Sadly, two of this author's fan favorites got great notice and attention during this game, but unfortunately it was due to mental errors (Jimmy Williams) and turnovers (Josh Scobey), rather than outstanding play. In their defense, each did have some credible returns during the game, and each contributed on special teams coverage, so it wasn't all bad. Clean it up for next week though boys, or you may be looking for another team to suit up for next season.
On to the game makers, and we have to start with Maurice Morris. We all know what happened to Shaun Alexander, and MoMo was called into action. He came in and picked up some critical first downs, got good yardage on first and second downs, and DID NOT PUT THE FOOTBALL ON THE GROUND. It showed that MoMo is a true professional, was prepared and knowledgeable of the gameplan, and the rest of the team has faith and comfort in his abilities.
So often you see the backup come in and run the wrong way, or miss handoffs, or just play tentatively, and MoMo did none of these things. While resting the starters seemed to make Indy rusty and off their game, it seemed to really give our backups some quality game-speed reps, which I believe helped MoMo step into this situation without being nervous or cold.
Other offensive honorable mentions have to go to "Pork Chop" Womack, who also was called into action when Big Walt went down, Ryan Hannam for one drive sustaining catch and his usual outstanding blocking, like he was 20 yards down field helping Mack Strong pick up those 32 yards, and Joe Jurivicius for his punishing yards after his one ad-lib catch, and for breaking up a sure interception on Matt's ill advised "whirly-bird" prayer.
On the defensive side of the ball, you'd like to give it to the entire squad, John Marshall and Ray Rhodes, who was back in the booth in an "observation" role. The defense seemed to be in the right place at the right time all game long, except for those two HUGE 3rd-and-forever pickups late in the game, and they were flying around hitting everything that moved, like they did in Philadelphia.
In addition to Lofa, mentioned above, Grant Wistrom was like a man on fire, and completely blew up Clinton Portis whose feable attempt to block Grant only seemed to inspire him more. If this were a regular season game, strong relief efforts from Joe Tafoya and Craig Terrill may have been enough to win them some iron.
And while most people will fault Joe Tafoya for the off sides penalty which negated the sack by Craig Terrill, upon reviewing the game tape it's obvious that Joe asked the refs to make that call to take attention away from the lame Denny Terrio/Arthur Fonzerelli "two thumbs up" sack dance that Craig broke out with after the play.
Other defenders worth noting were Kelly Herndon, Andre Dyson, Marquand Manuel and Jordan Babineux, not so much for what they did, but for what they didn't do, which was get costly penalties, get burnt, or leave the field injured. A healthy secondary is going to be a huge asset against the Pussys, err, I mean Panthers next week.
So if you're still reading this somewhat rambling post at this point, you're probably going through the roster and asking yourself, "hey Alba, who is left to give this freaking award to?", and when you read the answer below, you'll see that there is still a player or two on our roster toiling in relative obscurity.
After Shaun fumbled away our best scoring opportunity, and then left the game with a concussion, the rest of the first half became a close-to-the-vest chess match between the two coaches, and an intense battle for field position. Our best weapon throughout this skirmish was none other than punter Tom Rouen, the Divisional Round Playoff MGA winner.I'm ashamed to admit that my source and inspiration for this award was none other than Peter King of SI, who pointed out the following in naming Tom Rouen his Special Teams Player of the Week in his MMQB article:
Seattle P Tom Rouen, whose first four punts of the NFC divisional game at Qwest Field (48, 42, 53 and a poochy 29 yards) had Washington drives start at its 12-, 15-, 8- and 15-yard lines. You saw the game. You know in a game like this one that field position is everything. Rouen was Seattle's biggest weapon in the first half.
So in a day when most people are pointing to our special teams as a unit that very nearly cost us this victory, we're reminded that we have a very solid kicking game, led by Josh "Money" Brown and the latest recipient of the East Coast Bias Blogger Award, MGA winner Tom Rouen.
We've got our proverbial foot in the hypothetical door to Superbowl XL, and with the help of these two guys, we should kick the damned thing down next week.
EDIT: I forgot to give an honorable mention to a sometimes contributor and Knock Out pool participate Ghost of Knox aka Ghost Rider aka GOX, who deserves MGA mention for redeeming himself by attending this game. He was at the opener in Jacksonville and couldn't muster the karma to reverse the poor play by the offense, but in true Seahawks style, he got redemption when the opportunity presented itself and shed that monkey off his back.
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