I know I'm not the only one that recognizes that the Seahawks now have a viable running game, with Mike Davis and the eventual return of Chris Carson. It's been a long time coming, but I think that its apparent to most, that aren't blinded by hatred for the man, that Tom Cable has assembled a pretty capable bunch of guys, who are now playing like a complete offensive unit.
The additions of Duane Brown and Luke Joekel to our line, has allowed other players to assume the positions they were better suited to play, and with their veteran influences on some of the youngsters on the Oline, they now have an offense that can open up the gaps and creases that our running backs have lacked for so long.
Even at the end of Marshawn's days with the Seahawks, he was getting beaten up and injured trying to make something happen from nothing. Thomas Rawls, Lacy, and every other back in between now and then, has gone the same route as Lynch did, and have reaped the same dismal results as he did in his final season with us, which was injury upon injury.
The Seahawks have a long history of scouting out gems in the rough, that others have overlooked or not thought worth the time and effort to develop, and from that bunch of less than's and would be rejects, they have assembled some of the greatest offenses and defenses in the NFL. That is evidenced by other teams that try and replicate our styles of play.
We haven't gotten the opportunity to play out our running game, in recent games, because our opponents have buried us point wise, early on, and left us having to revert to our only hope, being a passing attack, to try and get the scores back under control and give ourselves a fighting chance to win. That worked a few times, but that style of play comes with a lot of inherent risks, and we have seen the evidence of that to the negative as well.
Last week was about as bad as it can get for a team. If ever there was a text book example of Murphy's Law at work, "If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong, and always at the worst possible moment", in this game make that a plural, moment's, it was a case study specimen for Mr. Murphy.
From the very first play of the game, it was obvious that the Football Gods where not going to cut us an ounce of slack, with the completed 3rd down pass that would have given us great field position, and a 1st and 10, being knocked looses from the arms of receiver, who has always demonstrated incredible ball control, it set the stage for what would come our way the rest of the game.
One damn crazy messed up play after another, and the Rams didn't wasted time capitalizing on all our screw ups. I don't know if Russell was rattled or what, only he knows the answer to that one, but he sure didn't play like his normal self, throughout the rest of the game. The harder he tried to catch up the further behind we got.
The passes to Richardson, who was running one route and Russell was throwing the ball for an completely different route. If Russell had been connecting well with other plays to his other targets, I would have to consider if Richardson just, didn't hear the play call right, and was running the wrong route, but when it happened over and over again, I dismissed that idea.
Richardson has been the most on target receiver on the team short of maybe Doug Baldwin, and followed by a close second in Tyler Lockett, who I believe, like Jimmy Graham, is still on the mend and not back at a 100% yet. Russell couldn't seem to get his rhythm, or tempo going at any point in the game.
Russell just wasn't able to pull any rabbits out of his magic hat in this game, I don't think he ever gave up, its not in his vocabulary, but he surely had to be feeling about as embarrassed and humiliated and beaten as a human being can feel, and I'm sure that it was foreign territory for him. You would have to be a piece of wood to not be rattled by what was unfolding on the field last Sunday, in order to not be affected by it.
The Saying "On any given Sunday", never rang truer than it did for the Seahawks and Rams for that matter last Sunday. We are all entitled to a bad day once in awhile, and that is what I've had to write this game, and the one before it, off to. The Seahawks obviously have the talent and skill sets to beat the best teams in the NFL and have proven that, even without Kam, Sherm, Cliff, and a few others able to play their parts.
The Seahawks are a well coached team, with an assembly of highly talented, and very capable players at every position. Does it hurt us when some of our talents go out of the game injured? sure, it does, especially so many so close together, not so much because their replacements aren't as talented or capable, than the players they are replacing, but because its a team sport, and as individuals, they need time playing as a part of a team. in order to get in sync, and be able to meet up to their own expectations of themselves, and the expectations of their coaches, teammates and fans.
I look to see the Seahawks execute and stick to a running game, through out the rest of the season, provided that our defense can hold our opponents to a minimum in scoring, and doesn't leave our offense trailing by a large margin, not saying that the offense hasn't contributed to a lot of their own demise, and find themselves, once again playing desperation catchup football.
In that frame of mine, is when all the interceptions, blown pass routes, crazy scrambles with sacks, negative yards start adding up, and leaving us with unachievable 3rd down conversion numbers, mounting holding penalties, because Russell needs more time, than any offense can reasonably give their QB, in order to set up the fail Mary sort of passes we need to convert, along with all the other maddening things that can and do go wrong when they are forced to play that kind of football.
I think that the Seahawks, at this very moment in time, are on the cusp of genuine greatness, as crazy as that might sound to some of you, their defense is solid and capable, if their minds are right, and they choose to believe in themselves and each other. The same holds true for our offense, we have some really great talent across the board, on offense, they need to pull together, trust in each other and they can do battle with the best in the game and beat any team out there when they are in the right mind set.
A lot of folks fail to recall, that the year we made it to the super bowl, and won it, and the year we made it to the super bowl and lost it, under Pete Carroll's guidance, that luck and fate played a huge role in getting us there. Its human nature to remember things through rose colored glasses, where everyone played like a super star, and forget that we caught some lucky breaks here and there, and that calls went our way, when they just as easily could have gone the other, that put us in a position to play for all the marbles. The place we are in right now isn't all that different than where we have been almost every season with Pete. Now is not the time to abandon ship, its time to unite and stay the course, until every last opportunity has passed us by.
I still believe in Pete Carroll and I still believe in this team. They have had some time to develop some cohesiveness and familiarity with each other the past few weeks. I think that with some focus, combined with a few breaks and a little luck good old fashion luck, or as I like to call it the magic of the 12th man spirit at play, we could very well find ourselves taking the field on Super Bowl Sunday in 2018. No Fear, Never Give Up, Always Believe, it's the heart and soul of the Seahawks.
Go Seahawks !
