Upon Further Review: Seahawks-Bears
Dec 21, 2011, 5:33 PM | Updated: 6:36 pm
By Brady Henderson
A few things I noticed while watching a replay of the Seahawks’ Week 15 win over the Bears in Chicago:
K.J. Wright was everywhere: The Seahawks’ rookie linebacker put together consecutive stellar performances against the Eagles and Rams. Sunday’s game was a third. He sniffed out a screen play in the first quarter, tackling Chicago’s Kahlil Bell for a four-yard loss. His pressure on Caleb Hanie forced a rushed throw into the arms of Red Bryant, who returned it 20 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. On another play, he shed two pulling blockers to make a shoestring tackle on Marion Barber. Wright finished with a game-high eight tackles. More on Wright here.
Marshawn Lynch isn’t much for TD celebrations: Lynch has had plenty of chances to celebrate lately, scoring 12 touchdowns in his last 10 games, yet he doesn’t seem to have much interest in doing so. I haven’t noticed this until now, but Lynch seems intent on dropping the ball or handing it to an official and then slapping hands or head-butting with each of his offensive linemen. That is refreshing, to say the least.
Field conditions were a factor: At least they were in the first quarter when Soldier Field’s notoriously sloppy turf caused slippages on consecutive plays. With the Seahawks backed up on their own 5-yard line, Lynch slipped in the end zone before he could take a handoff, forcing Tarvaris Jackson to keep the ball and fall forward for a four-yard loss. On the next play, the turf under Julius Peppers’ feet gave out while he was engaged with Paul McQuistan in the end zone, feet from where Lynch had slipped. Peppers got up and stripped Jackson and the ball was recovered for a Bears touchdown. Lynch slipped later in the game while coming out of his stance.
Breno Giacomini plays through the whistle: He has done so ever since taking over for James Carpenter at right tackle, and he did again on Sunday. At one point, Giacomini held his block on Peppers as the play was being blown dead. Afterward, Peppers looked at Giacomini while pointing to the pile, as if to say, “You don’t need to block me this far away from the play.”
