Seahawks Dominate Division Opener

NFL News - September 14th, 2009 - Written by John

It's hard to tell, really, when the sample size is essentially the St. Louis Rams. But as of week one, it appears that the Seattle Seahawks are back as contenders in the NFC West. in a day that saw the San Francisco 49ers upset last year's champ Arizona, there were no surprises in Seattle. The Seahawks, under new head coach Jim Mora, Jr., dominated on both sides of the ball and blew by the Rams on Sunday, 28-0.

“The whole offseason, they said our team was soft,” rookie linebacker Aaron Curry told Yahoo! Sports. “We’ve got to change our image.”

Matt Hasselbeck, who missed most of the year with a back injury, threw for the most yards in an opener, airing it out for 279 and three touchdowns. It was the ninth time in a row Seattle had beaten the Rams.

Julius Jones made it easy for Hasselbeck, rushing for 117 yards on only 19 carries, the bulk of it coming on a nifty 62-yard scamper up the middle, blowing by the St. Louis secondary for a touchdown with three minutes left in the third.

Meanwhile, the Rams had a tough day on offense, only gaining 247 total yards, and committing 10 penalties, compared to Seattle's four.

Their lone bright spot was on defense. Second-round pick James Laurinaitis had a game-high 10 tackles and recovered a Nate Burleson fumble.

Despite being held scoreless for the first quarter-and-a-half, Hasselbeck reeled off that trio of scores over the next four possessions, starting midway through the third quarter when he hit John Carleson from one yard out.

The very next possession, Seattle drove the ball down to the 12 after an apparent blocked field goal by the Rams was reniged via penalty, and Hasselbeck finished it off with a 12-yard strike to Burleson.

Then, midway through the third, it was Carleson again who hauled in a 33-yard touchdown before Jones' long touchdown run.
Some of it had to do with the fact that their new franchise quarterback, the one that cost them Kyle Orton, two first-round draft picks and a third-rounder in a off-season trade with the Broncos, failed to run more than one play in their final drive. Most of it, though, came from the other three interceptions and the complete lack of discipline on the offensive side of the ball. Many of Cutler's passes were either thrown into triple-coverage or dropped into spots were there were no Bears at all. Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune even called it "Rex Grossman-like".

“There were a lot of failures,” Cutler told the media, although seemingly addressing the whole city. “We’ve got to go back and look at it. I think we’re still going to be a good football team, there’s no need to panic.”

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