NFL Week Eight: Carson Palmer Stands Tall

Week Eight began well with the home-team Broncos notching a solid win over injury-weakened San Diego. With no running game to speak of, Philip Rivers was unable to mount sustained drives, as he did last year when the 'Bolts traveled to the Mile High City.

This was the last Thursday night NFL game to appear on nationwide broadcast television for the remainder of the season; tonight the Thursday night platform reverts back to the NFL Network. For eight weeks the "unwashed" of the nation like myself who have no cable and choose not to frequent bars basked in the television's glow every evening on Thursday. I despised Phil Simms when he quarterbacked Parcells' Giants, the bête noire of every self-respecting 49ers fan at the time, but I must say he is by far the best analyst on television today. I'm going to miss these Thursday night CBS broadcasts.

Denver looks formidable: a strong defense, Ronnie Hillman developing as a potent ground-gainer, topped off by what is easily the NFL's top passing attack of Peyton Manning throwing to Emmanuel Sanders, Julius Thomas, and Demaryius Thomas. I think the Broncos offense can be stopped by the right defense, as the Seahawks proved last year. The problem for other teams around the league is that defense does not exist midpoint of the season.

The Cardinals D looked stout enough against the Philadelphia Eagles. But the difference in that game was the quarterback position. Nick Foles' numbers, 36 completions in 62 attempts for 411 yards and 2 TDs, surpassed Carson Palmer's 20 for 42, 329 yards and 2 TDs, but the Raiders castoff impressed me to no end. He stood tall in the pocket and never appeared rattled by the Eagles pass rush. You could tell he was seeing the entire field, and of course his game-winning bomb to rookie speedster John Brown was a thing of perfection.

NFL Week Eight Sunday began for me at 6:30 AM with the Fox telecast of the Lions-Falcons game from London's Wembley Stadium. Golden Tate had a huge game, helping the Lions overcome a 21-point halftime deficit to defeat the freefalling Falcons. If the Seahawks had a do-over I'm sure they would keep Golden Tate and deal Percy Harvin prior to the beginning of the season, though the rumor that Tate carried on a tryst with Russell Wilson's wife that culminated in the pair's divorce likely would have made the plucky wideout's departure inevitable.

Game #2 for me on Sunday was Seattle vs.Carolina. The Seahawks finally ran into a team more snake-bit than themselves; plus, the defense finally, in the fourth quarter, found its pass rush. A cocky Cam Newton, cocky in the first half despite the inability to hit paydirt -- he ridiculously celebrated every chickenshit first down he scrambled for -- was not cocky by game's end. Seattle tallied a necessary win when Wilson, overcoming numerous mistakes -- a fumble, a pick, missing a wide-open Cooper Helfet for a touchdown -- connected on a pretty pass to Luke Willson, who actually held onto the ball this time, for the game winner.

Now Seattle has a chance to regroup with Oakland in town on Sunday. The Raiders dominated the Seahawks in the final preseason game. So this isn't the walkover that Vegas' 15-point spread says it is. Still, with a win on Sunday, and another win at home next week against the Giants, Pete Carroll will have bailed out his leaky, listing vessel and gotten back on course.

Game #3 was the aforementioned bird bash, Cardinals vs. Eagles. Then it was on to game #4, the Sunday night Packers-Saints match-up. By this time I was on my fourth straight game. I only made it to halftime. The score was tied 16-16. I was convalescing from a lingering flu. The rest and recuperation that such a televisual NFL smorgasbord afforded was welcome.

You can fool yourself and be who you imagine yourself to be. For a spell at least. Then things change. And you're not so strong.

I had not called in sick for five years. So my ego encrusted around being an "iron man." Strong and always showing up to the job and working hard. When I called in sick Monday before last I had to adjust the self-image. Arriving to work the next day I asked myself, "Who am I?" The answer I received was not pleasant. I am a jester, a fool, a clown.

But such is life. The ego is always being amended, buffeted this way and that like a toy boat in the foamy surf. Better not to pay too much attention. Best just to accept that health is the anchor and leave it at that.

NFL Week Six: Dodging a Bullet

The Tennessee Titans came to town this past Sunday (on a jog that morning I passed a couple, the man wearing a Jake Locker jersey, and wished them luck) and the Seahawks were lucky to keep their home winning streak alive.

If not for a mediocre-to-poor game behind center from Locker fill-in Ryan Fitzpatrick, Seattle would have lost that game. The Titans were successful at preventing Russell Wilson from connecting on the long ball. I am beginning to notice a pattern with Wilson where he will tuck the ball and run now much more quickly this year than last. It must be a change in philosophy by the coaching staff, one that I generally agree with. Certainly last year I always wondered why Wilson didn't take off and run more often rather than "Tarkenton-ing" around behind the line of scrimmage. But now that long completions to Golden Tate, Doug Baldwin and Sidney Rice are memories growing ever more faded, I am a little hesitant to fully embrace a run-first Russell Wilson.

In the end, despite a potentially game-changing fumble by Marshawn Lynch that Russell Wilson recovered, the Seahawks got on track thanks to the former Cal Berkeley running back's rushing and receiving, not to mention a great sideline grab by Sidney Rice.

Seattle had to win. The Seahawks are on the road for the next two games against division opponents, starting tonight in Arizona. A loss at home prior to tough away dates would have limited chances at the Super Bowl to a long shot. Seattle has to post the best record in the NFC to have a real shot at Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey. The New Orleans loss in Foxborough helped. There are no more unbeaten teams in the NFC.

The early game on CBS was a match-up between defending champs Baltimore Ravens and the seemingly perpetually banged-up Green Bay Packers. The Packers came away with a big road win, 19-17. Randall Cobb and James Jones left the game due to injuries. This left Aaron Rodgers with a reduced receiving corps. He came up big nonetheless with a long ball to Jordy Nelson. Eddie Lacy had a big day on the ground for the Packers, rushing for 120 yards, and the Packers defense looked good, continually pressuring Flacco and shutting down Ray Rice. A.J. Hawk looked great.

The Sunday night game was a lackluster NFC East contest between Dallas and Washington. I took away from that game a couple of things: Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray gets hurt a lot, and RG3, following his knee surgery, is not the player he was last year. Maybe he'll get better. Maybe he needs longer to heal. But right now without his jets he's a mediocre player. Redskins phenom running back Alfred Morris is playing hurt as well.

Orgy of NFL Action the Next Two Weekends

The orgy of NFL action begins tomorrow.  For the next two weekends there will be two playoff games televised each Saturday and Sunday.  By the time the conference championships games  arrive at the end of January I'm usually ready to throw in the towel.

I'm hoping Arian Foster has a big day tomorrow and that the Texans triumph.  Not that I don't like the Bengals.  I just love to watch Arian Foster run. 

Since I'm a Berkeley man I've got to go with Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay.  One of the largest disappointments from last season was how he underperformed in the playoff game against the Giants.

My prediction is that the Ravens will have a big day on the ground against Indy.  I appreciate the Ravens.  The largest disappointment of last season was Lee Evans not hanging onto the football in the end zone to beat the Patriots. 

And the final game of the weekend the ascendent Seahawks travel to Maryland to joust with chivalrous RG3 and his fellow rookie Alfred Morris.  I think Darrell Bevell will have an answer to all the blitzes the Redskins threw at Dallas, if in fact that's the way Washington plays Russell Wilson.  I think our -- meaning the Seahawks -- receivers are better than Washington's.  Yes, Pierre Garcon and Santana Moss are talented.  But they're not Sidney Rice and Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin.  We've got to have production from Marshawn Lynch; he's got to run with Alfred Morris.

As an old Montana-era 49ers diehard I don't like my team having to travel back to D.C. to play a game in the dark of winter.  It's tough for a West Coast team to win on the East Coast in a winter playoff game.  But it can be done.  And I'm hoping it will be.  Afterall, this bachelor goes to bed every night wrapped in a Seahawks blanket.

Seahawks Pass Rush Disappears Again

Drinking lots of coffee and watching the home team underperform isn't a smart way to relax; also, I've been popping up off my bed on the floor where I watch the game to periodically check online the status of the fiscal cliff negotiations in the Senate.

The Seahawks pass rush disappeared.  The last time they lost, Week 12 in Miami, was largely due to the lack of a pash rush in the fourth quarter allowing rookie QB Ryan Tannehill to move the Dolphins down the field at will.  Today Sam Bradford had time to sit in the pocket and zip throws to his wideouts.

The Rams on the other hand had a mighty pass rush, sacking Russell Wilson time and time again.  But to the credit of Darrell Bevel there was no panic, no major shift in the play calling.  Seattle stuck with the read option and piled up good yardage on the ground.  Then the Seahawks got a lucky break break in the 4th quarter when Marshawn Lynch fumbled but Seattle recovered beyond the first down marker.  Golden Tate came through with a huge catch thanks to a Russell Wilson scramble, and we were on the way to our fifth win in a row.

Never having lost at home this season, to lose now in the final game would have been bad.  But the home team hung tough.  Now it's the playoffs at either the Cowboys or Redskins.  I'm rooting for RG3.

Sunday Night's Seahawks Blow Out of the 49ers

Every day is a chore to make some meager meaning.  And often we are wrong, as I was in a previous post when I stated that being a fan is at best a break-even proposition.  Last Sunday night's Seahawk game was a rich surprise, an unexpected gift, particularly after San Francisco's drubbing of the Patriots in Foxboro the previous week.  I savored this Seahawk win for days.  Doug Baldwin's virile TD grabs.  Red Bryant's field goal block and Richard Sherman's return of it for paydirt.  Marshawn Lynch's power running and Russell Wilson's channeling of Fran Tarkenton.  To take my mind off a migraine during a delayed flight home yesterday I contemplated the play calling of Darrell Bevell: his use of the tight ends; how he incorporates everyone into the game plan.  Brilliant.

This isn't the first time that I've savored Sunday Seahawk victories.  Walking home along 12th Avenue I have replayed in my mind the Russell Wilson long bomb to Sidney Rice that stunned the Patriots in Week 6 and the read-option overtime demolition of Urlacher's Bear defense at Soldier Field in Week 13.  Those two games alone have put me in surplus for the season.  And now that Seattle is in the playoffs, regardless of whether we end up division champs or a wild card entrant, I am far past the break-even point.  Anything is possible for this team, even a super bowl victory. 

Thank you Richard Sherman.  Thank you Kam Chancellor.  Thank you Doug Baldwin.  Thank you Sidney Rice.  Thank you Golden Tate.  Thank you Russell Wilson.  Thank you Marshawn Lynch.  Thank you for this feeling of bounty, this loss of self.  What does one call it?  Don't we call it love?

Great thanks to my coworker and union sister who attended last Sunday's Seahawk-49er game and provided the photos.  (Note the urinating 'Hawk tailgaters.)