Divisional Play Off - Sunday 14th January 2007

So the 2007 Seahawks fell short in their attempt to get back to the big one but they did so with heads held high as they oh so very nearly sprung a surprise victory at Soldier Field.

On a personal note it was great to watch the game with other UK Seahawkers at the Sports Cafe in Leeds which we turned into a small part of Seattle for the evening. I think I detected a few suspicious looks from the locals who no doubt thought we were taking things a little too seriously but it certainly showed the passion we have for the Seahawks as we cheered on our team.

The general consensus was that if we could stop Grossman early then we could stop him all night so it was a worry when he took the opening drive for a TD. The key play was a 3rd down that went for 37 yards that Babineaux tried to intercept when batting it down might have been the smarter play.

Nate Burleson then brought the Seahawks level with a great effort as he was held up at the two but dived and extended for the line to break the plane (pictured above). Through no real fault of his own it has been a disappointing season overall for Burleson although it could be said his return game has had a hugely positive effect on the season, we will hope for more next season.

It was a little like the Dallas game as the Seahawks hard fought TD drive was cancelled out in the time it took for Grossman to find Berrian to score from 68 yards. Grossman celebrated liked he'd won the Superbowl and I just sensed there was some over confidence we could exploit.

The Seahawks did strike back at the end of the second quarter as Grossman was sacked at the Bears 26 by Julian Peterson allowing Darby to recover. Going for it on 4th and 1 Alexander took it in for the TD with only 2:30 left and it looked like being all square at the break.

The Seahawks had been kicking to dangerous return man Hester with zero problems so we decided to fix something that wasn't broken and squibbed it which only served to allow the Bears 3rd string TE return it longer than Hester managed all game. With a short field the Bears moved the ball but had to rely on a 4th down run from Jones to keep their 7 point advantage at the half.

Brown kicked 3 of the points back at the start of the second half and then on a 3rd and 10 Alexander took it in from 13 yards to give the Seahawks their first lead of the game.

It looked to be ebbing away as the Bears drove to the Seahawks 10 but on 3rd down the ball hit Mohammed on the shoulder and the loan arranger Pete Hunter picked it off. It was unbelievable and Hunter should surely have earned a crack at training camp with the Seahawks next year.

I'm a huge fan of Matt Hasselbeck but on the very next play he rolled out and under no pressure made a needlessly risky pass to Engram that never had a chance and it was intercepted. It didn't cost any points but it swung the momentum and field position that left a door open for the Bears.

Gould managed to kick the Bears level at 24-24 but to my mind that was the luckiest play of the night. The ball was hooking wide but a gust of wind blew it back on course and just inside the upright.

With 30 seconds remaining the Seahawks had the ball at the Chicago 45 needing 10 yards to put Brown in position for the winning field goal and what followed was a play that will probably not be shown that much but will be for me the most frustrating play of the night. Reading between the lines of what Mike Holmgren said later it was supposed to be a play designed to get 10 yards but as it developed Engram broke down the middle. Hasselbeck had been looking in his direction but as Engram broke cover he turned his attention to Branch who was far from free and the pass went incomplete. I think if Hass had looked at Engram for a split second longer it would have been a TD but it just wasn't to be.

It's sad but I don't think I can complete this review without a mention for the Sky team in the studio. Nick Halling was spot on as ever but on the 3rd biggest weekend of the NFL season I cannot for the life of me imagine why Sky chose to go with it's worst presenter and it's worst analyst in Rob Hart. Come on Sky, these things matter to the fans get it right next time please.

Anyway, into Overtime and again the Seahawks were within 15 yards of field goal range but forced to punt. Unfortunately a Bear broke right up the middle forcing Plackemeier to slice his punt 18 yards out of bounds.

On the Bears next 3rd and 10 another deep pass eventually killed the Hawks and put Gould in position for a 49 yarder to win the game. I must admit that I thought he wasn't going to make it so credit him for smacking it down the middle with yards to spare.

It's difficult to know how to assess the season with the amount of injuries that we've had. You could make the case that Shaun Alexander did more this season in coming back from a broken metatarsal to go for 100+ yards and 2 TD's in Chicago than he did in all of 2005 and his waltzing in of multiple TD's against the Houston Texans and I think a similar thing applies to the team as a whole.

Hasselbeck had his season disrupted by an injury in the middle part and suffered by being behind an ever changing line whereas last season it didn't change at all. The fact that Pete Hunter was even playing tells it's own story about the injuries in the secondary.

Whatever, the season is over and the time has come to draw a line under it.

Perhaps the best line I can draw is that the UK Seahawkers have represented in great style in Seattle and this weekend in both Leeds and London.

I hope that like the Seahawks we go from strength to strength and build to an even more successful 2007 season

HawksHead (14/7

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