The Mariner's pattern of streakiness came alive and wore me out. People will say they went up 2-0 - and they did - but then went 1-4 the rest of the way. Streakiness. Swinging for the fences. I'd like to give Toronto credit, but it seems to me, from what I saw and kept tabs on, Seattle had chance after chance after chance after chance after chance to get it done. They didn't. NR4PT. "Not Ready for Prime Time."
I don't lament the loss as a broken hearted fan - but for the real M's fans who deserved this on a level rarely seen before. The chance to finally dance in the Big One, to erase the years of heartbreak and, even worse, the decades of nothingness, meaningless basebell, of knowing there is no chance, knowing this is not our year, etc. There is an upside. The front office took a big swing at the deadline - and it made a big difference. FINALLY.
If Seattle can develop a wining culture - and that will take time, if they can string together some division titles, keep the core together, make small improvements, this team can have a bright future. It just wasn't this year, and that sucks. You could just feel everyone dying to exhale, the smile and say we finally did it. But, Mariner's are gonna Mariner - until they stop. Full stop.
It least it appears they are on the right track. Let's see where they go from here.
On to the Seahawks ugly, awful, shitty win. For some reason the offense did everyhting they could to give the ZOmbie Oilers an early Christmas gift win. What the literal fuck were we doing going into halftime just draiing the clock making NO effort to score a TD? As soon as they lined up for the FG, I just assumed they'd miss it because, of fucking course they would. Gotta keep the Zombie Oilers in it. JFC.
Seattle needs to get an offensive playmaker, STAT. JSN is not going to last at this rate - we are wracking up mileage on him and, whjile he is an excellent receiver, teams will figure out a coverage scheme for him - or worse - he'll get injured. We need a Percy Harvin type that can play anywhere to balance it all out. I like Kupp and Horton, but they aren't the key, IMO.
Darnold finally had an 'off' game, to be fair, it was against a formidable defense, and we still managed to pull it out. AT times he was carving them up, and at other times therewas a lot of miserable running attempts. Seattle rushed for over 100, a surprisingly strong performance because it was ugly a lot of the time. Bradford is a weak link, but here we are. That's not gonna change.
That defense is legit and may be better than the sum of their parts. Ignore the the individual stats like sacks, those numbers are because the guys NOT getting credit are doing their jobs well - that is creating opportunities for others - that is the most important aspect to understand.
The run defense is no longer a liability. The pass defense - nearing full strength - is looking legit. The defense is coming together faster than the offense - and that's okay, that's the glue that'll hold it all together and get this team to the playoffs - where anything can happen.
Something to consider when hand-wringing about conservative offense play calling - sometimes it's a bigger picture tactic - reduce risk (and by risk I mean Kupp tossing int's and Darnold fumbling in the endzone
) to lean on the D to win games while the offense grows closer to thier ceiling. Sometimes those ugly wins piling up will turn into glorious and exciting wins down the road. Big picture. I did not like some of the play calling at all, but I don't think this team's coaching staff is looking to impress now, but rather down the road when it counts - while positioning themselves for the playoffs with these ugly wins. We have not seen the best of this offense yet, but it feels like they have a ceiling we have not seen yet. I hope they can find another play maker for this offense, although it may not be this year, it may be a draft pick. A linebacker, OL and playmaker for the offense.5-2 heading into the bye week. Finally notching a win at home. Managing to win an ugly one despite FOUR ugly turnovers. After the Mariner's implosion, this doesn't feel like the worst place to be.
Nest up an intriguing trip to Washington (the other one) to take on Dan Quinn's squad, then a potential home loss to Arizona - a team we have shit the bed at home against too many times. Let's see how this team responds.
Go Hawks. Go M's.
