After an almost season killing road trip with two loses and arguably one of the Seattle Seahawks most valuable defensive players, Kam Chancellor, holding out, the Seahawks returned home for their opener to kick off the franchise’s 40th season as they beat the Chicago Bears 26-0.
The 12’s were there in full force along with Seahawks stars of yesteryear to the tune of 69,000 plus, a new regular season attendance record, according to the PA announcer. The weather, in the sunny high 60’s to low 70’s, were perfect conditions for an afternoon, hard-hitting, defensive football game.
With new Defensive Coordinator, Kris Richard, the Seahawks were able to keep the Bears in a defensive struggle for most of the first half, as Seattle lead 3 – 0, thanks to a perfectly executed trick play by the special teams of the Seahawks with Richard Sherman rambling 68 yards on the return to set up a Steven Hauschka field goal. After being sacked several times, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson settled in after his O-line started to give him some protection, and was able to hit his receivers, including the highly talented, newly acquired tight end, Jimmy Graham, to take a commanding 6-0 lead at half time.
Most great teams, make adjustments at half time. My, did the Seahawks coaches ever with, again, another perfectly executed special teams play, as rookie Tyler Lockette returned the second half kick off 105 yards for a touchdown, setting a stadium and Seattle Seahawks record. Another rookie, Thomas Rawls, replaced running back Marshawn Lynch, who was taken out of the game due to tightness in his hamstring, had a breakout game. Rawls rushed for a team high 104 yards, most coming in the second half. Jimmy Graham caught seven passes but has had to work extremely hard to get involved in the Seahawk offense over the course of the first three games. Wide receivers Jermaine Kearse and Doug Baldwin had five and three catches respectively.
Seattle plays Detroit next in a Monday night game, when former Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate returns to Century Link Field take on his former teammates. Detroit is 0-3. Seattle must keep winning if they want to stay afloat for the playoffs and, hopefully another shot at the Superbowl.
