The Seattle Seahawks went into Monday night's
matchup against the New Orleans Saints with high hopes of taking a major step
toward winning the NFC West division and securing a home field advantage
throughout the playoffs. Pete Carroll
had his football team primed and ready to take care of business and get done
what was necessary to advance toward the kind of team this football club is
capable of.
Now, with a franchise record 11-1 start to the
season, Seattle travels to San Francisco to play the 49ers at Candlestick Park,
the final trip for the Seahawks to the stadium that is scheduled to be
decommissioned and probably destroyed as San Francisco's new home will be ready
for the 2014 season. This game is
extremely important in that the Seahawks have throttled the 49ers in the last
two meetings by scores of 42-13 going back to last season and in the second
game of the 2013 season, Seattle treated the Niners in a similar fashion
lambasting them 29-3. It's clear that
the Seahawks and CenturyLink Field's rabid 12th man are in the heads of the
Niners players. Whatever it is, Colin
Kaepernick and the rest of Jim Harbaugh's football team haven't difficult time
scoring and keeping Seattle from scoring in the Pacific Northwest.
Now, it's time for Seattle to take their show on
the road and enter a Stadium of fans that seem to have somewhat of a
laissez-faire attitude when watching their team play their home games. The 49er fans have historically been a late
arriving crowd and apparently, a crowd that doesn't quite know how to support
their football team during home games.
Reportedly, the 49ers ticket organization sent out letters to all of
their season ticket holders instructing them on the art of being a football
fan. The letter explained when the crowd
was supposed to cheer and when they were supposed to stay quiet. I imagine the part of the letter that encourages
them to be quiet was easier than the first instruction. Fans were encouraged to wear red and each
time the team scored, fans were encouraged to sing the team fight song. I have no idea what that song could be, and
apparently the fans in San Francisco Stadium don't have a particular
familiarity to the song, either. Richard
Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks, poked fun during a press conference earlier in
the week explaining the Seattle's 12th man doesn't need a letter telling them
how to behave in the Stadium to give their team a decided edge making it
difficult on the visiting team. It was
all in fun, but it's clear that the San Francisco 49ers franchise is trying to
keep up with the Joneses, or in this case, perhaps "the
Allen's?" Regardless, this is going
to be a divisional rival game and a direct effect of playing one of the best
football teams in the NFL and currently the second best team in the NFC West
division. Vernon Davis, the Niners tight
end, praised Seattle during the off-season for their resolve and ability to
play an extremely tough, physical and intimidating brand of football, no matter
where the game is being played. I look
for this game to be very "chippy" before the game, during the game
and if the Seattle Seahawks put a beat down on Kaepernick and the boys, you can
expect some dissension to extend beyond the final horn. This game might currently be the biggest rivalry
in team sports. One thing that is for certain, these two teams do not like each
other and it extends far beyond the players on the field.
Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh have a very public
disdain for one another. It all goes
back to their coaching careers in the Pac-10 conference in college. Harbaugh is a malcontent who takes everything
personally and likes to find a certain edge by putting a chip on his own
shoulder even when there's not one there to be found. Pete Carroll was considered "Football
Jesus" in Southern California when he coached the USC and was able to
manage a couple of national championships for his SoCal Trojans. Jim Harbaugh had opportunities to beat Pete
Carroll's Trojans and he did give them fits.
During one conference game at the Los Angeles Memorial Stadium, the
Stanford Cardinals put a beat down on Carroll's Trojans and when the game was
done and decided, Harbaugh called for his football team to go for two after a
touchdown. Apparently, Carroll wasn't
impressed with Harbaugh's decision to rub it in, and said so in the infamous
"What's your deal?" comment that Carroll gave Harbaugh after the game
at midfield when they met to shake hands. If you've watched Jim Harbaugh's game
ending handshakes at midfield, you would know that is not really one of his fortes
to shake hands and wishes opponent a good future and congratulated him on a
tough game fought well. So, there's a
lot of history between these two teams and it starts at the top with the two
coaches.
If truth be told without expurgation, I think the
players would admit that they don't really have any personal ill will for one
another. This all comes down to soldiers
fighting for their generals and fighting hard to honor the men who lead them
into battle. It could be said that the
teams have animosity towards one another because they're both so darn
good. Both football teams play physical
and intimidating styles of defense and both of them have committed to
establishing a good rushing game in their offense, followed by big play passing
offenses. Russell Wilson and Colin
Kaepernick really only share a couple of similarities. Both quarterbacks are athletic and quick on
their feet, with strong arms and dynamic styles of play. That might be where the similarities end,
however. Russell Wilson is a humble, but
confident young quarterback who has learned to deflect, rather than bring
criticism and judgment upon him unnecessarily.
He gives credit to his offensive line, coaching staff and the defense
that constantly puts the football team on the positive side of the field when
they start their offensive possessions.
Wilson is likely to be found at Seattle Children's Hospital each week on
Tuesdays and the rest of his life seems to be studying and improving his craft
as Seattle's reliable and exhilarating young signal caller. Kaepernick is a player that seems designed
for the spotlight. He enjoys the media
game and he's a guy that likes to enjoy himself off the field. Both Wilson and Kaepernick are both well-schooled
and well prepared when the game begins each week, and both of them have the
supreme confidence of their teammates.
One big characteristic separating the two young and athletic
quarterbacks is this, confidence and a sense of calm, collected and a supreme
belief in the outcome of extreme preparation and self-confidence. Wilson has it, Kaepernick often finds himself
in tough games and letting self-doubt creep in to his game. If you watch Russell Wilson on any given
Sunday, Thursday or Monday, and you will find the exact same expression and lack
of anxiety. Colin Kaepernick is smiling
and high-fiving and celebrating on the sidelines when things are going well, as
we have seen over the last 4 or 5 contests where the 49ers had comfortable
leads. It's when adversity starts to
enter into a football game when you see Kaepernick lose that sense of calmness,
that sense of confidence and the ability to see the game slow down enough so
that the game comes to him the way that it has been practiced hundreds of times
before. Wilson is an enigmatic personality
on the field, in that it is virtually impossible to use his facial expression
and body language to determine what's happening in the football game. His expression never changes. It doesn't matter if the Seahawks are 30
points down or 30 points ahead in any particular game, Wilson stays steady and
focused on one play at a time and a belief that something good is going to
happen, Period.
One of the subtexts to this story is the return of
San Francisco's wide receiver Michael Crabtree who was injured just prior to
preseason training camp after sustaining a complete detachment of his Achilles
tendon to his heel. It was originally
thought that he would miss the entire 2013 season, but through rigorous
rehabilitation and a successful surgery to reattach the tendon, Crabtree has
returned before expected and made an immediate impact in his first game back at
Candlestick Park, catching a deep seam route for a 60 yard bomb reapplying a
part of San Francisco's game that has been missing since Crabtree went down
with the injury.
On the other side of this subtext is the story of
Seattle's wide receiver, Percy Harvin.
He will be out again this week against San Francisco with complications
from his hip surgery. Pete Carroll and
the rest of the Seahawks organization swear up and down that Harvin has not had
a setback or any structural complications from his labrum surgery before the
season began. Harvin returned briefly
for the Minnesota Vikings game in Seattle, catching one pass for 27 yards and
returning a kick for 48 yards. Though he
only had two touches in the game, it gave the Seahawks and the rest of the NFL
a taste of what the Seahawks offense could be like with him in the game. Many believe Carroll is simply keeping Harvin
healthy and available for the playoffs with Seattle meeting only two wins in
their final four games to clinch the division and a first-round bye and number
one seed giving them home field advantage throughout the playoffs at
CenturyLink Field.
One thing's for certain, this will be a
high-spirited game and both teams will show up to play giving 100% for 60
minutes, unless this game goes into a fifth quarter in overtime. An organization in Seattle has paid to have
the Seahawks 12th man flagged flown over Candlestick Park for 15 minutes prior
to the game. If this doesn't get the
fans stoked in San Francisco, nothing well… They're playing their division
rivals in a game that means a lot more for the 49ers than it does the
Seahawks. Obviously, winning this game
would put the Seahawks in the driver’s seat for home field advantage and the
number one seed, but it's not a must win game like it is for the 49ers and I
look for Jim Harbaugh's football team to come out firing right away. Last time the Seahawks played the 49ers in
Seattle, they were without Michael Crabtree, and Vernon Davis was injured just
prior to the fourth quarter giving Kaepernick one passing threat receiver in
Anquan Boldin who was literally shutdown by the Seahawks defense, in particular
Richard Sherman. This one should be a
donnybrook and the team that delivers the most head shots is going to take this
one and give their team a great shot in the arm for the remainder of the
season.
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