Game Ball(s), Dunce Caps

[RiverDog]

I'm not going with the obvious ones, like Russell Wilson or Percy Harvin, both of whom played fantastic, but rather those that escaped the eye of the network guys.

Zach Miller. The guy is a clone of an offensive tackle and wide receiver, both in run blocking and pass blocking. I'd rather see him going up against Mathews or Peppers than our OT's. Absolutely fantastic catch at an important part of the game.

James Carpenter, one of my favorite whipping boys from over the years. He's a stalwart, is getting off the ball ten times better than when he was nothing more than a fat slob. I need to re-watch the game, but my initial impression is that Sweezy played well, too.

Bobby Wagner, except for the PI, of which he was 30 something yards downfield, he played a great game, really plugged up their running game.

Cassious Marsh. Again, I'll have to re-watch the game, but my sense is that he disrupted a fair share of running plays.

Now, the booby prizes, or dunce cap awards: Earl Thomas. Ever heard of the term "fair catch", bro? You don't always have to be a G.D. hero. Discretion is the better part of valor.

Jeremy Lane. WTF are you doing so close to a live ball that's unpredictably bouncing around on the ground?

Russell Okung. Yea, I know, lots of rust and you're going up against some of the best edge rushers in the game. But the competition isn't getting any easier. Better get yourself into game shape or that Rams DL is going to eat you, and our quarterback, alive.

Richard Sherman needs to take an alarm clock with him. Did they ever throw against him? The only time I ever saw Rodgers looking to his right, he would check it down to someone not covered by Sherman.

[burrrton]

Bobby Wagner, except for the PI, of which he was 30 something yards downfield, he played a great game, really plugged up their running game.

Yep, Wags stood out to me, too, and on that PI, he was *so* close to defending it perfectly- he just didn't quite get his head turned early enough.

Earl Thomas. Ever heard of the term "fair catch", bro? You don't always have to be a G.D. hero. Discretion is the better part of valor.

I texted that to a couple friends during the game almost verbatim. I know it can be argued those are just kinks being worked out, but it seems to me it would be better, with this team, to just have someone with great hands and a good sense of when to do what. I'm not convinced ET is that, and I'd rather have my All-Pro concentrating on what made him an All-Pro.

Richard Sherman...Did they ever throw against him?

No. I hope that he wasn't part of your 'booby prizes' for that, though.

[PasadenaHawk]

Zack Miller - outstanding game!

[NorthHawk]

Game ball: The Offensive line while run blocking.
Unsung heroes: The Linebackers who got very little mention during the game.
Dunce Cap: Special Teams Punt Return

[RiverDog]

[

Richard Sherman...Did they ever throw against him?

No. I hope that he wasn't part of your 'booby prizes' for that, though.

I should have found a different way to work Sherman in. He should have a dunce cap for blocking his guy into Earl on the punt return. Even if Earl had fair caught the ball, it still would have been a fumble.

Sherm's presence limited the Pack to a one sided, very predictable passing attack.

[jshawaii22]

Unsung Hero's Award: KO Coverage Team. Did the Pack get past the 20? When you start at the 12 yard line a couple of times, that squad is doing their job.

js

[Hawkstar]

Unsung Hero's Award: KO Coverage Team. Did the Pack get past the 20? When you start at the 12 yard line a couple of times, that squad is doing their job.

js

Great point. It was awesome to see our coverage team swarming to the ball.

Nice to see some dominate (at times) guard play. Both guys had some stellar moments and very few lapses that I could see.

[monkey]

I need to re-watch the game, but my initial impression is that Sweezy played well, too.

Bobby Wagner, except for the PI, of which he was 30 something yards downfield, he played a great game, really plugged up their running game.

Sweezy looks well on his way towards fulfilling my off season bold prediction about him turning into a star, he looked VERY good.
Carpenter also looked very good, it's just hard for me to get too excited about a guy I really am not sure we should keep past this year...when his contract is up at the end of this year, even if he has a terrific year, I'd be hard pressed to say that I want to see him back. Contract year re-signings usually turn out bad.

Bobby Wagner is going to be a pro bowler this year, write it down. Right now I wouldn't trade Bobby for any LBer in the league.

[Zorn76]

I'll go with Avril for his 4th down sack, and Bennett on a stellar sack/fumble that got us the safety.

I agree that E.T. needs to quit treating punts like they are hail mary passes needing to be picked.

Again, let Harvin do this instead.

And Lane, yea dude, don't get cute with a ball on the ground surrounded by Packers.

Among the few things that could kill a game for us is dumb mistakes on ST's. Those kinds of mistakes drive me f'ing nuts:)

[HumanCockroach]

Yeah Monkey, it's unfortunate that Bobby came out in the same draft as Kuechly, honestly a strong case could be made for him being more deserving of the DROTY award, and a pretty damn good case could have been made for the DPOTY last season. Someone threw up a stat about him having the third most tackles in the NFL behind Kuechly and Bowman, by around twenty tackles ( with missing two games; and having less opportunities or snaps than both) more sacks, and picks than Kuechly. Dude has been due some recognition for two years, and people are just now waking up to the fact about how truly talented he is.

[RiverDog]

Yeah Monkey, it's unfortunate that Bobby came out in the same draft as Kuechly, honestly a strong case could be made for him being more deserving of the DROTY award, and a pretty damn good case could have been made for the DPOTY last season. Someone threw up a stat about him having the third most tackles in the NFL behind Kuechly and Bowman, by around twenty tackles ( with missing two games; and having less opportunities or snaps than both) more sacks, and picks than Kuechly. Dude has been due some recognition for two years, and people are just now waking up to the fact about how truly talented he is.

K is a good comparison to Wagner. They both have a similar skill set and both play with similar intensity, but because Wags plays with the Legion of Boom, he doesn't get the same amount of attention that K gets.

We do have to admit that NBC did acknowledge Wagner's play on Thursday as they picked him, along with Percy and Russell, to do their post game interview.

[Seahawks4Ever]

This is a post (and thread) where I agree 100% with you Dog.

I also have to give you props for not blaming PC for allowing ET to field punts, especially after I criticized your OT college thread, even though you would have been justified if you had.

I actually stated during the game that ET returning punts was a product of both Carroll's and ET huge egos. I don not agree with PC for this decision and I expect it is going to come back and bite the team in the worst way if they continue it.

PC has said that Sherman is not going to shadow opposing team's best receiver, for now. Well, while cutting the field down by a third(not a half) is very laudable it is a total misuse of Sherman's talent. The receiver he covered all game wasn't going to hurt us, but, Nelson or Cobb could. OC's are going to game plan for our team voluntarily taking Sherman out of the action. The only place it makes sense leaving Sherman on one side is in the Red Zone and/or goal line situations, IMO.