Random Thoughts™ on the 49ers playoff game

[Blitzer88]

Great stuff again Kearly!

 

[Bux005]

I don't post a lot, was a lurker for years, but I always looked forward to your thoughts on games. And am very pleasantly surprised when you post them now. Thank you very much. It's obvious you love watching Hawks football so it probably isn't a huge chore for you when you actually have time to do them, but I also realize how much time most of these probably take you. Anyway, thanks man. Even if you can just do a quick "random thoughts", they are still awesome to read.

 

[kigenzun]

Once upon a time, Joe Montana rolled right, lofted a wobbly lob, and basically pulled a miracle victory out of his back pocket against the Mighty Cowboys. When Dwight Clark came down with that ball in the back of the end zone, it was an epic defining moment in sports, and the 49ers went on to win their first SuperBowl. This came to define their team and led to them becoming a storied franchise known for excellence. To the tune of those 5 golden rings we keep hearing about.
There are many moments like this throughout sports history: Bird Stole The Ball, Michael Jordan's heroic buzzer beater jumpers, Kirk Gibson's hobbled Walk Off Homer, The Do you believe in Miracles? USA Hockey Team, The Catch, and many many more...
However, something happened tonight that we all witnessed as special; a franchise defining moment in Seattle.

'The Tip' by Richard Sherman, into the waiting hands of Malcolm Smith, was the nail in the coffin 3rd turnover to seal the victory in tonights game over the 49ers. And is every bit of an epic sports moment for Seattle in 2014, as The Catch was for San Francisco way back in 1981. IMO 'The Tip' will be the moment we all remember, that helped us break through to our first SuperBowl victory i.e. The Moment That Defines A Franchise. Tonight was special. May we all remember it forever. Go Hawks!

 

[kearly]

This game had zero flow. I don't believe in momentum, and this game is Exhibit A. Seattle could not put 3 good plays together, but the NIners had trouble putting two good plays together.

Offense is all about rhythm. Defense is all about disruption. Given the strengths and weaknesses of both teams and the matchups, a game like this was a recipe for disruption. To Seattle's credit, their defense just got better as the game went on. The last four possessions for SF went: punt, fumble, pick, pick.

I think momentum is like gravity. We can't explain it, but it's very real. (Ditto to Russell Wilson's special "skill set" of intangibles). Though in fairness to you, it is far less evident in the professional ranks. At the High School and College levels momentum is pretty hard to deny. In the pros coaches usually know how to make adjustments before things spiral too far out of control and players are mature enough that the psychological impact of momentum is not usually long lasting.

But to be sure, it exists, and I think it is the likely reason why you see a lot of coaches going for 50 yard bombs right after being the good side of a backbreaking turnover. Think about mob mentality and how group dynamics change people's psychology. Being on a team is the same thing. Non QB players control so little, they could dominate every play and still get blown out. Group psychology is extremely important in competition, and momentum plays into that. When Seattle came back in the Atlanta playoff game, it was because a group of men believed the impossible could happen, and the other group of men feared it could happen.

Another thing, we saw no less than three teams this season rip off 8+ game winning streaks (Chiefs, Panthers, 49ers). The cold, statistical probability of winning eight straight is very low, to the point where it should be incredibly rare. But you see streaks of that length fairly often in sports, especially in baseball and basketball. Losing streaks too. The Texans this year. Events that consistently exceed probability every season in most sports. I don't know how that can be explained if psychological effects are a myth.

 

[Lady Talon]

I have to think KJ was too slow returning from that broken foot and shouldn't have been showcased being unable to contain Kap to much lower chunks of rushing yardage.

Kap kissing the bicep in the Clink would have sent me to alcoholic depths and tarnished our win in my eyes. Thank you Kam Chancellor (my player of the game, simply for saving me from that sight).

 

[scutterhawk]

This game had zero flow. I don't believe in momentum, and this game is Exhibit A. Seattle could not put 3 good plays together, but the NIners had trouble putting two good plays together.

Offense is all about rhythm. Defense is all about disruption. Given the strengths and weaknesses of both teams and the matchups, a game like this was a recipe for disruption. To Seattle's credit, their defense just got better as the game went on. The last four possessions for SF went: punt, fumble, pick, pick.

I think momentum is like gravity. We can't explain it, but it's very real. Though in fairness to you, it is far less evident in the professional ranks. At the High School and College levels momentum is pretty hard to deny. In the pros coaches usually know how to make adjustments before things spiral too far out of control and players are mature enough that the psychological impact of momentum is not usually long lasting.

Yep, that and Russell Wilson getting the ball out quicker, and ditching that funk he's been in for the last six Weeks or so.
THAT just might be what it takes to win all the marbles in two Weeks eh?
Oh, and Thanks Kearly, s'more good write'n. :th2thumbs:

 

[MrCarey]

Man, I stopped coming here for a hot minute, because you stopped posting awhile ago. I couldn't hold myself back this week, because screw it, and BAM, kearly post. This shit has me so hyped. I said everything you posted in the best terms that I could. 2 damn weeks, people.

 

[HawKnPeppa]

on that 4th down td, was russell taking a 'free shot' because sf was off sides?

Correct. I think Kearly somehow missed the situational aspect, though it's rare in his case

 

[HawKnPeppa]

They went to a zone defense to keep Kaep from running.

They went zone and assigned a spy to him (per Pete), so they had a heads up when he bolted.

 

[smerfy01]

Great thoughts Kearly, I share most of your sentiment.

This game was the definition of a nail-biter. The best damn game I've seen since the Ravens/Broncos in the playoffs last year.

This game had everything a football fan could want. 2 amazing defenses disrupting plays and making bone-shattering hits all over the place. Yeah, it got a bit chippy every now and then and there were some nasty injuries...but that's what football is all about.

We got to watch 2 teams leave everything out on the field today. Mistakes were made for both teams, but it's rare to see such a high level of even competition. The fact that it came down to "the tip" just shows how even these teams were on the field.

I actually liked what I saw from the niners through the first 3 quarters. They had a great gameplan to try and capitalize on any mistakes in coverage we made. Kap used his legs effectively. Even Gore had a few good runs (before we completely shut him down). They showed grit, determination and a never-give-up attitude that I hadn't seen from them before. In a weird way, they kinda looked like us in that last drive...until "the tip."

Our offense looked like our offense since Rice went out for the first half, but something happened in the 2nd quarter. We started moving the ball. We had 2 good drives. One was killed with a penalty and the other ended in a FG.

2nd half, we made some great adjustments and took one of the riskiest plays I have ever seen. That 4th and 7 should be remembered for a long time. Big BRASS BALLS on Carroll for taking Haushka out and letting Wilson make one hell of a clutch play.

Our offense, our defense and our special teams all showed up at the right time. We came back. We held on. We beat our division rival, arguably the 2nd best team in the NFL. Now the road leads to the last game of the 2013 NFL season and we're in it. Against one of the greatest QB's of all time and statistically the best offense to grace an NFL field...

I like our chances.

 

[NorCalHawk12]

I have to think KJ was too slow returning from that broken foot and shouldn't have been showcased being unable to contain Kap to much lower chunks of rushing yardage.

Kap kissing the bicep in the Clink would have sent me to alcoholic depths and tarnished our win in my eyes. Thank you Kam Chancellor (my player of the game, simply for saving me from that sight).

I'm not really commenting on your post, except to say that bicep thing is silly to me. He can't even reach it through his facemask.

I just wanted to give you props on your sig. Very original...and very cool.

 

[Lady Talon]

I have to think KJ was too slow returning from that broken foot and shouldn't have been showcased being unable to contain Kap to much lower chunks of rushing yardage.

Kap kissing the bicep in the Clink would have sent me to alcoholic depths and tarnished our win in my eyes. Thank you Kam Chancellor (my player of the game, simply for saving me from that sight).

I'm not really commenting on your post, except to say that bicep thing is silly to me. He can't even reach it through his facemask.

I just wanted to give you props on your sig. Very original...and very cool.

Why thanks, would help if I changed the year on that last edit though.

 

[NorCalHawk12]

I have to think KJ was too slow returning from that broken foot and shouldn't have been showcased being unable to contain Kap to much lower chunks of rushing yardage.

Kap kissing the bicep in the Clink would have sent me to alcoholic depths and tarnished our win in my eyes. Thank you Kam Chancellor (my player of the game, simply for saving me from that sight).

I'm not really commenting on your post, except to say that bicep thing is silly to me. He can't even reach it through his facemask.

I just wanted to give you props on your sig. Very original...and very cool.

Why thanks, would help if I changed the year on that last edit though.

Ooops. I didn't even catch that.

 

[The Radish]

You know how Tate caught that one pass for a HUGE conversion, then ran backwards like 4 yards to give it up for no reason, then flubbed his way ahead four yards again to get the first down again? That play was the Seahawks 2013 season in a nutshell. The Seahawks are winners, but man they find a lot of weird ways to win football games sometimes.

To me it looked like one of our lineman grabbed him, spun him around and pushed him back across the 1st down marker.

 

[Largent80]

On the running into the kicker play, Maragos was already completely on the ground and the proper call was made, but I was sweating that one out.

Baldwin. Wow, without him we are looking forward to the draft.

RW. That first play, I was so mad at him, but I told my wife, he will redeem himself, which he did.

Amazing game that I can't wait to watch again.

 

[Hawkscanner]

Good thoughts there Kip that are pretty close to my own. I don't think it's a stretch whatsoever to call this game the biggest/best win in Seahawks history. I've seen a lot of them and I can't honestly recall one off the top of my head that really compares.

Let me tell you, all week I was calling for Bevell and Carroll to let it all hang out as far as the offense was concerned, saying that we couldn't win unless the Seahawks took a few more chances. Did they ever take the governor off the engine. This was anything but a conservative game approach. Absolutely unbelievable.

A few thoughts of my own ...

4th and 7!!! Holy Cow! I don't think that's a stretch at all to say that Kearse's TD catch could be the biggest in Seahawks history either. I envision that one could become one of those Joe Montana to Dwight Clark ... or Franco Harris's Immaculate Reception highlights that gets replayed again and again from here on out. One of the biggest throws and catches in all of NFL History -- flat out.

Man, Colin Kaepernick WAS basically the San Francisco offense. When Iupati went down, I said to myself that things with their offense were going to take a turn. They most certainly did as the game wore on. When Bowman went down, I really thought that things were going to open up in terms of our ability to move the football. It sure felt like they did. Those were two very big blows for the 49ers.

Let me say that Colin Kaepernick is a very physically talented player ... BUT, he is certainly no Joe Montana. Late in the game ... in a hostile environment ... when there were plays that this team NEEDED him to make in the clutch, he not only came up short -- he more or less choked. Russell Wilson, on the other hand, had his rough moments but when the game was on the line, made the play. This game demonstrated very clearly who the better QB is.

I thought that plays would be there to be made for the Seahawks receivers downfield -- especially to the TE's. I was certainly right on that one. That long bomb to Luke Willson was a whale of a play that he nearly came up with ... and it took a whale of a defensive play by the 49ers to knock that ball away. Kudos to them on that one.

On James Carpenter ... someone's going to have to explain to me WHY starting him in this game was a good move. I'll have to go back to the take and watch it again, but it seemed to me like when he was in there ... he was getting toasted. And all of a sudden I look up and Alvin Bailey is in there at a point where the Seahawks offense was clicking. I don't think that was a coincidence.

Say what you want, but the guys in the striped shirts helped us out a whole lot more than they hurt us. That fumble that wasn't on Kearse that was recovered by Bowman ... and then that running in to the kicker on Maragos (that should have been a 15 yard penalty) were HUGE calls that went our way that shouldn't have.

A play that's going to be undersold and lost in the shuffle in many ways was that 51 yard completion to Doug Baldwin early in the game. Seattle's offense had done basically ZIP and to me, that felt like a huge momentum shift that basically ignited things for the Seahawks and got things going. A very key play of the game.

On Lynch's fumble on that 4th and 1 run, as much as I like gambling at times I was saying to myself there -- don't do it Pete. Kick the Field Goal. Make this a 2 score game. I know that he was looking to put the nail in the coffin with a final TD there, but like you, that one just felt like a mistake to me. Thank God that Kaepernick made a critical error with that pick to Kam Chancellor.

Marshawn Lynch was a huge difference maker in this game. Do you guys realize that the 49ers hadn't allowed a 100 yard rusher all year long ... until last night. That said, to me this was Russell Wilson's game. This was a game (and it felt like this from the get go) that if the Seahawks were going to win that Russell Wilson had to take over. And he did. He most certainly did. Though Peyton Manning is going to get all the hype heading in to New York, anyone who saw this game can't help but marvel over what Russell Wilson did when you consider just WHO he did it against. He posted a 104.6 QB Rating against one of the very best defenses out there. This is one time I'm going to quibble with Total QBR (as they have Wilson with a Total QBR of just 38.9). That was NOT a below average QB effort by any means. That was one of the more clutch performances in Hawks history.

Totally agreed with you on Byron Maxwell. Though Sherman is going to get a lot more of the attention, to me Byron Maxwell was in many ways the player of the game in terms of the defense. The job that he did in shutting down San Francisco's receivers was nothing short of amazing. Personally, I think we've found our starter opposite Sherman for next season.

Harbaugh's time outs at the end of the game ... absolutely hilarious to me. The man's consistent. To me, he's like that final scene with Kahn from Star Trek II saying, "From Hell's heart, I stab at thee. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee."

On that Sherman tipped ball to Malcolm Smith -- a thing of beauty. It reminded me a lot of that tipped pass from Sherman to Earl Thomas a few games back and made me wonder if that kind of trail play (with Sherman covering and another defender trailing for the possible interception) is something that the Seahawks either work on or more or less have in the playbook on those kind of deep routes.

Personally for me, I feel the opposite on Sherman's post game comments. To me, they were kind of a black eye on an otherwise great game. We have a chance to make legions of new Seahawks fans across the country ... and many people watching nationally are simply going to see this as another reason to hate Seattle and to root for Peyton Manning.

I cannot wait ... I'm virtually frothing at the mouth over the prospect of getting Percy Harvin back and then getting to face a Broncos Defense that has given up A LOT of big plays this year (61 passing plays of 20 yards or more given up -- 5th Most in the NFL). I know it's Peyton Manning Seattle is going up against, but I don't know how anyone watching last night's game could actually favor the Broncos ... and think that Manning is going to somehow light up the Legion of Boom. This time around, I'm feeling very good about our chances to be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in 2 weeks time.

 

[Hawks46]

There were a lot of called QB runs by SF early in the game and it looked like it took us by surprise. There was one play in particular, off of RT, where they ran a sweep and Gore was a lead blocker. Gore is a damned good blocker and that play design was incredible.

We started shutting that down. Also, Kaepernick tried running earlier in the play than he used to try against us. Our DL was getting out of their rush lanes and leaving the middle of the field wide open to Kap and he took it. At halftime, we adjusted and their offense took a pretty big hit.

I love how we held Gore to almost nothing. Great penetration on the line, and the first guy was getting Gore down.

There were some bad calls both ways but I honestly feel we got the better side of the calls this game, for once. That fumble recovery by Bowman didn't hurt them and it actually helped them. I didn't like the personal foul call at the end of the first half where Rogers just pushes (I think Baldwin) out of bounds after the play, but it wasn't egregious or overly physical. That stuff goes on all game.

Our passing game came back, but that was the weakness of this 49ers squad, their secondary. Baldwin showed up huge for us this game.

I kept yelling for them to pound the rock with Lynch. Even when it wasn't working at first, you could just sense that when we started to come back, it really sapped the Niners emotionally. You could really see the fatigue set in on the defensive side. I haven't seen us own the Niners' OL that way in a while; it won't show up on the stat sheets as Kaepernick but up a ton of rush yards, but our defensive line rotation, coupled with all the road games the Niners have been playing seemed to slow down their OL as well.

That last play with Sherman....it was surreal to me. Maybe not on that play, but I KNEW where Kap was going in the end zone. It was either Crabs or Boldin and more likely Crabs. When he took that shot, I KNEW Sherman was going to make a play. That tip came out in slow motion and I KNEW Smith was going to get that ball. There was no doubt in my mind.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

Once upon a time, Joe Montana rolled right, lofted a wobbly lob, and basically pulled a miracle victory out of his back pocket against the Mighty Cowboys. When Dwight Clark came down with that ball in the back of the end zone, it was an epic defining moment in sports, and the 49ers went on to win their first SuperBowl. This came to define their team and led to them becoming a storied franchise known for excellence. To the tune of those 5 golden rings we keep hearing about.
There are many moments like this throughout sports history: Bird Stole The Ball, Michael Jordan's heroic buzzer beater jumpers, Kirk Gibson's hobbled Walk Off Homer, The Do you believe in Miracles? USA Hockey Team, The Catch, and many many more...
However, something happened tonight that we all witnessed as special; a franchise defining moment in Seattle.

'The Tip' by Richard Sherman, into the waiting hands of Malcolm Smith, was the nail in the coffin 3rd turnover to seal the victory in tonights game over the 49ers. And is every bit of an epic sports moment for Seattle in 2014, as The Catch was for San Francisco way back in 1981. IMO 'The Tip' will be the moment we all remember, that helped us break through to our first SuperBowl victory i.e. The Moment That Defines A Franchise. Tonight was special. May we all remember it forever. Go Hawks!

What an awesome post!

 

[Sarlacc83]

and then that running in to the kicker on Maragos (that should have been a 15 yard penalty) were HUGE calls that went our way that shouldn't have.

No it shouldn't have been. Roughing the kicker is a personal foul, and Maragos made the attempt not to hit the punter. In fact, it was barely running into the kicker because the punter was no longer in the air, but instead his foot had hit the ground.

 

[AgentDib]

Just in case people missed Wilson's interview, the 4th down TD call was actually a shorter route. Wilson told the team in the huddle that he was going to try a double call and to be prepared for a shot down the field, and his double call drew them off sides so he went ahead and took the resulting shot.