- Joined
- Jul 31, 2010
- Messages
- 8,874
Tipsheet: Seahawks primed to tee off on Rams
• By Jeff Gordon
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_efb57ae6-ea52-5300-9973-31d658c17388.html
If the Rams weren't miserable enough after home-field losses to the Cardinals and Giants -- two teams they should have beaten -- they are about to catch the Seahawks in peak form.
Those brave enough to turn on the TV Sunday night got to see Seattle manhandle Arizona in the second half of its 35-6 victory in the Valley of the Sun.
The Rams know what is coming next. They have seen the Seahawks at their best and they know what it's like to play in Seattle to close out the season.
(What did the Rams do to deserve Week 17 games in Seattle anyway? This has become a ritual beating that puts a damper on every holiday season.)
Jeff Fisher and Gregg Williams are striving to create the next great defense in the NFL. They certainly have the assets to build such a unit. At times the Rams have looked the part, starting with their shutdown of the Broncos.
But Sunday they will get to see the real thing with the Seahawks' "Legion of Boom" defense. That unit has allowed just 33 points in the last five weeks.
"We're the best defense to ever play football,” defensive end Michael Bennett told the NFL Network. “So when we play the way we play, the way we’re capable of playing, whatever (Cardinals quarterback Ryan Lindley) did didn’t really matter. When we line up and play the way we are capable of playing, I don’t think anybody can play with us.”
It's not bragging when you do it. The Seahawks lead the NFL in fewest yards allowed per game (268.6) and fewest points allowed per game (16.5).
The Seahawks offense also clicked at Arizona, overrunning a very good Cardinals defense. But for some missed field goals early in the game, Seattle's blowout victory could have been even uglier.
Pete Carroll's team is playing its best football just in time for the playoffs to start. Tipsheet is guessing that talking trash and hitting after the whistle won't get the Rams far in Seattle.
Here is what the pundits are writing about the Seahawks:
Peter King, SI.com: "By almost any measure the team that won the Super Bowl by 35 points last season is better this year. There’s almost a bitterness if the defense gives up a play of any yardage. The secondary is a bunch of attack dogs. On offense, Marshawn Lynch runs like he’s trying to hurt somebody on every play. He runs with violent intent. Russell Wilson knows when to take chances, when to live to fight another play. On Sunday night he knew when to throw for 80, when to run for 55 . . . Seattle put up 596 yards on a good defense Sunday night. Lynch and Wilson combined to run for 201 yards. The Seahawks are the best team this morning, but it’s a long six weeks until Super Bowl Sunday, back in Arizona. Maybe one of those AFC quarterbacks, or Aaron Rodgers, will be able to solve Seattle’s suffocating D. Maybe the offense will sputter; Seattle did score in the teens in three of its last five wins. But this season is the 10-year anniversary of the league’s last repeat champion—New England—and no one’s been this close, this good, this late in the season since."
Robert Mays, ESPN.com: "This started coming into view last month when Carson Palmer — and then Drew Stanton — went down just as the defending champs began to heat up. The fight for the NFC West seemed like one of those races between baked goods or sausages on the JumboTron between quarters. It didn’t matter who was in first; we knew how it would end. Somewhere around the halfway point, it felt like the Seahawks had succumbed to their championship hangover. With reports of discord and distrust, an outcome that has befallen so many title teams looked like destiny for Seattle. Instead, the Seahawks have rounded back into their terrifying selves at just the right time. Ryan Lindley or not, Seattle dominated a Cardinals team that’s been incredibly tough at home the past two seasons. With Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson, the Seahawks have had the league’s most efficient running game all season. But watching Lynch beast his way off Patrick Peterson and into the end zone last night — and watching Seattle rack up 267 rushing yards against a great run defense — reminded us of the ground attack that turned defenses into dust on Seattle’s way to the Super Bowl."
Will Leitch, Sports on Earth: "Since he arrived in Seattle -- or, more specifically, since that stunning playoff-winning run against the Saints in 2011 -- Marshawn Lynch has become the most thrilling, impossibly likable players in the NFL. Every time he touches the football, you stop what you are doing and stare; you watch him run, and it's football at its purest, most grand form. Lynch vindicates his game every time he touches the ball. This is the opposite of how the NFL works today, by the way. Running backs are supposed to be interchangeable, disposable, like a young pitcher: Use them up and wear them out while you can whatever from them you can before plugging in another, younger one. Lynch has become a franchise and league staple well into his late-20s, and isn't slowing down. To wit, he's the same age as Chris Johnson and Maurice Jones-Drew, two fellow workhorse backs widely considered to be years past their prime. Lynch is a star in a way people aren't really stars anymore. He's a throwback in real time."
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Questions to ponder while wondering if the Blues can shake off that loss at San Jose:
Wasn't the Miami Beach Bowl supposed to be a fun outing?
How is Dallas handling the non-collapse of the Cowboys?
Say, do other teams play dirty football too?
• By Jeff Gordon
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_efb57ae6-ea52-5300-9973-31d658c17388.html
If the Rams weren't miserable enough after home-field losses to the Cardinals and Giants -- two teams they should have beaten -- they are about to catch the Seahawks in peak form.
Those brave enough to turn on the TV Sunday night got to see Seattle manhandle Arizona in the second half of its 35-6 victory in the Valley of the Sun.
The Rams know what is coming next. They have seen the Seahawks at their best and they know what it's like to play in Seattle to close out the season.
(What did the Rams do to deserve Week 17 games in Seattle anyway? This has become a ritual beating that puts a damper on every holiday season.)
Jeff Fisher and Gregg Williams are striving to create the next great defense in the NFL. They certainly have the assets to build such a unit. At times the Rams have looked the part, starting with their shutdown of the Broncos.
But Sunday they will get to see the real thing with the Seahawks' "Legion of Boom" defense. That unit has allowed just 33 points in the last five weeks.
"We're the best defense to ever play football,” defensive end Michael Bennett told the NFL Network. “So when we play the way we play, the way we’re capable of playing, whatever (Cardinals quarterback Ryan Lindley) did didn’t really matter. When we line up and play the way we are capable of playing, I don’t think anybody can play with us.”
It's not bragging when you do it. The Seahawks lead the NFL in fewest yards allowed per game (268.6) and fewest points allowed per game (16.5).
The Seahawks offense also clicked at Arizona, overrunning a very good Cardinals defense. But for some missed field goals early in the game, Seattle's blowout victory could have been even uglier.
Pete Carroll's team is playing its best football just in time for the playoffs to start. Tipsheet is guessing that talking trash and hitting after the whistle won't get the Rams far in Seattle.
Here is what the pundits are writing about the Seahawks:
Peter King, SI.com: "By almost any measure the team that won the Super Bowl by 35 points last season is better this year. There’s almost a bitterness if the defense gives up a play of any yardage. The secondary is a bunch of attack dogs. On offense, Marshawn Lynch runs like he’s trying to hurt somebody on every play. He runs with violent intent. Russell Wilson knows when to take chances, when to live to fight another play. On Sunday night he knew when to throw for 80, when to run for 55 . . . Seattle put up 596 yards on a good defense Sunday night. Lynch and Wilson combined to run for 201 yards. The Seahawks are the best team this morning, but it’s a long six weeks until Super Bowl Sunday, back in Arizona. Maybe one of those AFC quarterbacks, or Aaron Rodgers, will be able to solve Seattle’s suffocating D. Maybe the offense will sputter; Seattle did score in the teens in three of its last five wins. But this season is the 10-year anniversary of the league’s last repeat champion—New England—and no one’s been this close, this good, this late in the season since."
Robert Mays, ESPN.com: "This started coming into view last month when Carson Palmer — and then Drew Stanton — went down just as the defending champs began to heat up. The fight for the NFC West seemed like one of those races between baked goods or sausages on the JumboTron between quarters. It didn’t matter who was in first; we knew how it would end. Somewhere around the halfway point, it felt like the Seahawks had succumbed to their championship hangover. With reports of discord and distrust, an outcome that has befallen so many title teams looked like destiny for Seattle. Instead, the Seahawks have rounded back into their terrifying selves at just the right time. Ryan Lindley or not, Seattle dominated a Cardinals team that’s been incredibly tough at home the past two seasons. With Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson, the Seahawks have had the league’s most efficient running game all season. But watching Lynch beast his way off Patrick Peterson and into the end zone last night — and watching Seattle rack up 267 rushing yards against a great run defense — reminded us of the ground attack that turned defenses into dust on Seattle’s way to the Super Bowl."
Will Leitch, Sports on Earth: "Since he arrived in Seattle -- or, more specifically, since that stunning playoff-winning run against the Saints in 2011 -- Marshawn Lynch has become the most thrilling, impossibly likable players in the NFL. Every time he touches the football, you stop what you are doing and stare; you watch him run, and it's football at its purest, most grand form. Lynch vindicates his game every time he touches the ball. This is the opposite of how the NFL works today, by the way. Running backs are supposed to be interchangeable, disposable, like a young pitcher: Use them up and wear them out while you can whatever from them you can before plugging in another, younger one. Lynch has become a franchise and league staple well into his late-20s, and isn't slowing down. To wit, he's the same age as Chris Johnson and Maurice Jones-Drew, two fellow workhorse backs widely considered to be years past their prime. Lynch is a star in a way people aren't really stars anymore. He's a throwback in real time."
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Questions to ponder while wondering if the Blues can shake off that loss at San Jose:
Wasn't the Miami Beach Bowl supposed to be a fun outing?
How is Dallas handling the non-collapse of the Cowboys?
Say, do other teams play dirty football too?
