The Seattle Seahawks of 2013 continue to make history – while bucking history – at the same time.
Notorious for being one of the most (if not the most) exceedingly vulnerable teams in the NFL when it comes to taking its show on the road, the Seattle Seahawks put together its most comprehensive performance of the season, a 23-0 whitewashing of the hapless New York Giants that gave Seattle its franchise record-breaking sixth road win of the season and moved its league best record to 12-2. Dominating immediately after the coin toss, the league’s best defense held the Giants to 54 total yards in the first half and picked off Eli Manning five times, and now their stellar road form has moved them one step closer to securing home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs – and with that, a better chance of returning to MetLife in seven weeks time for Super Bowl XLVIII.
“Yeah, that was a great team win,” said Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who threw for 206 yards while also running for 50 more while showing his improvisational skills in the pocket that has helped him become an MVP candidate. “That was big to come to New York, come all the way from the West Coast to the East Coast and get a great win like that.”
Not too long ago, a win for the Seahawks on the East Coast was as laughable of a thought as they being legit contenders for a Super Bowl title. From 2007 until the beginning of this season, Seattle’s combined road record in that span was 15-37, and from 2008 until the start of 2013, the Seahawks were 1-8 in games on the road that started at 1:00 PM Eastern (10:00 AM Pacific). Along with achieving a new franchise road wins haul in a campaign, Pete Carroll’s team finished the season 4-1 in games that had a 1:00 PM Eastern start time in 2013.
Big Blue was eliminated from playoff contention last week, yet today’s capitulation, especially on the offensive end, even left Giants head coach Tom Coughlin at a total loss – and that’s saying something, given the Giants 0-6 start to this season.
“A pathetic offensive performance,” an exasperated Coughlin exclaimed. “We didn’t block anybody, we didn’t make any plays, we didn’t create opportunities for ourselves. I told the players who prepared and gave great effort that I appreciated what they did, and I told those that were obvious they had not, that I felt sorry for them because they’re missing the whole point.”
Eli Manning, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback that has also had his share of stinkers over the years, may have had his worst game yet in his decade in the league, with those five interceptions and a total inability to move the Giants down the field. To add injury to insult, Victor Cruz suffered a concussion when he crash-landed to the turf head first going up for a pass on a third-down play in the third quarter. He also sprained his knee, and any chance that New York’s offense had of creating any momentum left with him as he and Giants trainers walked up the tunnel and into the locker room. New York was shutout at home in the regular season for the first time since the opening week of the 1995 season, losing 35-0 to the Dallas Cowboys.
With New Orleans’ loss to St. Louis later on in the day, Seattle can clinch home field advantage with a win next week at home against Arizona (or a San Francisco loss in any of its last two games), and any team winning the NFC will have a tough task if they have to go to and through Seattle and Russell Wilson’s perfect record as a quarterback at home in his career (14-0). And the road to the Super Bowl has been made easier for Seattle due to the road they’ve blazed on their travels this season.
[More Post Pattern: Audio Interview with Seattle defensive tackle Brandon Mebane]
[audio:http://10ee5eb6907d78840d63-8e1e5dd8679f231dcbc4aa2ccbe6df56.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com/Brandon Mebane interview.mp3]
