The Clock Finally Strikes 12:30!

What a day to be a Seahawks Fan!

Instead of coming out flat, or letting a lead slip away, the team kept the peddle to the metal and finally blew an opponent, no - a DIVISIONAL opponent, off the turf at Qwest field.

Looking down the stats from the game, if I was not able to see the game, I might have to consider my boy Kelly Herndon for the Moonlight Graham award. Kelly was tied for the lead in tackles with 4, adding one assist, and got to start in place of an ailing Andre Dyson.

But if I was to go with the stat sheet alone, fellow defenders Leroy Hill (4 tackles, 1 assist, 1 sack) and Jordan Babineaux (3-T, 3-A and one meaningless INT at the end of the game) would have to be considered as well.

Even though Hass, Shaun, D-Jax, Engram, and company are usually not considered this way, our second half offense surely has been toiling in obscurity this season, and for this reason, the entire offense was a finalist for this award, finally coming out from the intermission as a team on a mission, instead of sleepwalking their way into another squeaker.

However, I'm finally able to bestowe a regular season Moonlight Graham award on the player recenly nicknamed 12:30 - Josh Scobey - who earned this new moniker for his consistent style of running north-and-south, rather than dancing around sideline to sideline.

With internet rumors circulating that he may be cut from the team, Mr. Scobey stepped up on both sides of our kicking game, averaging close to 30 yards on two returns, and making key tackles on kick coverage as well. Even on the kicks he didn't return, he showed presence of mind to down them in the end zone, rather than risk a return and cost our offense valuable field position.

So instead of looking over his shoulder at newly signed Jimmy Williams, or looking scared at the prospect of getting cut, Josh Scobey looked straight ahead and ran has hard as he could to either give great field position to our offense, or preserve it for our defense.

Week 2 Moonlight Graham Award

It's a lot nicer to be selecting a Moonlight Graham Award after a WIN, but it's not much easier. Most of the key players of the game, Hass, SA, D-Jax, Bobby, cannot be described as stepping out of obscurity, although after last week, you could make a pretty compelling case for Matt!

And speaking of Matt, if I may digress, I'm not sure what it is he does at halftime...nap, change his uniform, read scripture, play nintendo, but whatever it is it's not freaking working!. The only thing flatter than Matt after halftime is the beer you bought in the first quarter! (or the 12 year old who got cut from the junior SeaGals) But that's not what this award is about, so I'll get back on point.

I keep waiting for my guy Josh Scobey to figure out the mystery of kick returning and step up and earn a "Grahamy", but I think he was a little skittish after fumbling the opener last week. Still and all, he did well this week, just not well enough to take home the iron.

Same goes for P-Dub. Wasn't he supposed to be a bigger part of the offense this week?

Omare Lowe stepped out of obsurity and made a great special teams tackle. In pre-season, that would have been good enough for glory. Problem is, he plays for the Falcons now, and probably was pumping them with what little information he could remember from his stint with the Seahawks...sorry, no awards for traitors playing for the opposition!

Lofa Tatupu, aka "Tofu", continued to show his nose for the ball, and is amazing as a rookie calling the plays on a potent defense. He racked up his first official sack, again Mike Vick no less, and seemed to be around the ball on every play. However, I think that was him flat on his back in the end zone on the Duckett TD late in the game, and alba does not serve "Grahamy" with a side of pancake!

First runner up for this week's award is John Marshall, interim Seahawks Defensive Coordinator who is going an excellent job during Ray Rhode's recouperation. The defense played well last week, and we even more fired up this week, showing several different looks and getting to Vick all day. However, the award went to a coach, and he gets a share of it anyway, because the Week #2 Moonlight Graham Award goes to...

...THE ENTIRE SEATTLE DEFENSE!

We became infamous last year for blowing big leads, and losing close games in the 4th quarter. Not this year. Our offense put in for a half a vacation day, but the defense worked through their coffee breaks and assured that nobody was getting any overtime!

Sure there were a couple of fleet footed Falcons running free, but thanks to pressure by the front seven, Mike Vick could not get an accurate pass to them. Sure there was the touch pass interference call which lead to their second score, and the breakdown on giving up the two-point conversion, but those paled in comparison to the cajones we showed continually pausing the D.V.D.'s on third down. The defense even got screwed early on the quick whistle negating the Falcon fumble, but they didn't let that bother them or change their intensity and focus.

So this week's award goes to Grant, Bryce, Chuck, Tubby, Tofu, Jamie, DD, Tru, B-Ware, Dyson, Hammer and all the substitutes and backups who kept the Falcons in check all day.

Week 1 Moonlight Graham Award

I thought it would be hard to establish an award for the person who steps out of obscurity each week, but had no idea how much harder it would be after a loss and a lackluster performance.

I was hoping to award one of my two M.O.P. candidates the "Grahammy" this week, but Kelly Herndon didn't do anything compelling, and Josh Scobey put us in an immediate hole by fumbling the opening kickoff.

My first thought was to give it to the refs. Not for stepping OUT of obscurity, but more for stepping back INTO obscurity and not becoming a factor in the outcome of the game. It was a fairly called game where they basically let both teams play, and got most of the calls right. There were several opportunities for marginal calls to go against the Seahawks, like they seemed to all last year, but they didn't. It was also good to see the Seahawks cure the rash of penalties they racked up in the off season, but come on, who wants to give an award to a REF??!!

My next thought was Shaun Alexander. REALLY!

How can you give an award for stepping out of obsurity to the Franchise running back? Well, I wasn't thinking so much about his running but more about his blocking. I've been hearing all off season about what a terrible blocker he is and never picks up the blitz. Well, now that I have DirecTV, I got to see for myself, and I thought he did a pretty good job of sticking his nose in there when he had to and keeping guys off Matt. But the word "obscurity" just does not go together well with a player making $6.3 million this season !

So this week's Moonlight Graham award goes to none other than Strength and Conditioning Coach Mike Clark, who is the handsome smiling guy above. Without really reviewing the game film, one of the biggest accomplishments on Sunday was that nobody got hurt, which has got to be in part due to the off season and training camp workout regime. Not only that, but our guys did not seem to be wilting in the 120-degree on field heat, which was key.

Our offense will undoubtedly bounce back from a 4 interception performance. Our defense showed glimses of hope and may play better once Rhodes returns. And I'm still waiting for something special out of our Special Teams. But the one thing that we can't do anything about is injuries, so I'm extremely thankful that everyone seemed to get out of Jacksonville with no major set-backs.

Now, I hope that we play well enough against Atlanta to actually consider some PLAYERS for this award next week!

[Wall of Fame!]