Seahawks Go Down Fighting In New Orleans, 34-19 - Page 2

2. Chris Ivory - I don’t usually compliment the other team's players too often, but Ivory was impressive. Watch the highlight of his devastating stiff arm on Jordan Babineaux. Ivory finished with 99 yards on 23 carries and a lot of those yards came after getting smacked at the line of scrimmage. The Seahawks did adjust and his yardage per carry went down dramatically as the game progressed, but Ivory left me impressed.

3. Wide Receivers - Mike Williams led all Seattle receivers with six catches for 109 yards but Ben Obomanu (five catches for 87 yards) and Brandon Stokely (six catches for 76 yards) came up big too. Deon Butler, Justin Forsett, Marshawn Lynch and John Carlson all contributed with productive receptions. After seeing so many dropped passes against Oakland, it was a great day seeing so many catches.

The Bad:

1. Defense - If it wasn’t Drew Brees hitting open receivers 12 yards down the field, it was Chris Ivory bouncing off of would be tacklers and running for another eight yards after contact. Seattle’s defense is missing Colin Cole and Red Bryant but there is no excuse for the poor tackling, lack of pressure on Brees and soft coverage that the Seahawks showed. Yes, the Saints are still very potent on offense but when they run off five straight drives for touchdowns, it’s time to try some different things. I’m not suggesting changing coaches or players, but I think the Seahawks are on the right path. What I’m saying is to adjust faster and better to what the opposition’s offense is doing to you.

2. Run Blocking - For all the success in the passing game, the run game flat out sucked for Seattle. At halftime the Seahawks had one yard rushing total. Yes, one yard total. I’d give credit to the Saints defense but I can’t really since the Seahawks running game has been stagnant all season so far. Watching the offensive line try and block on a running play is painful. All you see are the big butts being pushed backwards. Even if the lineman keeps his man blocked, he’s not getting any kind of push, not opening any holes for the running back.

3. Mistakes - Yes, that roughing the passer/leading with the helmet call at the end of the first half on Raheem Brock was complete bullshit. The only thing that made it worse was that it came on a third down incompletion that kept a Saints drive alive. I’m only complaining a little because for the most part, the refs were reasonable. What killed Seattle were the mistakes at the crucial times: holding calls, dropped passes, poor tackling, loss of focus, and fumbles. You name a mistake and the Seahawks made it.

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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