The Seahawks had a handy victory over the 49ers this
weekend. I liked most of what I saw from the boys. Here are some notable highlights.
Marshawn Lynch was out with an abdominal injury but Thomas Rawls had one of the best games of his rookie career. I've said before that Marshawn Lynch isn't just physical, he
is also patient. He can afford to be: he isn't just strong, he isn't just
fast, but he can also accelerate from Zero to Beast Mode in almost a single
step. Not many people can do that. Lynch has also been working with the linemen
for a long time and can read them well, so he can begin to accelerate almost
before the opening comes up because he knows where they'll be and when.
Marshawn was on the sidelines, keeping a close eye on Rawls.
During the defense's turn on the field, he'd collect Rawls and talk to him.
This is of course a departure from the usual for Lynch but he appeared to
be enjoying himself. Rawls certainly was.
I like that Lynch is not threatened by the new, young
running back. Many star athletes would feel threatened. Not Lynch. I did not see one ounce of
jealousy or pettiness in his eyes all game, just fondness and respect. Almost
relief. "Man, I'm glad we found this guy."
You see, Lynch is smart enough to know that if he goes into Beast
Mode, he has got to be able to rest afterward. There needs to be a RB to take over
in the meantime. It can't just be any old RB either. The guy has to have a
style of play similar to Lynch so that the rest of the offense doesn't have to
waste mental effort switching their style of play every time the RBs switch
out. He has to be a physical threat, so the opposing defense doesn't try to get
cute. He has to be a mental threat too, so he can draw fire away from Wilson.
The better Rawls is, the better the rest of the team,
including Lynch, can be. It makes sense that Shawn is pleased. It's just that
people usually aren't so sensible.
In a post-game interview Rawls said some things that made me
smile. He said that he
hadn't felt this happy and excited about playing the game since he was in high
school. He also said that in the past several weeks he'd come to regard the
linemen and the rest of the offense as brothers and mentioned that now Shawn
was working with him on pacing.
In other words, I think Lynch was teaching him the Pete
Carroll Way: trust first, technical stuff second.
Tyler Lockett was everywhere. He returned kicks to put the
Seahawks in good position, he caught passes, he even caught one that he ran in
for a touchdown. Lockett looked thrilled beyond belief, like he was a kid
pretending to be an NFL player in the back yard. "And then the quarterback
will be in trouble and he'll throw it to me, and I'll catch the pass. Oh no, here
comes one guy but whoosh, I dodge him. Then here come two more guys, they try
to tackle me but I power through one more yard for a touchdown...!"
Then he realizes he isn't pretending, he actually just did
that. Anyway, that's how he looks.
Lockett too had interesting things to say post-game.
"It's all about trust, all about knowing where the others will be at all
times. That's the only thing we have to remember."
There are psych studies that bear this out. It is a well-known fact that that humans only have so many "slots"
in their working memory to remember what they're supposed to do. Human brains do a lot
better if everything doesn't keep changing rapidly, because if there are too many rapid changes they burn up all their brainpower tracking that instead of working on the problem at hand. Not only do they remember
better in a stable environment, but more "slots" are freed up to concentrate and solve problems. Also, people have only so much willpower to put toward a task at any given
time. The Seahawks run on heart and willpower so this is important for
them. You might not think this applies to small changes in the environment but
it absolutely does.
In one well-known experiment, two sets of people were both shown to a waiting room with a bowl of radishes and a bowl of delicious cookies. Group
1 were offered cookies. Group 2 were just offered radishes.
Then both groups were given a difficult geometry problem to
solve. Guess which group persevered longer and had more success? Group 1, the
group that did not have to burn up mental and emotional energy dealing with
forbidden cookies.
That's not exactly the same thing as Carroll Mode vs
match-
Richard Sherman did an excellent job. At one point he leaped
up for a possible interception. Oh, he kept the ball from getting to the
receiver. That wasn't a question. He just didn't quite get the pick. After
coming to rest on his stomach with his arms outstretched to either side, he
paused to give a theatrical sigh. You could see his ribs and shoulders and even
arms puff up, then deflate. This was a full-body sigh. Then he planted his
knuckles, swiftly pushed himself up and he strolled away nonchalantly. The whole thing reminded me of one of those slow-motion cat-jumps. I mean, tell me Sherm doesn't look like a cat
when he does his thing. The jump the cat does at the end, and the one Sherman
did for his we're-going-to-the-Superbowl "tip" are practically
mirror images, not just when he jumps up, but when he lands-- both he and the
cat twist their body but keep their focus on what they are trying to
swipe.
One of the announcers (I do not know his name yet but will find
out), did something classy. The other guy
tried to bring up Russell Wilson's personal life not once but twice, and this announcer
gently but firmly deflected it.
Announcer 1: "He just signed a huge contract, he's got
a superstar girlfriend, I'd be surprised if it doesn't gets in his head."
Announcer 2: "You know, Russell told me that when he
comes to the field, he comes ready to play football. And that's what he's
doing. Ah, here's a hand-off to Rawls."
A minute or so later the Announcer 1 tried again:
"Well, with a celebrity girlfriend, he does open himself up to
comments--"
He was once again boxed out: "He isn't the only quarterback
to deal with that. They let their girlfriends worry about them during games,
not the other way around. Look at that pass to Jimmy Graham. Was it good enough
for a first down? I think Graham had it."
This was a classy thing to do, all the more so in an era of
journalism that tries increasingly to mix sports with gossip and drama.
Graham did
have the first down, by the way. SF challenged it but the tape showed that the big tight end planted his forearm elbow-to-wrist firmly in bounds before being
rolled into the chalk. A smaller guy might have been pushed out before then,
but Graham has some heft to him.
I felt sorry for the 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert.
Basically Colin Kaepernick requested to be on the injured list.
Apparently he'd needed a minor surgery for a while but elected to have it done
right now in the middle of the season instead of waiting. The 49ers said
"Fine" and put their backup, Gabbert, in the game instead. Gabbert tried very hard and even made a little
start at a comeback in the late second / early third quarter. Unfortunately it
was impossible to get everyone on the same page for a coordinated effort and
the 49ers had unraveled by the middle of the third. After a particularly bone-rattling Cliff Avril sack (and the following Victory Boogie), the camera caught Gabbert
venting to the new head coach Jim Tomsula, who didn't look happy either. Both
of them appeared frustrated. As we both know, they inherited a mess. There is a
lot wrong with that football team and firing their old head coach, Harbaugh,
did not fix it. This is sad because it's
not a lack of effort and it's not a lack of talent. They have some great players but the unhappiness and uncertainty keeps them from clicking together
well.
Russell Wilson played well. He scored on the majority of
Seattle possessions. There were a couple of stupid penalties but not enough to
throw him off stride. He didn't say so, but getting backed up to first and
fifteen (the way he often was in the Cardinals game) throws off the rhythm of the whole set. Not this time though. There was
a nice mix of hand-offs, short passes and long passes. He spread the ball
around to Baldwin, Kearse, Graham and of course Lockett. He showed his wiliness
more than once. There were times when the 49ers thought for sure they were
about to grab him but he darted out of the way and took off running. He happened to slide into a first down right
near a guy who was trying to guard against that very thing. Wilson's
outstretched, pointed foot went right between the guy's ankles and the rest of
him was leaning back away from the guy. In this instance it was for self-preservation but in baseball you lean as far backward as possible to prevent
getting tagged before your foot hits the base.
Anyway this scene looked so much
like a batter sliding into home plate that the announcer said, "Aaand he's
safe!"
The Good News:
Carroll Mode is starting to click with the rookies. This is crucial if the Seahawks are going to fly for the second part of the season.
The Bad News:
If the Seahawks are going to do this, they've got to do it soon. We're running out of runway here.
The Question:
Will the fledgling rookies fly?
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