Exhale, Seahawks fans, the sky isn’t falling just yet. After a rocky 10-day stretch that saw the Seahawks trade Percy Harvin, lose to the struggling St. Louis Rams, then endure a week of reports, rumors and speculation about locker room unrest, there was legitimate reason to be concerned about the Seahawks. Time to panic? No, but definitely reason to wonder about the Seahawks’ chances of repeating as division champs, let alone Super Bowl champs. And while the Seahawks didn’t respond to adversity with a dominant performance, they did grind out a tough road victory, which in the end is just as meaningful. The Seahawks said all week that their locker room was fine, and that the Harvin trade wasn’t a distraction, but they needed a victory to back up that talk.
“Our mindset was great,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said in his postgame press conference. “So if you think there are distractions, you’re wrong.”
Here are five takeaways from the Seahawks’ 13-9 victory:
1. The Seahawks really needed this victory
Whether or not you believe reports of a divided locker room, the Seahawks were in desperate need a victory to get back on track. After losing two straight for the first time in two years, and with Arizona jumping out to a 6-1 start following another win Sunday, losing was not an option for the Seahawks, both because of what it would mean in the standings, and because of what a third straight loss might do to the team’s confidence.
And while the Seahawks were far from perfect, they did get back to looking like their old selves on defense and they made just enough plays on offense for a hard-fought victory on the road. The Seahawks still aren’t playing at the level they were a year ago, but at 4-3 with the next two at home, things suddenly seem a lot more manageable than they would have had they lost.
2. Russell Wilson was clutch… again
This wasn’t Russell Wilson’s best game by any means. He missed some throws he usually makes, most notably a sure touchdown to a wide-open Cooper Helfet that Wilson bounced in front of the tight end. But once again, when the Seahawks needed a little magic late in a game, Wilson came through when it mattered most. With the Seahawks trailing by three point and needing an 80-yard drive to take the lead, or a field goal to at least stay alive, Wilson completed all four of his pass attempts for 53 yards and rushed for 21 more, capping the comeback with a perfectly thrown 23-yard touchdown to Luke Willson.
“He truly is an extraordinary player in the fourth quarter,” Carroll said. “He finds a way to make the plays we need to make.”
In addition to leading a comeback, Wilson did his best to quiet rumors of in-fighting, which included a report last week that some teammates don’t think he is “black enough.”
“For us, there were no distractions at all,” Wilson told reporters after the game. “I think it was people trying to find ways to knock us down, but we just keep swinging, we keep believing in each other, keep believing in the people we have in the room, keep believing in our coaching staff, keep believing in our fans, and there’s no doubt that we’re together. There’s no doubt we’re more together than ever before.
“In terms of the ‘not black enough’ thing, I don’t even know what that means. I believe I’m an educated young male who’s not perfect, but tries to do things right, tries to lead and tries to help others, and tries to win games for this franchise. That’s all I focus on.”
3. The defense stepped up
Through six games, the Seahawks’ defense didn’t look much like the unit that a year ago was so good that people were debating where it ranked among the best defenses of all time. Opponents were scoring more, gaining more yards, succeeding far more often in the red zone, and perhaps most notably, the Seahawks couldn’t force turnovers a year after leading the NFL in takeaways.
On Sunday, however, the Seahawks held Carolina to 9 points and 266 yards, they had two takeaways—and should have had more if not for dropped interceptions and failure to recover fumbles—and pressured Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, sacking him three times and forcing a few other bad decisions, most notably a falling-down pass that was intercepted by Marcus Burley.
Carroll had talked last week about the need to do something to improve the pass rush, and by sprinkling in more blitzes, using linebacker/defensive end Bruce Irvin more as a pass rusher, and just winning more individual battles, the Seahawks were indeed able to affect Newton, registering their first multi-sack game since a season-opening win over the Packers.
“The pass rush was unstoppable at the end of the game, and that’s a really beautiful thing to see,” Carroll said.
4. The rookie class made an impact
While Seattle’s front office has done a lot right in building a championship team, it is fair to question the 2013 draft class, which through one season and seven games has contributed very little, but Sunday’s win showed promise for this year’s rookie class, which before that game hadn’t produced much outside of second-round pick Justin Britt, the team’s starting right tackle.
Paul Richardson, who had a nice game last week, again contributed to the offense, but perhaps more significantly in the wake of the Percy Harvin trade, he had a 47-yard return in his first game as a kick returner. Kevin Norwood, active for just the second time, had a great catch on the winning drive, Kevin Pierre-Louis, as Carroll put it, “did some really cool things,” in his first significant duty at linebacker, and undrafted rookie linebacker Brock Coyle contributed on defense in Seattle’s goal-line package and also when Pierre-Louis was briefly sidelined by injury.
5. Despite recent struggles, the Seahawks are in pretty good shape
Yes the Seahawks have already lost as many games as they did all of last season, and yes there are significant injury concerns right now, but there is still reason for optimism following a gut-check victory in Carolina. The Seahawks’ schedule is now more manageable for a while, beginning with back-to-back home games, and while division-leading Arizona won again, the Seahawks still play the Cardinals twice, so they’re in control of their own destiny even after a rough start. With Max Unger, Zach Miller, Bobby Wagner, Byron Maxwell and Jeremy Lane all eventually expected back, some of them in the next couple of weeks, it’s fair to expect that this team will only get stronger as the season goes on.
“I think this game is going to relieve that stress and give us our swagger back,” receiver Doug Baldwin told reporters after the game. “… Everyone in this locker room knows it’s been a rough couple of weeks for us, but we showed we’re committed to each other.”
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