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Quick Cap: Seattle 20 Tampa Bay 6

Just a great game.

The Hawks defense looked dominant: 5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, great coverage throughout, but best of all stopped 61% of all non-Qb rushing plays from being successful. I removed Cadillac's garbage time carries from the end of the first half the way Lofa Tatupu removed Williams from the game. And this might not be PC, but the two big injuries the Hawks forced might be the best indicator of the quality of their defense today--they were swarming, they were hitting and they were hitting hard. Jeff Garcia looked like a great fit in Jon Gruden's defense, too. The Bucs have a good young line but not a lot of weapons at the skill positions. The front seven impressed and proved much, but the secondary merely played competently against what was clearly one of Tampa Bay's weaknesses.

The offense sputtered, but I really believe some of that is just that all the Hawks' short patterns get eaten up by the Cover 2. The line looked very good, I only saw one blown assignment and it was Big Walt at fault. Jones is likely just rusty because he completely froze as Greg Spires darted around him. Huge holes blown open for the running game. Shaun faced a team of fast, savvy linebackers and though he didn't look good for much of the game, that's a very bad matchup for him and his cutback style. If Shaun was truly washed up, he would have been chased down on a lot more of his cutbacks. Shaun's fading, but the quickness hasn't totally vanished and he still has great vision, great patience and great decision making. Remember running back is a skill position. Watch the great ones and you won't just see devastating speed and power, you'll see an almost uncanny ability to see holes two seconds before they open.

Nate Burleson had one really good return, but the blocking wasn't always there and both he and Josh Wilson fell victim to returner greed and lost yards.

The Hawks only won by two touchdowns, but don't be fooled--they dominated this game. Seattle's offense will come alive next week against Arizona. Couple that with what looks like a bruising, ballhawk defense and we can begin to expect great things from the 2007 Seattle Seahawks.

Game Ball: Patrick Kerney, who put the Grant Wistrom comparisons to rest. I never knew he was so strong. His ability to play end and tackle, plus the kind of rest he will get thanks to the Hawks' ridiculous depth, could make him a season changing force for Seattle.

. . .

Full game tape review to follow tomorrow.

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how's Hackett?
Did they ever mention it?
omg wtf

by John Spartan on Sep 9, 2007 4:50 PM PDT   0 recs

Ankle. Don't know.
Seahawks Insider still has "First Half Stats" up, yep.

I don't have any insider access, but I think the fact that he sort of disappeared from the stadium, coupled with his "questionable" to return status means its a least getting looked at for something severe. That doesn't mean it is...of course.

by John Morgan on Sep 9, 2007 5:00 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

what a bunch of BULL S%#@!
Your team would have never won this game had: Excuse #1, Excuse #2, Excuse #3 ..... Thanks for hurting Cadillac and for treating Jeff Garcia like a rag-doll ... great game, we should do it again sometime

stab me in the chest!!!!!  GooD LucK the rest of the Way!!!

by JScott on Sep 9, 2007 4:56 PM PDT   0 recs

Thanks man...
You guys got a hell of a defense again, though. Looks like they might be a fun unit down the stretch. Thanks for stopping by!
--Shrug

by Shrug on Sep 10, 2007 12:39 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

awesome win
Kerney was a beast, agreed that he was the MVP.

Thought Deon Grant also played well.  Actually everyone on D looked good and they came to play.

Pollard didn't have any drops...welcome aboard.

We won with 0 catches from Deion Branch, yeah we have a pretty good group of wideouts.

Josh Brown is better than you.

by MFAN on Sep 9, 2007 5:04 PM PDT   0 recs

Kerney made me smile
And is it just me or was Lofa hitting harder than last year? 2 FF from him and he took Cadillac and Garcia out of the game
V. 1.0, mutherf***er, know what I'm sayin'?

by Scruffy Lefty on Sep 9, 2007 6:03 PM PDT   0 recs

He turns 25 November 15
Theoretically he should just be entering his athletic prime.

by John Morgan on Sep 9, 2007 6:41 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

NYG and DAL is getting exciting.
It's been a fun game to watch.  I hope Tony's Homos find a way to lose...

by BrettJMiller on Sep 9, 2007 8:20 PM PDT   0 recs

The Hawks D showed up
the Giants and Cowboys D did not.
Josh Brown is better than you.

by MFAN on Sep 9, 2007 8:34 PM PDT   0 recs

I thought Peterson
played really well.  I thought the Bucs were focusing a lot on keeping him out of the way all game and despite that he made some big plays not including the two sacks.  

I didn't realize Kearny was such a beast though. Jeeze, this is going to be fun to watch.  Peterson and Kearny all year.  Easily two of the downright scariest guys in the NFL.  

Chris

by CKremer on Sep 9, 2007 8:46 PM PDT   0 recs

Peterson has made a campaign for game ball...
in almost every contest he's played in since signing here. Talent like Peterson's rarely makes it into free agency but Muscley Arm's stock was devalued because of injury. Tim Ruskell correctly anticipated that his torn Achilles tendon was a freak injury and not indicative of fragility, and that his down 2005 was symptomatic of the long recovery associated with a tendon tear. A really heads-up signing by Ruskell.

The pass rush potential for the Hawks is truly exciting. Without Jason Babin or Ellis Wyms the Hawks pounded Garcia/McCown the Lesser for five sacks. The Bucs line is actually quite solid on pass defense, despite having Baltimore (60 Sacks), Chicago (40), Carolina (41) twice, Atlanta Twice (38) and Pittsburgh (39) on their 2006 schedule they only allowed 33 sacks all season. Further, Garcia's a very mobile quarterback who's skilled at avoiding the pass rush. It's just one game, but that was a truly dominant defensive effort.      

by John Morgan on Sep 9, 2007 9:44 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

since you mentioned it....
what practical impact will adding Babin and Wyms mean to the defensive line? If Babin was tossed mainly because he was being misused in Houston, then adding that to this afternoon's dominant showing sounds like a big deal.

by Captain Morgan on Sep 9, 2007 10:22 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I had no idea Kerney was such a beast either.
The pop he put on Garcia even made my Grandma jump out of her seat! (I was stuck at a family function watching the game).
"Every Halloween, the trees are filled with underwear. Every spring, the toilets explode."

by Thingray on Sep 10, 2007 12:14 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Impressions from the live game
I'd like to tell you my impressions from the game in the stands. First of all, we...

Hey. Wait. Did somebody whistle?

--Shrug

by Shrug on Sep 9, 2007 10:28 PM PDT   0 recs

It was you, wasn't it??
right when that happened I said "that's gotta be Shrug!"
Josh Brown is better than you.

by MFAN on Sep 9, 2007 10:44 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Well, I admit it.
I have the most distracting whistle in all of Section 328. Though it's more like a wheeze.
--Shrug

by Shrug on Sep 9, 2007 10:48 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Impressions from the live game
Man, I hate it when somebody whistles and I have to stop everything.

Coach Mike said it was a "typical first game." I think it went a little better than that but it's close to the truth.

Obviously at some point over the week they latched onto the philosophy of the short gain offense, because the Hawks executed that aspect of the game particularly well. The first half was frustrating to watch from the stands, but in the end they adhered to the mindset of simply grinding out the yardage and wearing the Buccaneers down. The trench game was great. When your star running back gets 20+ yards on a phone-it-in, time-chewing third-down run late in the game, you've worn out their defense. I like that we exhibited such patience.

Shaun was good. He still can't change direction. In fact none of us can change direction. I saw more north-south running patterns today than I felt comfortable with. But the grinding eventually paid off. I was relieved to see so many catches going to our backs and tight ends.

Hey, Pollard's pretty good.

The defense lived up to the hype, and then some. There were a lot of obvious game-changers, but the play that set the tone of the game was Kearny's hit on Garcia for a loss in the third quarter. It went down as a sack, but it looked more like a vicious, unrecoverable hit than someone taking the QB down. That was the play that galvanized the fans, from where I was sitting. That's what we've been looking for.

Lofa Tatupu has developed into a game manager quicker than any other player I can recall. Offense or defense. I watched the game on DVR and he seemed to be doing everything, at all times.

Overall it was a workmanlike game for the Seahawks. That's unusual in that the first game of the season isn't typically workmanlike for either side. If you give Coach the benefit and let him call it a "typical first game," you have to give the Hawks credit for reacting as coolly and controlled as they did. The Bucs threw up a pretty decent defense in the first half, but the Hawks made appropriate halftime adjustments. Long stretches of the second half were in fact pretty boring. In these types of chess games, I like boring. They struck me as a mature team (a couple wild miscues notwithstanding). That's good.

Jones Soda totally kicked ass too.

--Shrug

by Shrug on Sep 9, 2007 10:47 PM PDT   0 recs

I'm with you on the Jones.
Berry Lemonade was my flavor of choice out at Qwest this afternoon.

I've got to say, I'm with you on Marcus Pollard.  Unlike Jerramy Stevens, he can catch and hold on to the ball.  I think his skills fit very well into the Seahawks offense, and I really enjoyed watching him today.

I noticed Lofa was all over the place today too.  Whatever he did, it worked.

Shaun is so maddeningly inconsistent.  I thought "Yeah, he really is done" in the first half, then in the second half I changed my mind.  He needs to pick whether or not he's good or bad.

Patrick Kerney is awesome...I'm looking forward to seeing him play this year.

My Hawk for week 1, Matt, lived up to his billing for the most part.  So I was 70 yards and 2 TD's off.  I also was 1 INT off and pretty close on the completion percentage.

All in all, a solid game.  I'm glad football is back, there's nothing like being at Qwest field.

by BrettJMiller on Sep 9, 2007 11:08 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

n/s
Seeing Pollard make a few important yardage-eating plays was very gratifying. He won't be a go-to guy who'll steal the show, but he repeatedly executed in the surprise role. And in some game at some point he'll probably make a big red-zone TD catch. He might be a one-year stopgap, but even as a stopgap you've gotta have some hope that he'll be an improvement at that position over last year. I was surprised they went to him so often, but most if not all of his touches were productive.

I also neglected to mention Maurice Morris' hilarious touchdown catch -- the wobbliness of which was mitigated somewhat when I heard Coach explain that he wasn't the primary target on that play.

I also ridiculously neglected how great Bobby Engram performed, how Hasselbeck finished with a pretty damn good day from a QB rating perspective, and how freakishly inspired our pass rush was. This was our best Week 1 game in quite a few years. Hope it's not as good as Week 2, though.

--Shrug

by Shrug on Sep 10, 2007 12:35 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

n/s
with 5 sacks, 3 turnovers and an overall dominate performance I am not regretting drafting the Hawks D in the field gulls fantasy league.
Josh Brown is better than you.

by MFAN on Sep 9, 2007 11:33 PM PDT   0 recs

Best Parts of the game
The whole stadium booing WSU's band.

Mama Blue creeping me out while raising the flag.

The way Burleson came out late from the tunnel during defensive introductions and still getting some fireworks.

Brian Russell before the game working out looks about 5'4, 120 lbs.

Josh Brown cussing out Holmgren for not letting him kick the field goal in the 1st half.  The one where they were on the 38.

The one Bucs fan in section 233 who had on an Alstott jersey getting pissed off to the point of where he had to be removed because whenever anyone would toss him crap he would hold up his ring finger to indicate his team had a super bowl ring.  
Then getting bounced because security thought he was flipping people off.  

Jones soda.  

Buying a new JuPe jersey and golf towel from the Pro Shop.

Didn't DMZ make fun of your dad? - Scruffy Lefty to Coach Owens ...... - Coach Owens to Scruffy Lefty

by Christian on Sep 10, 2007 8:02 AM PDT   0 recs

Muscly Arm!
That's a great jersey to buy.
I reject your reality and substitute my own!

by Phildopip on Sep 10, 2007 8:40 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I was honestly thinking of
taking of the Peterson on the back and just putting ARMS on the back
Didn't DMZ make fun of your dad? - Scruffy Lefty to Coach Owens ...... - Coach Owens to Scruffy Lefty

by Christian on Sep 10, 2007 9:13 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

You would seriously be my hero
if you did that.
I reject your reality and substitute my own!

by Phildopip on Sep 10, 2007 11:27 AM PDT to parent up   0 recs

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