Seahawks vs. 49ers

[Bulltalk]

Sunday: 1:05pm PST

A big early season road contest for the Seahawks. Both the Seahawks and 49ers are 2-1, tied for first place. To beat the 49ers on the road would put the Seahawks in the early season driver's seat in the NFC West.

Obviously, containing Frank Gore will be priority number one. Getting an early game lead would help as well, giving our defense a chance to get aggressive. I'd like to see a big game from our pass rushers, especially Peterson, Kerney, and Tapp. I'm hoping our defense will win this game for us.

Offensively, I hope our passing game gets out of the gate fast. Alexander will be at his best if the defense is put on their heels by our passing game. Last I heard, Alexander has a cracked bone in his hand, but will play. I wouldn't be surprised to see a little more of Morris this game, however.

It's payback time for last year. I'm looking forward to sweeping the 49ers this year.

Seahawks win 27-20.

[Sweezo]

Offensively, I hope our passing game gets out of the gate fast. Alexander will be at his best if the defense is put on their heels by our passing game. Last I heard, Alexander has a cracked bone in his hand, but will play. I wouldn't be surprised to see a little more of Morris this game, however.

Osteoporosis is a bitch...

I've bagged on SA quite a bit the last two seasons, but man...gotta give him credit for trying to play through broken bones. I have a bone spur on my right foot and it's kept me from playing basketball for 2-3 months now. Admirable, to say the least. But that doesn't mean I don't think his best years are clearly behind him...

Is Morris going to be available? He's been unavailable the last two games. due to his hip pointer issues. Will Weaver get some carries? Has Pearman learned enough of the offense yet to contribute in the passing game and running game?

SA looks tentative too often, and his inability to block is further magnified by being unable to do much with his offhand. And you'd think the defense can safely load up on the right side of the line with SA's left hand injured.

Holmgren likes to rely on his vets, but he can't be stubborn here. Give some carries to the other guys in the first half, let the offensive line wear the defense down, and then give the ball to SA more later on when he's tended to excel this season.

[Troy McClure]

Obviously this is an important game. The Seahawks can take the division today. A strong start is needed.

[Bulltalk]

13-0 at the half. The only thing disappointing about this game so far is that we're not up by more, that we don't have a two touchdown+ lead.

[Sweezo]

Oh my God...this is the best performance I've seen from our front four in years. I can't remember watching a 'Hawks game and waiting for the opposing offense to get the ball so I could watch the defense destroy them.

Trufant's a shutdown corner today.

Oh, and Branch >>> D-Jack. There hasn't been one time that I've missed Jackson this year, and he hasn't made a difference for SF in the slightest.

Look at that little shuffle by Weaver on the pass to get a first down. Why don't they use him more in the passing game? Or the running game for that matter?

[Bulltalk]

Oh my God...this is the best performance I've seen from our front four in years. I can't remember watching a 'Hawks game and waiting for the opposing offense to get the ball so I could watch the defense destroy them.

Trufant's a shutdown corner today.

Oh, and Branch >>> D-Jack. There hasn't been one time that I've missed Jackson this year, and he hasn't made a difference for SF in the slightest.

Look at that little shuffle by Weaver on the pass to get a first down. Why don't they use him more in the passing game? Or the running game for that matter?

Darrel who? I agree. To tell the truth, I have hardly given him a moment's thought since he was traded. I truly believed his loss was going to be inconsequential to us. I thought Branch and Burleson were going to fit into our scheme much better this year, that Engram was a solid vet, and that DJ Hackett needed more on-field play anyway.

Did you notice that our passing game today was much more vertical than horizontal? Refreshing. I always am gnawed that we don't go straight downfield enough in our passing game, if for no other reason than to make other team's have to defend it more.

Yeah, Trufant really coming into his own this year.

Anyway, it's nice to finally go out and crush someone, actually look like one of the "elite" NFC teams.

[Bulltalk]

PS>Pollard is increasingly looking like a real savvy GM pickup for us this year, and possibly next. He might have been just what the doctor oredered for us at the tight end position this year, an older, competent, experienced vet.

[Sweezo]

PS>Pollard is increasingly looking like a real savvy GM pickup for us this year, and possibly next. He might have been just what the doctor oredered for us at the tight end position this year, an older, competent, experienced vet.

Other than a bad, bad game against Arizona, I think he's done pretty well. And that one bad, bad game against Arizona still puts him ahead of Stevens who made bone headed plays with regularity.

Jackson was a good WR for us, but Branch is so much more fun to watch in open space when he gets the ball. His agility and quickness are amazing. He has a real knack for grabbing a short pass that should go for 5-10 yards, and then zipping along the sideline for another 30. Probably has better hands than D-Jack too. And he doesn't take plays off...when a ball's overthrown on Branch, then he turns into a defender instead of giving up.

Alexander still looks terrible. I don't see why his hand would make him a step slow and willing to go down with the slightest hint of contact. He's always had his issues, but they seem magnified now.

[Bulltalk]

-= original quote snipped =-



Other than a bad, bad game against Arizona, I think he's done pretty well. And that one bad, bad game against Arizona still puts him ahead of Stevens who made bone headed plays with regularity.

Jackson was a good WR for us, but Branch is so much more fun to watch in open space when he gets the ball. His agility and quickness are amazing. He has a real knack for grabbing a short pass that should go for 5-10 yards, and then zipping along the sideline for another 30. Probably has better hands than D-Jack too. And he doesn't take plays off...when a ball's overthrown on Branch, then he turns into a defender instead of giving up.

Alexander still looks terrible. I don't see why his hand would make him a step slow and willing to go down with the slightest hint of contact. He's always had his issues, but they seem magnified now.

Morris certainly isn't of starting-back-caliber (we found that out last year), but it was nice to see him in the game in the second half. There were two plays where he drove through a hole in the line, and when he got hit, you could see his legs driving for more yardage.

I hardly ever see that in Alexander, that leg drive after he gets hit.

I'm beginning to feel like RB may be our first pick in the draft this year, especially if one of the top 3 so far fall to us.

[Bulltalk]

Has anybody else noticed how the schedule is setting up for us this year? Teams that were supposed to be some of our toughest foes (Chicago, New Orleans, Philly) are not looking too good, and other somewhat difficult opponents, or previously thought to be (Rams, Carolina, Baltimore), are not looking quite as good as I thought they might be.

If we can somehow come out with a W in Pittsburgh next week (no easy feat), we are really looking good, barring injuries, of course, and Alexander"s continued mediocre play.

[vegas_runnin_rebel]

Awesome win. I was getting REALLY tired of the 49ers fans spouting off how about the division is theirs, and how much more physical a football they are.

Simply put, the Seahawks manhandled the 49ers today.

The NFC West title belongs to the Seahawks. Period.

[Ex-hippie]

Just saw the game delayed on TiVo. Although I'm obviously pleased with the result, I have to agree with what Tony Siragusa and Darryl Johnston (Goose and Moose, has anybody pointed that out?) were both saying: the Seahawks still need to learn how to put teams away for good, drive the final nail into their coffins.

Overall the Seahawks' defensive front seven totally dominated the Niners' offensive line, but otherwise I thought the team's performance was pretty ordinary. I guess Trufant's play was also a highlight. Alexander had a couple of good carries but spent most of the game being more or less bottled up. Hasselbeck had a quiet but efficient game, but overall the offense was only so-so in the red zone.

I remember reading one of my fantasy football previews online at the start of the season -- it had a ranking of all offensive lines in the NFL from 1st to 32nd. It put San Fran 5th overall based on Jonas Jennings and Larry Allen. It also put Seattle 21st overall based, apparently, on Hutchinson not being there. (Leave aside that Jennings cannot hold Walter Jones' jock and never could.) Well, after this game, I can't see how San Francisco's offensive line cracks the top 31. I mean, that unit was horrible. The sacks speak for themselves, plus the Seahawks forced a couple of holding calls (and one tripping call on Allen), and many of Dilfer's incompletions were due to his lack of time in the pocket. Later in the game the Seahawks' blitz clearly had the Niners' linemen spooked, when they committed false starts on consecutive plays. Their right guard, Justin Smiley, was incompetent the whole game; first-round pick Joe Staley wasn't much better; and Jennings got beat multiple times as well. I give the Seahawks lots of credit for making that unit look totally discombobulated. That's what won the game. Now we just need to work on all other aspects of the game.

Oh yeah, and what's with Nate Burleson, twice in one quarter, allowing catchable/returnable punts to drop and bounce for an extra 20 yards? It was still early in the game and looking like one in which field position would be huge. Those extra yards were costly.