Field Gulls
With each of their Week 18 main courses within sniffing distance, the Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers plopped down in your booth at Chili’s, knocked over your drink and half-apologized, ordered your least favorite appetizer for the whole table, ate it noisily, talked with their mouths full, and never stopped badgering the server for more refills. Then after halftime, they started fighting. One left the restaurant with a bloody nose, the other with a win. All in all, a pretty eventful night out.
Indeed, after a first quarter devoid of big plays and thus nearly points-free, a second quarter out there that combined the worst parts of 2000s 10 a.m. games and Pete Carroll cardiacball, the third quarter arrived just in time to restore balance to the force of nature we call the Seahawks.
Consider this: on the cusp of the New Year, nobody in the NFL has more victories than Seattle. Mike Macdonald has more wins this year (13) than Pete Carroll, Bill Belichick and Andy Reid combined (12). I would gladly type that again, were I not too busy picking up my own jaw from the floor.
Despite their unruly first half, it turns out the Seahawks were toying with us all along. Drawing out the joke, saving their killer punchline for the third quarter, when two touchdowns 3:13 apart tipped the game from toss-up to likely win. Despite one solitary competent Carolina drive that narrowed the deficit to a single score, the hosts never got the ball afterward with a chance to win or take the lead. A desperation 4th and 17 attempt in their own territory yielded nothing, Seattle took over on the 25 with under four minutes left, and rode Zach’s strapping Bach to the end zone for the clinching teeder. That topped off the scoring at 27-10 and blessed us with the rarest of treats: consecutive victory formations. The Panthers first, in surrender mode —
— and the Seahawks second, after possession transferred back to Seattle for the honorary final kneel.
On a day Sam Darnold was careless and unlucky before pivoting to tough and conservative, the Seahawks won by 17 on the road. How? 158 rushing yards helped. Holding the Panthers to zero pass plays beyond eight yards helped. Making Bryce Young’s life hell helped. Allowing just 139 total yards helped. Taking the ball away twice helped. Eliminating mistakes after half helped. That defend-every-blade-of-grass-even-on-the-road defense helped most of all.
I’m traveling today so brevity will be the mother of necessity. (Apologies for the Witherspoonerism.) Let’s hop in the DeLorean right quick and revisit those two middle two quarters. ‘Cause that’s where all the shit happened, good and bad. Have you met the Seahawks?
After a first quarter full of punts instead of points, featuring an improbable 3rd and 16 conversion on the ground from Charbs, an intentional grounding that led to 3rd and 30, and only 18 yards of offense for the Panthers on three possessions, it looked like maybe drive three might...
