The Seahawk's big win on the road and other NFL thoughts

(1) The Seattle Seahawks have certainly had bigger, more important victories in their franchise’s history, but the 36-25 road win over the New York Giants is the most impressive regular season victory in the Pete Carroll era. Last year’s triumph over the Bears in Chi-town was a great moment, but this victory surpasses that one on many different levels. First of all, the Hawks were finally able to win a game in the Eastern Time zone for the first time since 2007. Take an opportunity to allow that fact to marinate in your brain for a moment. Seattle has been zero for the last three seasons in their travels to the eastern seaboard. For those of you with short memories, the Hawks’ last victory on the East Coast was a 28-24 decision over the Philadelphia Eagles on December 2, 2007. Since that day, Seattle had lost nine consecutive road games in the Eastern Time zone by an average of 16 points. Hopefully, their big win this past Sunday will once and for all shake the east coast bugaboo for Seattle.

Secondly, the Hawks were able to beat a team that has owned them physically, mentally and emotionally over the last couple of seasons. Last year, the Hawks allowed New York to come into Qwest Field and generate 487 yards of total offense and control the clock for over 40 minutes on their way to a 41-7 shellacking. Back in 2008, the Hawks rolled into the Meadowlands following a bye week and got trounced 44-6 by the Giants. New York produced 523 yards of total offense and their defense thoroughly dominated Seattle. I believe that the Seahawk defenders that played that day still have Brandon Jacobs’ tread marks on the front of their jerseys. The third reason that this victory was so huge was that it was an honest to goodness team effort. It has not been often over the last four seasons that Seattle has been able to match good defense and good offense on the same day. Through the first three-and-a-half games of 2011, the Seattle defense had generally played better football than their counterparts on the other side of the line. The offense finally stood up in the second half of the loss to Atlanta and it nearly was enough to steal the game. There was hope, leading up to the New York game, that the Hawks were finally poised to play a somewhat complete game. Their performance on Sunday is not going to win any beauty contests, but I really enjoyed the way that each unit picked up the other. The offense turned the ball over three times, but the defense forced five turnovers, returned an interception for a touchdown and registered a safety. The offense lost Tarvaris Jackson to an injury, but the defense pitched a shutout in the third quarter to give back-up Charlie Whitehurst an opportunity to get settled in. The defense allowed the Giants to take the lead twice in the fourth quarter, but the Seattle offense responded both times with scoring drives to regain control of the game. For one of the few times in recent memory, I was proud to be a Seattle fan.

Finally, the Hawks were able to get this big win thanks to some great plays from their young guys and back-ups. Whitehurst played admirably in relief of Jackson and may have played himself into a dreaded quarterback controversy. Doug Baldwin has gone from being undrafted to leading the team in receptions after five weeks. Baldwin’s heady play was never more evident that his decision to continue playing when it appeared that the Giants’ defense stopped because they thought a penalty was going to be called on Osi Umenyiora for rushing unabated to the quarterback. The result was a game-winning touchdown pass from Whitehurst. Let’s not forget the game-clinching interception return for a touchdown by Brandon Browner, which capped a day of big plays from the Seattle defense. We also saw Anthony Hargrove make a gigantic play with the safety in the third quarter and Chris Clemons play a maniacal game from his rush end position. All of these guys, plus many others on the Seattle roster, were unwanted by their former employers. I think it says a lot about John Schneider’s eye for talent that they are all showing they have the talent to compete and succeed in the NFL still. With this wonderful result, the bye week and two winnable games in weeks seven and eight, the Hawks might have found the elixir to turn their season around.

(2) With the silence befitting a ninja, the Cincinnati Bengals are starting to build something special despite the utter lack of positive expectations. The stare down between Carson Palmer and Mike Brown clouded their offseason and the horrible start to the Andy Dalton era had Cincinnati fans preparing themselves for another long season. After a 1-2 start to the year, it appeared that the predicted disaster was going to happen. However, the astute observer could look past the back-to-back losses to Denver and San Francisco to see several positive signs that the Bengals had a chance to be better than anyone could have predicted. The first good sign is that Andy Dalton was not the train-wreck that he appeared to be in the preseason. He struggled mightily at home against San Francisco, but he played brilliantly on the road in Denver and has been solid over the last two weeks. Dalton is not a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback right now, but his early play has indicated that the future is bright for the Bengals. It also has lessened the sting of Palmer’s decision to walk away from the team rather than play another down in the Queen City. The second encouraging sign is that Dalton has already established a rapport with his fellow rookie, A.J. Green. Their budding connection has already produced 24 completions and two touchdowns. You can excuse Cincinnati fans from daydreaming about Dalton-to-Green touchdown passes for the next 5-10 years. In his own right, Green looks like the real deal, as he ranks in the top 20 among wide receivers in yards, receptions and yards per reception. The final reason to be optimistic in Cincinnati has been the stellar play from their defense. The Bengals’ defense was completely ignored leading up to the start of the 2011 season, but they are currently ranked as the #1 overall defense after five weeks. This unit may not be filled with household names, but it has proven that it is one of the best groups in the NFL. More importantly, it has given the young offense time to come together and develop its own identity. With Indianapolis, Seattle and Tennessee next up on their schedule, the Bengals have a golden opportunity to be at least 5-3 heading into a November 13th showdown with Pittsburgh.

(3) I guess all of the attempts by the media to bury the Pittsburgh Steelers were a bit premature. The Steelers had looked awful in losses to Baltimore and Houston and underwhelming in victories over Seattle and Indianapolis, so the dominant talk in the blogosphere and on talk radio was that their window of opportunity had closed completely. Making matters worse, they entered the match-up with Tennessee with a banged-up quarterback, a patchwork offensive line and a number of their stalwarts missing in action due to injury. The prevailing thought was that the Titans would seize their opportunity and continue their surprising start with a road victory over the Steelers. Unfortunately, for Tennessee, NFL games are not played on talk radio. Instead, Pittsburgh dominated the Titans from beginning to end with a resilient effort that has always been a trademark of the franchise. Ben Roethlisberger shook off an injured foot to lead the way with five touchdown passes, while his rebuilt offensive line held up for most of the afternoon. The Steelers certainly configured their game plan to limit the opportunities to get Big Ben hit, but the mid-week signing of Max Starks seems to have solidified an offensive line that has been a disaster through the first four weeks. In addition to Roethlisberger’s tremendous performance, the Steelers’ defense rebounded nicely from their horrendous game against Houston. They may have been unable to slow down Arian Foster, but they completely bottled up Chris Johnson, which allowed them to unleash their pass rushers on Matt Hasselbeck. Most impressively, they dominated Tennessee without the services of James Harrison, Casey Hampton and Aaron Smith. Despite having a shut out on their 2011 resume, this performance marks their most dominating defensive effort of the season. The Seahawks basically laid down during the 24-0 loss to Pittsburgh earlier in the year, but the Titans had a hot quarterback and enough playmakers to give the Steelers headaches. Pittsburgh made Hasselbeck look pedestrian and never allowed the Titans to have any breathing room on offense. This Steelers team is the team that has been one of the dominant squads in the AFC over the last 10 years despite the hope from around the NFL that their best days were behind them. Now, the Steelers have a chance to get even healthier with games against Jacksonville and Arizona over the next two weeks.