The wildcard weekend has passed and there were some real surprises. I wrote about each game in my fantasy football blog but no surprise was bigger than the 7-9 Seattle Seahawks beating the defending Super Bowl champions the 11-5 New Orleans Saints. Seattle was maligned as not deserving to be in the playoffs after becoming the first team in NFL history to win their division with a losing record and host a playoff game. This was supposed to be an easy game for the Saints and everyone, even myself in my Wildcard weekend NFL game picks, had the Saints winning by double digits.
But just like in fantasy football where often times a team with a losing record makes the playoffs, all you have to do is get there. Once you’re in the playoffs, anything can happen and any team can beat any other team. And that’s exactly what happened.
A victorious Matt Hasselbeck pumps his fist in the air
Matt Hasselbeck was stellar in pulling off the upset. Throwing for 272 yards and 4 touchdowns, this was the best Hasselbeck has looked in years. He looked downfield and threw with a velocity and confidence he lacked throughout this season. 16 of his 22 completions went to 5 different WR’s and he got both TE’s John Carlson (3 catches, 17 yards, 2 TD’s) and Cameron Morrah (1 catch, 39yards) involved on critical plays. A lot of the attention has gone to Marshawn Lynch for his outstanding run for a touchdown that pretty much sealed the game, and credit is due to him for refusing to be tackled and instead impose his will as a running back on defenders on that run, but otherwise, his day was pedestrian, and a lot like most of the games he’s had this season. Take away the 67 yard TD run, and Lynch had 18 carries for 64 yards. The Saints had their chances to put this game away being up by 10 points twice in the first half, but a fumble marred a solid outing by Julius Jones (who scored 2 rushing TD’s) and the Saints offense just seemed out of synch at the most critical times. Julius Jones should have gotten more carries as he ran with good power and authority, but like we see too many times, teams that are known for successful passing games can’t resist the idea of being able to make a big play happen and therefore they try to force the passing game instead of letting a good rushing attack set it up. Between that and the complete and utter failure of Saints DB Roman Harper to be able to cover anyone on his side of the field, it cost New Orleans a chance to advance.
My Star of the Game:
Matt Hasselbeck easily was the star of this game. He looked as good as any time I’ve ever seen him in his career. He shook off a first quarter, first possession, interception that led to a Saints touchdown and a 10-0 deficit for the Seahawks, and just stepped up in a way no one expected.
