Wow, what an epic Monday Night Football game with the New Orleans Saints visiting the Seattle Seahawks! This matchup was notable not only because of the current playoff race – the Saints went into the game leading the NFC South with a record of 9-2 and the Seahawks were leading the NFC West with the best record in football at 10-1, both fighting for playoff spots and home field advantage – but also, the Saints haven’t been to Seattle since the 2010 postseason.
Fans remember that January 2011 NFC Wild Card game for the “Beast Quake,” when Marshawn Lynch shuffled by and mowed down all Saints’ defenders for 67 yards, scoring a TD that made the difference in the Seahawks’ 41-36 win over the Super Bowl XLIV defending champions. That Seahawk team was known as the worst playoff team ever, because they were the first team with a losing record (7-9) to make the playoffs. Well, what a difference three seasons make, because now the Seahawks are arguably the best in the NFL!
Let’s revel in the Seahawks’ success and recap three keys to their 34-7 win over the Saints:
1) Russell Wilson
This game was one of the Seahawks most complete games and it was led by the consummate professional, QB Russell Wilson. Winning his 22 game at home, tied for the most in NFL history of QBs in their first two years starting, Wilson played one of his best individual games statistics (and fantasy!) wise. He completed 22 of 30 passes for 310 yards with three TDs and no interceptions and had a Quarterback Rating of 94.7. He did nothing Seahawk fans don’t see every week: scrambling like he always does when forced outside the pocket, making plays with his great vision of the field finding his receivers even in mid-tackle, but also making plays with his legs by running to make the first down, extending the play as much as possible. The only difference was he did it effortlessly against a playoff-caliber team, and on the main stage. So finally Wilson got some well-deserved recognition by the national media as an MVP candidate.
On a side note, you’ve got to love how much Wilson loves the game: even with a 27 point lead in the fourth quarter, and even after the Saints sat starting QB Drew Brees and sent in their backup for the last Saints’ possession, Wilson played until the clock ran down.
2) Third Downs
Converting third downs was key to the Seahawks’ success, or in the Saints’ case, their failure to convert on third down was the key to their demise. The Saints had 10 series, and of those 10, they converted on one – their only score in the first quarter – but more importantly were the series they failed to capitalize on.
For example, the Saints’ turnover in the first quarter on 3rd down & 5 at the Saints’ 25 – DE Cliff Avril sacked Brees, which led to a fumble that DE Michael Bennett recovered and ran in for his first TD ever – this put the Seahawks up 10-0 and gave them early momentum, plus the blaring support of the CenturyLink crowd that loves a turnover. Also telling of the Saints’ ineffective offense were the two series at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth, when they took it all the way to fourth down – 4th & 10, 4th & 1 – and were unable to make anything happen. After back-to-back possessions with nothing added to the board, despite nine minutes left in the game, the Saints appeared to concede: there was Brees, helmet off and on the sidelines.
3) Who Dat?
Fans in the Northwest know that because of our geographic location, farther away from the bigger names in sports, our teams and players tend to get overlooked. However, during the game when the commentators named a different Seahawk player with each play and asked something like, who’s that guy or where’d that guy come from, it was a compliment in a way – a testament to the way the Seahawks were playing as a team with everyone contributing.
There was some concern with the suspensions of CB Brandon Browner and CB Walter Thurmond that the Seahawks’ secondary would be weakened. But different guys stepped up – of course there was LB Bobby Wagner and S Earl Thomas, with 17 tackles between them, but guys like Bennett, DT Clinton McDonald, LB K.J Wright had key plays that had to leave fans thinking: no Browner, no Thurmond – no problem!
The Seahawks are looking great going into week 14. They’re coming off a huge win, clinched a playoff berth, not to mention the 12th Man took back the Guinness World Record title for loudest crowd (137.6 decibels), but also the Seahawks have a healthy O-line and other key players are getting healthy (e.g., Percy Harvin) and overall, their game is so fun to watch. They just need watch those penalties and for gosh sakes, no more suspensions for PEDs or banned substances!
Bring on the 49ers!
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