Same old shit.
Different year.

The Sea Hags and their bald QB stomped our butts plain and simple. They plowed us for over 440 yards of offense after wasting the entire 1st qtr floundering around. When we didn’t have points on the board after the 1st 15 mins, I knew it was trouble. We couldn’t get a point off of all those miscues. I don’t see a bright spot anywhere except for maybe Lauranitis and Donnie Jones. Our OL allowed 3 sacks and that idiot Incognito cost us 35 yards in penalties. Nobody opened any holes for SJax. Nobody was there for Bulger to throw too – no WRs, no TE’s, no RBs. But I still don’t think Marc could hit a bull in the butt with a bass fiddle anymore. Our highly paid new Center made a critical bad snap. Ol’ reliable Josh Brown, ain’t. On the “D” side Little, Hall and Long were invisible whenever there was a pass attempt. I don’t believe Hasselbeck was so much as brushed against on a passing down. And while we did a little better against the run, that one 67 yd running play kinda negates any improvement. Our corners allowed the Seattle receivers about 10 yards leeway to catch balls. What’s up with that? The new coaching staff reeked of Scott Linehan play calling. I can’t believe this franchise could dump the front office, the coaching staff and half the team and still be this putrid. Yes 28-0. Zero points scored and 28 allowed in three quarters. We suck. There is no bright side. Here’s my grade: F-

I could have sworn that the gameplan was Jackson. All day. This is frighteningly reminiscient of the censored Linehan era.

I was surprised by about the 4th drive that we were throwing the ball on 1st down, which made us have to throw the ball on second down, which, in turn, forced us to throw the ball on 3rd down. The real action I saw for Jackson was on 3rd and 2, when we called his number, and he made the yardage. All the rest was pass, pass, pass.

Just sad, really. Even when we were behind by 2 scores, I would have kept the defense honest by running.

Well, here’s to next week.

Passion: 12th man is absolutely nuts. There are times during the game where my ears were ringing. I can really see why Seattle is so proud of their noise levels. They even keep track on the billboard of how many false starts they’ve created since 2005 (They’re #1 by a lot , Rams are #4 or 5, I don’t remember). Anywho, it felt to me that the Seahawks came out of the tunnel with much more passion and intensity than the Rams, jumping and pumping up the crowd for a while before the game, and this was only exacerbated by the rabid crowd. In fact, the Rams never looked excited to play, and aside from the dancing by Atogwe whenever music played, they were incredibly stoic. Bulger, specifically, never looked excited, but when has he ever? Perhaps that’s one reason I’ve never been a huge fan of his. Anyway, it looked to me and even the Seahawks fans around me that the Rams never looked like they wanted to be there.

Gameplay: So it felt for a while like the Rams would make this game interesting. 3 first quarter turnovers and strong run defense kept them in the game for a while. On offense, however, it really just felt like a matter of time before a penalty brought back any gains and killed any momentum. Given these penalties and the lack of ability to score on opportunities, I really feel like this game was thrown by the offense. Those out there who complain that the defense let up 400+ yards and don’t deserve credit must not have been watching the game. That defense was worn out by the end of the second quarter, and the offense showed no life. When Bulger made his scramble and was hit, I was hoping he just wouldn’t want to come back and Boller/Null would come in and fire up the team. All in all, it was far from the defense’s fault that the game was lost. Penalties and complete lack of offense ruined any chance the Rams had to win.

Random: I found it hilarious that Budweiser was the official beer of the Seahawks and took pleasure telling any fan giving me smack that he was enjoyed a beverage from St. Louis. Also, parking was either ridiculously expensive or dirt cheap. Parking in official lots near the stadium ran upwards of $50-$100. I happened to find parking 2 blocks away in the public parking that is free on Sundays. Can’t get a better deal than that. Finally, I have never attended a Rams game in St. Louis so I don’t know how it is there, but the whole city runs on Seahawks football on Sundays. Every single person in the city (from the Pike Place Market to Safeco Field) is wearing Seahawks apparel- men, women, and children. This is far from the “eh, who cares?” mentality that existed in Anaheim and would have been really fun if I didn’t hate the Seahawks. Overall, I rate the fan experience a 6 or 7 for opposing fans (12th man really makes it suck) and a 9 or 10 for Seahawks fans.

PS- I have pictures of my experience at the game. If you guys say so, I’ll post a link so you can get a flavor for Seattle for yourself.

For the first half or so, the Rams had me sweating bullets. I didn’t expect all of the turnovers forced or the way the first few Seahawks’ drives were shutdown. I was at the game, so I wasn’t able to hear all the analysis, but Laurinitis’ name came over the loud speaker over and over. That guy is someone you want to build a defense around. Watching the game live, it felt a heck of a lot closer than the final score showed.