Okay, I’ll admit it. When the Seahawks punted to Shaun McDonald I had already picked out the title of my next Hawk-related post (Still St. Louis’ Bitch) and I had turned to the lovely- though cold and flu-ridden-Mrs.Frinklin and said, “The Seahawks are up by 6 with over 3:00 minutes to play; I gurantee they’’ll lose this game.”
Thank you Shaun McDonald, Jordan Babineaux and Jean-Phillipe Darche. Thank you for giving another reason (much like the Atlanta game) to think that the Seahawks are any different from last season. Yes, this is a big win; just beating the Rams is important after last year. Just don’t think for a minute that this team didn’t come within an eyelash of blowing it yet again. What can you say about the inexplicable play-calling that came just before the punt? Remember? Just over 3:00 minutes to play, up by 6 with the NFL’s leading rusher in the backfield, and what does Mr. Genuis call? Three straight pass plays.
Does anybody – seriously, anybody at all- think that Bulger, who was red-hot all second half- not, run the Rams down the field and win it? Now, I’m not entirely negative about this game. Joe Jurevicius had a terrific game, and DJ Hackett may well prove to be a much-needed deep threat. Mattt Hasselbeck played his best game of the season and one of his best of the year. Lofa Tatupu keeps making plays like a veteran instead of a rookie. Most important: Michael Boulware seems to be okay.
Still, this team was one play away from blowing another game. It’s just like Atlanta. Holmgren and crew acted like beating Atlanta by three after blowing them away all first half was some important moment instead of a hideous near-collapse. This team still isn’t that freaking good, and will have just as many moments like the Redskin game.
And this mess constitues the cheerful news this week.
What the hell happened to the Cougars? Two weeks ago the Cougars, after crushing Idaho, Nevada and Shadle Park High School, were 3-0 and Coug fans were thinking big. Maybe not BCS-big, but maybe Holiday Bowl or Sun Bowl big. Now, Coug fans are wondering if 3-0 could lead to 3-8. Last week’s collapse against Oregon State is almost fathomable after this. Stanford, two weeks after losing at home to UC-Davis (UC-DAVIS???) racks up damn near 500 yards and beats the Cougars. WSU looses despite 218 yards rushing by Jerome Harrison… 218 yards!. How often does a primarly passing team get a back going for two bills and still lose? How is this even possible?
It’s possible because Washington State was overrated by many, especially me. Not nearly to the extent of the P-I’s Go To Guy, who may be having aneyusm as we speak, but thoughts of 8-win season are rapidly going down the drain. Why is this? Well, without Ropati Pitoitua and Will Derting the Cougs have giant holes up the middle on defense. And the gambling, reckless style Rob Akey preferrs doesn’t seem to suit the team particularly well. The linebackers, past Derting, aren’t great, and ends Mkristo Bruce and Adam Braidwood have a disturbing tendancy to overrun plays going for the sack. The offense is better, but still doesn’t seem to click. The heady, brainy Alex Brink has now thrown 6 INTs the past two weeks, and seems to be uncomfortable in the pocket.
Hey, only UCLA, Arizona State, Oregon and USC coming up.
Now, for non-Washington games, college division.
-Texas’ win over Oklahoma wasn’t that impressive. The Longhorns still don’t seem very focused and I still question Vince Young’s ability to win a game with his arm.
-Penn State does seem to be legit. They slugged it out with Ohio State, and now have a very, very disappointing Michigan team to deal with.
-I thought Oregon would beat Arizona State, I didn’t think they’d blow them out. ASU, whether coached by Jim Cooper, Bruce Snyder or Dirk Koetter, always seems to loose about 2 games it shouldn’t. Oregon is pretty close in talent and better coached.
-UCLA was on the verge of blowing it against Cal until Maurice Drew took over. Drew, despite being the third-best back in the Los Angeles metro area, is a talent.
-LenDale White, second-best back in LA, is making a case for his own Heisman run.
NFL Version
-The Redskins were actually more impressive losing then they have winning. I can’t explain this. I still think they’re fundamentally a weak team.
-What the hell happened to the Eagles this week?
-Other than Tom Brady, the quarterbacks of the AFC East just boggle the mind. The past two weeks have seen Gus Frerotte, Brooks Bollinger, Vinny T, JP Losman and Kelly Holcombe. Atlanta backup Matt Schaub would easily be the second-best QB in the division. Schaub would start for any of those teams, plus at least half-dozen others like Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco… hell, maybe closer to a dozen.
-Speaking of the 49ers: I realize Alex Smith is a 22-year old rookie making his first start, but man he looked awful. 9-for-23 for 74 yards and 4 picks? Yeesh…
-Please, please stop giving excuses for the Saints. Yeah, life’s been rough for them, but giving up 52 consecutive points to winless team has nothing to do with Katrina. It’s the mark of a team that didn’t seem to care about the game before they had an excuse. Now that Deuce McAlister is out for the season, it could get really ugly.