The Hawks Nest: Somewhere, Oh No Romo Weeps, SSR Laughs!
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by SSreporters
The Seattle Seahawks beat the Chicago Bears 30-23 at Qwest Field, sweet, sweet, revenge.
The Recap: A great win for Seattle as they improve to 6-4 by beating Chicago, who is looking more and more likely to be done from playoff contention. Matt Hasselbeck threw for 300+ yards, including a remarkable touchdown pass to Nate Burleson in the 2nd half. Hasselbeck also found DJ Hackett in the first quarter for a 19 yard score. Chicago had the quick start, with Cedric Benson scoring on a long touchdown run on the 2nd play of the game. Seattle drove right back, missed a field goal, and Chicago drove down the field to make it 10-0. Gross Wrecksman is not really needed in that early part. After the Hackett score, Mo Morris ran for a beautiful 19 yard touchdown to take the first lead of the game for the Seahawks. The Bears came right back, and on a 3rd and 1, Adrian Peterson ran it in for a score to make it 17-14. Josh Brown kicked a FG to end the half to make it 17-17. Burleson returned the kickoff all the way to midfield to start the 2nd half. He then caught a remarkable short yardage touchdown to give the Seahawks the lead for good. The key play was when Seattle was up 27-20, Chicago was driving, and Rexy fumbled the football after Patrick Kerney slapped his hand, Darryl Tapp picked it up, and Brown kicked the FG that finished them off at 30-20. Chicago kicked another FG, but didn't get the onside kick, game over.
So, great win, now let's review the keys to the game.
Seahawks Offense
1. Mo Morris. He will be the likely starter with Shaun Alexander still hurt. Last week he had 28 carries for 87 yards and the first rushing TD for Seattle since September 16th. Keep giving him the rock to balance out that elite passing game, that will have Deion Branch back. The main weakness is his fumbling, he fumbled once in the 49ers game.
Zero fumbles, 87 yards on 18 carries, and a touchdown.
2. Leonard Weaver. Continue the fullback screens and running him on short yardage plays. Last week they didn't need him, but the Bears are a much better team than SF, so watch out for Weaver.
2 carries for 11 yards, but 4 catches for 23 yards, and was a beast in today's game.
3. Spread those receivers. A 5 WR set with Bobby Engram, DJ Hackett, Deion Branch, Nate Burleson, and Ben Obumanu (or Courtney Taylor, or Seneca Wallace) is possible. Matt Hasselbeck has been on the money this season, and if he attacks that depleted Bears pass defense, it will be a long day for Chicago.
Hasselbeck was 30-44 for 337 yards and 2 TD's. DJ Hackett had 9 catches for 136 yards and a touchdown. Beautiful passing by Seattle.
Seahawks Defense
1. Muhsin Muhammad and Bernard Berrian. Last year, Seattle got hammered by Muhsin Muhammad and Bernard Berrian in the playoffs and in the regular season 37-6 loss. This year, they have not had the big impact because of the QB play (although Muhammad caught the winning TD at Philly that saved their season). This will be a big job for DB's Kelly Jennings and Marcus Trufant.
Berrian had a one handed grab, 9 catches and 102 yards, while Muhammad had 3 catches for 71 yards. Trufant did well, Jennings was okay, Jordan Babineaux scares me in coverage.
2. Don't allow the deep ball. Seattle actually leads the league in TD passes allowed (5), and have allowed them in 3 out of 9 games. The longest pass play they have allowed all season is 46 (Joey Galloway on opening week). The one problem however, is that Seattle is doing this cover 3 crap and allows receivers to get open 20 yards down the middle.
They let a couple of deep balls get by them, but they didn't do much harm. It's not great, but they still haven't allowed a TD pass since October 14th.
3. Hassle Wrecksman. Rex Grossman under pressure is the greatest thing for Seattle. He can't run, he tends to panic, and throw dumbass picks. Seattle is 4th in the league in sacks (23), right behind Chicago.
No picks, but he was hassled and was sacked 5 times, including the game killing fumble.
4. Contain Cedric Benson.....actually, almost everyone has done that....so....contain him.
That TD was a bit concerning, but after the 43 yard TD run, he had 10 carries for 46 yards, and was stopped on a key 4th and 1 play in Seattle territory.
Seahawks Special Teams
1. Placky and Josh Brown better not kick to Hester. Devin Hester is a monster, we know that, and the Seahawks punt team has been awful. Ryan Plackemeier has had 2 punts blocked, a bad snap, and if he kicks to Hester, then we're done. Same goes for Josh Brown on kickoffs.
Hester had decent returns, but Rashied Davis and Garrett Wolfe were very effective.
2. Nate Burleson. He is becoming an electrifying returner, who has scored twice on kick and punt returns in the last 3 weeks. Burleson has redeemed what was once a return team that had friggin Jimmy Williams.
He had a key return in the 2nd half, but was stymied most of the time.
Overall Grade: B
Now for the Bears.....
Bears Offense:
1. Run the football. It has been confirmed that Chicago has Rex Grossman as QB. That's suicide right there. So run the football against the 15th ranked rushing defense in the league. Cedric Benson has not been spectacular, but as long as you keep a drive alive, this small Seattle defense gets fatigued.
Running the football was messed up. They had 2 good runs, that was it. Grossman had a decent game, but turnovers are killing them.
2. Devin Hester. If only he was a between the tackles runner. The guy is awesome, and him against the Seahawks defense would be deadly.
Hester had 1 run for -6 yards, and an incomplete pass to him.
3. Save Grossman's ass. That offensive line is murdering their QB's. As long as that offensive line is stout, Grossman COULD do something competent.
Sacked 5 times was Gross Wrecksman.
4. Crowd noise. This is Rexy's first time in Seattle for his young career. How can 68,000 people be so loud? Coffee and beer do the trick. We'll see how he does in a very hostile environment.
I lost count of how many false starts they had, great job by the crowd.
Bears Defense
1. Stop the pass, win the game. Coach Walrus mentioned something about passing the ball a crap load, but if that offense can't click in the passing game, the running game still blows. That is the only key really needed for Chicago.
They did not stop the pass, therefore, they did not win the game.
Bears Special Teams:
1. Devin Hester. Do I need a friggin reason?
He had good returns that went to waste.
Overall Grade: D
By the numbers:
68 was how many yards DJ Hackett had on one catch that set up a field goal.
10 is the number of weeks in a row the Seahawks have turned the ball over.
5 is the number of weeks in a row the opposing team has not score on a touchdown pass against Seattle.
3 is the number of fumbles by the Bears, one was lost.
Great game for the 'Hawks, maybe their most impressive victory in the season. Afraidofedhochuli will be with us during mid-week for his opinions. Seattle will go to St. Louis, while the Bears face the Broncos at Soldier Field.
