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Week 4 - Sunday 2nd October 2005 |
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Josh Brown thought it was good, he thought it was one of his best ever kicks going straight down the middle but as it neared the posts it started to hook and drift on the wind. In the commentary booth Steve Raible thought it was good. The pitch of his voice ever rising '..and it isssssss... hit the upright' almost in disbelief.
There was disbelief aplenty in the chat room and that was even before the nerve jangling end to the game.
Who would have believed that the Seahawks would block a field goal attempt on the Redskins first possession of the game turning it into a 3-0 lead of our own with Josh Brown kicking it over from 53 yards.
Who would have believed that Mark Brunell would be sacked twice in the first quarter first by Michael Boulware and then by star rookie Lofa Tatupu.
Who would have believed that despite those sacks Brunell would go onto make 13 out of 18 3rd down conversions, most of them of 10 yards or longer.
That damning stat is really where the game was lost. In simple terms it went like this. Early on the Hawks were bringing more than the Skins could block. They hit on the not all together radical plan of leaving more blockers at home.
The Skins recognised a problem and fixed it as early as the first quarter. You'd have thought that Ray Rhodes would have recognised what was now his problem but the lack of ability to fix it was a depressing reminder of seasons past and a worry for what is to come.
Much will be made of the miss by Josh Brown but how about the significance of the kick he never got to take? Still leading 3-0 in the second quarter the Hawks had a first down on the Skins 30 but a 10 yard holding penalty on Robbie Tobeck pushed us out of field goal range. I love Tobeck but that was not his first holding penalty of the season and he looks to be getting beaten more and more often. Chris Spencer's time might not be far away.
I might be imagining things yet I can't help but think that the opposition has picked up on a weakness of ours. If they give the ball to a player no-one has heard of then we wont bother covering him. How else do you explain TD receptions to Robert Royal and Mike Sellers and a 14-3 lead midway through the 3rd quarter?
In between the touchdowns Josh Brown missed a field goal from 47 yards but once again his job had been made more difficult with Hasselbeck being sacked for a loss of 6.
Without wishing to leave my bitterness until the end it's right to point out that there were a few things fluttering in the wind and nearly always in the Seahawks directions. If anyone believes that the penalty count of Seahawks 8 for 84 yards and the Redskins 2 for 10 yards (both delay of game) was an accurate reflection of how the game was played then I'll show you a sane Mike Martz.
It was now time for the stuttering O to stand up and be counted and (again to some disbelief) we marched 85 yards and scored in 3 minutes as Alexander broke a run of 34 yards and then for 3 yards for the score.
Holding the Skins to 3 set the game up at 17-10 for them with 7:42 remaining and 91 yards to travel.
I quote from my week 1 review "I like Hasselbeck and he is one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL but you have to wonder about his ability to do game winning drives in the 4th quarter."
For me the fact that we tied this up on the road, against a great defense in front of 90,000 screaming Skins fans was a massive positive and is really stopping me getting too downhearted. Mixing up the pass and the rush and even completing a 4th and 1 on the way before finding Darrell Jackson for the score and the game was level.
Without a turnover all day it was with even more disbelief that Kelly Herndon intercepted Brunell and fell to the Redskins 33. Plenty has been said about what Mike Holmgren did next but I thought he did it quite right. 2 running plays one for 4 yards and one for no gain to run the clock down. Obviously more yards especially on the 2nd run would have been nice but what would have been inexcusable was getting Hass sacked out of field goal range.
As it was Brown's 47 yard attempt faded and clunked off the left upright and we waved bye bye to a fantastic victory in which some of the failings would have been hidden. Sadly, there was no hiding them as the Skins got the first possession of overtime.
The drive is too painful to recall in detail but you won't be surprised to learn that it contained three 3rd and long completions and finished with a 39 yard field goal from Nick Novak, the same distance as his earlier blocked effort.
With the Seahawks and Rams both 2-2 and the Cards and 49ers both 1-3 the NFC West already has a familiar look to it. Next week the Seahawks have a chance to put this loss behind them in the best way possible by winning in St Louis. Now that would be some sweet medicine.
Andrew Robinson (HawksHead)
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