My post are seldom short-ish even or to the point. With that said, out of respect and in consideration of those of you that prefer that sort of posting, I apologize in advance, and assure you that I won't take it personally if you were to just skip right on by me and pickup with the next post, that is in keeping with your preferences.
Just about quiting time on Saturday, so thought I'd hurry up and make my weekly Aros Fearless Prediction. I'm a Homer, so I'm always gonna pick my Hawks to win. I truly believe that if we play the way we are capable of playing and follow the formula that Pete Carroll has put in place for this team, that they can defeat every team in the NFL.
With that said, I'm envious of my Daughter and her Fella who is taking her up to the CLINK for this game as an early Christmas Present, What about dear old dad? LMAO. I'm still holding out hope of getting up to a game before the end of the season, who knows could be divine intervention and I could end up at a Play Off game this year.
As I said above, I'm really confident in the Seahawks ability to win this game and win it easily, if they have their heads on straight, remain focused and disciplined from kickoff to the last snap of the game. Therein lies the the only concern that I can see. The 49ers are wounded and hurting, their playoff hopes are all but for a series of miracles, gone this year, and everyone knows that a wounded animal is most dangerous in the state that they are, and that there is nothing they would love more right now, than to derail the Seahawks and do whatever they can to kill our play off hopes as well. The old saying "misery loves company" will be where their sights are set come kickoff tomorrow afternoon.
Of all the games we have left this season, the 49ers concern me the most, they have put a knife through our play off bound hearts, on more than one occasion over the years. I don't think this is going to be the year for that, I think that Pete has gotten the message across to his players that this is another in a series of "individual Championship matchups" and to focus on playing each and every game ahead of us like it was for the Championship, or all the marbles as I've sometimes heard him say.
I'm going to be bold but realistic in my score prediction this week and pick the Seahawks to put up 34 points vs 19 points to the 49ers,
Our defense to show that all these games that they have played through together this year have finally cemented them as a cohesive unit that is truly in sync. Look for our defense to force and recover fumbles and interceptions, which will keep the 49er offense on the sidelines and their defense out there getting worn down and out by our new and improved offense, and the less time their offense has on the field, the fewer opportunities they will have to score, not to mention that forced fumbles and interceptions also take their toll on the offensive scoring opportunities.
I'm not as worried about Richard Sherman's presence on the field as some of the talking heads are trying to sell in this game. I've done my homework on Richard and the Richard Sherman we are facing tomorrow is not the Richard Sherman of old, who was a phenomenal Super Star Stud in his day. "His day" passed him by over two years ago. It's hard to get him in perspective because he was such a huge presence on the field. The truth is that he started having real problems with his game back in 2016, playing the last half of that season injured, and all of 2017 injured and limited as well.
Even Richard owned up in interviews and press conferences, before he went down for the last time as a Seahawk, when his Achilles blew up. He was constantly telling us that he was having to rely on his skill and technique to overcome his shortcomings due to his multiple injuries of foot legs, and arms. He played admirably and, for a greater majority of that time, as well as most every other LB in the league. But he did not play like Richard Sherman, he was a ghost of himself.
I felt as sad as I've probably ever felt about a Seahawk player when Richard went down last season. He literally gave us his all.
I'd hoped that he might be able to overcome all the odds and find his way back to the field in 2018, and able to play like the one and only Richard Sherman. When the whole exit to the 49ers unfolded, I had a mixed bag of thoughts and feelings. My first thought was that the Seahawks medical staff had determined that Richard was never going to be Richard again. The home office had to have been aware of these facts, and in response, I'm sure approached Richard an offered him a deal, but let him know that until he could prove that he was able to play like Richard again, they couldn't pay him what he had contracted with them for.
Sherman is an emotional guy, in fact I'd say he operates on a whole lot more emotion that intellect and that is not to diminish his intellect, he's an extremely brilliant man. But I'm sure he felt betrayed and rejected by their suggestions and in response asked to be allowed to shop himself elsewhere for a better deal , which if everyone stops and thinks about it he and his brother had done the year before.
We were told that Richard was instructed by John Schneider to go out and see what kind of offers he could get from other teams and then to allow the Seahawks to perhaps meet the offer. As I was told, Sherman went to San Francisco and with John Schneider's assistance, negotiated the best deal he could for himself, in part following John's suggestions and assistance, but at some point going his own course and secured a not ideal contract for himself, without ever going back to John Schneider to discuss the possibility of the Seahawks offering him something comparable to what the 49ers had.
Here is the real rub. The deal that Sherm patched together for himself looked really sweet if you just looked at the numbers in dollars and cents, but if you looked at all the hooks and hurdles that Richard was going to have to leap under, over and around, to land very much of that money, it was a really sweet deal, but I think in the end, only for the 49ers.
Look up and compare Richards stats for the 2018 season, it's not anywhere as good as what his stats were in his last two seasons with Seattle, when he was playing wounded. Go back and compare it with 2014, 2015 and he is not anywhere in the ball park. I'm not saying he's bad, he is too damn skilled and experienced to be bad, but he's no Richard Sherman we are facing tomorrow and he can't beat the Seahawks team all by himself. I'm sure even he knows that. I hope to God he doesn't go out there and try to exact revenge on his old team, because I can almost guarantee you that by trying to do so, that he will blow his Achilles again, and this time it won't be a season ender, it would be a career ender.
Richard Sherman deserves so much better than that. What I'd love to see, at the end of this season when Richard and the 49ers set down and go back to the dotted I's and crossed T's of their contract with him, and show him in dollars and cents what he actually earned this season verses what he would have earned if he's been able to play like Richard Sherman of old, he may very well be receptive to a set down with Pete and John in the off season and see if there isn't a way for him to come back home to the Emerald City, where he belongs and play out the remainder of his career with us.
I've never suggested that Sherman couldn't play well, he can still play better than most and if he doesn't get stupid and blow himself up trying to push his body to do things it's not ready to or no longer able to do, and lets the healing process continue, he may even be able to play better in his last few seasons, and where better for him to do that than with his family in Seattle. His teammates and the 12. With that said I really hope that tomorrow when Richard Sherman takes the field that the 12 and his former teammates show him the love that we show all of our players and that he so rightly deserves, by a delivering to him a standing ovation that we would give to anyone of our all time greats.
Then after the ovation, we can take the field and show Richard the new and improved Seattle Seahawk Offense. It's quiting time so I don't have time to do a good re-read, and check my grammar and spelling right now. I'm on auto pilot with spell check and grammar check, and rely on it to not let me sound too illiterate. I hope that everyone who bothered to read another one of my long winded rants got the gist of it and, more importantly agree with me, on the point of showing Richard Sherman the love and respect he earned from us over the years and that will always be due to him in the Emerald City and on the Century Link Field.
Go Seahawks !