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Monday, September 22, 2003

WHEW 

Some words about the Seahawks fourth quarter here in a second.

Thought my computer had the Blaster worm there or something. I guess it didn't. My connection was just out for 20 hours or something. Computers have been getting hit with the Blaster worm here, as has been the case on quite a few campuses in the region.

Anyway, I could have gotten this post in yesterday, but the connection went out.

The Hawks came back from 23-10 with 18:45 left in the game to reel off 14 unanswered points. But there were a couple of plays that I (and on one occasion, Jeremy) noted. The general premise and the big plays are mine (Jeremy's where noted) and the numbers are aided by SportsLine.

On the final Hawks drive of the 3rd quarter (which ended with a Koren Robinson TD catch), the team was on their second set of downs on a 2nd-and-12 (after Alexander was stuffed for a loss of 2) when Koren Robinson false started. As Jeremy pointed out to me (he's the ex-football player, I'm the ex-baseball player), there's no excuse for a wide receiver to false start. Anyway, the Hawks were then left with a 2nd-and-17 at their own 36 and Mack Strong caught a 3-yd pass. The penalty indirectly put the Seahawks in a dicey situation with a 3rd-and-14 on their 39 down by 13 with 1:01 left in the 3rd quarter. Luckily the Hawks came through on 3rd down, with a pass to Itula Mili for 18 yards into Ram territory to end the 3rd quarter. Three plays later the Seahawks hit paydirt with the Koren touchdown.

Two plays into the Rams' first drive of the 4th quarter, Reggie Tongue got a key interception to give Seattle the drive they needed so badly. They went from their own 36 all the way to the Rams 14 and were in the red zone with 9:16 left. On the first play from the Rams 14, Hasselbeck was hurried and sacked for a loss of 10. Jeremy and I would like to thank Chris Terry for getting suspended for using drugs. I'm not saying there's a direct correlation here between the sack and the suspension, but it sure would have helped to have Terry on the line. Anyway, the following 2nd-and-20 didn't help the Hawks, and they never got another set of downs on the drive. But they WERE well within field-goal range for Josh Brown. From 35 yards and with 7:57 left, Brown missed wide right and things did not look good in the northwest.

The Rams took over from their own 25 and three-and-outed, though with help of a Kyle Turley false start, the Rams weren't able to convert on a 3rd-and-9.

The Hawks got the punt and had the ball on their own 39 with 5:27 left and down by 6 points. On a 3rd-and-12, Hasselbeck ran with the ball and reached out for some extra yardage, but was just a yard short. So down by 6 with 4:13 left, the Hawks go for it on 4th-and-1. So they let Shaun Alexander pound through the line for one yard, right? How about an incomplete pass to Darrell Jackson instead? WHAT THE HELL??!!!?! WHY NOT RUN THE DAMN BALL??! ONE DAMN YARD!! SHAUN ALEXANDER!!! COME ON!!!

So the Rams took over from the Seattle 41 with 4:12 left and with how they'd been throwing the ball at will all day, it seemed like a lock that they'd at least get into field goal range and put some points on the board to make it a two-score game for the Hawks. On a 3rd-and-3 from the Hawks 33, Bulger threw to Dane Looker but luckily Anthony Simmons picked it off, giving the Hawks a second life after it looked damn bleak. Jeremy noted here that Mike Martz decided to PASS and not RUN on 3rd-and-3. Sure, Faulk was out with a broken hand at that point and you would be depending on Lamar Gordon or some other 3rd-down back to get you three yards, but you gotta wonder.

The Hawks took over from their own 26 with 3:15 left in the game. They had some big plays on the drive. On the first play from scrimmage, Hass hit Koren with a 32-yard pass to get into Ram territory. Three plays later, they converted on a 3rd-and-10 for a 13-yd pass to Bobby Engram (the steal of last year). Then came the big play. Seattle was on the 13 with a 3rd-and-8. Hass threw an incomplete pass to Darrell Jackson as flags flew. The call? Defensive holding on the Rams. Automatic first down. A fresh set of downs. Three plays later, Koren caught a 3-yd TD pass. THERE IS JOY IN THE NORTHWEST!!! THE SEAHAWKS ARE GOOD!!! THE MARINERS ARE NOT!!!!

Please note to yourselves how badly the Seahawks and Mariners are polar opposites right now. Just brutal. Any anticipation for next year's Mariner season ticket drive?

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