710 ESPN Seattle
Updated Aug 30, 2009 - 12:39 pm
Hawks dominant - Hasselbeck The Wolf?
Comments
Print this
E-mail thisBy Dave Wyman
Prior to the Seahawks' 3rd pre-season game against the Kansas City Chiefs, head coach Jim Mora talked to his team about adversity-something that comes up in every season, every game and in nearly every play. It turns out it was a timely topic because the Hawks suffered some of it on their first pass from scrimmage. Matt Hasselbeck's pass to Deion Branch was picked off by Chief cornerback Brandon Flowers and returned for a touchdown. Not a great way to start the game but the fact the Hawks were able to overcome one bad play and have a very productive night passing the ball means the team was listening.
In spite of that quarterback rating killer (INT for a TD), Matt Hasselbeck finished the night on 19-25 passing for 216 yards, 1 touchdown, a quarterback rating of 92 and one beautifully executed chest pass to TJ Houshmandzadeh. Hasselbeck, Seneca Wallace and Mike Teel threw for a collective 294 yards to 13 different receivers. Which leads me to this: The Hawks have plenty of guys to throw the ball to. As a matter of fact, with TJ, the 3 B's (Branch, Butler and Burleson) and 2nd year tight end John Carlson, there may not be enough passes to go around. Enter into the mix new Seahawk Edgerrin James who catches about 45 passes per year, and team receptions may rival that of any single season reception total the Hawks enjoyed during the pass-happy Holmgren regime.
The running game was productive as well. Julius Jones had a 50-yard 1st half but more importantly, ran with authority. That is to say, he looked like a zone-blocking-scheme running back in that he found a crease, stabbed his foot in the ground and ran down hill.
MOST IMPRESSIVE PLAYER
Most impressive in the Hawks 14-10 win was TE John Carlson. He showed the ability to sit down comfortably between zone defenders as well as run away from safeties downfield. His 5 catches for 68-yards and a touchdown indicates that he will be a superstar if he continues at this rate.
THE PLAY OF THE GAME
The play of the night was Hasselback's two-handed chest pass to TJ Houshmandzadeh. He turned a bad snap on a running play into an 18-yard pass play. The rate at which his mind processes things is alarming! How can you go from a run to your right, to a pass to your left in less than 1 second? I've noticed that Matt does everything just a little bit faster than everyone else-including his answers in interviews, and his wisecracks in the locker room. He's like the character "The Wolf" in Pulp Fiction! ("If I'm curt with you it's because time is a factor. I think fast and I talk fast.") And he plays fast. That was one of the most amazing ad-lib plays I've ever witnessed. As Chuck Knox would say, "That's a football player making a football play." More like a football player making a basketball play.
DEFENSE
The defense also played well holding the Chief offense to a paltry 260 yards and one field goal. There were alignment problems and missed tackles that led to some extra yardage runs but according to coach Mora, nothing that can't be fixed.
Rookie LB Aaron Curry showed his speed and an understanding of angles as he ran down Larry Johnson in the backfield. The way he turned the corner and how tight he came off of the edge is what really impressed me. You can sometimes compensate for a lack of speed by taking a good angle but Curry appears to have both areas covered.
EVERY INCH OF A FOOTBALL FIELD COUNTS
Speaking of angles, if our defensive backs are going to rush the passer, they need to take a lesson from guys like Curry, Leroy Hill and Nick Reed. Josh Wilson nearly got himself a sack on a corner blitz but did not take a good angle. He was a split second late getting to the QB on one play that could've been a sack had he taken a tighter path into the Chief backfield. I saw the same thing out of Jordan Babineaux in the Charger game. You've got to take advantage of every inch of space on the football field…something Nick Reed fully understands. His pass rush for a sack in the 4th quarter was a perfect example of fighting and clawing for every inch of turf.
UNDEFEATED IN PERSPECTIVE
The Hawks are 3-0 in the pre-season! Something they haven't done since 1988, my second year in the league (yikes that was 21 years ago…can I be that old?). I'll be surprised if they don't go 4-0 as the Raiders limp into Qwest next Thursday fresh off a 45-7 beat-down by the New Orleans Saints. Don't get too excited though. On the Kevin Calabro show two weeks ago, Cory Redding reminded us that the '08 Detroit Lions were 4-0 in the pre-season. You know the rest of that story.
There's a lot of reason to be encouraged Seahawk fans. But like coach Mora says about the running game: "It's a work in progress."
RAIBLE BREAKS NEWS ON DEION BRANCH
By the way, in my last entry, I brought up the subject of Deion Branch's lack of production lately and speculated that the Hawks may give up on him. During our pre-game interview with voice of the Seahawks Steve Raible, Raibs revealed to us that a very reliable source in the front office told him that Branch would definitely make the final 53-man roster.
Matt Pitman covers the Seattle Seahawks for 710 ESPN Seattle
and MyNorthwest.com. Matt has reported on Seattle sports
since 2000 and is the host for the Mariners pre and post game
shows on 710 ESPN Seattle. Follow Matt on Twitter @mattpitman
For the past 5 years, David Wyman has been a part of the
Seahawks pre and post game team on KIRO-AM and KIRO-FM. Dave
is a former NFL linebacker. He was a 2nd round draft choice
of the Seattle Seahawks in 1987 and was a 5-year starter for
the Hawks before signing a free-agent contract with the
Denver Broncos in 1993.Copyright © 2010 Bonneville International. All rights reserved.
