Week 16: Arizona Cardinals (9-5) @ Seattle Seahawks (12-2)

[jWILL253]

This loss falls squarely on the offense. Or, more specifically, OC Darrell Bevel. I don't think I've ever been screaming so much for a read option before in my life. He finally tries something new and spreads it out, and that's when we score.

Defense played well other than a few big plays. That last TD was killer, as Maxwell was NOT slouching on that play. Game of inches, though. Never thought we'd lose a game when we have 4 INTS in our favor.

Also, this has to be part of a new Hollywood film called "Return of the Living Scabs". I know no one likes people to blame refs after a loss, but let's be honest: in quite a few games today, there were some blatantly obvious calls that got ruled the opposite, as well as borderline and/or phantom penalties called today (and yes, that includes the spotty call on the XP). This has been happening all season long. I'm starting not to see a difference between the scabs and the unionized refs.

Good game, Cards. Next week is a must-win for us...

EDIT: Just to be clear, I'm not blaming this loss on the refs (not even remotely). What I'm saying is that anybody who has the RedZone channel can see the circus acts that these refs are putting on accross the league...

[The_Wise_One]

Was busy and couldn't watch any football today. What happened??? The offensive numbers were almost as bad as the (gulp) Monday Night Rams game. Defense forces 4 turnovers and Hawks can't capitalize? At home?

Now I'm going to be extremely nervous for next weeks game. Gah!

[Lieutenant Dan]

Quote: Originally Posted by The_Wise_One

Was busy and couldn't watch any football today. What happened??? The offensive numbers were almost as bad as the (gulp) Monday Night Rams game. Defense forces 4 turnovers and Hawks can't capitalize? At home? Now I'm going to be extremely nervous for next weeks game. Gah!

On the AZ side, outstanding defense and great game plan against our base offense. Palmer threw picks but he and the offense did just enough to win.

On the SEA side, also outstanding defense....but coupled with 100 plus penalty yards. Offense was shackled to an inflexible, vanilla game plan and we never made adjustments to counter AZ's defense. RW struggled as well.

Refs were a factor but they didn't make us miss a field goal or not allow us into the end zone.

Bottom line: Arizona played inspired defense and we beat ourselves with penalties and lackluster, inflexible play calling.

PS...if I had to guess, the Seahawks coaching staff did not want to show anything good this close to the playoffs and went too conservative.

[12]

Quote: Originally Posted by neifro

How do you like your crow?

Just fine. A little sour, but I'm hungry.

Not a good day for the Seahawks. No excuses. They were outplayed today. First loss at home in almost exactly two years.

It proves they are not invincible, even at home. The offense was brutal today. Russell Wilson had one of his worst games as a pro. The defense, like usual, was extremely solid but the offense did nothing. Absolutely nothing. If they don't figure that out, we're in trouble - even if we got HFA in the playoffs.

That good for you, chief? Take care of business this week and next and let's see how the dominoes fall when the playoffs arrive. I pray we get round three against the Niners in the playoffs.

[RandyBass]

This one actually didn't surprise me all that much. Arizona in one of the best teams in the league against the run, and they get after the quarterback, so they match up well against the Hawks' offense.

Wilson has been one of the most pressured QBs in the league, and Arizona kept that up today. Seattle needs to shore up their offensive line heading into the playoffs, and they can't keep hurting themselves with penalties.

This loss probably helped them more than a win would have.

[thaima1shu]

Damn it 12, this is all your fault lol.

Rough day yesterday. Also, the fans were incredibly stupid. Maybe a bunch of season ticket holders thought this game was in the bag and sold their tickets to the bandwagon fans. For some reason, they kept getting loud when the Seahawks offense was in the huddle. A large portion of the upper deck on the visiting side even started going into the SEA-HAWKS chant while the offense was huddling. That hasn't happened at all this season. It was pissing me off.

This division is ridiculous and shows no signs of getting weaker in the coming years.

[Lieutenant Dan]

Quote: Originally Posted by RandyBass

This loss probably helped them more than a win would have.

I've been thinking the same thing, after I had a chance to cool off yesterday.

Elevating for the Rams game will take us into the playoffs at a higher level than if it was a 'rest' game.

This loss should have been a kick in the *** for the team and coaches. Let's see if they come out aggressive and varied against the Rams to finish this thing.

[thaima1shu]

Well people (and even Pete Carroll) were saying the same thing about how the loss to the 49ers could end up being a good thing too. It's not like that has resulted in great results so far. Last week's shutout was nice, but the offense still had lots of problems. 3 straight weeks now of pretty bad offense.