Patterson: Don’t expect a repeat of last Sunday for Seahawks

For those of you who found last Sunday night’s game between the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals unwatchable, I have good news:

There is no way this Sunday’s game between the Seahawks and the New Orleans Saints will be anything like that one.

It’s been a week now since Seattle and Arizona played to a 6-6 tie on Sunday Night Football, and despite having ample time to process I’m still not certain exactly what I witnessed.

That game defied all logic. Seattle didn’t take an offensive snap in Arizona territory until late in the fourth quarter, and only then because the Seahawks were able to block a punt. Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner hurdled the Cardinals’ long snapper to block a field goal. Both kickers, Arizona’s Chandler Catanzaro and Seattle’s Steven Hauschka, had field goals of less than 30 yards in overtime to win the game — and both missed. If your reaction to the game was to throw your hands in the air in frustration, I empathize.

Even Seahawks coach Pete Carroll found the game befuddling. Have you seen the clips of Carroll’s expression on the sidelines after Hauschka missed what should have been the game-winning kick? His mouth was agape in bewilderment. His eyes were wide with incomprehension. It perfectly summed up Sunday’s game, which was equal parts fascinating and farcical.

Judging from the reaction both nationally and on social media, the consensus was that last Sunday’s game was an abomination, a travesty hoisted upon the nation during prime time that served only to leach four hours from the lives of those masochistic enough to see the game out. But not everyone thought last Sunday’s game was excruciating. During the game a friend of mine texted me to say he actually appreciated a good defensive battle. Maybe it wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing game, but it sure was compelling.

Yet if you were one of those who abhorred that game, you need not worry. Indeed, we will never again see a game quite like that one between Seattle and Arizona. Just how unique was it? Here’s some facts that illustrate just how unusual last Sunday’s game was:

— It was the first tie in Seahawks franchise history. That’s right, in 633 games over 41 seasons Seattle had never played a game that ended in a tie. Until last Sunday.

— It was the lowest-scoring overtime tie since the NFL began playing overtime in 1974. The previous low-scoring overtime game was 7-7 between Washington and the New York Giants in 1997, meaning this was the first time an overtime tie finished without a touchdown being scored.

— It was just the third time since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 that a game ended in a 6-6 tie. Oddly enough the other two times that happened also involved the Cardinals, against Kansas City in 1970 and Philadelphia in 1972 when the Cardinals were still based in St. Louis.

So even if you didn’t enjoy the game, at least know you witnessed something historic.

And the NFL schedule-makers, as if mandated by the football gods to ensure Seahawks fans wouldn’t have to endure a similar visual fate two weeks in a row, have dialed up the perfect opponent the following week to forestall any thoughts of a repeat.

The New Orleans Saints are not the Arizona Cardinals. Not even close. While the Cardinals pride themselves on their defense, the Saints are all about the offense — with defense considered optional. New Orleans ranks last in the NFL in defensive scoring, allowing 32.5 points per game. The Saints are 29th out of 32 teams in defensive yards, giving up 403.8 per contest. This is not a team that’s going to hold Seattle off the scoreboard for 56 minutes.

The Saints’ identity isn’t confined to 2016, either. Consider:

— Only five times in New Orleans franchise history have the Saints been involved in games in which 12 or fewer combined points were scored, the last time coming in a 9-3 victory over Tampa Bay in 1998.

— Since Drew Brees became New Orleans’ starting quarterback in 2006 the fewest combined points scored in a Saints game was 23 when New Orleans topped Minnesota in 2010.

— This season New Orleans is scoring 29.3 points per game and allowing 32.5, and the 61.8 combined total is the highest of any team in the NFL through seven weeks.

So fear not, it seems highly unlikely the Seahawks and Saints will treat us to another defensive slugfest.

I can understand if fans have trepidation about turning their televisions on at 10 a.m. Sunday morning. I’m sure there are those suffering from posttramautic stress disorder because of last Sunday’s game and are afraid of experiencing flashbacks.

But it’s a time-honored adage that lightning never strikes twice in the same place, and those who survived last week’s game between the Seahawks and Cardinals have already done their time being singed.

For more on the Seattle sports scene, check out Nick Patterson’s Seattle Sidelines blog at www.heraldnet.com/tag/seattle-sidelines, or follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.