There's a prevailing theme about these Seattle Seahawks that the local media is overlooking (not to mention the national media, which has their heads so far up their asses they're already writing this team off even though we always play poorly on the road AND on the East Coast, even in our Super Bowl run when we lost in D.C. to the Redskins and in Florida to the Jags). That theme?
Shaun Alexander Mans The Fuck Up For Nationally Televised Home Games.
Remember those 5 first-half touchdowns vs. Minnesota in 2002 when we beat them 48-23?
Remember the 4 TDs and 141 yards in 3 quarters of work in a drubbing two years ago against Houston, 42-10?
How about last season's Monday night home game vs. Green Bay where he racked up 201 yars off of 40 carries in his return from a broken foot that never really fully healed in a 34-24 win?
Best of all: Seahawks franchise record 266 yards rushing vs. Oakland in 2001 as he exploded for 3 touchdowns in a 34-27 victory.
So, what have we been talking about this week? First and foremost: Shaun Alexander Needs To Man The Fuck Up This Week. He's been producing un-Alexanderlike numbers thus far this season and everyone's riding him for it. Now, with Branch out, Hackett STILL out, Mack Strong retired, and Hasselbeck's back aching from having to carry this team all month, it's time for Alexander to show people that 30 does not mean it's time to start looking for running backs in the 2008 draft.
It really is the perfect scenario: everybody writing him off, coming from a brutal 21-0 loss where he ran for 25 yards, nobody seeming to remember how he turns it up another notch when the whole nation's watching. Just you wait, Bob Costas and the rest of those buffoons will be gushing about his first half where he's already gone over the century mark in yards and tacked on a couple touchdowns in dictating the tempo of the offense and showing he's still got a little left in the tank. In fact, look for Jerome Bettis to use those exact words: Something Left In The Tank.
Other Causes For Concern:
The Saints really are that wounded dog backed into a corner after weeks of being beaten with a whip by its sadistic master; this is the point in the season where things could get very interesting. A victory in the unfriendly confines of Qwest Field, in front of the whole country, could be just the slingshot effect they need to turn it around, win 6 out of 7, and be right back in the thick of things. See, that's the deal with the NFC, you're never out of it until you've lost your 9th game.
Here's the thing though: Good Teams don't lose these games. Good Teams will see the wounded dog in the corner, they'll see how the previous week's opponent placed their boot-heel squarely on the dog's jugular, and the Good Teams will place their own boot-heel in the exact same spot, pressing down just a little harder until they hear that first crunch. An 0-4 team still has time to turn things around; 0-5 is demoralizing beyond belief and will render the team in Play For Pride mode.
One thing we've got going for us: we have absolutely ZERO reason to be looking ahead. The next 6 games are all against very beatable teams. I don't know about you, but the sound of 9-2 is pitch-perfect