foooootbaaaaaalllllll
Sep. 21st, 2014 10:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
It was a good football day. I got 2 of the 3 things I wanted, and it was the most important 2, so I'm satisfied with that. Seahawks won, 49ers lost, and unfortunately I lost my fantasy football matchup because Carolina decided to forget that they play great defense.
Can anyone tell me why the Carolina Panthers were so terrible tonight? Not their offense, but their defense. Seriously? Letting the Steelers score that much on them? They cost me 7 points!!! Actually, 17 points, because they were supposed to give me POSITIVE 10 points, not negative 7! Argh!! Had they played more like their usual selves, I would have beaten this undefeated guy in my fantasy football matchup. :( I SHOULD HAVE WON. STUPID CAROLINA.
Except for Luke Kuechly. Hot, hot Luke Kuechly.
AND HE WEARS GLASSES OMG. What is he, Clark Kent?!
Especially after playing Marshawn Lynch and having him tear it up after being "questionable" all week as to whether or not he was even going to play! That man is seriously a beast. I can't believe we considered letting him go in the offseason. He clearly IS the offense.
I mean, where was Percy Harvin today?! Mostly he was used as a decoy... he can't be happy about that. Unless there's something wrong with him that no one has disclosed yet. Or the Broncos were so all over him that he never had any real shot to make plays. That wouldn't surprise me, since in the Super Bowl they'd concentrated mostly on Marshawn, basically erasing him, while Percy ran around on fly sweeps and what not.
Still, had Percy played more, I would have had a much better shot at winning my fantasy matchup. Though he would have had to tear it up like Beast Mode did, given how the Panthers completely wrecked my scoreboard.
Next week is the Seahawks' early bye week... I hope they use the time to get themselves together. They are not playing incredibly well, though much better than last week. I was pretty frustrated with the offense at times during today's game, though, and I have been of late. They seemed unstoppable in the preseason, and now they seem to be back in the "Marshawn, save us!" mode they were in pretty much all last year. At this rate, they're going to seriously have to consider paying the last year of his contract, when up to this point most people assumed they'd release him to save the money. But so far the production doesn't seem to be coming from any other quarter.
Now let's talk defense. WTF happened? They were doing what they were supposed to, through 3 quarters. Then suddenly it all fell apart and Denver came back to tie things up? Ugh. I will grant you that the momentum shift, and the Broncos being able to get one of their touchdowns, was not their fault but the offense's, when Russell and Percy combined to cause an interception.
Some of the offense play calling was totally mystifying to me. They're pinned back in the end zone and they call NO passing plays? Not even on 3rd down? That cost them a safety, which would have prevented OT. Why was Bryan Walters targeted repeatedly? I find it hard to believe that Denver has so many great defenders that they could defend Marshawn and Percy in addition to Baldwin and Kearse, neither of whom are considered elite. Walters played well, but several times he seemed to be caught completely off guard that he was the one being thrown to. And where the hell were our tight ends? Zach Miller was in the game for a few plays, despite there being some question of his participation, but where was Luke Willson?
Steven Hauschka missing a field goal from like 26 yards out WTF?!?! I guess that's what happens when you become utterly dependable, the streak has to get broken just so life can tell you, once again, that there are no sure things. I thought we were doomed at that point, because it is such a bad omen. Last time it happened was the home loss to Arizona last season, when EVERYTHING went wrong. And of course, had he made this field goal, OT would not have been necessary.
That gadget play with Kearse throwing the football to Russell... what a beautiful pass! Kearse might've missed his calling. That was a beautiful throw, in game time conditions, much better than the wobbly throws we've seen Marshawn undertake, lol. Also? Kearse is super hot.
DAT SMILE. /thud
Earl had a good night, but where were some of the usual suspects who usually garner a lot of great plays on the defensive side of the ball? Bobby Wagner? Cliff Avril? Michael Bennett? I mean, obviously they were there and making an effort as a team, but... usually each one of those guys makes some kind of highlight play in a game, and collectively they were pretty quiet. Maybe once I watch the replay of the game I'll find that I'm wrong, but T., B., and I watched the game at BJ's, and with the sound low, I could only rely on my eyes, which told me most of the work was being done in the secondary.
I was a little surprised but pleased that we chose to go on offense first in OT. The only other OT game I recall from last season, we chose to be on defense first. In this game, there was really no other choice when the opposing quarterback was Peyton Manning, who had just engineered an 80-yard touchdown drive in under a minute. It put the onus on our offense, which was playing better toward the end of the game, and also gave our defense a chance to rest. I really wanted to see Russell Wilson carry us to a win for once, and he (along with Marshawn, of course), did that. I was happy they were able to accomplish that.
Now I'd like to see them win outside of the security blanket of Century Link Field.
Favorite moment of the whole thing? At the very end, when the "credits" were rolling. Russell and Earl in a circle of players, holding hands. MUST. GIF.
Watching that game was exhausting. The emotional ups and downs! The pure adrenaline! My hands were shaking after it was over.
According to my mom, however, there was never anything to worry about. She's become a fan of watching the Seahawks play, which, if you knew my mother, you would understand how utterly bizarre the idea is of her liking any kind of professional sport at all, much less something like gridiron football. Anyway, she watched the game on her own while I was out, and I had the following exchange with her when I got home:
Me: Did you watch the game?
Her: Of course!
Me: Exciting, huh?
Her: It even went into overtime.
Me: Yeah. Were you nervous?
Her: No.
Me: What? Really? Why not?
Her: Any anxiety I might have felt was gone when I noticed that their logo was a horse.
Me: ....
Her: Yup.
Me: Um, so? Why does that matter?
Her: (duh voice) It's the year of the horse! So the horse will not succeed. So as soon as I saw that, I knew they weren't going to win.
:))))))))))))))) OH, NATURALLY. IT'S THE YEAR OF THE HORSE. HOW COULD I HAVE POSSIBLY NEGLECTED TO TAKE THAT INTO ACCOUNT?
Though B. points out that the year of the horse began on Jan. 31, two days before the Super Bowl, so maybe there's actually something to it.
I'd love for the Broncos to not make it to Super Bowl 49. Their fans are some of the most obnoxious I have encountered on the interwebs, and that's saying something. Anyway, hopefully that's what happens, because otherwise the Chinese zodiac curse will be lifted--
Oh hang on. Super Bowl 49 is scheduled for Feb. 1, 2015, while Chinese New Year next year is on Feb. 15! HAHA! THE CURSE IS STILL WITH YOU, BRONCOS.
Finally, a word about the NFC West. Felt bad about the Rams losing, since they overcame their quarterback woes to play well and get a 21-0 lead over the Cowboys, only to squander it in an eventual loss. If they were still the same dangerous team as earlier in the year I might've been glad about them losing, but I don't see them as much of a threat anymore, so I would have liked to see them win for the NFC West. As for the Cardinals beating the 49ers, well... naturally I was rooting for that to happen, even though the Cardinals are also a dangerous team and are now one of very few teams to remain unbeaten after week 3. But they should also be weaker than they were last year... maybe. Hopefully. So I hope that says more about how much the 49ers suck than it does that the Cardinals are now the team to beat in our division. They were playing with backups, for god's sake.
Can anyone tell me why the Carolina Panthers were so terrible tonight? Not their offense, but their defense. Seriously? Letting the Steelers score that much on them? They cost me 7 points!!! Actually, 17 points, because they were supposed to give me POSITIVE 10 points, not negative 7! Argh!! Had they played more like their usual selves, I would have beaten this undefeated guy in my fantasy football matchup. :( I SHOULD HAVE WON. STUPID CAROLINA.
Except for Luke Kuechly. Hot, hot Luke Kuechly.
AND HE WEARS GLASSES OMG. What is he, Clark Kent?!
Especially after playing Marshawn Lynch and having him tear it up after being "questionable" all week as to whether or not he was even going to play! That man is seriously a beast. I can't believe we considered letting him go in the offseason. He clearly IS the offense.
I mean, where was Percy Harvin today?! Mostly he was used as a decoy... he can't be happy about that. Unless there's something wrong with him that no one has disclosed yet. Or the Broncos were so all over him that he never had any real shot to make plays. That wouldn't surprise me, since in the Super Bowl they'd concentrated mostly on Marshawn, basically erasing him, while Percy ran around on fly sweeps and what not.
Still, had Percy played more, I would have had a much better shot at winning my fantasy matchup. Though he would have had to tear it up like Beast Mode did, given how the Panthers completely wrecked my scoreboard.
Next week is the Seahawks' early bye week... I hope they use the time to get themselves together. They are not playing incredibly well, though much better than last week. I was pretty frustrated with the offense at times during today's game, though, and I have been of late. They seemed unstoppable in the preseason, and now they seem to be back in the "Marshawn, save us!" mode they were in pretty much all last year. At this rate, they're going to seriously have to consider paying the last year of his contract, when up to this point most people assumed they'd release him to save the money. But so far the production doesn't seem to be coming from any other quarter.
Now let's talk defense. WTF happened? They were doing what they were supposed to, through 3 quarters. Then suddenly it all fell apart and Denver came back to tie things up? Ugh. I will grant you that the momentum shift, and the Broncos being able to get one of their touchdowns, was not their fault but the offense's, when Russell and Percy combined to cause an interception.
Some of the offense play calling was totally mystifying to me. They're pinned back in the end zone and they call NO passing plays? Not even on 3rd down? That cost them a safety, which would have prevented OT. Why was Bryan Walters targeted repeatedly? I find it hard to believe that Denver has so many great defenders that they could defend Marshawn and Percy in addition to Baldwin and Kearse, neither of whom are considered elite. Walters played well, but several times he seemed to be caught completely off guard that he was the one being thrown to. And where the hell were our tight ends? Zach Miller was in the game for a few plays, despite there being some question of his participation, but where was Luke Willson?
Steven Hauschka missing a field goal from like 26 yards out WTF?!?! I guess that's what happens when you become utterly dependable, the streak has to get broken just so life can tell you, once again, that there are no sure things. I thought we were doomed at that point, because it is such a bad omen. Last time it happened was the home loss to Arizona last season, when EVERYTHING went wrong. And of course, had he made this field goal, OT would not have been necessary.
That gadget play with Kearse throwing the football to Russell... what a beautiful pass! Kearse might've missed his calling. That was a beautiful throw, in game time conditions, much better than the wobbly throws we've seen Marshawn undertake, lol. Also? Kearse is super hot.
DAT SMILE. /thud
Earl had a good night, but where were some of the usual suspects who usually garner a lot of great plays on the defensive side of the ball? Bobby Wagner? Cliff Avril? Michael Bennett? I mean, obviously they were there and making an effort as a team, but... usually each one of those guys makes some kind of highlight play in a game, and collectively they were pretty quiet. Maybe once I watch the replay of the game I'll find that I'm wrong, but T., B., and I watched the game at BJ's, and with the sound low, I could only rely on my eyes, which told me most of the work was being done in the secondary.
I was a little surprised but pleased that we chose to go on offense first in OT. The only other OT game I recall from last season, we chose to be on defense first. In this game, there was really no other choice when the opposing quarterback was Peyton Manning, who had just engineered an 80-yard touchdown drive in under a minute. It put the onus on our offense, which was playing better toward the end of the game, and also gave our defense a chance to rest. I really wanted to see Russell Wilson carry us to a win for once, and he (along with Marshawn, of course), did that. I was happy they were able to accomplish that.
Now I'd like to see them win outside of the security blanket of Century Link Field.
Favorite moment of the whole thing? At the very end, when the "credits" were rolling. Russell and Earl in a circle of players, holding hands. MUST. GIF.
Watching that game was exhausting. The emotional ups and downs! The pure adrenaline! My hands were shaking after it was over.
According to my mom, however, there was never anything to worry about. She's become a fan of watching the Seahawks play, which, if you knew my mother, you would understand how utterly bizarre the idea is of her liking any kind of professional sport at all, much less something like gridiron football. Anyway, she watched the game on her own while I was out, and I had the following exchange with her when I got home:
Me: Did you watch the game?
Her: Of course!
Me: Exciting, huh?
Her: It even went into overtime.
Me: Yeah. Were you nervous?
Her: No.
Me: What? Really? Why not?
Her: Any anxiety I might have felt was gone when I noticed that their logo was a horse.
Me: ....
Her: Yup.
Me: Um, so? Why does that matter?
Her: (duh voice) It's the year of the horse! So the horse will not succeed. So as soon as I saw that, I knew they weren't going to win.
:))))))))))))))) OH, NATURALLY. IT'S THE YEAR OF THE HORSE. HOW COULD I HAVE POSSIBLY NEGLECTED TO TAKE THAT INTO ACCOUNT?
Though B. points out that the year of the horse began on Jan. 31, two days before the Super Bowl, so maybe there's actually something to it.
I'd love for the Broncos to not make it to Super Bowl 49. Their fans are some of the most obnoxious I have encountered on the interwebs, and that's saying something. Anyway, hopefully that's what happens, because otherwise the Chinese zodiac curse will be lifted--
Oh hang on. Super Bowl 49 is scheduled for Feb. 1, 2015, while Chinese New Year next year is on Feb. 15! HAHA! THE CURSE IS STILL WITH YOU, BRONCOS.
Finally, a word about the NFC West. Felt bad about the Rams losing, since they overcame their quarterback woes to play well and get a 21-0 lead over the Cowboys, only to squander it in an eventual loss. If they were still the same dangerous team as earlier in the year I might've been glad about them losing, but I don't see them as much of a threat anymore, so I would have liked to see them win for the NFC West. As for the Cardinals beating the 49ers, well... naturally I was rooting for that to happen, even though the Cardinals are also a dangerous team and are now one of very few teams to remain unbeaten after week 3. But they should also be weaker than they were last year... maybe. Hopefully. So I hope that says more about how much the 49ers suck than it does that the Cardinals are now the team to beat in our division. They were playing with backups, for god's sake.
