Think about the best football game you ever watched. Most people would describe a back-and-forth affair that featured two teams playing at their best. Giant haymakers would be thrown in one direction, and then returned in the other. Neither team would be in control. Each would be confident in their chances of coming out with the win. Except, only one would. Those games have plays that you remember for a lifetime. Those games usually have their fair share of heart-wrenching plays as well. Games like that spark a love of football in a new fan, and rekindle that love in cynical vets. We curse, we hug, we laugh, we scream during a game like that. And when our team walks off the field with a victory, we get to feel that unique elation that only sports can provide. This was one of those games.
Wilson coming of age
Receivers come through, lose Jimmy Graham
Only one Seahawk player other than Doug Baldwin has had at least 145 yards and 3 TDs in a game. Steve Largent did it twice. Once in 1983 and once in 1987.
Baldwin has always been a player that analysts point out as consistently open and under-targeted, even if he likes to play up that nobody respects him and his receiving mates. The difference of late has been that Wilson is finding him more reliably. That is a good thing for both players.
Wilson has always been overly cautious with the football, and that has sometimes led to hesitation that has doomed passing plays that would have worked if the ball was delivered on time. He is far more likely to let the ball fly when he completely trusts the receiver. Golden Tate may be the only player he ever really had that with, but it appears to be developing with Baldwin who is averaging 113 yards receiving and 17.8 yards per catch over the last three games.
The team suffered a huge loss when Jimmy Graham went down early in the fourth quarter with a season-ending knee injury. He had made some important plays leading up to that point, and it was starting to feel like Darrell Bevell had finally figured out some ways to isolate Graham and give him a chance to make some explosive plays. But before you slide into despair, consider that the Seahawks had four possessions after Graham left the game. They scored three touchdowns and kneeled to end the game.
The Seahawks offense had four possessions after Graham left the game. They scored three touchdowns, including drives of 73 and 80 yards. Their only non-scoring possession was a kneel-down to end the game.
The potential of the Seahawks offense is clearly greater with a talent like Graham available to them, but there is some aspect of simplification and familiarity that returns when there is not this nagging need to funnel the ball in a particular direction. The team has done a better job incorporating Graham into the offense without changing their identity than they did with Percy Harvin, but it has never felt natural.
It will go back to the national discussion of Seattle receivers lacking the playmaking ability to create a potent offense. I happen to like their receiving corps quite a bit even without Graham. Baldwin we know. Jermaine Kearse had the first multiple touchdown game of his career. Tyler Lockett is slowly getting more chances and doing well with them. Paul Richardson will hopefully be returning soon, and do not count out Kevin Smith who made his first catch yesterday.
Shout out to the offensive line
Before you kill the defense…
DeShawn Shead had 4 passes defensed in his first start yesterday at corner. Cary Williams has 4 passes defensed all year.
He was never more than a step or two from his receiver and showed grit knocking some passes away. It is not fair to expect Shead to be a lockdown corner. Just being assignment-correct and making a few plays on the ball would make him a significant upgrade over Cary Williams.
The defense also made a number of key plays that figured greatly into the outcome. They had three interceptions (a fourth was a special teams play), two red zone stops, and a bruising hit on Roethlisberger that knocked him out of the game.
As sparkling as Roethlisberger’s yardage total was, he finished with one passing touchdown, two interceptions and an 82.1 passer rating, his second lowest of the season.
The two glaring problems with the performance of the Seahawks defense yesterday was giving up big plays and missing tackles. For the first time this season, a majority of those big plays were at least as much because of the quality of the opposing offensive players as they were about mistakes in coverage. Markus Wheaton is fast. He outran Jeremy Lane. That was not an assignment mistake. Martavis Bryant went up and snagged a big pass in tight coverage. Give him credit.
There are not many teams capable of making those plays. Seattle has made life easier on teams this year by simply blowing coverages. That appeared to happen a lot less yesterday.
The missed tackles is something that deserves attention. Earl Thomas blew at least three key tackles. Kam Chancellor has been missing tackles all year. Lane missed a key tackle late. Do not be surprised to hear Pete Carroll talk about that as a major point of emphasis for the defense this week. They have to clean that up.
A lot of times, the fix for tackling issues comes with effort from the surrounding team rallying to the ball. Too often, there is just one guy there when the calling card of this defense has been to fly to the ball as a group to support one another. It is just a hunch, but seeing the offense come through the way they did may be just what the defense needs to raise their level of effort and play. It can be exhausting feeling like the entire game is on your shoulders week after week. Each unit feeds off the other. For once, the offense could spark the defense.
High five for Mike Tomlin
Meaningful win
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