[Editor’s note: Former Broncos G.M. Ted Sundquist breaks down the Seahawks-Bucs game from Sunday night.] Sunday Night’s game showed a national audience exactly what’s been going on up in the great Northwest. Seattle made the trip cross country in hopes of reviving what little chance they might have in chasing down Arizona in the NFC West, but ultimately displayed more of the same in a 20-10 loss to the Bucs. Tampa showed why they have to be considered as a force in the NFC playoff hunt behind a stout defense and strong play from QB Jeff Garcia. At 5-2 the Bucs are tied with Carolina atop the South, in what has now become one of the most competitive divisions in pro football. The Seahawks really played into my pregame analysis as they struggle to find an offense sans starting QB Matt Hasselbeck. I discussed their trials in trying to establish some semblance of their past passing attack & pointed to struggles in 3rd down conversions, big plays, time of possession, long drives & quick strikes. Instead of improving in these areas, the Seahawks performed below their averages. Seattle was 2 of 10 on 3rd down, hit only two passes over 10 yards (both late in the 4th quarter) and had no drives over 5 minutes (3:03 on drive #1) or 10 plays (8 on drive #10) in duration. The ‘Hawks were held to a season low of 18:19 in time of possession. I had pointed out that the TE was the only receiver with double-digit receptions on the year and once again John Carlson led the team with 3 catches for 11 yards. The 73 yards surrendered through the air by Tampa was the lowest total the Bucs defense had given up all season. I felt KEY #1 was going to have to be the establishment of a running game by Seattle. I pointed to what big plays that had been generated by the Seahawk offense had come from their ground game. The overall numbers are deceiving as the ‘Hawks rushed for 103 yards on 16 carries. Sixty-six of that total came on 2 runs by different backs; Maurice Morris ran for 45 yards & Julius Jones had a carry for 21. T.J. Duckett added his own 21 yarder (nullified by a penalty). That leaves 47 yards on 14 carries and that’s not going to get it done at any level of play (high school, college or professional). Six of Seattle’s ten 3rd downs were in long situations where they couldn’t convert, and I had stated this would put too much pressure on an already struggling offense. Seneca Wallace got the start for Seattle and couldn’t get anything going off a 12 of 23 night. Wallace threw a pick and had one long pass of 17 yards to his credit. He did hit the TE (once again John Carlson) for a two-yard score with 1:55 remaining in the game. Seattle’s defense, poised to make a jump in ’08, continued to allow their opponent to control the game through time of possession. The Seahawks couldn’t get the Bucs off the field. Seattle went into the game allowing 229.6 yards in passing, the Bucs reeled off 310. Seattle was allowing opposing QB’s to throw at a rate of 108.2 (30th in the NFL), Jeff Garcia registered 109.7. Tampa was able to find the downfield routes and then create some more yards after the catch hitting the open seams. Garcia found 7 different Buc receivers for a reception of 12 yards or more. On their first possession, Garcia found WR Antonio Bryant on a 47-yard scoring strike. In the second quarter he hit TE Jeremy Stevens for 31 yards, then followed up on the next play to Bryant for another 14 yards. RB Earnest Graham would score from the 1 yard line two plays later. KEY #2 was for Seattle to limit the damage of big plays. On the ensuing drive, Garcia hit TE Alex Smith for 16 yards to the Seattle 19. That helped to set up a 27-yard field goal by Matt Bryant to secure a 17-0 halftime lead. Four plays that led to seventeen points. Right idea, wrong outcome with KEY #3. The Buccaneers had shown good consistency on 1st downs via the run, but had been struggling to convert on 3rd at the same rate. I thought Tampa would establish their running game in the first half to set up some shots at big plays in the second. They attempted to soften the Seahawks on the ground with sixteen first-half carries, but ultimately only had 40 yards and a 2.5 average to show for it. To their credit, the Seahawk defense tightened up on the Bucs’ run game, but couldn’t slow down the big plays via the pass (KEY #2) to stop Tampa’s first half dominance over opponents in scoring differential. The Bucs added another 17 to their pregame total of 77 points, while blanking Seattle and holding steady with 35 points surrendered in the first half (over 7 games). I spoke about KEY #4 being the “9 on 7" battle that was likely to take place in the trenches. I felt Tampa’s smothering pass defense would limit the ‘Hawks through the air (especially without Hasselbeck) and force Seattle to establish the run. With Walter Jones & company looking to open up some holes for the breakaway ability of Seattle’s RB’s, the Bucs front 7 would need to step up. With only eighteen yards on 8 carries in the first half, it was clear that Tampa was winning the interior war at the LOS. But ultimately Seattle was able to crack the Bucs up front with runs of 45 and 21 yards in the second half, the second scamper helping to set up the Seahawks’ lone TD. The Tampa LB’s really took a backseat to the aggressive play of the Bucs secondary; Phillip Buchanon, Jermaine Phillips and Ronde Barber combined for 12 tackles, a hurry & a tackle for a loss. The final KEY (#5) was the punting of Seattle’s Jon Ryan. Ryan would need to help out his struggling offense by “flipping the field,” and continuing to improve on a sagging net average. Ryan played to form with a 47.4 gross and 42.8 net average. Tampa never got anything going with the return, but never really was pinned back as a result either.
TED SUNDQUIST’S WEEK SEVEN GAME REVIEWS: SEAHAWKS AT BUCS
Published October 21, 2008 01:25 PM