A win is a win, right?
When that win is "earned" and appears sloppy, some hesitate to embrace it, including yours truly.
Yesterday's win over the Arizona Cardinals was one of those unattractive wins the Seattle Seahawks have unfortunately come to rely on.
Sunday's 22-10 Seahawks victory played out in Seattle's typical autumn weather, which in hindsight likely had a strong imprint on the horrid play of the sun-kissed Cardinals.
In the intermittent downpour, the Seahawks forced the Cardinals into four turnovers including rookie safety Earl Thomas' fourth interception in six games. The defensive play of the game for Seattle was when Cardinals punt returner, Alan Branch muffed the catch and simultaneously was recovered by Seattle's Roy Lewis. The great play by Lewis gave the Seahawks the ball inside Arizona's 10-yard line.
From that turnover the Seahawks Matt Hasselbeck threw a jump ball to his 6-5 receiver Mike Williams for the first and only Seahawks touchdown to put Seattle up 10-0 at halftime. Williams is hands down Hasselbeck's go-to receiver as those two hooked up eleven times for 87 yards on Sunday. In fact, the Seattle's quarterback-wide receiver combo has connected 21 times for 210 yards in the last two games.
Seattle's new star, Marshawn Lynch ran a season-high 24 times for 89 yards and his fleet-footed backup, Justin Forsett, kept his run per attempt (4.6) up by rushing nine times for 41 yards. The most exciting number from the ugly Seahawks offense was the 24 carries by Lynch.
Head coach Pete Carroll must implement this run-heavy strategy every week to stay successful. Because the Seahawks do not even threaten opposing defensive secondaries with deep passes, they must continue to perfect their running game. Rushing a combined 33 times is a great step forward.
The true hero of the game was Seahawks kicker, Olindo Mare. The man simply doesn't miss. Mare nailed five field goals yesterday, extending his streak of consecutive field goals made to 30. Actually, he hit two more but because of penalties he was forced to re-kick twice; an impressive feat considering each kick was progressively longer.
The Arizona offense never got off the ground, both literally and figuratively. Rookie Cardinal quarterback, Max Hall, was 4 for 16 passing, gaining only 36 yards with one interception and one fumble. The hapless Hall was pulled in favor for another borderline starting quarterback, Derek Anderson, who managed 96 yards on 17 attempts.
Compared to the passing attack, the Cardinals ground game worked well. It was consistent enough to garner one touchdown and 113 yards on 20 carries. Their back-field looks similar to Seattle's, in that they rely on two runningbacks with different abilities. The bruiser is Beanie Wells and the pass-catching back is Tim Hightower. Both players combined to rush for more yards in a game than the Seahawks had given up all season. Despite their efforts, Seattle still ranks second in rushing yards allowed at 77 per game.
The dink and dunk Seahawks offense stalled many times in the red-zone, which is never helpful but fortunately for them, their kicker is absolute money. Coach Carroll needs to address their passing game because it looks disgusting and irrelevant. The rest of the team looks solid and should continue to get by on great defense and consistent run play as long as Seattle keeps playing mid-level teams.
Speaking of average teams, the Seahawks fly to Oakland this weekend to take on the surprisingly good Raiders. The Raiders are fresh off a massacre victory over rival Denver Broncos, so the Seahawks shouldn't take this game lightly.
Seattle proved they could win on the road by whooping the Bears in Chicago, and now they need to recapture that same mentality next week in Oakland.
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