Seahawk scouting: The perfect swarm: Hawks' defense rocks, offense rolls

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Monday, September 26, 2005 - 12:00 AM

By José Miguel Romero

Seattle Times staff reporter

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2002520900&zsection_id=2002120007&slug=hawk26&date=20050926

Autumn sunshine, domination by the home team and welcoming a beloved Seattle sports hero into the Ring of Honor.

What more could a Seahawks fan ask for?

Because legendary coach Chuck Knox was inducted into the Seahawks' hall of fame yesterday, it's only fitting to start with a Knoxism that sums up yesterday's 37-12 Seahawks win over the Arizona Cardinals.

"Play like the opponent has his hand in your back pocket."

As in play with an attitude. Defend the home field. Win in all facets of the game, beyond the scoreboard.

The Seahawks accomplished all of those on a day of firsts.

Knox became the first coach to be enshrined. The Seahawks defense forced its first two turnovers of the season. The offense scored its first second-half points of the season, and did so in a big way with 27. The win marked the first blowout victory for Seattle since one year ago today, when the Seahawks crushed the San Francisco 49ers 34-0 at Qwest Field. And running back Shaun Alexander tied former Seahawk Chris Warren for first place in number of career 100-yard rushing games with his 24th.

For a change, the Seahawks (2-1) made this one look easy. Alexander was smashing, ripping off 140 yards on just 22 carries and scoring four touchdowns. The Seahawks defense held the Cardinals without a touchdown. Arizona settled for four Neil Rackers field goals, including ones from 54 and 50 yards. Wide receiver Darrell Jackson continued his standout play for a third straight week, catching eight passes for 125 yards.

"It was a complete team win," linebacker Kevin Bentley said. "That's the best feeling, when you're playing well in all three phases [offense, defense and special teams]. Pretty much, the outcome is going to be what it was when you're playing that well."

How good did the Seahawks look? Their first drive resulted in a touchdown. Alexander could have driven a truck untouched down the left side of the field, where he ran 25 yards to reach the end zone. Offensive linemen Chris Gray and Steve Hutchinson paved the way with good lead blocks.

And yet the Cardinals (0-3) stayed close for a half. It was 10-9 Seahawks at halftime after three Rackers field goals and one from the Seahawks' Josh Brown. It was the first of three field goals for Brown, his first three of the season.

The second half started just like the first for Seattle. Matt Hasselbeck to Bobby Engram for 12 yards. To Jackson for 16. Alexander for a 15-yard run, then another 15 on the next play. And two plays after that, Alexander scored on a 1-yard run, giving the Seahawks their first second-half points of the season.

Alexander showed a proclivity for some tough running up the middle, to Holmgren's delight.

"He was aggressively running," Holmgren said. "You get a little bit of that feel and it starts going. ... The line feels it, and then he made a couple of things happen when he didn't have much."

Said Hasselbeck: "More than anything, you're just trying to execute each play as it's called and have good tempo, have good rhythm, have good enthusiasm."

Check, check and check.

The Seahawks' defense had already made a huge statement, pressuring Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner so much that when Warner tried to scramble late in the first half, he hurt a groin muscle and had to leave the game. Enter backup Josh McCown, and crank up the pass rush.

"It was important that early in the game, we hit them," said defensive end Bryce Fisher, who had one of three Seahawks sacks. "It's when you get hits during the game that they don't feel comfortable. That changes 6, 8 inches on any pass."

Seahawks safety Michael Boulware crunched McCown on a blitz just three plays after Alexander's first second-half touchdown, causing a fumble that defensive tackle Rocky Bernard pounced on at the Arizona 4-yard line.

Bernard tried to roll into the end zone but came up a yard short. Seconds later, Alexander got in for a 24-9 lead.

"This defense still hasn't played as good as it can," Fisher said. "When our defense starts hitting on all cylinders, you'll know."

About the only things that went wrong for the Seahawks were a blown coverage in the secondary on a 45-yard Warner-to-Anquan Boldin completion in the second quarter, dropped interception opportunities and dropped passes by Jerramy Stevens, Jackson and Engram.

Another 1-yard run for Alexander — capping the third 80-yard scoring drive of the day for the Seahawks — and two more Brown field goals finished the scoring. All happened in the fourth quarter.

When it was over, Holmgren rewarded his team with a day off from practice today, except for mandatory meetings. It was a performance that was bound to make Knox proud, too.

"They're starting to feel good about themselves," Holmgren said.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company

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Seahawks Two Minute Drill

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/2002520855_hawkdrill26.html

Players of the game

Seahawks RB Shaun Alexander: 22 carries, 140 yards, 4 TDs

QB Matt Hasselbeck: 20-31, 242 yards, on his 30th birthday

WR Darrell Jackson: 8 catches, 125 yards

SS Michael Boulware: 5 tackles, sack, forced fumble.

DE Bryce Fisher: 3 tackles, sack, good pass rush.

Cardinals LB Orlando Huff: 11 tackles (8 solo, 1 for no gain, 3 for loss).

Play of the game

Alexander's 45-yard run late in the third quarter. He started to the right, reversed his field when he got hemmed in, then bolted back to the left and up the field before being chased out of bounds at the Arizona 7-yard line.

Turning point

A big hit early in the third quarter by Boulware on Cardinals backup QB Josh McCown, on a blitz that forced a fumble. Seahawks DT Rocky Bernard recovered it at Arizona 5 and was down at the 1. That set up a touchdown that gave the Seahawks a 24-9 lead, the second of two touchdowns in a 30-second span.

Sunday's Seahawks surprises

• CB Jordan Babineaux had six tackles, an interception and a pass breakup in his first significant action (beyond special teams and extra defensive-back packages) this season.

• The Seahawks ran the ball with relative ease against a Cardinals run defense ranked eighth entering the game. And on defense, Seattle held the league's fourth-best passing offense to 176 net yards.

By the numbers

29 — Seahawks first downs, to just 15 for the Cardinals.

447 — Total yards for the Seahawks, the most in a game this season.

2 — Turnovers forced by the Seahawks, their first two this season.

27 — Seahawks second-half points, their first such points this season.

Injury report

Cardinals — QB Kurt Warner strained his right groin muscle on a scramble late in the second quarter and was replaced by backup Josh McCown. Warner did not return. ... Starting DT Russell Davis left with a strained left biceps and LB Eric Johnson left with a hamstring injury, both in the second half. ... CB David Macklin left with a left hamstring injury in the fourth quarter and did not return. ... CB Antrel Rolle left with a strained left knee early in the fourth quarter and did not return.

Seahawks — CB Andre Dyson started but left in the first series. Dyson said he felt lightheaded, dizzy and fatigued. He had a runny nose and cold symptoms that grew worse as the week went along. Dyson went into the locker room in the first half to get fluids. He was replaced by Kelly Herndon at left cornerback, but returned to action in the third quarter. ... Herndon took a hard hit trying to tackle Arizona TE Adam Bergen in the third and left with a pinched shoulder nerve. He was briefly replaced by Babineaux.

[BlueTalon]

Here's another good source for Seahawk articles:

http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/seahawks/