Seahawks Put in Championship Performance in Win Over Texans
By Ben Rosener
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
But wait, wasn’t this the same Seahawks team that was down 20-3 and looking lifeless?
Wasn’t this the team that allowed 5 sacks and 10 QB hits with an inexperienced offensive line who at times showed the consistency of Swiss cheese?
Wasn’t this the team that had an uncharacteristically, well uncharacteristic game out of Russell Wilson? (123 yards, 1 INT 0 TDs) .
Wasn’t this the team that got torn apart by a 355-yard aerial display from Matt Schaub?
Wasn’t this the team who let Arian Foster break off 102 yards just weeks after holding Frank Gore to 16?
Did David Stern recently display poor podium presence?
Hold on, is this a sarcastic piece?
These are all valuable questions that you the reader could be having, and the answer to all of them is yes. Except for the last one. No, not the Stern one, the sarcastic piece bit. You’ll notice I’m not a big David Stern fan for obvious reasons.
No this is not a sarcastic piece. Yes, the Seahawks struggled in certain areas of the game. They let a QB throw for 355 after holding Cam Newton and Colin Kaepernick to under 130 yards each. (Chad Henne threw for 255, a modest number, but some of it was in garbage time, making it hard to judge.)
That’s what makes it a championship performance. The team was uncharacteristically below par in many hall-mark areas, but found a way to win. Andre Johnson and Owen Daniels had a combined 182 receiving yards against a healthy Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner, but Sherman picked off Schaub and returned it for a touchdown when the game was on the line. The offensive line struggled to hold off the Texans pass rush. (Understandable considering it was JJ Watt and Co. vs a group of Seahawks backups, but still a problem.) The line was able to hold it together in overtime to give the team a chance to kick the winning field goal.
The Seahawks were able to win despite their struggles. This is what makes a championship team. One that can win the tough, messy games when things don’t go right. Winning those types of games on the road are even more impressive. More impressive still is the fact that it was against a team the Seahawks could very well see in New York in February.