Seahawks Crash and Burn in Miami, 24-21 - Page 2

As much as I’d like to blame that penalty, the Seahawks weren’t dead yet. They had the opportunity to stop the Dolphins but didn’t. They allowed a touchdown run by Daniel Thomas on the next play. That’s not what a championship defense should do; it’s not what championship teams do. Yes, the call was fucked up but you have to buckle up the helmet and adjust to the next play. The time for complaining is after the game, during the film session, and when you’re writing a blog post about it. This, by the way, if you’re me, and it’s a lucky thing for you that you’re not, takes at least five tries to cut out 99% of the profanity after that bullshit call.

Okay, deep breaths and back to reality. While I’m a firm believer there isn’t just one play that makes or breaks a game neither is there one player or unit that deserves all the blame. Quarterbacks get too much of that, for example.

So it would be easy to blame the defense for allowing three drives of more than 220 yards, two touchdowns and a field goal to blow two seven-point leads late in the game. Yes, the unit was instrumental in losing the game with such a monumental collapse against at team that was average, at best, on offense.

But the defense wasn’t alone. The Seahawks offense was morbidly bad in the beginning of the game, going three and out four straight times to begin the game. They collected a 12 men in the huddle penalty on the third play of the game. The offense didn’t get their first 1st down until a minute into the second quarter. It was ugly like a Wal-Mart at two in the morning.

The running game was beyond bad as the offensive line couldn’t compare to Miami’s defensive line. The play by play chart is littered with run plays getting no gain, two yards, or negative yardage. Despite the constant lack of success, the announcers, the incomparably bad Chris Meyers and Tim Ryan, cheered offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell’s determination to keep running the ball. It was obvious from early on that the Seahawks needed to attack the Dolphins’ defense in a different direction but you wouldn’t know it listening to them or from watching the game.

This leads me to my other culprit. I felt the whole game that the Seahawks game plan was to be as conservative as possible on offense. It’s understandable since Russell Wilson has been a much different quarterback on the road than at home. He’s undefeated at home, hasn’t thrown an interception and looks completely in command of the offense.

Article Author: Russ Evenhuis

I am a writer in a mid-life crisis. My passions are Seahawks football, triathlons, rugby, sports in general, Guinness, reading, writing, television, music, computers, family, and movies.

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