Malik
(12/6/10)
It was definitely a good
weekend for football for people around Seattle. At least the outcome
was good. I mean both the UW and the Seahawks games were pretty ugly
for the most part.
I don't even consider UW
having won. They did get the W and ended with a 6-6 so they could
see a bowl game for the first time in eight years. However, this was
a rare instance when I can say one person was responsible for a win
in football. It's a team sport, but Polk did not seem to notice. I
mean he ran all over the Cougar defense. At least he ran over 280
yards of their defense. When it comes down to it, Polk is the one
player I see coming out of the current team that will be a high
draft pick when he enters the NFL draft in a couple years. As a
freshman, he ran for over 1000 yards and set a UW freshman rushing
record. As a sophomore, he ran another 1000 yards and had the second
best rushing game for the Apple Cup and for a UW player of all time.
This man is unstoppable, and it's damned good for UW that he has at
least one more year to keep taking apart school rushing records.
At least the otherwise
lame UW offense and defense made for an interesting game. I mean the
score was tied going into the final two minutes. It took until the
final seconds ticked down to know what the outcome would be. While
I'd like to see UW looking better, especially since they have to
face Nebraska again in a bowl game (last time they met, UW had half
the points of Nebraska...in Seattle), it is still good to have a
game go down to the final drive. It keeps things interesting.
As for the Seahawks;
they didn't keep anything interesting. Seattle played like crap, but
they won since the Panthers are about the most pathetic team you can
hope to find in the NFL. It takes a 1-10 team to give Seattle a
chance...at home. Now that's just sad. The only part more sad is
that Seattle is still tied for first in the NFC West, with an even
6-6 record.
What made things worse
is that Mike Williams left during the first drive of the game with
another leg/ankle issue. The ankle seems to be the sore spot for
Seattle offensive players this year. Then again, there's more place
and way to get hurt, as Obomanu left with an injury later in the
game. Unless Seattle can keep their receivers healthy, it's only
going downhill from here. I mean the running game is still a joke,
despite one massive burst of awesome from Justin Forsett in the
second half. It's also not looking as good on the special teams when
Mare is still in a funk (what happened to his golden leg?) and
Washington had the worst kick off return I've even seen that didn't
end with a lost fumble (starting on the 3 yard line due to a bobbled
ball).
What will really take
down the Seattle season, which is already on life support, is the
next four games. Seattle faces the 49ers at home, for the only
likely win of the remainder of 2010. It helps that Gore is out, so
the one player who could cause the most hurt is handled while out
rush defense is in stitches. The joke around my house is that Frank
Gore could be the greatest rusher in NFL history if he faced the
Seahawks every week. Then there's the fearsome duo of Atlanta and
Tampa Bay. No matter how you cut it, these are two teams that are
normally bad and are now just amazing. Then, if the Seahawks are
lucky, it will come down to a home game against the Rams to decide
the division. This is assuming the Rams get at least one loss over
the next three games. If Seattle wins at least one, and the Rams
lose at least one, it may come down to a final division game to
round out the season and to determine the post season.
Malik |