Week 12 - Monday 27th November 2006

Age is a terrible thing. I'd gone to bed early clutching my mobile with alarm fully set for the kick off. Sadly I have only a vague recollection of lying in bed at about 1:30am with something vibrating in my hand. Figuring that this was not that unusual I dropped off back to sleep only to awake with a jolt at 4:30 as it was quite literally game over for my plans. Fortunately I had the game on my favourite recent acquisition Sky+.

As it happens, one of favourite comedy episodes is when the Likely Lads spend all day trying to avoid the score of an England soccer match to be shown later that evening and I spent the day doing just that. I developed an irrational fear that something big might have happened at the game so I avoided even the BBC news for fear that they might blurt out something like 'Yesterday there was an earthquake in Seattle as the Seahawks beat the Packers..' I was taking no chances.

It was 10pm before I finally sat down to watch the game, and wow, what was this? The punch line to the Likely Lads episode was that the game was called off and here we were in snowbound Qwest Field. As the game kicked off I was relieved to recall something I read that once an NFL game has started it HAS to be finished. I heartily approve of this rule!

I was having second thoughts however after the games second play when the returning Hasselbeck hit a Packer in the helmet and the ball lobbed up for a Woodson interception. Ahman Green went in worryingly easily from the 5 a few plays later.

That's it Matt, ,make 'em complacent. On the Seahawks next possession he had a good drive going when he rekindled a very painful memory by hitting Al Harris in the numbers for a replay of the 2003 play off clincher.

Fortunately the Seahawks held and drove back for a Josh Brown field goal and this would very much set the pattern for the first half. The Seahawks would drive a bit, give it away a bit and kick it a bit. In the first half alone Brown kicked field goals from 45, 41, 27 and 28 yards which was a mighty fine effort in the conditions with the underfoot conditions and with a cold ball.

On the Packers side of the ball, Herndon came up big by intercepting a Favre pass in the endzone and the Seahawks saved further points when Craig Terrill blocked his second field goal in a week, saving 3 from only 28 yards.

Josh was chipping in literally for the Seahawks but near the end of the half Hasselbeck was sacked and fumbled through the air straight to Hodge to take it back 29 yards for a TD.

Mike Holmgren had been smouldering on the sideline, snow capped and huge he resembled a mini Kilimanjaro and he finally blew his top.

It wasn't all lost though because with Nate Burleson now returning kicks as well as punts he put the Seahawks in great position by bringing one back 25 yards despite muffing the catch. Burleson looked a huge threat all night in the return game which looks to have created a fix to something that has been a Seahawk problem for a while.

It was enough to help get the ball in field goal range and Josh Kicked it to make it 14-12 to the Packers at the half. The last time a team turned over the ball as much in the snow on Monday Night Football the Eagles were losing 35-0 at the half to the Seahawks, so I figured a 2 point deficit was a pretty good return.

So much for that theory as on the 5th play of the second half Favre hit Driver who took it in 48 yards to make it 21-12 Packers. Although we were moving the ball it was going to be a struggle trailing by 2 scores. The good thing was that the snow had stopped and the field had cleared a little.

Eventually we kept hold of the ball and Hasselbeck put together a 62 yard drive which he finished with a nice pass to DJ Hackett who caught 5 passes for 67 yards. DJ could have been on the practice squad with the additions of Burleson and Branch but he is out performing expectations and he is fast becoming the Seahawk to throw the ball to when up against it.

On the Seahawks next possession we were shown a glorious reminder of what the 2006 season was supposed to be like as on 4 receiver sets Holmgren dialled up consecutive runs for Shaun Alexander who took it for gains of 15 and 16 yards. It was great to have Alexander back close to his best and his 201 yards on 40 carries was the principle reason for the Hawks success although he failed to find the endzone himself.

Just when it looked like he might get a carry from the Packers 4, Hasselbeck found Darrell Jackson to take his season total to 9 from 805 yards. His 'joke' that he wants Deion Branch money might be something that rears it's head in the off season but for now he is certainly putting up the numbers to justify big money. Jerramy Stevens caught a nice pass for a 2 point conversion to make it a 6 point ball game.

The Packers kicked a field goal on their next possession to make it 27-24 Seahawks with 11 minutes remaining, clearly we needed to keep the ball this time and that's just what we did. Helped by a 45 yard kick return from Burleson and then a 'generous' roughing the passer call on an incomplete 3rd and 9 pass the ball was moved into Packer territory.

The Seahawks then just gave the ball to Shaun Alexander who completed a crucial 4th and 1, before taking it another 15 yards on his next carry to the Packers 7. Alexander added another 4 and then Holmgren deliberately called a play to Jerramy Stevens who made a fingertip grab of a fast moving ball to make it 34-24.

Stevens has had a rough old season and an even rougher old game. He was frozen earlier on by a Hass pump fake that even the cameraman bit on but it was reasonable for him to have at least suspected that an oval shape object might still be winging it's way in his direction a couple of seconds later but no he looked shocked as the ball just hit him. He'd also had 2 drops which to be fair were balls he had caught that were jarred out by some pretty hard hits. To come back with a 2 point conversion and a TD showed character to me and he even had the grace to thank Mike Holmgren for going to him with the play.

In the Five studio, everyone's favourite expat American tight end, Mike Carlson was harsh on Stevens but it was great for UK Seahawker Noggs to get in a nice e-mail to redress the balance. These days all Carlson has to worry about is hanging on to his next pack of denim shirts from M+S whilst he's jostled by the blue rinsed elderly. Stevens had drawn some criticism and maybe rightly so but it would have been nice to give the guy a bit of credit when he bounced back with 8 4th quarter points.

Favre used to be great in the 4th quarter but he could only come up with interceptions to Marcus Trufant and Kelly Jennings in the time remaining. The game actually finished in slightly bizzare fashion as Favre fumbled on a Tapp sack and Craig Terrill recovered and attempted a pass as time expired.

So the Seahawks advance to 7-4 and ever so slightly under the radar that Romo and the Cowboys are activating. It was great to see a comeback marshalled by Hasselbeck and Alexander and they are really where the season lies. If they can stay healthy and perform to the level they set last season then the Hawks are in with a chance as December dawns. There continues to be questions over the defense and there was some spotty tackling and coverage but there were just signs they are working back in the right direction.

To listen to the Seahawks Radio network highlights click here: audio highlights

HawksHead (29/11/06)

HOME

FORUM

CONTACT