It wasn’t exactly as Jim Mora drew it up, but the outcome was impressive nonetheless.
The Seahawks presented their first-year head coach with a 28-0 victory over the St. Louis Rams at Qwest Field in a regular-season opener that featured enough big plays – and bizarre plays – to fill a month of Sundays.
“I was just proud of our team,” Mora said after the Seahawks’ first shutout since they blanked the San Francisco 49ers in Week 10 of the 2007 season. “For us to be able to play with that maniacal attitude that we played with, and still maintain our poise, to me is a real indicator of the level of maturity that our men have.”
Mora, who was presented with the game ball in the locker room by owner Paul Allen, then cast a quick glance to the team’s Week 2 game against the 49ers in San Francisco and added, “We’ve got to validate what we did today next week.”
A quick glance at the stat sheets from Sunday shows that Matt Hasselbeck began his comeback campaign by throwing three touchdown passes; running back Julius Jones broke a 62-yard scoring run to cap his 117-yard afternoon; tight end John Carlson had TD catches of 1 and 33 yards; wide receiver Nate Burleson started and finished the opener – unlike last season, when he blew out a knee in Buffalo and missed the rest of the season – capping a seven-catch outing with a 12-yard TD reception; and an offensive line that featured as many backups as starters did not allow Hasselbeck to be sacked and paved the way for a 446-yard offensive showing.
Defensively, the Seahawks forced four three-and-out possessions and also threw in a red-zone stand after the Rams reached the Seattle 7-yard line in the fourth quarter; barely missed a beat after Will Herring and David Hawthorne had to step in for the injured linebacking duo of Leroy Hill (strained groin) and Lofa Tatupu (strained hamstring); got to Rams QB Marc Bulger for three sacks; and generally ignited the frustration level the entire game.
Mora, of course, looked beyond the obvious numbers.
That’s because the Seahawks started the game by turning the ball over three times in their first four possessions – two Hasselbeck interceptions and a Burleson fumble – and also got a 14-point swing when a Rams return of a blocked field goal for a touchdown was nullified because they had 12 men on the field.
“I was proud of the way we overcame early adversity,” Mora said. “When you turn the ball over three times in the first half, you don’t typically win a game like that.
“The odds are that you don’t win it.”
But then this was the kind of odd game that players, coaches and fans have gotten used to when the Rams and the Seahawks get together.
Heck, the Seahawks even broke out a little Wildcat – with Hasselbeck lining up as a wide receiver, taking a pass from backup QB Seneca Wallace and then throwing back to Wallace, who ran for 24 yards.
“Probably the Norfolk-Medfield-Millis Vikings, it took three towns to make up our team,” Hasselbeck said when asked the last time he has lined up at wide receiver. “So I was a little nervous.
“It was probably the most nervous I was about anything going into the day.”
Hasselbeck also had a request for the fans if the Seahawks show that formation again.
“The only thing is, we might have to tell the crowd to not get so loud when Seneca comes into the game,” he said. “That kind of gives it away.
“It is exciting. He comes in with those line-green shoes and everybody gets excited. It was definitely a momentum thing. But I learned from it – I was out of breath the play. I need to stay clam myself.”
Included in the unexpected, however, were indications of just how the Seahawks might be capable of playing this season as they look to atone for last year’s 4-12 record.
Like on Hasselbeck’s first TD pass to Carlson. With the Seahawks in a two-tight end formation at the 1-yard line, Hasselbeck used a play action fake to give Carlson the time he needed to curl into the back of the end zone.
“The safety and the linebacker sucked up on the run fake,” Carlson said. “That’s really what opened it up.”
Like on the 99-yard drive the first time the Seahawks touched the ball in the second half, a slick, seven-play series that ended with Hasselbeck’s 33-yard TD pass to Carlson. On that play, T.J. Houshmandzadeh was the inside receiver in a trips formation – three receivers clustered on one side of the line.
“T.J. ran across the safety’s face and the safety had to respect that, otherwise T.J. would have scored,” Carlson said. “So T.J. got me open.”
Like on Jones’ long TD, a simple run up the middle that became special because center Steve Vallos made the block to wall off the right side and fullback Justin Griffith’s lead block took care of the left side.
“Justin really set it up for me,” said Jones, who ran for 140 yards against the Rams at Qwest Field last season. “I ran right off of him and he kicked his guy out, and it was green grass after that.”
But no play was more bizarre than the Rams’ TD return of the blocked field goal that wasn’t at the end of the first half.
“That was a huge play,” Mora said. “You can’t discount how big that play was in the game. That was gigantic.”
In between the offensive fireworks, and the Rams’ special teams meltdown, it was the Seahawks defense that responded to one challenge after another.
“It was very big for the defense,” said rookie linebacker Aaron Curry, whose needle on the amped-up meter was in the red all afternoon. “To go out there and hold an NFL offense to no points is important.
“It’s amazing, especially for it to be our first game of the season and me being a rookie. To be part of that is amazing.”
The team’s first-round draft choice will get no argument from his head coach.
“It was especially emotional for me because there is some significance to it – I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that there was,” said Mora, who was a fan of the Seahawks while attending junior high and high school in Bellevue. “I have thought about this day for a long, long time. To go out there and listen to our crowd and see the effect that they had on the game, and the penalties, it was a surreal experience for me.
“It was great. It was perfect.”
Not to mention a rare shutout.
The Seahawks presented their first-year head coach with a 28-0 victory over the St. Louis Rams at Qwest Field in a regular-season opener that featured enough big plays – and bizarre plays – to fill a month of Sundays.
“I was just proud of our team,” Mora said after the Seahawks’ first shutout since they blanked the San Francisco 49ers in Week 10 of the 2007 season. “For us to be able to play with that maniacal attitude that we played with, and still maintain our poise, to me is a real indicator of the level of maturity that our men have.”
Mora, who was presented with the game ball in the locker room by owner Paul Allen, then cast a quick glance to the team’s Week 2 game against the 49ers in San Francisco and added, “We’ve got to validate what we did today next week.”
A quick glance at the stat sheets from Sunday shows that Matt Hasselbeck began his comeback campaign by throwing three touchdown passes; running back Julius Jones broke a 62-yard scoring run to cap his 117-yard afternoon; tight end John Carlson had TD catches of 1 and 33 yards; wide receiver Nate Burleson started and finished the opener – unlike last season, when he blew out a knee in Buffalo and missed the rest of the season – capping a seven-catch outing with a 12-yard TD reception; and an offensive line that featured as many backups as starters did not allow Hasselbeck to be sacked and paved the way for a 446-yard offensive showing.
Defensively, the Seahawks forced four three-and-out possessions and also threw in a red-zone stand after the Rams reached the Seattle 7-yard line in the fourth quarter; barely missed a beat after Will Herring and David Hawthorne had to step in for the injured linebacking duo of Leroy Hill (strained groin) and Lofa Tatupu (strained hamstring); got to Rams QB Marc Bulger for three sacks; and generally ignited the frustration level the entire game.
Mora, of course, looked beyond the obvious numbers.
That’s because the Seahawks started the game by turning the ball over three times in their first four possessions – two Hasselbeck interceptions and a Burleson fumble – and also got a 14-point swing when a Rams return of a blocked field goal for a touchdown was nullified because they had 12 men on the field.
“I was proud of the way we overcame early adversity,” Mora said. “When you turn the ball over three times in the first half, you don’t typically win a game like that.
“The odds are that you don’t win it.”
But then this was the kind of odd game that players, coaches and fans have gotten used to when the Rams and the Seahawks get together.
Heck, the Seahawks even broke out a little Wildcat – with Hasselbeck lining up as a wide receiver, taking a pass from backup QB Seneca Wallace and then throwing back to Wallace, who ran for 24 yards.
“Probably the Norfolk-Medfield-Millis Vikings, it took three towns to make up our team,” Hasselbeck said when asked the last time he has lined up at wide receiver. “So I was a little nervous.
“It was probably the most nervous I was about anything going into the day.”
Hasselbeck also had a request for the fans if the Seahawks show that formation again.
“The only thing is, we might have to tell the crowd to not get so loud when Seneca comes into the game,” he said. “That kind of gives it away.
“It is exciting. He comes in with those line-green shoes and everybody gets excited. It was definitely a momentum thing. But I learned from it – I was out of breath the play. I need to stay clam myself.”
Included in the unexpected, however, were indications of just how the Seahawks might be capable of playing this season as they look to atone for last year’s 4-12 record.
Like on Hasselbeck’s first TD pass to Carlson. With the Seahawks in a two-tight end formation at the 1-yard line, Hasselbeck used a play action fake to give Carlson the time he needed to curl into the back of the end zone.
“The safety and the linebacker sucked up on the run fake,” Carlson said. “That’s really what opened it up.”
Like on the 99-yard drive the first time the Seahawks touched the ball in the second half, a slick, seven-play series that ended with Hasselbeck’s 33-yard TD pass to Carlson. On that play, T.J. Houshmandzadeh was the inside receiver in a trips formation – three receivers clustered on one side of the line.
“T.J. ran across the safety’s face and the safety had to respect that, otherwise T.J. would have scored,” Carlson said. “So T.J. got me open.”
Like on Jones’ long TD, a simple run up the middle that became special because center Steve Vallos made the block to wall off the right side and fullback Justin Griffith’s lead block took care of the left side.
“Justin really set it up for me,” said Jones, who ran for 140 yards against the Rams at Qwest Field last season. “I ran right off of him and he kicked his guy out, and it was green grass after that.”
But no play was more bizarre than the Rams’ TD return of the blocked field goal that wasn’t at the end of the first half.
“That was a huge play,” Mora said. “You can’t discount how big that play was in the game. That was gigantic.”
In between the offensive fireworks, and the Rams’ special teams meltdown, it was the Seahawks defense that responded to one challenge after another.
“It was very big for the defense,” said rookie linebacker Aaron Curry, whose needle on the amped-up meter was in the red all afternoon. “To go out there and hold an NFL offense to no points is important.
“It’s amazing, especially for it to be our first game of the season and me being a rookie. To be part of that is amazing.”
The team’s first-round draft choice will get no argument from his head coach.
“It was especially emotional for me because there is some significance to it – I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that there was,” said Mora, who was a fan of the Seahawks while attending junior high and high school in Bellevue. “I have thought about this day for a long, long time. To go out there and listen to our crowd and see the effect that they had on the game, and the penalties, it was a surreal experience for me.
“It was great. It was perfect.”
Not to mention a rare shutout.
