They did it. They won on the road.
The Seattle Seahawks 23-20 win over the Chicago Bears this weekend was as solid a win the team has seen in years. This was one of those no excuses wins. The Seahawks went on the road, played early in the day, scored multiple times without special teams and won.
The Seahawks accomplished the seemingly unfathomable by controlling the clock with a consistent rushing attack and timely 3rd down conversions. Seattle had the ball for 34:23 to Chicago's 25:37. The combination of Justin Forsett and Marshawn Lynch ran the ball 27 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck connected with wide receiver Mike Williams ten times for 123 yards on his way to 242 passing yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Hasselbeck shared the wealth by hitting seven other receivers, including a beautiful 22-yard touchdown pass to Deon Butler in the corner of the endzone to tie the game early in the first quarter.
The Butler touchdown represented the missing ingredient the Seahawks were looking for all this time away from Qwest Field; the ability to respond immediately when scored upon.
As for the defense, they played very well against a big-play Bears offense. This stat never gets old: the Seahawks rank second in the NFL in rush defense, allowing 70 yards per game. The Bears ran for 61 yards on 14 attempts. Most of those rushes came in the first half when the Bears coaches believed they still had a chance to burst through the Seahawks wall.
No chance.
Not only did the defensive line continue building on it's previous run-stopping success, they also swarmed Bears quarterback Jay Cutler all game and sacked him six times. Cutler only connected with his speedy receivers, Johnny Knox, Devin Hester and others, 17 times on 39 passes and gained 290 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
The defense line is playing surprisingly aggressive and the ball hawking secondary always seems to be on the verge of picking off a pass. Very simply, the Seahawks defense is real and they're spectacular.
As great as the team played as a whole, my game ball goes to rookie left tackle Russell Okung for his elimination of the NFL's most feared pass rusher, Julius Peppers. Most NFL coaches would agree Peppers is dominant enough to warrant a double-team block on most plays but Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll doesn't fall in with most coaches.
Carroll allowed Okung (starting his first full NFL game) to go one-on-one with Peppers all game and Okung won. Peppers finished with two tackles and no sacks. That is amazing. Okung's play gave me chills when I day-dreamed about the possibility of having a Walter Jones protege' protecting Hasselbeck. It's quite possible that the Seahawks stuck gold with Okung.
The battle for the NFC West lead will be held at Qwest Field this Sunday when the 3-2 Hawks take on the 3-2 Arizona Cardinals. Seattle is licking their chops for a shot at Cardinals rookie quarterback Max Hall and a chance to come home to a heroes welcome by the 12th Man.
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