kearly
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Though I'd probably take the 49ers win last year in terms of pure gratification, this was the game that should silence any remaining doubters forever. It's going to be fun reading Eliot Harrison's power rankings tomorrow.
Other than Wilson playing well, other than Drew Brees turning into a checkdown machine, and other than Seattle winning, this game went almost perfectly the opposite of expectation.
-We know something other NFL fans don't: our secondary has very good depth. That said, Maxwell and Lane are risk takers and have been burned on occasion, and this game was against one of the ultra-elite QBs in the game. Most people expected the Saints to score, primarily because of a dropoff in the secondary. Instead, Maxwell had by far the best game of any of our corners, and other than a penalty here and there, Lane didn't kill us. I'm guessing not many people penciled Brees in for a career worst night tonight.
-The reason they didn't get burned was for a couple reasons. The first was that (as I predicted before the game) Drew Brees turned into a total pussy against our offense, often holding the ball for 4 or 5 seconds only to throw a 3 yard pass to his RB. For whatever reason, whether it's Brady, Rodgers, Manning (twice in preseason) and now Brees, elite QBs are scared shitless of our secondary and flip into Christian Ponder mode. Every now and then, that approach will get you an 18 play, clutch as hell TD drive that eats up 8 minutes of clock. But it's really hard to hang in a shootout with a game plan like that, as those elite QBs (who lost every game vs. Seattle) can attest. 18 playTD drives built on going 4/4 on 3rd downs are really freaking hard to do.
-The second reason, and not to diminish this win at all, but the bounces really favored Seattle in this game. The Bennett TD. The Coleman TD. The Wilson batted pass that had punt hang time and hit the ground. Those ones are obvious. What are less obvious was Maxwell going double or nothing to secure a PD over and over again. His best play of the night was a pass he swatted away from Jimmy Graham deep down the sideline. But had he missed the ball and flew on by, it's very possible that Graham turns up field for a cheap TD. I'm absolutely thrilled by Maxwell's performance, but make no mistake, dude's a gambler. It's important to remember that the next time he just misses a big PD or INT and gives up a TD instead.
-The next thing that went unexpectedly: The Saints run defense. Ranked 30th in DVOA coming into this game, against perhaps the best physical rush attack in the NFL. Further, they frequently lined up with just six or seven players in the box, inviting Seattle to run. That run D was sensational. Lynch and Turbin struggled mightily to break the first level all game long. Running outside was even worse, frequently resulting in TFL's. Those guys up front were masters of making tackles while being blocked, and I would guess this game represented the lowest broken tackle rate by Lynch in at least a couple years. I wonder how many times those guys watched Beastquake this week?
-Lynch, who averaged just under 3 yards a carry, was 2nd on the team in rushing after Russell Wilson.
-As Scottemojo once hinted at to me in a PM, JR Sweezy finally got some looks at lead blocker (fullback, H-back) during garbage time. It was only a few plays, but the talent as a run blocker on the move is undeniable. It's like having an extra pulling guard (an extremely athletic one) on every play he's at FB. Good on the announcing crew for picking up on that detail immediately.
-Ever since the starting OL came back, it seems there has been a pronounced dropoff in run blocking. This game might have been the worst run blocking all season, when adjusted for health, location, opponent, and game plan. The Saints over and over stopped Lynch cold with a mere 6 or 7 in the box, usually right at the first level. They did not miss tackles. I already gave credit to them, which they deserve, but part of that is on our OL too. They need to step it up against teams like the Rams and 49ers.
-Of course, the pass pro was infinitely better since the starters returned. It feels like Wilson gets sacked once a game these days, and when he does, he usually sacks himself. We may root for a run first team, but I don't think it's a coincidence that the offense is going off at the same time that we phased out run blocking for pass pro. Give Wilson some time, and he will cut defenses apart.
-Brees had all the time in the world tonight to throw on most of his passes. The one sack Seattle got was very close to not happening. Thankfully, Brees took 5 seconds of pristine pocket and turned it into throwaways and harmless check downs. I'm guessing we'll see a different game plan if these teams meet again. Credit to Brees, he dodged some sure sacks with his elite pocket navigation. It wasn't his performance that sucked. It was Sean Payton's offensive gameplan that played right into Carroll's hands and doomed Brees from the very start.
-Ed Hochuli had a rough night, and it's games like this that make me wonder if he's too old to run a crew efficiently. The first half was basically WWE officiating. There were some good calls of course, but there were a few brutal miscalls on both teams. Their inability to even recognize a delay of game 3 seconds over was stunning. But, in the second half watching the flag parade continue, I remarked to my brother that the flags actually favor Seattle as long as they remain decently even. It's really hard to mount a 27 point comeback with every other play being flagged. Especially when Hoculli spends a minute holding the game up just to tell everyone that they were stretching their balls.
-It's something every Seahawks fan knows. Seattle is brutal on 3rd and long. When Gruden said, "with this defense, it's gotta be 10%!", I laughed. Then they flashed the statistic. 3/34 this season. lolwut? The Saints would convert a 3rd and 10 later to push the percentage just over 10%, but man, what a stunning and unexpected stat. Could it be because Seattle can actually play zone defense this year?
-KJ Wright had a terrific game, even in coverage, even on Jimmy Graham. On the other side of the coin, Irvin missed some must-make tackles and seems in a funk most of the game. He did jar a clutch completion loose with a jarring hit, which alone probably means he had a good night overall. Still, it felt like a bit of regression tonight from Irvin at OLB.
-Seattle clinches a playoff spot, sets a new noise record, puts the few remaining super-idiot Seahawk doubter fans in the NFL on notice, and when Football Outsiders updates their numbers tomorrow, you can probably expect Seattle to have a 95% chance of HFA and maybe a 30-40% chance at winning the Super Bowl. Which as astounding as that number is in it's context (Denver is currently at 20%), it almost feels too low.
-We can all stop bickering about Harvin now. If you remember back, there were a lot of us here who didn't even think we needed him to win a championship. That's nothing against Harvin, but unless that one player is Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, or Earl Thomas, one person is just a drop in the bucket with this team.
-Tate had a drop but was otherwise his sturdy and excellent self. Doug Baldwin had a huge game, and Ricardo Lockette had a couple of difficult plays at big moments. Zach Miller was caught behind on his long reception by two Saints, one of them David Hawthorne. Hawthorne, the guy who probably needed 12 seconds for a 60 yard pick six a couple years back. Miller ain't no burner, but it was games like this that one again make him feel worth the money ($5 million next season IIRC), even if his overall production says otherwise.
-I expect a dominant win at SF next week (not to sound cocky, it's just that our D has Kaepernick's and his limited yet athletic skillset by the short ones), which would not clinch HFA, but it would get them very close as only the winner of the Saints/Panthers game would be in contention, and Seattle has the tiebreaker over either one.
-I started Drew Brees in fantasy football tonight. He got me 7.1 points, 13 below his projection. Ever since last year, whenever I have owned or started either a 49ers QB or a QB facing Seattle, they have brutally bombed every single time. And as soon as I cut them, they immediately go off. When I sign them back, they suck again. I recently got Kaepernick back btw, just in time for him to suck against Carolina. In tune with the Bud Light commercials, you're welcome my fellow Seahawks fans.
-Lastly, I was thrilled to hear the national media finally calling for Wilson to enter the MVP discussion. This is a guy who's lost just one game, and just barely lost it, and in the mean time all he's done is rack up a 108.5 passer rating and a 8.76 YPA to go with 467 yards rushing. It wasn't long ago we were in total awe of Aaron Rodgers for putting up numbers like these. Not that I think Wilson will win MVP or even that he necessarily should, but to not even be mentioned was a joke. Glad this game clears that up. And with the MVP discussion no longer taboo for Wilson, that sets him up for MVP poll position in 2014.
Other than Wilson playing well, other than Drew Brees turning into a checkdown machine, and other than Seattle winning, this game went almost perfectly the opposite of expectation.
-We know something other NFL fans don't: our secondary has very good depth. That said, Maxwell and Lane are risk takers and have been burned on occasion, and this game was against one of the ultra-elite QBs in the game. Most people expected the Saints to score, primarily because of a dropoff in the secondary. Instead, Maxwell had by far the best game of any of our corners, and other than a penalty here and there, Lane didn't kill us. I'm guessing not many people penciled Brees in for a career worst night tonight.
-The reason they didn't get burned was for a couple reasons. The first was that (as I predicted before the game) Drew Brees turned into a total pussy against our offense, often holding the ball for 4 or 5 seconds only to throw a 3 yard pass to his RB. For whatever reason, whether it's Brady, Rodgers, Manning (twice in preseason) and now Brees, elite QBs are scared shitless of our secondary and flip into Christian Ponder mode. Every now and then, that approach will get you an 18 play, clutch as hell TD drive that eats up 8 minutes of clock. But it's really hard to hang in a shootout with a game plan like that, as those elite QBs (who lost every game vs. Seattle) can attest. 18 playTD drives built on going 4/4 on 3rd downs are really freaking hard to do.
-The second reason, and not to diminish this win at all, but the bounces really favored Seattle in this game. The Bennett TD. The Coleman TD. The Wilson batted pass that had punt hang time and hit the ground. Those ones are obvious. What are less obvious was Maxwell going double or nothing to secure a PD over and over again. His best play of the night was a pass he swatted away from Jimmy Graham deep down the sideline. But had he missed the ball and flew on by, it's very possible that Graham turns up field for a cheap TD. I'm absolutely thrilled by Maxwell's performance, but make no mistake, dude's a gambler. It's important to remember that the next time he just misses a big PD or INT and gives up a TD instead.
-The next thing that went unexpectedly: The Saints run defense. Ranked 30th in DVOA coming into this game, against perhaps the best physical rush attack in the NFL. Further, they frequently lined up with just six or seven players in the box, inviting Seattle to run. That run D was sensational. Lynch and Turbin struggled mightily to break the first level all game long. Running outside was even worse, frequently resulting in TFL's. Those guys up front were masters of making tackles while being blocked, and I would guess this game represented the lowest broken tackle rate by Lynch in at least a couple years. I wonder how many times those guys watched Beastquake this week?
-Lynch, who averaged just under 3 yards a carry, was 2nd on the team in rushing after Russell Wilson.
-As Scottemojo once hinted at to me in a PM, JR Sweezy finally got some looks at lead blocker (fullback, H-back) during garbage time. It was only a few plays, but the talent as a run blocker on the move is undeniable. It's like having an extra pulling guard (an extremely athletic one) on every play he's at FB. Good on the announcing crew for picking up on that detail immediately.
-Ever since the starting OL came back, it seems there has been a pronounced dropoff in run blocking. This game might have been the worst run blocking all season, when adjusted for health, location, opponent, and game plan. The Saints over and over stopped Lynch cold with a mere 6 or 7 in the box, usually right at the first level. They did not miss tackles. I already gave credit to them, which they deserve, but part of that is on our OL too. They need to step it up against teams like the Rams and 49ers.
-Of course, the pass pro was infinitely better since the starters returned. It feels like Wilson gets sacked once a game these days, and when he does, he usually sacks himself. We may root for a run first team, but I don't think it's a coincidence that the offense is going off at the same time that we phased out run blocking for pass pro. Give Wilson some time, and he will cut defenses apart.
-Brees had all the time in the world tonight to throw on most of his passes. The one sack Seattle got was very close to not happening. Thankfully, Brees took 5 seconds of pristine pocket and turned it into throwaways and harmless check downs. I'm guessing we'll see a different game plan if these teams meet again. Credit to Brees, he dodged some sure sacks with his elite pocket navigation. It wasn't his performance that sucked. It was Sean Payton's offensive gameplan that played right into Carroll's hands and doomed Brees from the very start.
-Ed Hochuli had a rough night, and it's games like this that make me wonder if he's too old to run a crew efficiently. The first half was basically WWE officiating. There were some good calls of course, but there were a few brutal miscalls on both teams. Their inability to even recognize a delay of game 3 seconds over was stunning. But, in the second half watching the flag parade continue, I remarked to my brother that the flags actually favor Seattle as long as they remain decently even. It's really hard to mount a 27 point comeback with every other play being flagged. Especially when Hoculli spends a minute holding the game up just to tell everyone that they were stretching their balls.
-It's something every Seahawks fan knows. Seattle is brutal on 3rd and long. When Gruden said, "with this defense, it's gotta be 10%!", I laughed. Then they flashed the statistic. 3/34 this season. lolwut? The Saints would convert a 3rd and 10 later to push the percentage just over 10%, but man, what a stunning and unexpected stat. Could it be because Seattle can actually play zone defense this year?
-KJ Wright had a terrific game, even in coverage, even on Jimmy Graham. On the other side of the coin, Irvin missed some must-make tackles and seems in a funk most of the game. He did jar a clutch completion loose with a jarring hit, which alone probably means he had a good night overall. Still, it felt like a bit of regression tonight from Irvin at OLB.
-Seattle clinches a playoff spot, sets a new noise record, puts the few remaining super-idiot Seahawk doubter fans in the NFL on notice, and when Football Outsiders updates their numbers tomorrow, you can probably expect Seattle to have a 95% chance of HFA and maybe a 30-40% chance at winning the Super Bowl. Which as astounding as that number is in it's context (Denver is currently at 20%), it almost feels too low.
-We can all stop bickering about Harvin now. If you remember back, there were a lot of us here who didn't even think we needed him to win a championship. That's nothing against Harvin, but unless that one player is Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, or Earl Thomas, one person is just a drop in the bucket with this team.
-Tate had a drop but was otherwise his sturdy and excellent self. Doug Baldwin had a huge game, and Ricardo Lockette had a couple of difficult plays at big moments. Zach Miller was caught behind on his long reception by two Saints, one of them David Hawthorne. Hawthorne, the guy who probably needed 12 seconds for a 60 yard pick six a couple years back. Miller ain't no burner, but it was games like this that one again make him feel worth the money ($5 million next season IIRC), even if his overall production says otherwise.
-I expect a dominant win at SF next week (not to sound cocky, it's just that our D has Kaepernick's and his limited yet athletic skillset by the short ones), which would not clinch HFA, but it would get them very close as only the winner of the Saints/Panthers game would be in contention, and Seattle has the tiebreaker over either one.
-I started Drew Brees in fantasy football tonight. He got me 7.1 points, 13 below his projection. Ever since last year, whenever I have owned or started either a 49ers QB or a QB facing Seattle, they have brutally bombed every single time. And as soon as I cut them, they immediately go off. When I sign them back, they suck again. I recently got Kaepernick back btw, just in time for him to suck against Carolina. In tune with the Bud Light commercials, you're welcome my fellow Seahawks fans.
-Lastly, I was thrilled to hear the national media finally calling for Wilson to enter the MVP discussion. This is a guy who's lost just one game, and just barely lost it, and in the mean time all he's done is rack up a 108.5 passer rating and a 8.76 YPA to go with 467 yards rushing. It wasn't long ago we were in total awe of Aaron Rodgers for putting up numbers like these. Not that I think Wilson will win MVP or even that he necessarily should, but to not even be mentioned was a joke. Glad this game clears that up. And with the MVP discussion no longer taboo for Wilson, that sets him up for MVP poll position in 2014.
