Tuesday, October 11, 2005

The Patriot Act

Finally coming down from the euphoria of actually beating the Lambs in St. Louis, I started to think more about HOW we won the game and how this team has been responding to adversity this season.

Porkchop Womack and Itula Mili go down before week one? No problem. In steps Sean Locklear, Jerramy Stevens and Ryan Hannam, and our offense is off to a great start.

Ray Rhodes suffers minor stroke and is participating at limited capacty? No problem. In steaps John Marshall and our defensive schemes are more unpredicable and aggressive than they ever had been.

Lose Bobby Engram and Darrell Jackson the week before the most important game on our schedule? No problem. In steps Joe Jurevicius, D.J. Hackett and Jerheme Urban, and the offense continues to click on all cylinders.

Have one of our inspirational young leaders on defense get carted off the field on a stretcher? No problem. In steps Marquand Manuel and we finally bury our "Arch" enemies on their own field.

Not to get too far ahead of ourselves this early in the season, but if they were going to make a movie about the 2005 Seahawks at this stage of the game, it would have to be titled "The Patriot Act"!

Playing his role as Scott Pioli with more likeness and reality than Jamie Foxx brought to the film "Ray", Tim Ruskell has really created a true "team" atmosphere here in Seattle, and has built character and depth to a point where we can absorb these critical blows that would have easily derailed Seahawks teams of the recent past.

Need fresh legs on the interior of the defensive line? No problem. In comes Joe Tafoya and Rocky Bernard to continue to apply pressure on the opposing QB.

Need better production and field position from your punting team? No problem. Adious Senor Araguz and in steps Tom Rouen, who skillfully pinned the Rams deep in their own end all day.

Obviously, Ruskell is not solely responsible for all of these players, but he should be credited for bringing in a new focus and outlook for the entire franchise, along with a sense of urgency and a rededicated commitment from the entire front office.

So I'm hoping that this way off Broadway production of "The Patriot Act" is a long running success, in the mode of "Cats" or "The Producers", and I'm already looking forward to the sequel next year!

11 comments:

  1. Beno Bryant was on KJR this morning and said, paraphrasing:

    "The Hawks will be in the NFC championship game. They should have a bye the first round. If it's at home they'll go to the SB, if they're on the road they loose."

    His reasoning was that the Hawks win in STL means they should win the division going away. The NFC North is miserable. The NFC East and South are going to beat up each other all season long. The Hawks will emerge with the best record in the NFC and secure homefield throughout the playoffs. 

    Posted by bokonon

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  2. who is Beno Bryant? 

    Posted by alba

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  3. Where was Beno last week? Media schmedia I say.

    Nice post alba, I said something similar in my first  post ever, which got exactly zero discussion btw, not that I am a praise whore... :-( 

    Posted by JoSCh

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  4. Don't undersell the profession of being a praise whore. Once you get past the humiation and constant drippage, you really start to like it!

    BTW, if you'll notice, "Upstate Thunder", aka Alba the Praise Whore, responded with 3 comments on that initial post, not exactly zero discussion now is that? 

    Posted by alba

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  5. One post sort of had some discussion regarding the post, the rest was banter. BANTER I SAY! 

    Posted by JoSCh

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  6. you know me, I just clicked the link and then skimmed! 

    Posted by alba

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  7. Josch, im pretty sure i discussed my thoughts in that post pretty well...im guessing im the one that goes under te heading of 'one post sort of had some discussion regarding the post'

    thats all we need is two guys who want all the attention on this site...sadly for you guys, I think the TWM is getting all the attention :P

    as for the patriot act...i said when we started making these signings that a bunch of good players outweights a superstar at positions that require several people (secondary, receiver, linebacker, lines)...but i know im not the only one...just want attenton too...ANYWAYS....erm...this is the way i see the tiers:

    Tier One

    Colts, Patriots, Steelers

    Tier Two

    Seahawks, Panthers, Jaguars, Chargers, Broncos, Falcons, Eagles

    Tier Two.Five (Unproven Teams (This Year) Making Statement)

    Cowboys, Bengals, Buccaneers
    -------------------------------

    Thats how I see it...the tier teams are in no order, although I do think the Eagles are BARELY in tier two...and if noone believes me, keep watching them...they only look good because they play bad teams...now they will be exposed when they play us (barring injury, and especially refs)...other then that, thats how I see it...

    So I do think we have a legitimate shot at being a first round bye team...though its unlikely, because the refs only screwed us twice so far...we're due for about 6 costly screwjobs this year 

    Posted by adp

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  8. Who doesn't know who Beno Bryant is? Wouldn't he be a good selection for thursdays with idiots? He did return kicks for us for a short time, didn't he? 

    Posted by check

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  9. Ummm, that would be the guy from Upstate NY, who's only gotten to see Seattle in person or on TV about a two dozen times in the 30 years I've been following the team! 

    Posted by alba

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  10. Ahhhhhhhh. Beno Bryant is a football journalist whose been covering the game nationally for like 30 year--including 10+ at ESPN--he's like 75 years old. Although I would pay money to see him return a kickoff. 

    Posted by bokonon

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  11. alba, I agree wholeheartedly with your post, the new TEAM FIRST direction really as taken hold, and it's about stinkin time! We finally got us a TEAM! I love it. Now my concern is this recent string of injuries, how much will all these injuries, most notably to our two starting recievers hurt us? My bet is not as much as people think it will, with Jurivicius and Hackett both playing terrific ball. But you can't just take away DJack and Bobby without feeling the loss, I am a bit worried. Fortunately next week we play the leagues worst team.

    ReplyDelete