SEATTLE — In front of a national television audience, the Seattle Seahawks disproved two long-standing theories on Monday night.
Running the football, it turns out, is overrated.
So is fielding a competitive football team — in the NFC West, that is.
The Seahawks got back on stride in familiar fashion Monday night by beating a division opponent rather handily. Seattle (5-4) maintained its one-game lead atop the NFC West by way of a 24-0 win over the hapless San Francisco 49ers (2-7).
While the result was familiar — the Seahawks have beaten their past three division opponents by an aggregate score of 80-9 — the method was a bit unconventional.
Living up to a promise he made early last week, Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren all but scrapped the running game early on, opting to call pass plays at a remarkable ratio. Seattle threw 11 pass on its opening possession, a 13-play drive that culminated in a Matt Hasselbeck-to-Will Heller touchdown pass. By the end of the first quarter, Seattle had thrown 16 passes and run the ball just six times.
“I heard there were 95-mile-an-hour winds in Bellingham (Monday) morning, so I hoped (Holmgren) was lying (about the game plan) at that point,” said Hasselbeck, who opened the game with two consecutive plays from the shotgun formation.
“… We’re just kind of feeling this thing out. We still have the ability to be dominant in the running game if we choose to do that. This is how we chose to do it (Monday), but who knows what we’ll do in the future.”
For one night, the plan worked to near perfection. Hasselbeck completed 18 of 27 passes for 200 yards as Seattle built up a 17-0 halftime lead. After that, Holmgren let up on the gas some, resulting in a more balanced ratio of 47 pass plays to 30 running plays for the game.
Seattle’s defense also did its part, pitching its third shutout in the Seahawks’ past four appearances on Monday Night Football. Seattle has outscored its past three MNF opponents by an aggregate score of 116-24.
“I’d like to get that schedule changed next year to all Monday night games,” middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu said.
In Monday’s game, the defense held San Francisco without a first down until the 49ers completed a 45-yard hail-mary pass to the Seattle 11-yard line on the final play of the first half. The 49ers finished with just 6 first downs, matching the lowest total ever by a Seattle opponent. San Francisco’s 173 yards marked the fewest the Seahawks had allowed since the 49ers were held to 111 in a Dec. 11, 2005, game.
San Francisco was 1 of 12 on third downs. Along the way, the Seahawks had a goal-line stand and two sacks that resulted in fumbles.
“What we try to put out there is that we’re for real,” safety Deon Grant said. “A lot of people forget about Seattle because we’re so far away. A game like this, we show the country we are for real; we’re here to play.”
The loss drops San Francisco three games back with seven to go, all but disproving those theories about the 49ers being a legitimate contender. Only Arizona (4-5) is still within striking distance in a woeful division that has a 5-18 overall record in games played outside of the NFC West.
Asked whether Monday’s win had turned the division into a two-team race, linebacker Julian Peterson said: “At this point, yes. The Rams got their first victory last week. Arizona keeps putting pressure on us. But if we keep doing what we need to do, we should be OK.”
While there is plenty of football left, the Seahawks took a baby step toward a possible postseason berth on Monday night.
“Our first goal is to win the division, we set out to do that, and (Monday’s game) was an opportunity to get a win against a team that had real high expectations for themselves this season,” said Hasselbeck, who completed 27 of 40 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns. “… It was nice to come out and get the win.”
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