In a 180 degree turn from last year's NFC west game between in Seattle between the Seahawks and the St. Louis Rams, an exciting game 24-22 victory for Seattle that went down to the last minute, the game played on Sunday the 21st at Qwest Field was one of the worst sporting events I've ever seen in my life, especially the first half.
Seattle scored a touchdown on their first drive of the game, a one yard pass from Matt Hasselbeck to Will Heller, and both teams added a field goal for the 10-3 half time score, but it was most certainly a game in which the offense went missing for periods at a time, with Seattle finishing the half with something like 168 yards and St. Louis with something like 50, from what I remember. In fact, the Cardinals didn't break the 100-yard mark until late in the third quarter, an awful performance punctuated by a lousy running game (they certainly do miss Steven Jackson) and some short passes by the just-returned-to-the-lineup-with-sore-ribs quarterback Marc Bulger that often weren't that close to the intended receivers.
The Seahawks weren't much better, particularly in the running game, as the fans continued to vent their frustration with running back Shaun Alexander for a variety of reasons (speaking not as a Seattle fan, I can think that maybe one play where the boo-birds were heard was due to lousy play calling, but whenever Hasselbeck or Maurice Morris had either made a bad play or was in in check running the ball, there was no reaction that I could hear).
Things livened up a bit at the start of the second half, when Nate Burleson returned the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, a nice reprise from last year's game when he returned a punt 90 yards for the winning score. The Rams were able to move the ball a bit better in the second half, particularly through the air, and were able to get another field goal (as well as missing on another one), but four turnovers, leading to 13 Seahawk points, in the second half doomed whatever meager chances that they had for a comeback.
The win puts Seattle in first place, at 4-3, in the "lowly NFC West" (hey, that was the headline on Sunday's Seattle Times!), while the Rams remain winless at 0-7, and showing no inclination on this particular day that a win is something within their grasp this season. However, the week before, the previously winless New Orleans Saints came to Seattle to claim a win, so who knows how the Rams respond in this age of NFL parity once they get Jackson back and begin to block effectively again? As for Seattle, it was revealed that Hasselbeck was hurting, which affected his play, but I for one can't honestly expect for him to lead this team very far into the playoffs if the ground game continues to produce paltry results. The Seahawks defense was very good for the game, but seeing as how the Rams were very one-dimensional (and limited) in their offensive attack, I'm not sure that's that much of a compliment.
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