two big plays offensively for the 49ers, and they defeated an NFC West rival with more overall talent. The big question for the Hawks is this: Who can make big plays?

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Seahawks, 49ers: First Half Analysis

When the Seahawks got the ball deep in their own territory with 2:51 left in the half, it was a perfect set up for a Matt Hasselbeck engineered two-minute drill. He completed four passes underneath, found Nate Burleson and Deon Butler for first downs, handed to Justin Forsett for a tough 13-yard rush and, eventually, Seneca Wallace found Julius Jones out of the backfield for the touchdown. Add the Mare extra point, and at halftime it’s 13-10 49ers.

A lot will be made about Frank Gore going wild in the first half. In total, he rushed for 113 yards in the first half; 79 came on one touchdown carry in the first quarter. So really, the Hawks defense is not doing all that badly against the run. On Gore’s long TD run, Aaron Curry took a bad angle from the backside and was subsequently blocked down allowing Gore to sprint through virtually untouched. Honestly, not a huge concern.

Also, Patrick Kerney, Craig Terrill and Lawrence Jackson all contributed sacks and two were to derail potential touchdown drives. Furthermore, the 49ers only converted two third-downs in the first half. The defense is depleted (Marcus Trufant, Brandon Mebane, Leroy Hill) yet keeping us in the ball game.

The defensive front is applying plenty of pressure and as long as Gore doesn’t bust another huge play, our defense will win the battle over the 49ers offense.

Offensively for the Hawks, other than the two-minute drive, our offensive was middling. I think the final two-minute drive provided a great example of what the Hawks are missing offensively — a true “field-stretcher.” In other words, if the Hawks believe Nate Burleson has deep-play ability, then he must be allowed to stretch the field and provide that threat. Otherwise, the Hawks will continue to dink-and-dunk down the field and a very good defensive team (Chicago Bears) will take that away in the second half.

Obviously, the Hasselbeck injury is a potentially HUGE development. He won’t be back in the second half while he nurses a rib injury.

NO MORE BIG PLAYS!