On Thursday night in Seattle, the defending champion Seattle Seahawks delivered a beatdown to the Green Bay Packers 36-16. Once the Seahawks took a 17-10 lead with 3:41 remaining in the 2nd quarter, they took over the game, outscoring the Packers 26-6 after the game was tied at 10.
Seattle dominated the Packers defense with their running game. Running back Marshawn Lynch rushed for 110 of their 207 yards on the ground, along with 2 touchdowns. The Packers only rushed for 80 yards in the game.
The quarterbacks were pretty even , except Seattle’s Russell Wilson had 2 touchdowns with no interceptions, while Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers had 1 touchdown and 1 interception. They both passed for just under 200 yards in the game. But with the defense that the Seahawks have, and their pounding running game, Wilson rarely has to throw for a lot of yards for them to win.
The Packers were disappointing to say the least. Even with the addition of Julius Peppers, they had virtually no pass rush, with fellow outside linebacker Clay Mathews healthy over on the other side. Supposedly, their defense would be much better with all their injured players returning…uh no.
Rookie Ha Ha Clinton-Dix showed the tackling ability of a young Darren Sharper, which isn’t good. Seattle ran him over for 2 touchdowns. He also dropped a sure interception, when it dribbled between his hands to the ground. He did however record a sack, for no yards lost. All this time I thought the quarterback had to lose yards to get sacked, apparently not. I know this was his first regular season game as a pro, but any reminder of Sharper’s tackling ability, especially when he played against Randy Moss, is a very bad sign.
The Packers have serious injury problems after the first game of the season. They played this game with a rookie center, Corey Linsley, who actually played quite well, since he never even played with the first team offense in preseason. Right tackle Bryan Bulaga left the game with a knee injury, after missing all of last season. They also lost running back Eddie Lacy to a concussion. He suffered a concussion early last season too.
Regardless of the injuries mentioned above, the Seahawks were dominant in this game. The Packers’ early touchdown was set-up by a muffed punt by Earl Thomas. Other than that, their only success was short passes, and a few runs now and then. All Pro cornerback Richard Sherman was avoided by Rodgers, but the Green Bay passing game still didn’t have enough success to make-up for their toothless defense.
Seattle looks to continue what they finished last season, winning their first Super Bowl. With a healthy Percy Harvin creating havoc in the passing and running game with his speed, the Seahawks should be better on offense, which is a scary situation for the rest of the league. Having that defense, their running game, and an improved passing game, look for the Seahawks to make a strong push to become the first back-to-back Super Bowl Champions since the New England Patriots in 2003-04.
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Sports With Frank Thomas
