If any of you Seattle Seahawks fans out there were, like me, worried about this last road game of the season against the New York Giants; if you were worried that Seattle was travelling, once again, 3000 miles for an east coast-10 AM on the west coast-start; if you were nervous that the weather report for this game included cold and the possibility of snow; if you wondered about the possible lingering effects of last week’s 2nd loss of the season to the San Francisco 49ers;  if it concerned you that, while they have been unbeatable home, the Hawks have been mortal on the road; if all or any of these things gave you trepidations about this game, then I am happy to report  to you that our concerns were unfounded.

There is only one word to describe what the Seahawks did in defeating the Giants 23-0 today at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey…“total domination”! 

Well, make that two words.

Consider the following facts about this game:

• Seattle controlled the ball throughout the game, possessing it for 34 minutes to the Giants’ 26 minutes.
• The Hawks had 21 first downs to New York’s 12
• Seattle held the Giants to only 25 yards rushing and a total offensive output for the game of only 181 yards. By halftime the Giants had a microscopic 54 yards in total offense.
• Meanwhile the Hawks gained nearly 330 yards, 130 of that total on the ground.
• Seattle’s defense and the “Legion of Boom” had their best day of the season so far, completely shutting down Giants quarterback Eli Manning and intercepting him 5 times (2 by Richard Sherman, 2 by Byron Maxwell and 1 by Earl Thomas), a career high for Manning, while subjecting him to constant pressure and sacking him 4 times.
• The Giants did not get into Seattle’s half of the field until midway through the 4^th quarter and that possession ended with, you guessed it, an Earl Thomas interception in the end zone. By that time the Hawks already had their 23-0 lead.

And, if that wasn’t enough:

• As a result of this victory Russell Wilson has now won 23 games in his first two NFL seasons, more than any quarterback ever in the Super Bowl era.
• In addition, with his TD pass today Wilson now has 50 scoring throws joining Peyton Manning and Dan Marino as the only quarterbacks ever to reach that figure within their first two seasons.
• The Seahawks put to rest any notion that they cannot travel across country and win on the road, having done so in Carolina, Atlanta and now in New York. In addition they have become a good travelling team, compiling a 6-2 road record this season, the best in their entire history as a team.
• Injuries to linebacker KJ Wright, cornerback Brandon Browner and the suspension of cornerback Walter Thurmond have not even been speed bumps for the Hawks. Byron Maxwell has stepped in at corner and picked 3 balls in the last two games (2 today) and Malcom Smith and Bobby Wagner have stepped up at linebacker and are playing great.
• With a win against either the Arizona Cardinals next week OR the St. Louis Rams the following week, both of whom Seattle plays at home, they will clinch the NFC West title AND home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Think about it Hawks fans…with this New York victory in the books and their last two games at home Seattle has played its last road game of the regular season. If the Hawks nail down home field advantage through the playoffs it is entirely possible that their next road game will be travelling back to New Jersey in February for the Super Bowl in this very same MetLife Stadium! Wouldn’t that be something?

But we are getting ahead of ourselves. If the Hawks players and coaches don’t and won’t get ahead of themselves then we shouldn’t either…and that brings me to the last point I want to make about this game and this team. The Seattle Seahawks are the most mentally equipped and prepared to play team that I have seen in football in quite a while, and that was reflected in today’s game against the Giants. They have the perfect quarterback for such a team in Russell Wilson, whose enthusiasm and work ethic is probably only exceeded by Hawks head coach Pete Carroll himself. It is clear to me that Carroll has figured something out about people and about life. His positive approach and emphasis on competition to bring the best out of his players is building a championship team here in Seattle.[1] He cares about his players and that care and positiveness permeate the entire organization it seems. I think that what we are seeing from the Seahawks this season is a manifestation of this…and boy is it fun to watch!

The Seahawks dominated the Giants today in New Jersey. As the players like to say, they went 1-0 for the week. If they continue to go 1-0 for each week the rest of this season and the playoffs they will wind up back in East Rutherford again…and you know what that means.

Now THAT would be a reason to be nervous!

Go Hawks!

Copyright © 2013

By Mark Arnold

All Rights Reserved