The Seahawks brought their defense from the 4th quarter of the Giants game tonight and got blasted by Da Bears 37-6. The offense deserves some of the blame for the loss, obviously (Matt Hasslebeck got sacked 5 times AGAIN, and he threw 2 picks), but I'll give them a partial pass because of Shaun Alexander's absence (even though, ironically, the 'Hawks had a better average gain per rush than the Bears, 4.1-3.8).
The D gave up 4 touchdowns tonight, 2 on the ground (Chicago's first rushing TDs of the season), and 2 through the air. Both Marcus Trufant and Kelly Herndon got burned by Chicago WRs Muhsin Muhammad and Bernard Berrian, and the vaunted front 7 let Bears RB Thomas Jones gain 98 yards and 2 TDs.
Meezy's keys to the game turned out to be everything the Seahawks DIDN'T do tonight, and the final score reflects that. As I mentioned up top, the Bears sacked Hasselbeck 5 times, while the 'Hawks only got one (a nice sack by Russell Davis). Chicago won the turnover battle with a +2 margin (Bears' DB Ricky Manning, Jr. made 2 nice picks, while the 'Hawks D didn't take the ball away from the Chicago offense). The offense only got 153 yards passing and 77 rushing (versus Chicago's 219 passing and 143 rushing); the 4 wide receiver sets weren't as effective as last week because the Bears put pressure on Hasslebeck and covered the WRs surprisingly well.
Now, the Seahawks have two weeks to prepare for the surprisingly 3-1 (and probably will be 4-1 after playing at Green Bay next week) Lambs. Let's hope they prepare to make Lamb Stew and not stew over this game (no pun intended).
(to comment, click the green number to the right of the title above)
That disgusted me tonight. I was in depression for about an hour. I kept on saying during the game day chat that they needed to read my keys to the game but they didn'tand if they did they didn't execute it.
ReplyDeleteNobody did good tonight at all. WE SUCKED. point blank. Now we need to get it together heal up and get ready to do better every game after this.
Alexander is key to this offense and we need him back more than I thought. We need to run the ball with him. Come back SA we need you especially in the red zone.
I know the Bears are a good team but we did a pretty good job of beating ourselves too. Dropped balls, Hass's happy feet. Plus we let them T-off on Hass.
Can we please get off the field on 3rd down please.
Learn to spell my name! Just because Al Michaels calls me Hassel-back doesn't mean you need to type it that way. HasselbEck!
ReplyDeleteOne good thing, I hope this puts an end to the "Mo Morris can fill in for Shaun Alexander with no drop off" debate.
ReplyDeleteThe game really brought to life how much different the O-Line is from '05 (huck futchinson). The D was on the field way to long. They did a couple nice goal line stands. But the secondary,, was secondary..
ReplyDeleteTru sucked so bad that it took the focus away from how much Herndon sucked! The Chicago Sun Times said it best with this: "Marcus Trufant increased the popularity of #23 in Chicago!"
ReplyDeleteI've decided to take it for what it is, a laugher. I came in to work, high fived the boss (Bears fan in a Muhammed jersey today, dick!), quickly perused the local Seattle articles, and await the announcement that there will be NO WEEK OFF from Coach Holmgren.
ReplyDeleteProblems as I see them... No Alexander. I'd like to agree Alba, but people still are going to hate on Shaun, he's not "tough", and Morris fits the "system". With no Alexander you get the next 2 problems, the O line gets tired from pass blocking (Gray particularly), and Hass has to shoulder the whole load. He doesn't deal well with it, at least not this early in the season. Jail break pressure on Hass causes frustration, he obviously still has a problem with that.
Jeremy Stevens missing, lack of chip block help and a big fast target.
Holmgrens (and Hass' to a lesser degree) cockiness. He always had a brashness about his play calling, but the genius overthinks himself I think. Same with Hass' audibles.
Fast light D is just not a come from behind D. They're much better protecting a lead, when the play calling is essentially pre-determined (pass) where they can react to the ball in the air, and speed rush the passer.
Obviously injuries played a big part in this loss and the relative ineffectiveness during the previous weeks. Bye is at exactly the right time. I think they'll be fine for the Lambs as long as everyone gets healthy.
All corners get beat, especially against a big guy like Moose Muhammed, I am not worried about Trufant. But I will say I miss ya Kenny Lucas.
Trufant and Herndon certainly did get repeatedly burned, especially Herndon. And also Trufant. Injuries, specifically concussions, were probably the culprit there.
ReplyDeleteThis season Babineaux has been playing well as jack-of-all-trades nickel DB. Without him in there, the secondary is much less effective in coverage. When Boulware also went out--literally, (on an amazing hit that seemed to clearly cause a fumble,) Celestin had to come in, further reducing the coverage capabilities of the defense.
If I were making an awards post I'd say Citizen K likes birthday cakes with candles aflame. Why? He loves it when things get burned quickly and subsequently disappear. Thus, he loved the Hawks' coverage efforts.
Did anyone else think that Tatupu (for the second straight game) and Hamlin were basically non-factors in this contest?
FOUL!!!
ReplyDeleteHow come everyone dumps on Herndon but when Trufant stinks up the joint, he gets a free pass?
Yes, Tatoo was a bit of a non-factor, but it's unfair to single guys out from last nights stinker. Everyone sucked equally and with great determination.
Perhaps the Seahawks were too geeked up about this over-hyped "preview to NFC Championship" Perhaps they, like we, underestimated the improvement of the Bears. One thing's for sure, the Seahawks are NOT as bad as they looked last night.
That being said, this next game in St. Louis is as close to a MUST WIN as you can get in a week 6 matchup.
I believe my post disappeared. However, here was the general gist:
ReplyDeleteAlba: "How come everyone dumps on Herndon but when Trufant stinks up the joint, he gets a free pass?"
Whereas Citizen K had written: "Trufant and Herndon certainly did get repeatedly burned, especially Herndon. And also Trufant," which, to him, seems not at all like giving Trufant a free pass. In fact, I've never really been that impressed with the cover skills of either Herndon or Trufant, to be honest. I can't figure out why Trufant is rated so highly--he gets few picks, and defenses few passes, yet opposing offenses routinely throw away from him (hence exposing poor Herndon on the other side.)
Anyhow, "but it's unfair to single guys out from last nights stinker."
In the spirit of unfairness, I would like to single out Leroy Hill, Grant Wistrom, Julian Peterson (for the most part,) and Russell Davis, all of whom had relatively impressive games. Sorry, guys. ;-)
Sorry, "Matt", I'll do better on the spelling of your name in the future (just give me something good to write about next time, will ya??)
ReplyDeleteCitK - my comment had a little to do with your "especially Herndon" qualifier in dinging Tru, but mostly was for this comment by JoSCh...
ReplyDelete"All corners get beat, especially against a big guy like Moose Muhammed, I am not worried about Trufant. But I will say I miss ya Kenny Lucas."
That's the "free pass" I felt that Tru was getting.
Herndon is not a coverage corner. He gives up lots of catches, and usually makes the tackle. He's a fine slot corner. I expect him to give up catches. Kelly Jennings should have been on Berrian, as Jennings is supposed to be able to keep up with a fast guy.
ReplyDeleteIn defense of Trufant, if you give up 3 inches and 20 pounds to a guy, you are likely going to get beat on the jump ball. Ken Lucas is bigger and a better jumper, better against a big WR, and I miss that, especially with the WRs getting bigger every year.
It's not a free pass, Trufant is a run, turn and run corner, and can't beat a jump ball guy. What I'm not worried about is him being affected by being owned by the guy. Also not worried about Herndon, I just don't think he has the skills to be the #2 corner. In fact, I'd almost rather he were on Moose and Tru ran with Berrian, at least Herndon can hit.
Quit being so sensitive about the guy, realize he is a #3 corner and that you are a liberal hippie.
In a big game on the road like that you have to execute. On the first drive they were moving the ball and then Jackson drops the ball wide open, which I believe would have been another first down. That killed the momentum on that drive.
ReplyDeleteFirst drive by the Bears we shut them down. We then get the ball back and move it again. But without atleast the threat of the running of SA we can't get it in the end zone.
After that it all went down hill. Who knows if we atleast put it in for 6 on one of those first couple drives where we were actually moving the ball it might have been a different story.
Just seemed like to me we kept shooting ourselves in the foot early and once the momentum was firmly in the Bears hands it was all over.
Hasselbeck seemed to go back into his bad Brett Favre impersonation after that and I knew they were done.
I wouldln't be surprised if the Bears slip up and drop a few games to some bad teams down the road as they typically do and we still have a chance for HFA.
We better get our sh!% together though
Dusto
BigO:
ReplyDeleteThat's wacked. Robbie Tobeck--the Pro Bowler--attended WSU. I agree with your assessment of Trufant, though to a slightly lesser degree, but why bring his school into it? Your argument would be just as sound--if not moreso--without the blanket denigration of Cougs' competence in the NFL.
To illustrate this, it's like you're saying (this is hypothetical, of course,) that your wife, (who otherwise can make a halfway decent slice of toast,) due to her small hands is absolutely horrible at preparing a salad. She is always chopping the lettuce too large, forgetting the croutons, leaving peels on the carrots, etc. That in itself would be a fine premise with supporting evidence; your point is made. But then you take it a step too far, bolstering your argument with peripheral attributes that really add nothing to your case: "plus, she drives a Camry. I ain't never seen a Camry-driving woman who can make salad worth anything!" Adds nothing, undermines your credibility. Same deal with the Trufant/Cougs logic.
Kudo's to the Bears. They gave us an old fashioned ass whooping. They forced us to be one dimentional and rarely, if ever, left the dime. What Seattle should have done is forced them into cover two early by continuing to pound the damned ball. If Mo wasn't getting it, Weeks and Strong should have. By not using the un-known back, Marquise Weeks, and throwng in the wild card approach, the Bears were able to give hard preasure with the front four reading us to pass, pass, pass. Mo had 11 attempts only guys. What the hell is that? Mo ammased an increadible 37 hard pounding yards that didn't beat Chicago into squat.
ReplyDelete"I ain't never seen a Camry-driving woman who can make salad worth anything!"
ReplyDeleteBest ever. Stupid Camry drivers.
Check out Trufants PD #s and Ints, compare to the great Champ Bailey. I'm not saying he's as good as Champ, but he is a good cover guy, and his stats illustrate it, he doesn't get thrown at much, therefore won't have many Ints.
Citizen K,
ReplyDeleteLol I know but I have to throw that in there being a Husky and all. Everytime he fucks up I am obligated to yell "you stupid cougar bastard", it's like Chad Eaton and Ryan Leaf, stupid cougar bastards. You may not understand where I'm coming from but if Trufant attended your longtime hated rival school, you might put it down as an extra knock. I mean I knew first hand that we should have never drafted that dude, because I used to watch Reggie Williams (now with Jacksonville) use him like toilet paper every single time we played those assholes, I know first hand that he cannot cover a big reciever to save his life, if NFL teams take anything fromm that Chicago game it's 'put your big recievers on Trufants side of the field'. He's garbage, trust me.
BTW, my wife drives a Camry, and she makes an exceptional salad.
Trufant was beaten by EVERY NFL type WR he covered in college. It was a point make by many analysts after he was drafted. Mike Williams, Reggie Williams, and a couple of others, I think maybe even the other Williams (Roy). It scared me. Sure, he had a good college career, but everytime he had a chance to show what he could do against a talented WR, he was roasted.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I don't think they let Lucas go, I think he left. It's not like there are a ton of talented CBs out there. I'd be willing to bet fans of every team spend the week after their game b*tching about their corners. That's the way the NFL is set up these days. If a corner sneezes towards a WR he is called for interference.