When Germain Ifedi went down in the second quarter, the Seahawks put in a rookie who had never played right guard. The long gamble with the O-line finally failed and ended the season.
Author: Art Thiel
Art Thiel
Never having met a metaphor he could not twist beyond recognition, Art has been illuminating, agitating, amusing and annoying Puget Sound sports readers for a long time. Along with Steve Rudman, he co-founded Sports Press Northwest because it didnt seem right that the Google monster should aggregate daily journalism into oblivion without at least a flesh wound from somebody. Thiel and Rudman labored under the Seattle Post-Intelligencer globe until the print edition died an undeserved death in March, 2009. Art continued on at its online successor seattlepi.com while working on SPNWs creation. His radio commentaries can be heard Friday and Saturday mornings and Friday afternoon on KPLU-FM 88.9. In 2003 he wrote the definitive book about the Seattle Mariners, Out of Left Field, which became a regional bestseller. In 2009, along with Rudman and KJR 950 afternoon host Mike Gastineau, Thiel authored The Great Book of Seattle Sports Lists, a cross between historylink.org and Mad Magazine that has become mandatory reading for any sports fan who has an indoor bathroom. A graduate of Pacific Lutheran University as well as two dead papers and a live one, the News Tribune of Tacoma, he has become a fan of entrepreneurial online journalism because it allows him to continue a lifelong passion to take the English language to places it rarely visits willingly, and does not involve the cleaning of kennels or stables.
Since the first meeting in October, several key young players among the Seahawks and Falcons have grown up fast. It helps to think of the NFL narrative in dog years.
The Seahawks’ 2013 defeat in the final moments of a playoff game against the Falcons in Atlanta gets revisited this week. It was so excruciating, it left a mark on Carroll.
At 31, Marcel Reece was thrilled to experience his first playoff game Saturday, helping the Seahawks to 177 rushing yards as the closest thing yet to former ace fullback Michael Robinson.
Thanks to a big day rushing, the Seahawks defense played only 23 minutes and 50 plays in win over Lions. Keeping QB Matt Ryan off the field may be the most important feat Saturday in Atlanta.
Yes, it was the sixth-seeded Lions. But the Seahawks trusted one another to do what they spent a year working toward — being successful without Marshawn Lynch. Saturday, they took a step.
The focus on CB Richard Sherman’s media boycott obscures the fact that his actions on the field and words at the podium have initiated everything.
Even though QB Russell Wilson’s mobility seems close to normal, he needs to be more of a threat to run if the Seahawks, in the absence of Marshawn Lynch, want any offensive swagger.
As many fret about a Seahawks team that doesn’t look like previous playoff teams, take a moment and look around the rest of the NFL and allow yourself to feel better.
The Seahawks were 3-1 vs. this year’s playoff field and are eight-point favorites over Detroit. But just winning isn’t enough — the many inexperienced kids playing key roles have to deliver all game.