Sunday, December 19, 2010

SEAHAWKS: Hawks shoot themselves in the foot as they fall the Atlanta Falcons

I made a comment earlier in the year about how the Hasselbeck haters need to crawl back into their cave because he isn't going anywhere.

The haters are reemerging.

And they could be coming back strong and maybe with a reason.

The Atlanta Falcons expectedly defeated the Seahawks 34-18 in part by Matt Hasselbeck's three turnovers. Hasselbeck committed three turnovers, which led to Charlie Whitehurst being inserted in to replace Matt late in the third quarter.

To Continue...

The Seahawks weren't half bad for the first 30 minutes, starting out with an intimidating touchdown drive capped off by a Marshawn Lynch 1 yard touchdown run. After that however, it all kind of unraveled.

The Falcons went on a 15 play, 51 yard drive that ended in a 3 yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan to Jason Snelling. Atlanta converted two fourth down conversions on the drive, which definitely sucked some life out of the Seahawks defense.

The 2nd quarter was just a mix of luck and a showing of the severe talent gap between the two teams. There was two instances where Jason Snelling fumbled, but Atlanta somehow fell on the ball. The Seahawks just couldn't catch a break.

Seahawks fans were routinely teased throughout the game.

By their own defense.

The Seahawks defense routinely got fans' hopes up with good stops on 1st and 2nd down, but couldn't get off the field on third down. The Falcons were 7 for 11 on third downs in the first half, which basically tells the story. If a defense can't get stops on third down, they get tired and the offense can have their way with them.

After halftime, it turned into a typical rout. Hasselbeck tried to pull a Michael Vick escape in his own end zone but ended up getting striped and handing the Falcons a touchdown. He would later throw two interceptions in route to, as I mentioned, being benched for Charlie Whitehurst.

Pete Carroll said after the game that he "Didn't know who would start next week."

Can you say, "Quarterback Controversy!!!!!!!!!"

I firmly believe Hasselbeck gives the Seahawks the best chance to win at this point over Whitehurst. Yes, he has made mistakes, but because of the lack of a running game and falling behind early most of the time, he has essentially been trying too hard and been forcing it a bit.

Do not tell me just because Whitehurst had one good drive in garbage time he deserves the spot over Hasselbeck. Matt has carried this team the last 6 years when healthy, and deserves more respect than what he is getting. He is the best quarterback in Seahawks history, and deserves to be treated as such.

The Seahawks might fall to possibly 6-10 by the end season, but if they are going to go down, let it be with dignity and not benching the greatest quarterback Seattle has ever seen.

Reach Nathan Parsons at nathanparsons98@yahoo.com