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NFC West Champions Postgame Wrap, Week 14, 2007

They say good things come in threes. They certainly did for the Seahawks on Thursday. Patrick Kerney racked up three sacks, the third time he’s done so this season. Marcus Trufant picked off three Kurt Warner passes, taking one of them to the house. And this afternoon’s winning margin? 42-21 – three scores.

But good things come in fours, too. As in four Matt Hasselbeck touchdown passes. And as in four consecutive NFC West division championships. That’s what the Hawks wrapped up today with their pounding of Arizona.

Division titles make me happy. So do winning recaps. Here we go:

FINAL SCORE: Seahawks 42, Cardinals 21

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Hasselbeck, Kerney, Trufant… those are all acceptable answers. Hasselbeck was lights out in the first half, helping the Hawks to an insurmountable 27-7 lead at the intermission with three TD tosses. He’d add a fourth in the fourth quarter as Seattle pulled away. Kerney and Trufant continued to bolster their Pro Bowl resumes on what is fast becoming a premier NFL defense. I’d like to go on record as being one of the few that wasn’t down on the Kerney signing this offseason, and his 13.5 sacks have surpassed even my optimistic expectations. Trufant continues to shine in the best year of his pro career, turning into a lockdown cornerback and Seattle’s number one free agent priority.

TERREAL BIERRA MEMORIAL GOAT OF THE GAME: I’d really rather not give this to anybody, but Boone Stutz botched another long snap today, costing the Seahawks an extra point. Stutz has been subpar since taking over for Derrick Rackley as the long snapper, and I’d be surprised if he’s employed much longer.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Bobby Engram’s TD reception in the second quarter. Hasselbeck’s throw was low to the corner of the end zone, but Engram picked it off the turf to put the Hawks up 17-zip.

HUGE PLAY: Trufant’s first interception came with the Cardinals down just 27-14 and looking to score again after recovering an onside kick late in the third quarter. That pick ended Arizona’s chances to get back into the ballgame.

SCARY MOMENT: None that I can remember. This was a rout.

LOFA TATUPU WATCH: Only four tackles for Lofa, but after his virtuoso performance last week, he earned a week of letting his mates carry the defensive load.

NEXT OPPONENTS: The Carolina Panthers are horrendous. They lost 37-6 to Jacksonville today. That puts the Panthers at 5-8, and the Hawks will be a strong bet to put them at 5-9 next week at Bank of America Stadium.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Two straight weeks of close calls gave way to one of the most dominant performances of the season, and the Seahawks now know they’re playoff bound.

It’s starting to get a little repetitive, folks. Every year the experts expect the Hawks to fall from their perch atop the NFC West. They peg Arizona or St. Louis or San Francisco to rise up and take the division. They count on a fall from grace for the Seahawks.

And they’re always wrong. Hopelessly, gloriously wrong. No team in this division is anywhere close to what the Seahawks offer on both sides of the ball, and the Hawks have now proven this with a 5-1 division record and a fourth straight NFC West crown.

Even with a running game that can be charitably described as ‘mediocre’, the Hawks are playing their best football since the magical 2005 season. Hasselbeck is as good as he’s ever been, battling injuries to himself and his receiver corps to put up Pro Bowl numbers. But even as good as he’s been, the story of 2007 has been the ascendance of the Seahawks defense as a QB-killing, deep-pass-stopping machine.

Kerney, Trufant, and Tatupu should start booking their vacations for Honolulu any day now. Julian Peterson and Deon Grant could well join them. The Hawks rush the passer as well as any team in the league, and rookie Brandon Mebane has emerged as a force on the interior that has aided the Hawks’ run defense. In Tatupu and Peterson, this team has a top-tier linebacking duo. Trufant and Kelly Jennings are a terrific (and young) tandem at cornerback.

4-4 seems so long ago. Five games later, the Seahawks have left inconsistency behind. No, they’re not without their flaws, but neither is every other NFC contender. This, right now, is a team that can win a conference championship.

SEAHAWKS WATCH: 9-4 (8-2 conference, 5-1 division), NFC WEST CHAMPS… AGAIN

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 9th, 2007 at 10:05 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.