Cowboys meet Legion of Boom in Seahawks Home Opener (Sam’s Visceral Reaction Week 2)

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Last week Doug Baldwin tweeted he’d need some new teeth after a costly-dropped past in the Seahawks Week 1 loss at the Arizona Cardinals.

Baldwin better let Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee borrow those falsies after getting absolutely here-I-am, rock-you-like-a-hurricaned (Scorpions reference, whaaaaat?) by Hawks receiver Golden Tate in a play that basically summed up how the day went for the ‘boys in a 27-7 loss at Century Link Field.

Frankly, this should have been an even bigger blowout for the Seahawks, but, per the tradition of the last few seasons they got out of the gate rather slow to begin the game. We saw the offensive line continue to struggle, frequently collapsing in to Russell Wilson, hampering his ability to make plays down field. Beast Mode Marshawn Lynch could do very little in the run game, with 10 carries for just 22 yards. I still attribute that to the offensive line. Let’s be fair that in the second half Lynch was able to open it up for 122 yards and a TD overall.

And, yet, through it all, Russell Wilson maintained poise few rookie QBs likely could, ending the half 9-12 with 85 yards and a 94.1 passer rating.

As always, the bright spot of the first half was the Seahawks defense and special teams, with backup linebacker Malcolm Smith blowing up a Cowboys punt that backup strong safety Jeron Johnson would take back for the first Hawks TD of the game.

The Seahawks came out in the second half with necessary adjustments and would end up obliterating a team that took to task the defending World Champion New York Giants in Week 1.

I could post an extremely positive write up here, but I think that wouldn’t be very genuine. The Seahawks have more work to be true contenders and we should have an honest discussion about it. This, you see, is a 12thman Intervention. We love you, Seahawks, but if you keep doing this, you’re going to lose … err … the playoffs?

First, let’s settle on the positive one last second: Kam Chancellor just gave every Cowboys receiver PTSD for the rest of their life; K.J. Wright had a solid game with solid tackling, smart football moves to nearly snag an INT and leading a great linebacker crew; Golden Tate is the meanest little man you’ve ever seen, nearly decapitating Cowboys LB Lee. He avoided two penalties on it – the blind side helmet-led hit as well as the unsportsmanlike for pointing to his name afterward. But the panther crawl he did after the hit was rather sexy. Like a sex panther. It’s illegal in nine countries.

Let’s talk about what needs fixin’, though, shall we:

The offensive line had a solid finish, fixing much of the first-half collapsing and lack of run blocking, but that’s the point: That first half slop needs to stop. The Seahawks need a strong start to go with their extremely strong finishes.

Playcalling: Other than the crafty three tight-end set for a touchdown from Wilson to TE Anthony McCoy, Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell has done very little to show he’s at all innovative or willing to be gutsy on calls. He’s got what head coach Pete Carroll has called a special quarterback and I like to think that’s the star-kind of special and not the paste-eating kind of special. So let the kid make some big plays.

Speaking of Big Play Danger Russ: Wilson has got to work on bringing his throws down. When you over throw 6’6″ tight end Evan Moore, you just might be throwing too high. I’ll chalk that one up to first-half jitters for the rookie, though Wilson likes to say he doesn’t get nerves. Also, I don’t know how you don’t see 6’2″, 240-pound linebacker Bruce Carter, but Wilson threw right at him like he was as invisible as whoever the hell Clint Eastwood was talking to in that chair. That first-half play ended in a field goal instead of seven points for the Seahawks.

And, really, that’s about what I’ve got for today. This was a solid performance, and it’s these little things the Seahawks need to work on. We can all say this was a successful day, but we need those details in order to be successful, annual contenders in both this clearly stronger division (the Cardinals beat the Patriots today, folks, feel better about last week yet?).

I’m excited for Week 3 where we face Green Bay on Monday Night Football. Let’s show the world that we have an even better defense than those 49ers, alright? As Wilson says every press conference:

GO HAWKS!