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Week 15 - Sunday 18th December 2005 |
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The Seahawks bandwagon keeps on rolling with but after dominating early on against the Titans there is no doubt that our first visit to Elvis territory left us 'All Shook Up'.
With the first possession the ball was moved with almost frightening efficiency 70 yards in 8 plays finished off with a 22 yard reception by Jerramy Stevens and 7-0 to the Hawks.
After forcing a quick punt the Seahawks then did it again with a 79 yard 6 play drive. Shaun Alexander was responsible for most of it after breaking out of a crowd for a 52 yard run and it was perhaps fitting that he finished it off going in to the left from the 1 typically untouched.
It was around now that I won the Jeremy Shockey early celebration award in the chat room. 'I remember when the Seahawks used to play interesting games' I said. Although the smile wasn't wiped off my face quite as quickly as Shockey's at Qwest Field, I was wondering what happened in much the same way.
To be fair if you started in the Giants OT the Hawks were standing at a current running score of 100-3 so it was difficult to envisage any form of Heartbreak Hotel but it very nearly did happen.
It was all looking so good again as the ball was moved downfield with the same ease as it was earlier. Hasselbeck overthrew an open Darrell Jackson in the end zone and the Titans followed this up with their first stop but still left us with a routine 36 yard field goal. Well maybe not as Antwan Odum broke through the line and blocked Josh Brown's attempt.
If Elvis ever sang about momentum swings in the NFL then I can't find the song he did it in but we were certainly left remembering the Titans.
Roles were reversed and Steve McNair got hot as he not only levelled the game 14-14 at the half but turned the opening possession of the third quarter into 7 more points and some head scratching in the chat room.
Not only that but it got worse as the Seahawks couldn't move the ball and Titans added a field goal to make it 14-24 with a little over 20 minutes remaining.
It was getting to the stage of 'It's Now or Never' and putting together an 83 yard 3 (three) play drive was a fairly good way of trying to swing the momentum back our way. Bobby Engram broke a run after a reception for 56 yards. Jackson added 23 more before Joe Jurevicius caught the TD pass from 4 yards and 21-24.
The Titans then put together a thoroughly frustrating drive including a 26 yard completion on a fake punt before facing a 4th and 1 on the Seahawks 6 yard line with the first play of the 4th quarter. I'm always wary of these plays when the opposition has had a little time to work out what they were going to do but Wistrom and Boulware stuffed Chris Brown for a 1 yard loss.
93 yards, game on the line, in steps Matthew Hasselbeck. I pondered in my review of the first game of the season about his ability to lead a game winning drive in the 4th quarter but he's not only doing it regularly but doing it with a very long field.
Alexander had the longest play of the drive with a 33 yard run but the drive featured 8 passes and was finished with a pass to Darrell Jackson and a very welcome return to Seahawks action as the lead was re-established at 28-24.
The Titans got the ball back and the way they had played there was a reasonable chance that we would need to score again but the secondary that had looked fragile earlier finally came up with some plays and the Seahawks had the ball with 5 minutes remaining.
Mike Holmgren has received some criticism for his play calling in these situations for either a. running the ball too much or b. passing the ball too much.
I guess what matters is getting the job done and whilst Alexander grinded the clock with 6 runs the biggest play was probably a Jurevicius 15 yard reception for a first down.
With Matt taking a knee from the 2 minute warning it was finally all over. The Seahawks 10 game winning streak became the longest current streak with the Colts losing and a first round play off bye was secured into the bargain.
It was our first trip to the country and it was certainly wild but as Elvis might have said: "Oh I just can't help believing..."
Andrew Robinson (HawksHead)
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