kearly
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Been soaking it all in today, it's just been something to hear non-Seahawks fans gush about this game and our team. Unfortunately, there have been some less than accurate narratives that have taken hold after this game and will unfortunately go down in the history books despite being misleading or untrue.
#1: The Twelves left early.
It's understandable that some fans would leave early when they think their team is about to lose in devastating fashion. I have little doubt that of the 67,000 fans in attendance, at least a few left.
But a picture of 50 fans looking through a window doesn't really tell you anything. During football season, especially on Sundays, you could probably find 500,000 people wearing Hawks uniforms within the city limits, whether they went to the game or not. Wearing a jersey doesn't mean you just came from the game.
I've seen several videos now that were taken from within the stadium during the game's final plays, and I seriously couldn't spot a single empty seat. This narrative is lazy at best, fan jealousy at worst.
There's also a sister-narrative about how Century Link was dead quiet in this game, which is equally laughable.
#2: Mike McCarthy called a shit game.
While it's true that Green Bay only scored 6 points off of 5 turnovers, they still rushed for over 130 yards as a team, had a deceptively effective game from a gimpy Rodgers, managed several long drives and put themselves in position to have a 99.9% chance to win the game. At one point the Hawks literally had a 0.1% chance to win this game. (Other metrics had Seattle below 4%). Obviously, Mike McCarthy and his staff did something right for the first 57 minutes of the game, even if Seattle helped them A LOT.
And when Seattle made their furious comeback, it felt a lot more like unyielding destiny than a series of coaching gaffes.
Basically, McCarthy has taken heat for kicking FGs on 4th and goal from the one, despite the fact that Seattle has one of the best defenses in history and had stuffed Green Bay on multiple short yardage attempts prior. Pete Carroll was facing a similar scenario in SB XLVIII. Twice in the first quarter he had fourth and short in the red zone and took the points. He didn't risk handing morale to his explosive opponent. Look how that worked for Pete in an even bigger game than this.
McCarthy took the same tact, and for 57 minutes, this appeared to be the wise decision. Saying "woulda shoulda" now is classic MMQB'ing.
#3: Clinton-Dix should have defended the two point conversion.
This is a fairly minor one, but it's still wrong. Watch the play. Clinton-Dix GOES FOR THE FOOTBALL. But Luke Willson has the size advantage and Russell Wilson somehow makes a throw to a spot where only Luke Willson can get his hands on it. There is literally nothing Clinton-Dix can do there to make the play, other than committing DPI or making the tackle of a lifetime.
#4: Morgan Burnett getting massacred for sliding after 4th pick.
I have mixed feelings on this one. I think the decision to slide was probably a mistake, but at the same time, we just saw a game two weeks ago where a Dallas player didn't slide after recovering a late fumble and fumbled it back. We saw a game many years ago with the Pats and Chargers where a crucial Tom Brady interception was fumbled back when the Chargers defender attempted to return it, a decision that ultimately cost his team the game.
This wasn't the same situation as those two, but I think Burnett was making the conservative decision in a conservative situation. If I was him I would have returned it and tried harder to put the game away, but by no means was it a display of incompetence.
#5: (see below)
The last one isn't a narrative, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. Aaron Rodgers first interception of the game very likely cost Green Bay points, and with three extra points we're probably talking about Atlanta 2.0 today. Rodgers said after the game that he threw that pass because a defensive lineman (I think Michael Bennett, but not 100% sure), jumped offsides. Rodgers thought he had the free play so he tested Sherman. The offsides flag was not thrown, but if you watch that play again, you can clearly see a Seahawks DL jump well into the neutral zone and does not get back before the snap. Had that been flagged as it should have been, it's a very different game in the final minutes.
That's not to diminish how amazing this comeback was. It was one of the most incredible displays of resiliency I've ever seen in an NFL game. But at the same time, Seattle was not the only team to suffer a few shitty breaks, the Packers did too. I guess that's why the ending was so great. The very best games are often riddled with imperfections.
#1: The Twelves left early.
It's understandable that some fans would leave early when they think their team is about to lose in devastating fashion. I have little doubt that of the 67,000 fans in attendance, at least a few left.
But a picture of 50 fans looking through a window doesn't really tell you anything. During football season, especially on Sundays, you could probably find 500,000 people wearing Hawks uniforms within the city limits, whether they went to the game or not. Wearing a jersey doesn't mean you just came from the game.
I've seen several videos now that were taken from within the stadium during the game's final plays, and I seriously couldn't spot a single empty seat. This narrative is lazy at best, fan jealousy at worst.
There's also a sister-narrative about how Century Link was dead quiet in this game, which is equally laughable.
#2: Mike McCarthy called a shit game.
While it's true that Green Bay only scored 6 points off of 5 turnovers, they still rushed for over 130 yards as a team, had a deceptively effective game from a gimpy Rodgers, managed several long drives and put themselves in position to have a 99.9% chance to win the game. At one point the Hawks literally had a 0.1% chance to win this game. (Other metrics had Seattle below 4%). Obviously, Mike McCarthy and his staff did something right for the first 57 minutes of the game, even if Seattle helped them A LOT.
And when Seattle made their furious comeback, it felt a lot more like unyielding destiny than a series of coaching gaffes.
Basically, McCarthy has taken heat for kicking FGs on 4th and goal from the one, despite the fact that Seattle has one of the best defenses in history and had stuffed Green Bay on multiple short yardage attempts prior. Pete Carroll was facing a similar scenario in SB XLVIII. Twice in the first quarter he had fourth and short in the red zone and took the points. He didn't risk handing morale to his explosive opponent. Look how that worked for Pete in an even bigger game than this.
McCarthy took the same tact, and for 57 minutes, this appeared to be the wise decision. Saying "woulda shoulda" now is classic MMQB'ing.
#3: Clinton-Dix should have defended the two point conversion.
This is a fairly minor one, but it's still wrong. Watch the play. Clinton-Dix GOES FOR THE FOOTBALL. But Luke Willson has the size advantage and Russell Wilson somehow makes a throw to a spot where only Luke Willson can get his hands on it. There is literally nothing Clinton-Dix can do there to make the play, other than committing DPI or making the tackle of a lifetime.
#4: Morgan Burnett getting massacred for sliding after 4th pick.
I have mixed feelings on this one. I think the decision to slide was probably a mistake, but at the same time, we just saw a game two weeks ago where a Dallas player didn't slide after recovering a late fumble and fumbled it back. We saw a game many years ago with the Pats and Chargers where a crucial Tom Brady interception was fumbled back when the Chargers defender attempted to return it, a decision that ultimately cost his team the game.
This wasn't the same situation as those two, but I think Burnett was making the conservative decision in a conservative situation. If I was him I would have returned it and tried harder to put the game away, but by no means was it a display of incompetence.
#5: (see below)
The last one isn't a narrative, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. Aaron Rodgers first interception of the game very likely cost Green Bay points, and with three extra points we're probably talking about Atlanta 2.0 today. Rodgers said after the game that he threw that pass because a defensive lineman (I think Michael Bennett, but not 100% sure), jumped offsides. Rodgers thought he had the free play so he tested Sherman. The offsides flag was not thrown, but if you watch that play again, you can clearly see a Seahawks DL jump well into the neutral zone and does not get back before the snap. Had that been flagged as it should have been, it's a very different game in the final minutes.
That's not to diminish how amazing this comeback was. It was one of the most incredible displays of resiliency I've ever seen in an NFL game. But at the same time, Seattle was not the only team to suffer a few shitty breaks, the Packers did too. I guess that's why the ending was so great. The very best games are often riddled with imperfections.