Sunday, September 16, 2007
BADNESS
I guess there are a few thoughts I have about the game today.
-- Obviously, the team isn't good enough to play 30 minutes of good football and win on the road. In Arizona. I think that speaks more to how badly the Seahawks blew this game than to how good Arizona is. Of course, in the NFL, should you really be able to beat anyone with 30 minutes of good football?
-- Okay, maybe it wasn't the team that played good football for 30 minutes, it was the offense for 30 or maybe 35 minutes if you count the tail end of the first half. The Seahawk defense allowed 132 yards on the ground and 299 through the air. I thought this defense was supposed to be better than last year's? If this team didn't have a Plan B if Marcus Tubbs went down, that's inexcusable in itself, but if we have to watch Edgerrin James put up 128 yards on the Seahawks, that's quite another. I don't think I need to remind everyone that Frank Gore and Steven Jackson also play in the NFC West, and goodness knows what numbers they'll put up against the Seahawks.
-- The offense woke up a bit too late, though it was still almost enough to win this game. They didn't score until their sixth possession of the game, their last of the first half. This of course came after they three-and-outted on three of their first five possessions. The offense's first three plays of the game went for seven yards or more, and at their own 49 it appeared the Seahawks were in business. That's when Mack Strong and Chris Gray -- two players that have about four centuries combined of NFL experience -- came through with consecutive false starts.
-- Quick: How many three-and-outs did the Arizona offense have? If you answered zero, give yourself a pat on the back!
-- I still get ticked off when the offense doesn't pick up the defense, or vice-versa. I wouldn't say anyone was picking up anyone in the first half -- the offense was terrible, and the defense was on the field a lot. Still, when the defense got probably their only standout play of the day -- Lofa Tatupu's interception -- the offense nearly three-and-outted, but the Arizona facemask penalty triggered a replay of third down. The next play was a 26-yard pass to Bobby Engram and the drive ended in a touchdown that made it Arizona 17-14.
-- The Cardinals were 6-for-12 on third down. For me, that might be the most infuriating stat of the game, other than zero sacks. I know Steve Raible thought that Pat Kerney had early in the fourth quarter, and a play that reads as "2-14-SEA 40 (15:00) 7-M.Leinart up the middle to SEA 44 for -4 yards (97-P.Kerney)" looks like a sack to me, but hey, it doesn't show up in the final totals.
I'm going to be really ticked if the Seahawks in Week 17 are hoping for a bunch of crazy crap to take place to get into the playoffs because they lost a divisional tiebreaker to Arizona. However, we might not have to worry about that if the run defense (hell, the whole defense) is really as bad as it was today.
-- Obviously, the team isn't good enough to play 30 minutes of good football and win on the road. In Arizona. I think that speaks more to how badly the Seahawks blew this game than to how good Arizona is. Of course, in the NFL, should you really be able to beat anyone with 30 minutes of good football?
-- Okay, maybe it wasn't the team that played good football for 30 minutes, it was the offense for 30 or maybe 35 minutes if you count the tail end of the first half. The Seahawk defense allowed 132 yards on the ground and 299 through the air. I thought this defense was supposed to be better than last year's? If this team didn't have a Plan B if Marcus Tubbs went down, that's inexcusable in itself, but if we have to watch Edgerrin James put up 128 yards on the Seahawks, that's quite another. I don't think I need to remind everyone that Frank Gore and Steven Jackson also play in the NFC West, and goodness knows what numbers they'll put up against the Seahawks.
-- The offense woke up a bit too late, though it was still almost enough to win this game. They didn't score until their sixth possession of the game, their last of the first half. This of course came after they three-and-outted on three of their first five possessions. The offense's first three plays of the game went for seven yards or more, and at their own 49 it appeared the Seahawks were in business. That's when Mack Strong and Chris Gray -- two players that have about four centuries combined of NFL experience -- came through with consecutive false starts.
-- Quick: How many three-and-outs did the Arizona offense have? If you answered zero, give yourself a pat on the back!
-- I still get ticked off when the offense doesn't pick up the defense, or vice-versa. I wouldn't say anyone was picking up anyone in the first half -- the offense was terrible, and the defense was on the field a lot. Still, when the defense got probably their only standout play of the day -- Lofa Tatupu's interception -- the offense nearly three-and-outted, but the Arizona facemask penalty triggered a replay of third down. The next play was a 26-yard pass to Bobby Engram and the drive ended in a touchdown that made it Arizona 17-14.
-- The Cardinals were 6-for-12 on third down. For me, that might be the most infuriating stat of the game, other than zero sacks. I know Steve Raible thought that Pat Kerney had early in the fourth quarter, and a play that reads as "2-14-SEA 40 (15:00) 7-M.Leinart up the middle to SEA 44 for -4 yards (97-P.Kerney)" looks like a sack to me, but hey, it doesn't show up in the final totals.
I'm going to be really ticked if the Seahawks in Week 17 are hoping for a bunch of crazy crap to take place to get into the playoffs because they lost a divisional tiebreaker to Arizona. However, we might not have to worry about that if the run defense (hell, the whole defense) is really as bad as it was today.
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SEAHAWKS AT CARDINALS, 9.16.07
I couldn't make one of these last week because I was busy getting ready to come back to a place with high-speed, so here it is this week.
I guess the main thing I'm afraid of that doesn't include Shaun Alexander playing with a cast on his hand is Leonard Weaver getting significant playing time. If this past preseason never happened, I might actually be looking forward to it.
Still, it's the damn Cardinals. I say every year that two of the Seahawks' goals should be to run the table at home and run the table on all their divisional opponents. That's 11 wins. Still, there's a possibility this team could lose a game or two that they shouldn't, but a game involving Arizona shouldn't be one of them.