Larry Fitzgerald returns home to Krypton after helping the Cards narrowly defeat Seahawks

Even closer than it felt

I badly wanted Seattle to win today.  Had they won, they would have posted their first non-losing season since 2007.  Had they won, it would have put a nice 6-2 finish bow on a 2-6 start turd, which would have made for a cool offseason storyline.

In retrospect though, that mentality doomed me for disappointment.  Even before the game, I should have realized that Seattle didn't stand a chance.  Not because Arizona is a better team.  But because since their previous showdown in week 3, the Cardinals have become masters of winning ugly, clutch games.  Arizona had won five of their seven previous games, and in all five of those wins, they trailed in the second half.  In four of those five wins, they trailed in the 4th quarter.  Their biggest margin of victory in those games was six points (and that was in overtime).  Clearly, the Cardinals had learned a thing or two about being clutch since the last meeting.

Whereas the Cardinals have been nearly immaculate in close games, the Seahawks have been the opposite, going 1-4 in games decided by a single score since beating the Cardinals 13-10 back in week 3.  With the season over, they finished with a 2-5 record in games decided by six points or less.  Does this surprise anybody?  I didn't think so. I should have seen a 23-20 overtime loss coming.

It also greatly saddened me to see Marshawn Lynch's streak of consecutive games with a touchdown end today, even moreso because Lynch played yet another great game.  His lack of scoring had nothing to do with his own failings and everything to do with an inept offensive gameplan and execution in the red zone.

I felt pretty down after this one.  And then I realized something.  Finishing 8-8 instead of 7-9... it doesn't actually matter.  Marshawn Lynch extending his streak... also doesn't actually matter.  It doesn't really impact the Seahawks in a tangible bad way at all.  You know what actually does impact the Seahawks?  The fact that they will pick 11th or 12th instead of 16th in the 2012 draft.  The fact that they will play Carolina and Dallas instead of (last year's #1 seed) Atlanta and the (suddenly great again) Eagles.  I would have happily traded those for a win today, but there is no reason to sulk over the meaningful consolation prize we've been gifted.

Despite a difference in how the seasons ended, I can't help but feel that the Seahawks 2011 season was 2002 revisited.  The 2002 team started 0-3 before eventually having a franchise QB develop out of nowhere and finishing strong with the look of an elite offense.  The 2011 team started 0-2 and eventually had a running game and potentially elite defense appear out of nowhere.  Both teams finished with 7-9 records and enjoyed a notable hot stretch during the season.  The next team that followed 2002 squad won 10 games and began a stretch of 5 straight playoff appearances, including a Superbowl appearance.  With a few wise moves this offseason, the next five years for 2011's team could be equally as great. 

• I've never been a particularly big fan of Matt Flynn, but watching him throw for six touchdowns and almost 500 yards today while watching Tarvaris Jackson struggle with deep accuracy, red zone throws, and a general inability to find consistency, it made a pretty damn compelling case for Flynn as a 2012 Seahawk.  

• I mean this as no disrespect to Jackson.  He's tough, he's a good person, he's a coachable player, and he's played well enough to win 7 of his 14 starts despite playing hurt in many of them.  But if I had to lay the blame for today's loss on only one person, there is no doubt that I'd choose #7- and this wasn't even a particularly bad game for him really.  Watching a mediocre quarterback like John Skelton improvise and make just enough plays to win was a bit of an eye opener.  Seattle can find a quarterback better than Jackson, and it wouldn't even be that hard to do really.  Don't just assume that Josh Portis or some late round quarterback this year is only a long term project.  If John Skelton- a 5th round pick in only his 11th career start- can outplay Jackson, a lot of guys could.

• Larry Fitzgerald is freaking amazing.  On a day where Richard Sherman did a terrific job in coverage, Fitzgerald just didn't seem to care as he racked up no less than four highlight worthy catches, the last of which essentially won the game.  All those investigators checking Century Link Field for piped in noise should probably check Larry Fitzgerald's gloves for telekinetic technology borrowed from an advanced alien civilization.  

• We probably just watched Justin Forsett's final game as a Seahawk.  Its rather hard to believe that Forsett rushed for 5.4 yards per carry just two years ago.  So much for the addition of BFF Marshawn Lynch making Forsett a better back.  I hope Forsett, who is a free agent, lands on an NFL team next year.  But after posting 3.2 yards per carry and only 145 total rushing yards in 2011, I sincerely doubt that team will be ours.  

• KJ Wright is a nifty player, but a few times today I noticed that he isn't the hardest linebacker to block out of a running play.  If its true that our linebacker corps is at fault for the team's slipping rush defense, Wright wouldn't be a bad place to start the investigation.

• Golden Tate made a couple of slightly dumb decisions with the rock in his hands today, but overall I really like the progress he's made in 2011.  In particular, his hands have become far more reliable, and his blocking is no longer a joke.

 

• Max Unger was humiliated by Darnell Dockett for a sack early in the game.  Unger has come so far, but he still has a ways to go before he can master nasty interior pass rushers like Dockett.  Lemuel Jeanpierre also struggled rather notably on outside rush attempts, often getting blown into the backfield.  Overall though, the line- particularly Gallery & Unger- once again did a terrific job collapsing the middle on rush attempts all day long.

• I don't mean this to pick on anyone, but it blows my mind that there are people out there who really think Marshawn Lynch is the same back now that he was in 2010, and that only the line has improved.  On numerous occasions today, Lynch took a minimal hole to run through and produced 4-7 yard gains in impressive fashion.  Leon Washington had a great touchdown run today, but I couldn't help but feel that Seattle's coaching staff made a big mistake allowing Jackson to throw 35 times compared to only 19 carries for Lynch on a day where Lynch was clearly bringing it.  Its cheesy if not cliche to say a team should have "fed the rock" to its running back more, but at least today, that line of thinking was true.  Its no coincidence that Seattle's offense clicked the most when Lynch was carrying up the middle the most.  Seattle must make re-signing Lynch a very big priority.  Outside of possibly Trent Richardson, I don't think they will find a better short term back in this draft.

• There were a lot of annoying things that happened in this game.  Chris Clemons had a dumb offsides on 3rd and 8, which helped extend a drive that ultimately ended in a touchdown.  Golden Tate failed to cut up field for the first on a critical 3rd down play in the 4th quarter.  Red Bryant missed a heroic block on the game winning kick by six inches at most.  Seattle scored six combined points on three redzone trips.  But for all those annoyances, the ones that bugged me the most were the fraudulent late hit calls on Brandon Browner and later Richard Sherman.  I don't have DVR on my PC, but if I did, I could freeze frame the moment Browner's target stepped out of bounds, and you'd see a paused Browner 2 inches shy of delivering his hit at that moment.  Sherman's call was even worse, as the player wasn't even officially out of bounds yet when the hit was given.  Its not that those calls had huge impacts on the game, but rather that those calls feel so obvious, at least on TV.  Being able to sense a "bang/bang play" really shouldn't be that hard to do.

• I actually liked how our pass rush performed today.  I have to give John Skelton a ton of credit for standing tall in collapsing pockets and escaping to make positive plays on numerous occasions.  I certainly hope he loses his starting job to Kevin Kolb next preseason by merit of contract and investment.

• Leon Washington finally performed like a dynamic change of pace back, which included a LaMichael James-esque 48 yard score- the longest run of Washington's Seahawks tenure.  To put that in perspective, his longest rush attempt last year was only 21 yards.

 

• Finally, a measure of redemption for Jay Feely, who easily nailed all three of his field goal attempts, including the game winner.  Feely went 1-3 against Seattle earlier this year, including an inexplicable miss in the 4th quarter.  And of course- he missed not one, not two, but three game winners in that epic 2005 Giants game when NFC supremacy itself was on the line.  Its a shame Red Bryant just missed a devastating blocked kick on that game winner, but then again, I'd say Feely has suffered enough by this point.  He finally gets the monkey off his back.  Lord knows, its been there for a while.

Indiana Carroll and the Quarterback Crusade

For a while, the Seahawks' 2011 campaign was just one long draft discussion. Who are we getting at QB next year - that's all we cared about. Then the running game and defense suddenly emerged and started making a regular season out of it. That was fun, and hugely heartening. 2011 proved more informative and promising than we had expected.

But now, with the 49ers loss, we're swinging back into the holding pattern despite having a little football still left to play. And with that reversion, some shelved concerns are coming back with a vengeance.

A lot of us don't trust Pete Carroll to get our future quarterback right. I confess I don't.

And this despite Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider having done what most of us would have considered impossible: not only dump an entire roster whose financial footprint made it nigh undumpable, but replace most of that roster with talented high-ceiling starters - within two offseasons.

Wait...lockout...one and a half offseasons!

The rational sliver of my mind says, "What more do these guys need to prove to you?" They've validated themselves at virtually every position, spectacularly in some cases (Kam Chancellor! Doug Baldwin! ZOMG RICHARD SHERMAN!!!!!!!1!11). But when it comes to the cornerstone of quarterback, we're tetchy. Anxiously rehashing the debates. Wringing out the talking points without mercy. Flooding Rob Staton with page hits. All the signs of someone who needs a lot more reassurance.

DVR Run Analysis - San Francisco @ Seattle; 24-Dec-2011

Here's my DVR Run Analysis for the 49ers/Seahawks game...

Note: You can also read the run analysis of the Bears, Rams, Eagles, and Redskins games.

We lost. Dang! But our running game was amazingly good. We had zero plays for a loss. Only five of 25 plays were for less than three yards. We scored a running TD - the first against SF this year. Lynch ran for over 100 yards - the first 100 yard run game allowed by the Niners in the past 36 games. To run this well against the toughest run D in the league is a heck of an accomplishment. Though we lost the game and are eliminated from the playoffs, we've got something to build upon next year.

Overall, our planned runs earned 121 yards on 25 carries for a 4.8 YPC average. Lynch has scored a TD in eleven games in a row, extending his record. Beast Mode accounted for 107 yards on 21 carries for 5.1 YPC and one historic touchdown. This was quite the turnaround after our weak running game in Chicago. That we beat the Bears and lost to the Niners, however, shows that there is more to football than running...

* Q1 - We ran for 3, 3, 18, 5, and 4 yards. That adds up to 33 yards and 6.6 YPC. One first down. Unfortunately, I didn't see any of it as Fox showed the conclusion of the Giants-Jets game to the Portland market.

Seahawks lose most meaningful meaningless game ever

Before I start- Merry Christmas everyone!

I guess it would be incorrect to say this was a meaningless game, as Seattle still held incredibly slim and convoluted playoff hopes even after the Lions put the finishing touches on their playoff clinching beatdown of the Chargers.  For all intents and purposes though, after Detroit jumped out to a huge early lead, it became pretty clear that today's stakes were essentially symbolic.

I know I can't speak for every fan, but given my new found hatred for the 49ers, all I wanted was to see my team spoil the 49ers run at history.  They had not allowed a rushing touchdown this season, which has never been done before.  They also hadn't allowed a 100 yard rusher all year.  Both of those streaks came to an end today.  It doesn't make up for losing, but it came surprisingly close for me.  Thank goodness for that touchdown too, or else I might have gone mental over that goal line fiasco in the first half.

DVR Run Analysis - Seattle @ Chicago; 18-Dec-2011

Here's my DVR Run Analysis for the Seahawks/Bears game...

Note: You can also read the run analysis of the Rams, Eagles, and Redskins games.

* The Bears may have lost the game, but their run defense is tough. To gain yardage on the ground, we needed a hat on a hat - plus speed, strength, and leverage, if not luck. But credit the Seahawks for continuing to pound the ball. We were able to run the ball into the end zone, and the run game softened the Bear's pass defense.

* Overall, our planned runs earned 60 yards on 32 carries for a 1.9 YPC average. Lynch has now scored a TD in ten games in a row, a new record. He is the first Seahawk RB since Shaun Alexander to earn over 1,000 yards. On Sunday, Beast Mode accounted for 42 yards on 20 carries for 2.1 YPC and two touchdowns. A weak day on the ground, yet a dominant win.

* Q1 - We had only three good runs in nine tries. That added up to just 4 yards and 0.4 YPC. One TD. An additional failed run was negated by a holding call.

[13:57] 1st and 10. Two TEs on the right. Zone right with Morrah slashing left. Jeanpierre gets pushed back, but he turns his man to the outside. Miller and Giacomini combo block the DE. Giacomini releases but is too late to get the LB. Tate makes a nice block outside. Rather than cut back to the slash, Lynch goes right and is able to beat Giacomini's LB for four yards.
[13:17] 2nd and 6. Zone left. Unger and Miller get pushed back. Gallery chips to help Unger and goes forward. Lynch squeezes between Unger and Miller and beasts the pile forward with some help from the linemen. Four yard gain. Not a bad start.
[10:25] 1st and Goal at the 1. McQuistan and Gallery open a nice hole. Robinson leads to smother the LB. Unfortunately, Jackson pitches the ball to Washington who runs to the outside and is met by a wall of unblocked defenders. Should have taken it straight ahead. Loss of two.
[9:57] 2nd and Goal at the 3. Probably a zone right call. Jeanpierre steps too far right and loses the DT. McCoy is slow off the snap and is beaten badly by Peppers. Lynch has no chance. Loss of four.
[8:57] 1st and Goal at the 1. After a Bears' penalty on the field goal attempt, we run a power play with Jeanpierre pulling left. Unger takes his DT right. Morrah stonewalls Peppers. Gallery combos with McQuistan then releases to get in the way of two LBs. Lynch bursts through falling forward, surprised that he didn't get contact. In fact, Conte saved his own skin by jumping out of Lynch's way. TD!
[3:57] 1st and 10. Zone right. Lynch and McQuistan are slow off the snap. McQuistan is then tripped by Morrah. Robinson leads and smashes into Urlacher, but lacks the weight to drive him forward. Lynch gets one yard as he's stopped by McQuistan's man.
[3:05] 2nd and 9 on our own five yard line. Lynch slips and falls in the end zone. TJ keeps his head, keeps the ball, and keeps it out of the end zone, avoiding a safety. Loss of four. This sets up a sack fumble for a Bears TD on the next pass play.
[2:57] 1st and 10. Zone left. Gallery and McQuistan lack push, but are able to turn their men outside. Lynch cuts back right. Unger combos with Jeanpierre, then releases. There is a nice hole near RT, but the DE gets his arms extended on Miller. Lynch sees it and cuts further right, but there is an unblock safety on the prowl. Gain of one.
[1:57] 1st and 10. Zone left with push and a combo block on the right side. Robinson leads inside of RG. Lynch follows, but the Bears converge. Gain of two.
[:57] 2nd and 8. Zone left, but Jeanpierre loses his block badly and holds. Lynch forced left but can't get to the edge. No play.

Tied, 7-7.


* Q2 - Two good runs in six plays, plus a false start. 30 yards for 5 YPC and two first downs.

[15:00] 2nd and 18. False start, Giacomini.
[9:44] 1st and 10 on our one yard line. QB sneak straight ahead for two yards.
[9:11] 2nd and 8 on our three. Zone left with two TEs on the right side. Gallery goes forward for one backer, then turns right to get another. Robinson comes up to block the first backer after Unger and McQuistan open a huge hole. Lynch finds open space, makes the first tackler miss and gets an extra five yards on the second. A perfectly executed play, fifteen yards, and a first down.
[8:27] 1st and 10. Stretch left. Peppers gets push on LT McQuistan as Morrah takes his man outside and back. Lynch sees McQuistan losing ground and cuts left at the last moment. Lynch squeezes between McQuistan and Morrah, but by that time, Gallery had already lost engagement on Urlacher. Gain of two.
[7:47] 2nd and 8. Zone left with Miller slashing right. Gallery gets too tall as he and McQuistan get pushed back. Lynch doesn't cut back with the slash, which is good, because Urlacher stayed home. Lynch makes it through our pushed-back line for no gain
[1:41] 2nd and 10. Inside zone left as Miller takes the DE outside and Giacomini seals. Forsett gets through a clean seam, beats the strong safety, but is met head on by the free safety. Gain of nine.
[1:24] 3rd and 1. Zone left with flow, but little push. Jeanpierre gains a step, but loses his man to the left. Miller, on the right end, is a half step behind his man, flowing left. Forsett barely gets the first down as Miller's man gets his legs and Jeanpierre's man gets his chest. Gain of two from a very optimistic spot by the officials.

14-7, Bears.

* First half totals: 34 yards on 15 runs for a 2.3 ypc average.


* Q3 - 7 yards on 7 carries for 1 YPC. Two good plays: one is a TD. Longest run: three yards.

[13:07] 1st and goal at the 3 yard line. Power. Jeanpierre is hit by a LB coming to the line with momentum. Jeanpierre gives a step, but turns him left. Gallery pulls right, is nearly impeded, but he is able to get outside RT as Giacomini and Miller make nice blocks to open the lane. Gallery helps Miller secure leverage, then goes for a backer. Lynch gets to the hole and powers by Urlacher for the TD.
[10:04] 1st and 10. Zone right. Unger is pushed back and the free safety comes on the right side. Robinson gets the FS, but he and Unger cause a clog. Lynch gets around Robinson. Jeanpierre and Giacomini had combo'd, but Giacomini was delayed too long to get the LB. The LB seals the edge and Lynch caught for a gain of one.
[8:17] 1st and 10. Three receivers in a tight formation. Zone left. Peppers beats McQuistan inside badly. Gallery doesn't offer help yet still can't get to the LB quickly enough. Unger is washed out to the left. Lynch gets to McQuistan, cuts outside, but has no chance. Loss of one.
[6:52] 3rd and 9. Forsett runs an inside zone left. Urlacher stayed home as the D outnumbers the play. No gain.
[4:02] 2nd and 6. Zone right. Unger and Jeanpierre don't team up well on the DT. Jeanpierre goes forward, but Unger can't make the block. Robinson has to block the DT instead, but that leaves an extra man up the field. Lynch makes it around Robinson's nice improv block, but is met by an unblocked safety. Gain of one.
[2:35] 1st and 10. We have two TEs, but Morrah lines up wide. Zone left with Gallery going forward, but Unger gets washed out back and left. McQuistan blocks Peppers left and outside, but Peppers gets his arms extended. Robinson leads to the hole, but Peppers sheds the block and squeezes Lynch with Unger's man. No gain.
[1:57] 2nd and 10. Zone left with Robinson leading left with a nice block. Jeanpierre releases as Unger and Giacomini string their men out. Lynch gets to Unger pushes the center and his man forward, then does the same for Giacomini. Gain of three.

24-14, Seahawks.


* Q4 - 19 yards on 10 carries for a 1.9 yard average. One first down. Only three of the nine plays were successful.

[13:18] 1st and goal at the 3. Zone right. Unger tries to go forward to Urlacher, but is pushed aside. Forsett cuts back along the seam, but meets Urlacher. Gain of one. Had Unger squared up the LB, it would have probably been a Forsett TD. No problem. Two plays later, Robinson receives a TD pass.
[10:24] 1st and 10. Zone left. Gallery unable to get the Will LB. McQuistan and Miller get no push. Robinson unable to cut right to the oncoming LB and goes outside to chop block McQuistan's man instead. (Should have been a penalty.) This just pins Lynch in. Loss of four.
[8:08] 2nd and 6. Chaos on a probable zone left. McQuistan whiffs a block as Robinson leads left. Lynch follows Robinson, sees McQuistan's man and makes a violent cut to the right. Giacomini makes a nice cut block, allowing Lynch to get through. Jeanpierre had gone forward and makes a nice block on the safety. It's not the way we drew it up, but it confuses the Bears' D. Gain of 12. First down.
[7:23] 1st and 10. Two receivers on the right. Lynch runs left. The assignments are poor, so Gallery pulls late to the outside, but fails to get to the defender. (That probably wasn't his responsibility.) The left side gets a small push, but the defender on the edge gets Lynch's legs. Gain of one.
[6:41] 2nd and 9. Zone right, but Unger and Giacomini are pushed back. Robinson makes a decent block, but the LB recovers. Unger's and Giocomini's men converge on Lynch for a loss of one.
[5:57] 3rd and 10. Three receiver set. Power with Gallery pulling past RT. Miller splits his man right to open the hole. Leon gets there quickly for a gain of three.
[4:14] 1st and 10. Zone right with a cutback. Gallery is pushed back a step. McQuistan goes forward but misses with his cut block. Forsett gets to Gallery's back and tries to push him forward, but it's no use. Forsett goes right and is swarmed for a gain of one.
[3:25] 2nd and 9. Zone right. Giacomini splits his man but Jeanpierre whiffs his block. Robinson is able to take up the slack. Unfortunately, Jeanpierre goes back, rather than looking forward and getting the safety. The safety hits Forsett for a loss of one.
[2:00] 4th and 8. Four receivers. Power, with Jeanpierre pulling past LT. Tate and Baldwin make nice blocks on the outside. Leon starts to go to the left edge, but cuts back to a nice hole as McQuistan seals and Jeanpierre pushes Urlacher away from the play.

* Second half totals: 26 yards on 17 runs for a 1.5 ypc average.

Seahawks win 38-14.


* Overall Blocking - The Bears made us look weak at times. Between the DTs, Peppers, Urlacher, and Briggs, these guys are strong, fast, and disciplined. Unger probably had the longest day as he was often outmuscled. Then again, it's hard to call out Unger alone as we rarely got push across the line and everybody had their weak plays. Giacomini might have had the cleanest game, except for his one false start. Then again, we ran left a bit more than to the right.

Probably the most important thing was that our guys kept playing hard and didn't get frustrated. We didn't give up on plays. We didn't lose our heads and had only a few missed assignments. We didn't get drawn into fights or stupid penalties. I also saw some good improvisation by Robinson and Gallery as things broke down around them.

* Play calling - We tended to go with lighter sets this game, rarely going down to a single receiver. We ran inside and out and didn't have much success with either. We ran slash plays with and without cutbacks and both were well defended. We even tried an end around. No matter what we did, the Bears usually had an answer. With the Bears playing hard against the run, this was a day when we needed to burn them with the pass, and TJ was able to do that in the second half. Yet, we never abandoned the run. Our lead and our defense gave us that luxury.

* Runners - Lynch made one or two questionable cuts, but that was about it. The Bears did a nice job of getting push, so Lynch couldn't get many signature extra yards falling forward. He rarely got momentum and leverage going. He also had a couple of slips in the backfield. On the other hand, he got two TDs and totalled 1,011 yards for the season along with a win, so it can't feel too bad. No fumbles (aside from TJ in the passing game.)

* Summary - The Bears are not the Rams. The previous week, we had the speed to run outside. This week, we didn't and the middle was plugged too. But we kept our heads and kept going to the well.

Note that the Bears are a 4-3 team and the Niners play 3-4. They're quick to the outside as well, so don't expect an easy day, but they won't be able to copy the Bears' playbook. To succeed, we will need to do a better job of getting a hat on a hat. Hopefully, we will get another step or two of push as we were consistently outmuscled on the inside in Chicago. Against the Niners, we will have one more day of rest than the competition. Best of all, we will have the 12th man feeding the team Skittles!

Go Hawks!

State of the Seahawks; Forecast, Clear Vision

At the time of Mr. Carroll's hire, the words "Clear Vision" were thrown around with sustained conviction by Pete and John, met with derision by the media, and met with skepticism by fans inured to front office promises.  The cheerleader from USC says anything, because he is so pumped and jacked, said the college coaches never make it in the NFL crowd.  He doesn't really want to coach in Seattle, he is just running from the Reggie Bush scandal, sniveled the pundits.  Pros do not buy into Rah Rah coaching at this level, said every damn talking head.  Seattle was accused of almost racism in the hiring process for a near violation of the Rooney rule, Pete was releasing a poorly timed book that touted his philosophy, and every player who ever played at USC was linked to the Hawks future by every reporter and blogger with a hunch.

Vision is a funny word that must confuse the hell out of people just learning English.  Rhymes with fission, while breaking phonetic rules.  I have good vision.  Awesome.  My vision needs correction.  Coke bottle correction, or contacts?  I just had a vision.  Kook.  Pete and John share a vision.  Bull.

Those were dark days for many Hawk fans. Foggy days.  Rainy days with low visibility.  Pete's vision was only clear to a few people.  His corrective lenses were of a prescription available to few of us.  Binocular in one eye, Telescope in the other.

I freely admit to not having a clue about Seattle's direction after Pete was hired.  I knew I was glad the Keystone Cops, aka Ruskell and Mora, were gone, but hope is not vision.  Sometimes, hope is less transparent than pure misery.

Fast forward to Week 16, 2011.  Seattle still could finish with a losing record.  Seattle is assured of at least the same record as last year, and if they do finish that way, the superficial will have their say.  Pete will be a .500 career coach in their eyes.

Do you care, or will statements like that just be your new filter for separating the ignorant from the informed?

Tyrannical Seahawks torment and terrify adorable baby Bears quarterback, win 38-14

King Midas II

Oh what a wonderful feeling.  This must be what it feels like.  Its certainly a new feeling for me, to be on the winning end of a game in which one of the teams made a complete embarrassment of themselves.  Although the context is almost completely different, I can imagine a lot of Bears fans reacting to this game the same way the Seahawks fans did after any of their numerous ugly blowout losses to end 2009.  This one in particular.

The Bears were a wounded team, and the Seahawks a hot team.  Despite this being a 10 am game in December at Soldier field, I think most Seahawks fans expected a win today, and even most Bears fans weren't exactly optimistic.  But to lose like this- getting outscored thirty one to nothing in the second half after handily outplaying Seattle in the first half... wow.  The Bears could have improved to 8-6 today and could have very much stayed in the hunt for the wildcard.  But beyond that, at some point teams just have to play for pride, and the Bears gave their home fans what I can only imagine was one of the most pathetic displays of football all season at the worst possible time.  The sense of pained apathy on the fans faces in the second half was palpable.  The only smiles in that crowd belonged to people wearing blue jerseys and holding skittles signs.  Reading stuff like this after the game was delicious in a Scott Tenorman's tears kind of way.