As I watched the Indianapolis Colts take the opening kickoff in last Sunday’s game against our Seahawks, and then, with their new quarterback Carson Wentz leading the way, take 9 minutes to drive the length of the field before settling for a field goal and a 3-0 lead, I imagine many of you Twelves felt much as I did. Based on that drive it appeared that Seattle’s D was carrying its problems from the 1st half of last season over to the new 2021 season, and I couldn’t help having a sinking “here we go again” feeling. I’ll state here at the outset of the new season, that despite the Hawks’ 2020 12-4 record and NFL West Divisional championship, last season was tough on me. Watching Russell Wilson go from his usual excellence to struggling with turnovers and picks in midseason was so frustrating, which added to the frustration of a historically bad defense across the campaign’s first 8 games; all of which was capped by frustrating losses to the New York Giants late in the season and the LA Rams in the first round of the playoffs—a game in which Seattle was thoroughly outplayed. For as good as 12 and 4 is, the whole season left a sour taste in my mouth; a feeling that the team wasn’t as good as its record. And now here I was, watching Colts running back Jonathan Taylor make tackle busting runs and Wentz shred the Hawks pass defense with an array of short to medium passes to his backs and receivers, on his way to completing 10 of his first 11 throws. I love watching football and the entertainment it provides, but as I watched this season opening Colts drive I was asking myself, “Is this entertainment?” More like a root canal.
But, then we Twelves got a taste of our new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s offense, and we could tell right away something was different. Based on last year’s statistics the Colts have a great defense, featuring Pro Bowl and All-Pro players like linebacker Darius Leonard and defensive lineman DeForest Buckner. Going into this game, then, it was reasonable to predict Seattle would have a tough time moving the ball and that the game, as long as the Hawks D played well, would be low scoring,. Because I’m a Twelve, my personal homer prediction was a Hawks 3-point win, but in my heart of hearts I knew an Indianapolis 3-point win was just as reasonable. Truthfully, I thought the game was a toss-up; only rarely have I been happier to be so wrong.
On receiving the Colts kickoff following their opening drive field goal, the Seahawks started their first possession at their own 19-yard line at the 5:36 mark of the 1st quarter. From there a Wilson scramble and several Chris Carson runs put the ball at the Seattle 40 with a 3rd down and 1 situation. On the next play Wilson gave the ball to Carson again, and then watched as the Seattle running back nimbly slipped through a microscopic gap in the left side of the Colts defensive line and rambled for 33 yards, all the way to the Indianapolis 27-yard line. Based on the first few plays of this drive, last year’s “Let Russ cook” approach seemed to have been replaced by “Let Carson Slice and Dice.” I, for one, loved it!
From there it took Wilson and the Hawks 3 plays to put their first 2021 touchdown on the board, with the score coming on a 3rd and 6 play from the Colts 23. On the play Wilson was lined up in shotgun, with Rashaad Penny to his left in the backfield. Tyler Lockett went in motion from left to right, winding up in the slot position on the right, between receiver Freddie Swain and right tackle Brandon Shell. On confronting the Indy defense, Wilson observed the indications of an all-out blitz coming, and instantly knew he would have Lockett one-on-one against the Colts safety—an obvious mismatch. On the snap of the ball the Seahawks quarterback stood strong in the face of the blitz as Lockett took off on a “go-route” toward the end-zone. With the safety to his inside shoulder, Lockett got a step on him as Wilson lofted a beautiful teardrop of a pass to the receiver’s outside shoulder; an impossible play for the safety, but also necessitating that Lockett make the shift from catching the ball over his left shoulder to hauling it in from directly overhead while bending backwards to track the ball, ala Willie Mays in that famous catch of Vic Wertz’s deep line drive in game one of the 1954 World Series. The Seattle receiver completed the picture-perfect reception, thus giving the Hawks a 7-3 lead they would never relinquish.
Tyler Lockett
As the game advanced into the 2nd quarter other elements of Waldron’s offense began to manifest. What I especially appreciated was how “up-tempo” the offense was. Often Wilson would have his team at the line of scrimmage with tons of time left on the play clock, like 15 to 20 seconds. This afforded him time to observe the Colts defense and change the play at the line of scrimmage if necessary. We also began to see increased spreading of the field and usage of Seattle’s tight ends, Will Dissly (5 catches) and Gerald Everett (3 catches). This was especially apparent on Wilson’s 2nd TD pass of the game, a 9-yard throw to Everett. That score took place at the 11:30 mark of the 2nd quarter on a 2nd and 6 from the Colts 9-yard line. Seattle came to the line of scrimmage with Wilson in the shotgun, Penny to his left in the backfield, and 3 receivers to the right, including BOTH Dissly (on the inside) AND Everett (on the outside) with Lockett in between. With the Colts pass defenders in zone defense, the play Waldron called was a classic “zone-buster” which put Indy’s wonderful linebacker Darius Leonard in a tough situation. On the snap of the ball both Lockett and Dissly took a couple of steps forward and then broke to the right, forcing Leonard, the linebacker on that side, to lean toward them. Meanwhile Everett, from his position split wide right, took one step up field and then broke sharply to his left, crossing into the zone Leonard had just vacated in responding to Dissly and Lockett. With the linebacker caught betwixt and between, all Wilson had to do was flip the ball to Everett, who made the reception at the 4 and dove into the end zone to give Seattle a 14-3 lead. Just a beautiful play call using the tight end element of Waldron’s offense.
Also on many Twelves minds was another question: would Waldron’s offense and play calls adequately utilize one of Russell Wilson’s and his receiver’s best attributes; that, of course, being the deep ball? That question was answered late in the 2nd quarter, when, on a 2nd and 20 from the Seattle 31, Russell took the snap from shotgun and retreated to pass. He then climbed the pocket a little as his offensive line forced the pass rush to the outside, and released a howitzer of a deep ball that carved a beautiful arc across our TV screens before landing in the arms of Tyler Lockett, who made the catch at the Indy 17, broke a shoe string tackle, and then waltzed into the end zone to complete the 69-yard scoring play. If you have not yet watched the replay of this TD pass, then you should do so. When you do, pay particular attention to Lockett’s route. Using a double move, he put the defensive back covering him at complete effect by first feinting to the outside and then breaking back to the inside on a “skinny post.” That left the Colts DB in the dust, about 3-yards behind the speedy Lockett, and gave the Hawks a 21-10 lead going into the half. Just an awesome play all around! Later in the 4th quarter Seattle would score another touchdown on Wilson’s 4th scoring toss of the day, a 17-yard strike to DK Metcalf, which the receiver caught with his hands as he crossed the goal line for the score, at the time giving Seattle a 28-10 lead.
Carson Wentz
The Colts’ 9 minute, 14 play drive to start the game notwithstanding, I’m happy to say that we needn’t have worried about which version of the Seattle’s “last season” defense would show up for this game (the first half bad D or the 2nd half good D). The fact is the defense we saw on Sunday versus Indy looked better to me than anything we saw last year. Last season the Hawks struggled to mount a pass rush through their first 8 games, but last Sunday, after that first drive, they consistently pressured, hit and sacked Wentz, making his life in this game very difficult. Benson Mayowa, Rasheem Green and Darrell Taylor all took down the Colts QB as he tried to pass, and combined Seattle defenders officially hit him 10 times, though it looked worse than that on TV. The pressure the Hawks got on Wentz was beautiful to watch.
Speaking of the defense, I was especially impressed with the play of Seattle’s young defensive end, Darrell Taylor. After missing virtually all his first season with injuries, for this 2021 campaign Taylor looks to be a man on a mission. He made several excellent tackles, but standing out was the incredible play he made early in the 4th quarter, as the Colts were driving for a score that would have made it a 21-17 game. The play occurred with 10 minutes left in the contest, after Wentz and company had advanced the ball to the Seattle 17, where they faced a 4th down and one yard to go for a first down. Colts head coach Frank Reich, figuring his team needed a touchdown to get back in the game, ordered his quarterback to go for it. Wentz brought his team to the scrimmage line in the shotgun, with two receivers split left and one split right, and started calling the signals. Meanwhile, Taylor was lined up, hand on the ground, at the Hawks left defensive end position. Across from him was one of the best young offensive linemen in the league, Indianapolis right tackle Braden Smith. As Wentz took the snap Taylor got off the ball quick, and with a straight bull rush went right at Smith, knocking him backwards onto his wallet. He then leaped forward at the Indianapolis quarterback, taking him down with a perfect, legal tackle, hitting him at about pelvis level and driving him toward the ground. About a foot from the turf Wentz desperately tried to get rid of the ball, flinging it to an empty area on the field, but the refs had already called him down. The first sack of Taylor’s career came at a critical time, stopping a Colts drive that would have made this a MUCH tighter game, and turning the ball over to Seattle on downs. I REALLY look forward to seeing how the young defensive end develops as the season progresses.
So, Week One of this 2021 season is in the books, and the Seahawks are off to an impressive start. Unfortunately, so is the entire NFC West Division, with all 4 teams winning soundly last week, to leave all 4 sitting at 1-0 thus far. Sunday our team faces the Tennessee Titans at Lumen Field, and you can bet, after a whole season away from Seahawks live football, the Twelves will be packing the place and in full throat. The Titans were terrible last week, losing 38-13 to the Arizona Cardinals in a game in which Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill was sacked six times. (five by Cardinals defensive lineman Chandler Jones alone) Not sure what happened with Tennessee last week, but with players like Tannehill, two time NFL rushing champion Derrick Henry, and receivers like Julio Jones (51 catches, 771 yards in 2020, while missing several games with injury) and A.J. Brown (70 catches, 1075 yards in 2020) to catch the ball, I think we can expect a much better performance from them this week.
Nevertheless, if the Hawks play like they did against the Colts I think they’ll win by a touchdown or so.
And if they don’t…well…this is the NFL, and as they say, “On any given Sunday…”
Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
Go Hawks!!
Copyright © 2021
By Mark Arnold
All Rights Reserved
