Call me crazy. Call me a “homer.” Call me whatever you want. I
have a funny feeling about this one.
Just like in the Holiday Bowl with the Washington Huskies, Pete
Carroll and his boys are playing with house money. I feel a little
12th Man magic. It’s Buster Douglas over Mike Tyson; the New York
Giants over the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl; it’s
Washington over Nebraska…
It’s the Seahawks 24-23 over the Saints with an Olindo Mare FG
at the end….
The 12th Man indeed showed up and so did the Seahawks defense.
That was the loudest stadium I’ve ever been in and definitely had
playoff atmosphere. The Hawks fed off it and it turned into another
NFC West banner in Qwest Field.
A few comments from last night:
I couldn’t believe arguing with people on the ferry ride home
about Charlie Whitehurst’s performance. The dude was on the winning
side of the game, for goodness sakes! Don’t get me wrong, I don’t
think he’s our next franchise QB. However, he played a decent game
(in fact his stats were better than Sam Bradford’s). His mobility
saved easily 5 sacks and actually picked up positive yardage.
Charlie’s job was to not lose the game and that’s exactly what he
did. He’s a capable backup, a young guy who’s learning, and played
a solid game. ESPN’s Trent Dilfer (a guy who won a Super Bowl as a
“solid” QB) said as much after the game. Cut the guy some slack. He
played a game good enough in the biggest game of the year.
The defense was crazy. I know it wasn’t the New England
Patriots, but Sam Bradford has had an excellent rookie year, and
Steven Jackson is a stud. To hold the Rams to 2 field goals was
unbelievable. I loved how Aaron Curry, Chris Clemons, David
Hawthorne, Lofa Tatupu, and Marcus Trufant played. Will Herring
played a great game. This was a total team effort and a sight for
sore eyes.
Pete Carroll is the right guy for this city. He brings a great
energy that really gets the 12th Man going. I think good things are
on the horizon.
I expect that Matt Hasselbeck will start if he’s healthy. He’s
the veteran; he’s got playoff experience; he played a good game
against the Saints last month; and he’s the right guy. However, if
he can’t go or plays poorly, I have less issues with Charlie
Whitehurst than I did 2 weeks ago!
Marshawn Lynch bounced back after being stripped of the ball
and ran in “beast-mode” the rest of the way. He could not be
stopped in the 4th Quarter when the Rams knew we were running.
I don’t care what our record is. The Mariners won 116 games in
2001 and didn’t win the American League to go to the World Series.
This is about getting to the playoffs by winning your
division.
I just LOVE that the Giants, who humiliated us at home earlier
this year, aren’t even in the playoffs. That’s really cool.
This was a huge win for this franchise. Just like the University
of Washington needed a bowl game and the rest was gravy; the Hawks
needed to get to the playoffs and the rest is gravy. Two years ago,
the Huskies were 0-12 and the Seahawks were 4-12. Now, the Dawgs
have upset Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl and the Hawks are NFC West
Champs. Unreal.
1978 Rose Bowl over Michigan – Warren Moon, Spider Gaines, Joe
Steele, and Michael Jackson (the real thriller)
1992 Rose Bowl over Michigan to win the National Championship –
Steve Emtman, Billy Joe Hobert, Mario Bailey, Lincoln Kennedy
2010 Holiday Bowl over Nebraska – Jake Locker, Chris Polk, Mason
Foster, Alameda Ta’amu
After 8 years left out of the dance, and without a bowl win
since Marques Tuiasososopo led the Dawgs in the 2001 Rose Bowl,
Jake Locker and the gang brought the University of Washington back
to relevance in college football.
I thought the game would be close, but I didn’t think we
(especially the defense) would dominate. The score wasn’t
indicative of the route. A couple missed field goals (one of the
upright), a wide-open Jermaine Kearse being overthrown by Jesse
Callier, and not being able to punch it in from 1-yard out on two
occasions could have really made the score look bad for the guys in
red.
Some overall thoughts:
Steve Sarkisian gives me the impression he’s a lot like Don
James was. Give the guy 3 weeks to prepare and he will beat
you.
Nick Holt had been much maligned for his defense’s efforts this
year. He and his unit made up for it big. Kudos to him and his
staff.
Jake Locker can now cement his place in Husky history. In my
nearly 40 years of watching Husky football, I rank him behind only
Tui on the all-time QB list.
Mason Foster would look good in a Seahawks uniform. I think
he’s better than Lofa Tatupu and Aaron Curry right now.
If recruits are looking for a team in the Pac-12 (weird, huh)
trending up…look no further than Seattle. You have a hot coach and
a hot program.
Thank you Jake for staying. You passed up a lot of coin and you
were rewarded. You may even get to be drafted by a better team in
the NFL now.
It’s great to be a Husky!
Now if we can get Sark’s old boss to fire up his squad for
Sunday, this could be a really great New Year’s weekend for
football in Seattle!
