SEATTLE — It is hard to imagine a more disheartening performance than the one turned in Sunday by the Seattle Seahawks defense.
Playing a winless team, at home, the Seahawks defense was sliced and diced in a 28-17 loss to a team that entered the game 22nd in the NFL in total yards and 30th in scoring.
On national television, no less.
“We’re at home. We have the home crowd to our advantage, and we didn’t take advantage of any of those things,” Seattle safety Brian Russell said in a somber locker room.
Don’t let the final score fool you into thinking it was a close game. The list of telling statistics is endless.
Coming into the game, the Saints, now 1-4, had scored 51 points all season.
They had 28 at halftime on Sunday.
They were averaging 307 yards of total offense per game, and they hit that mark midway through the third quarter.
Saints wide receiver David Patten had five receptions all season, but he looked Pro Bowl-bound Sunday with eight catches for 113 yards.
A lot of that had to do with a complete lack of a pass rush. Saints quarterback Drew Brees had time to floss his teeth every time he dropped back. Even if the game had been played on real grass he would have walked off the field with a spotless jersey.
No sacks. No three-and-outs until the fourth quarter. No spark. No nothing, at least not when there was still a realistic hope of victory.
“We go 14 in the hole and it’s very hard to get out of a hole like that early in the game,” Seattle linebacker Julian Peterson said. “Then it got to 21-0 early, and so we’ve got to fight back and rebound.
“The biggest thing is that we had opportunities to make plays and we didn’t make them,” Peterson said. “We started settling down and you started to see the real us come out, but by that time it was too late.”
The Seahawks (3-3) had a chance to make a defensive statement early, and they did force a punt on New Orleans’ first possession. Then, on the next series, Jordan Babineaux knocked the ball loose from Patten after a short reception.
There were three Seahawks right around the ball at midfield, but somehow it ended up under Saints tight end Eric Johnson.
From there, the Saints completed a 13-play, 86-yard touchdown drive, and the floodgates were opened.
New Orleans drove 66 and 80 yards for touchdowns on their next two drives, during which Seattle pushed them to third down only one time.
“They made a couple plays, got in a little groove, and got off to an impressive start,” Peterson said.
Saints running back Reggie Bush did the most damage in the early onslaught.
He entered the game with only 147 rushing yards and a 2.9-yards-per-carry average, and he was getting as much criticism in New Orleans as Seattle running back Shaun Alexander has been hearing in Seattle.
But he had 19 carries for 97 yards Sunday, a 5.1-yard average, and six pass receptions for 44 yards. He had 88 rushing yards and 42 receiving yards in the first half.
“Reggie Bush, in the first half in particular, he showed his speed and his quickness, and he showed he’s a fine back,” Seattle coach Mike Holmgren said. “He got around us a couple of times, he cut back and had a really good first half.”
Brees also had his best game of the season, by far. He came into the game with one touchdown pass and nine interceptions, but Sunday he completed 25 of 36 passes for 246 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
The Saints showed the first glimpse this season of the team that won the NFC South Division last season and advanced to the NFC Championship game.
“They¹ve got the weapons. We knew that going into the game,” Seattle defensive end Patrick Kerney said. “That’s an offense with a lot of potential, and they showed it tonight.”
Only the most ardent apologist will point out that the Saints didn’t score in the second half, when Seattle needed to pitch a shutout to have any chance to win.
And only the most optimistic fan will assume that things will automatically look up next week when another winless team with a woeful offense comes to town in the form of the St. Louis Rams.
The Rams are 0-6 and have scored only 73 points.
“You can never look at a team’s record because I don’t think it really speaks to the team,” Seattle cornerback Marcus Trufant said. “Every team is good, and it can be any team’s day, so you’ve got to come in with that mindset.”
That sounds like code for they got whipped last night, and if they don’t improve quickly, it could happen again next week.
“We’ve got a big road to go up. We’re definitely not where we want to be,” Peterson said of the Seattle defense. “We’ve got to come out with more fire and start off fast and make sure we don’t shoot ourselves. That’s the biggest thing.”
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