Sunday came and found the Seahawks once again traversing time zones as they made the longest trip in the NFL to visit an ever-improving Miami Dolphin squad and their half-full stadium. A typical meltdown saw the ‘Hawks fall behind quickly 14-0 and early on this looked like it would be just another rout. But the defense, lead by an inspired Julian Peterson, fought their way back into the game and cut the deficit in half on a Jordan Babineaux 35 yard interception call to the house in the second quarter. The ‘Hawks continued to plug away and despite trick plays and multiple formations, Seattle’s defense managed to hold. On offense, stand-in QB Seneca Wallace had one of his best outings in a Seahawks shirt and his performance was far better than his stats indicated. Ultimately, though, the 'Hawks again found a way to undo their efforts. Koren Robinson dropped an easy ball for a certain 6 in the third quarter and, Keary Colbert, subsequently released from the team, later contributed by fluffing a catch on a key 3rd and 15 play in the 3rd quarter which killed the momentum Seattle had built. A false start penalty with the 'Hawks trailing 19-21 forced the 2 point attempt back 5 yards and Seattle couldn’t convert. Despite a late drive with no timeouts the 'Hawks couldn’t move to within field goal range and the Fish held on for the victory. Overall, a good performance was ruined by 7 dropped passes and the 4 time defending NFC West champions fell to 2-7, on the wrong end of a 19-21 decision.
Weekend TractorHawk Grade: B
Town undefeated in 6 games and a decent Seahawks performance holds up the grade. With injuries dismantling the Seahawks season even a split for my teams can score high with a good enough effort, even in defeat.
Weekend Tractor Driver:
Tough call this week but I’m going with Julian Peterson, outside linebacker for the Seahawks. Kept driving the Hawkhead defense with an inspired leadership performance. Plus he signed my hat this year when he visited my workplace. Cheers mate and keep plowing away even though the season is all but over.
Note-a-balls:
Premier Football:
Match of the weekend was in North London as Sir Alex and the red machine of the north came calling with every intention of piling on more misery to Arsene and the Gooner Army. After a bright start to the season recent performances have sent Arsenal reeling to the point that the unthinkable has been quietly mentioned at the Emirates. After losing to Fulham, Hull, and Stoke, being held by Spurs and Sunderland, and pushed around by Fenerbache in mid-week, the Arse subsequently downed Fergie’s lads 2-1. A double from Nasri and an inspired performance should, at least for now, silence the aforementioned unmentionables regarding Wenger’s future.
After a bit of a late night Friday, I was a bit dreary tuning into the early EPL offering in the US on Fox Soccer Channel. Luckily it was Sunderland-Portsmouth so I figured I probably wouldn’t have a problem getting back to sleep. This match provided an intriguing twist following on from the Arsenal-Man U affair with ex rival captains Roy Keane and Tony Adams squaring off from the manager dug-out. It was actually a pretty decent game and Keano’s men should have wrapped up the 3 points in the first 25 minutes. But although Cisse and his well dodgy haircut opened
the scoring, a combination of the woodwork and a decent performance from England’s maybe number one kept it close. Portsmouth equalized with a screamer from Belhadj right after the break and Roy went off in a right foul mood when Defoe drilled in the winner from the spot in injury time. Pompey and their band of twenty-odd fans set off on the long trip south celebrating a first Premier win for the former architect of the infamous Arsenal offside trap, Tony Adams.Fox Soccer Channel treated us to a routine Anfield hammering for West Brom in the second of the US Saturday morning doubleheader. Keano the player, scored his first and second EPL goals of the season as Pool strolled 3-0 and WBA extended their run of failing to score against the Reds to 23 years. Everyone’s favourite underdog stumbled to their 3rd straight defeat being downed 1-0 at home to Bolton. Losing their previous matches to Chelsea and Man U was not surprising but at home to Bolton could indicate that the bubble may be deflating. I hope not – I intend to write about the biggest surprise package the Premier has seen since the 2001 Tractorboys plowed the Premier fields, so hold on for a couple more weeks lads. The not-so-happy anymore Hammers looked to have halted their slide in a tense affair against Everton as they held a 1-0 advantage late into the game. 3 goals for the blue men from the land of scouse in the last 6 minutes saw West Ham capitulate and they are a team on the slide, while Everton head the other direction, establishing some momentum finally under their contract extended manager, David Moyes.
Chelsea bounced back from a Champions League embarrassment, turning Blackburn over 2-0 behind an Anelka double,and the magic of ‘Arry continued with Darren Bent once again displaying his inspired form as Spurs dumped the Sky Blues at the Middle-Eastlands. If former tractor favorite DB can keep it up he might get a call from Fab’s office sometime soon.
Elsewhere, on US Shores there was an election or something going on last week in case we hadn’t heard, but despite the excitement and uproar surrounding the President-elect the games must go on. First though a quick shout-out and congratulations to Mr Obama is in order and hopefully he can drive the American tractor to better pastures. Also, to John McCain and his efforts and service to the country. Both are top class gents that ran highly competitive and grueling campaigns. But this is not a political site, so lets get back to the sporting world. But if he has one I reckon Barack drives a blue tractor.In the NFL, there were some great games and the divisions are starting to take shape. The Titans of Tennessee maintained their run as the only unbeaten team with an impressive 21-14 victory in the Windy City, despite a ground attack that garnered just 20 yards. The Giants and Eagles played out a thrilling 36-31 match up with the Eli and the lads getting the edge. Some experts are calling out the Giants as the best in the NFL, but until the Titans fall, the G-Men remain a solid number 2 in my opinion. Stealing a line from ESPN analyst Chris Berman, the wagons are being circled in Buffalo as once again they fell to a divisional opponent, this time being doubled up by New England 20-10 . After an impressive start the Bills are quickly reverting to also-rans. San Francisco played Arizona in a close game on the Monday night spectacle in the desert but the NFC West Champions-elect held on for the 29-24 win. Expect a brief hiccup for the Cards next week when they travel to the land of the Hawks who owe the 12th Man a decent home performance before we relinquish the division title.
Final callout of the rewind goes to Jerry Sloan for winning his 1,000th game with the NBA’s
Utah Jazz. 1000 wins for the longest tenured and one the most respected coaches in professional basketball history deserves a mention on any sports commentary. Though his great teams led by John Stockton and Karl Malone were denied the title by the Jordon inspired Chicago Bulls in the mid-Nineties, Jerry has continued to rebuild and lead a perennial competitive team, becoming an NBA icon and cetain hall-of-famer in the process.And how was your sporting weekend? Cheers!!
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