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"A guy kicks a 52-yarder into the wind, and he nails it? Come on. When you get that close, it's tough." -- Browns wide receiver Kevin Johnson
A friend of mine within the Seahawks organization once told me that there's no such thing as an ugly win. There you have it! I'm not saying another word about it! :-) Actually I have lots to say. For starters, Rian Lindell is worth his weight in gold!! What pressure! 8 seconds left, a 52 yard field goal attempt to win the game, a time-out by Cleveland to give him time to think about the kick ... AND HE DID IT!!!!!!!!! WA HOOOOO!! This isn't the first time Lindell's come through for us under tough conditions! I recall a game last season when we played San Diego at Husky Stadium in the wind and rain and cold and he kicked the game winning field goal in the final seconds!!! YES!!!! Does Ricky Watters have fast feet or what?!? He looks better than ever this season! If you've read my stories from training camp this year, you know that I was impressed with the quickness of his feet. We saw it today on the run he broke for 40 yards when he juked this way and that, kicking his leg out to run like a deer! That was SO awesome!! I'd like to see that play on a highlight reel on continuous loop! It was beautiful!!
How about Chad Brown?!?! His intensity is always incredible, but I absolutely loved the play where he went over the TOP of an offensive player to get to the quarterback! That looked like something out of Australia Rules Football rather than NFL!! Those kinds of plays put the fun into football!! (Note: Photograph taken from NFL.com) I can't believe I'm already this far down the page and I haven't mentioned Charlie Rogers yet!! Kickoff returns averaging 31 yards, and punt returns averaging 23 yards?!?! WOW!!!! What more can you say? This guy is GOOD!! (Note: There's a great story about him at Seahawks.com.) We had a lot of questions going into this game about our corners but I think they've proven themselves. Lucas was phenominal! He had the kind of defensive plays that make you leap out of your chair to dance around! Miranda was also effective, particularly on a couple of end zone plays that kept the Browns from touchdown receptions! We weren't sure how our receivers would do either, nor how effective Hasselbeck would be in a game situation. (I don't know about the rest of you, but I grew tired of the whole Mr. August thing a long time ago.) I think we can rest comfortably now that we've got a game under our belt. Seven receivers caught the ball proving that Hasselbeck was able to spread it around a bit. Koren Robinson took some big hits after the play, as well as one cheap shot to the head that got a 15 yard personal foul penalty called on the Browns, proving that his hamstring has healed sufficiently to hold up against the pounding of the defense. Officials? Um, I guess I wasn't impressed. I know the announcers said they did alright other than the one time that the play clock wound down and there was no penalty called, but I thought there were times when I'd have thrown a flag and they didn't. Oh well. TV Crews? Pfffft! I HATE it when we miss a play because they're still airing a commercial!! Oh that makes me mad!! I also get upset when we're still going through player introductions during a play! I don't want to see the players' mug shots, I want to see the game! Get the still pictures off the screen and show us the action! Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not about to let Holmgren off the hook for his coaching today. I thought he was pitiful. Yeah, you heard right. Pitiful. I'll share my feelings with you the way I told a friend in an e-mail message: It's nearing the end of the first half. The score is tied, 3/3. The Browns kick to us and Charlie Rogers has a terrific 31 yard return! We've got 1:18 left on the clock. I'm hunkered down for our 2 minute offense that will hopefully give us at least another field goal before we go into the locker room at half time. What do we do? We piddle around and let the clock run out. NO ONE DOES THAT. With 1:18 left before half, you move FAST to get the score that gives the team the momentum going into half time. Not us. We let the clock slowly wind down. I went to half time scratching my head wondering what was up with Holmgren. Now jump ahead to the final minutes of the game. The Browns have just tied the game at 6/6. Charlie Rogers makes a terrific run again to gain 48 yards! He's put us into fantastic field position to set up our game winning drive. We take over at 1:59, just after the 2 minute warning. What do we do? We take our dear, sweet time. WHERE WAS OUR 2 MINUTE OFFENSE???? We took our time lining up, we took our time running routes, we squandered 107 precious seconds by dinking around again. I CAN'T BELIEVE WE DID THAT! We let the clock wind down to 12 seconds before we called a time-out on 4th and inches. Can you believe that? 4th and inches with time running out and we're lollygagging around. And Holmgren appeared to be unconcerned. I WAS LIVID!!!! After the timeout Hasselbeck did a sneak to gain the extra yard or whatever to give us the first down. That left Lindell with 8 seconds on the clock to make a 52 yard field goal attempt. 52 yards. To win the game. WHAT KIND OF COACH PUTS A KICKER INTO THAT POSITION??????? Livid, I'm telling you. I was absolutely furious with Holmgren. Cleveland took a time out to ice Lindell. Time practically stood still for me here at home, I can only imagine how long that timeout lasted for Lindell. Finally it's time to kick. Good snap, good kick, LINDELL TIES HIS ALL TIME RECORD FOR THE LONGEST FIELD GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SEAHAWKS TAKE THE LEAD WITH 3 SECONDS LEFT ON THE CLOCK!!! LINDELL JUMPS UP AND CHEERS! FEAGLES JUMPS UP AND CHEERS! THE TEAM JUMPS UP AND CHEERS! There is absolutely no expression on Holmgren's face. No smile. No tiny curve upwards around the lips. No jump, no cheer, no thumbs up. He was totally expressionless. I will never understand Holmgren's lack of reaction to an incredible play. If I may say so, it appeared to me as though he was mad that we'd won. Why would we let the clock wind down in the first half without making the effort to score? Why would we manage the clock so horribly at the end of the game? Why wouldn't we try to get better field position for our kicker? I don't understand Mike Holmgren's decisions in this game, and I don't understand how he can win a game with a 52 yard field goal and show no emotion. That's cold. To player. And to fans. --------------------- I went to the local sports bar to watch the game. It just happens to be the Raleigh Chapter of the Browns Fan Club. Thusly there were 50 or so rabid Browns fans. Noisy, arrogant, and drunk. It was sweet revenge to beat them. I was impressed with both Lucas and Miranda. They had me concerned going into the game. They played pretty well for being thrust into the flames. Koren didn't look to terrible, did he? Even with the unplanned ally oop. What a head shot he took. What a game! I was Woo Hoo'ing my lungs out when Lindell punched that baby through! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! Pat ---------------------
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