seahawk2k
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There's a lot of fawning and hyperbole and "Best Seahawks QB ever" talk about Russell Wilson right now. He's being compared favorably to Matt Hasslebeck, people get offended that people are comparing a rookie qb to the greatest Seahawks quarterback ever, round and round we go.
But, nonetheless, I'm going to compare the two for one simple purpose.
My biggest gripe with Hasslebeck, and I dug the guy, was he wasn't a closer. He wasn't the guy that was going to win on the road in the playoffs. Hell, he wasn't even going to win against good teams on the road in the regular season. I think he got a little rattled, became too careful, and sometimes rushed things a bit. He did a lot of great things too and had a few iconic performances be forgotten because of the errors of his teammates(2003 Wild Card game comes to mind). I loved Hasslebeck, gutsy as hell, absolutely lethal when he was on. But he wasn't a closer. A closer doesn't clam up in OT against Chicago in 2006. A closer says, "BS holding call? I don't give a shit" and throws a touchdown on third and long in the Super Bowl after the Locklear hold instead of a horrible interception.
I've always wanted a closer at quarterback. A guy who could take a team 97 yards against a legendary defense in a hostile environment when few things had gone right all day and drive down for a winning touchdown. Then, some crazy shit happens, and he has to do it again. Guess what? He does it.
The Seahawks have never had that guy. Dilfer never did it, Moon never did it, Kitna, Friesz, Mirer, Toretta, Mcguire, Stouffer, Jeff Kemp, they never pulled something like that off. The Seahawks haven't won a game like that, on the road, against a good, not mediocre, a legitimately good team, coming from behind in the final minutes, since 1990 at KC(look it up, 22 years of no clutch road victories). Krieg was hot and cold. He'd win you games and lose you games like that.
As some of you may remember, I was extremely opposed to starting Russell Wilson during the preseason and through the first month of the season. I think I might have been wrong. I'm not going to try and qualify his greatness, or anything like that. With that said, Wilson has shown me something that will stick with me for a long time. When a lot of players shrink away, Wilson was cold blooded, and it permeated the entire offense. The Seahawks don't typically win games like that. But they did on Sunday. And that's pretty damn exciting.
But, nonetheless, I'm going to compare the two for one simple purpose.
My biggest gripe with Hasslebeck, and I dug the guy, was he wasn't a closer. He wasn't the guy that was going to win on the road in the playoffs. Hell, he wasn't even going to win against good teams on the road in the regular season. I think he got a little rattled, became too careful, and sometimes rushed things a bit. He did a lot of great things too and had a few iconic performances be forgotten because of the errors of his teammates(2003 Wild Card game comes to mind). I loved Hasslebeck, gutsy as hell, absolutely lethal when he was on. But he wasn't a closer. A closer doesn't clam up in OT against Chicago in 2006. A closer says, "BS holding call? I don't give a shit" and throws a touchdown on third and long in the Super Bowl after the Locklear hold instead of a horrible interception.
I've always wanted a closer at quarterback. A guy who could take a team 97 yards against a legendary defense in a hostile environment when few things had gone right all day and drive down for a winning touchdown. Then, some crazy shit happens, and he has to do it again. Guess what? He does it.
The Seahawks have never had that guy. Dilfer never did it, Moon never did it, Kitna, Friesz, Mirer, Toretta, Mcguire, Stouffer, Jeff Kemp, they never pulled something like that off. The Seahawks haven't won a game like that, on the road, against a good, not mediocre, a legitimately good team, coming from behind in the final minutes, since 1990 at KC(look it up, 22 years of no clutch road victories). Krieg was hot and cold. He'd win you games and lose you games like that.
As some of you may remember, I was extremely opposed to starting Russell Wilson during the preseason and through the first month of the season. I think I might have been wrong. I'm not going to try and qualify his greatness, or anything like that. With that said, Wilson has shown me something that will stick with me for a long time. When a lot of players shrink away, Wilson was cold blooded, and it permeated the entire offense. The Seahawks don't typically win games like that. But they did on Sunday. And that's pretty damn exciting.