11/16/15
NOTE: Until yesterday evening, I’d never been to an NFL game. Ever. For the last four or so years, I’d been “that guy”, the one who screamed at the T.V., blamed referees for ‘terrible calls’, and generally misinterpreted every play that didn’t go the way I wanted. As I’ve come to understand the game more through the years, I’ve found the only way to describe a fan’s appreciation and (sometimes misplaced) love of the game is similar to the main character of the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr, Hyde, is a Gothic/Drama/Horror/Thriller, illustrating the two distinct entities that exist within human beings: a reserved, scientific self, and the antithesis: a wild, un-caged, immoral self. I’ll give you a second to think about if you’ve ever had a Jekyll/Hyde moment while watching football, or any sport, for that matter. You didn’t need to think about that. Of course you have.
So it should come as no surprise that, as NFL fans, we get the chance to undergo multiple Jekyll/Hyde moments on a weekly basis. If you play fantasy football, this potential number skyrockets or plummets from week to week. But for the average NFL fan, are there more, or less of these moments? Does this number change if they watch the games from afar or from the stadium? I set out to find this answer, and was largely unprepared for what I found.
Of course, during my experience at Century Link field for a primetime showdown with the (division leading) Arizona Cardinals, I likely experienced things you may have at your local stadium:
- I am pretty sure I lost my voice for about 12-15 hours.
- $8.75 for a Bud Light is borderline heresy.
- Some fans really are jackasses.
By the same accord, there are some things I experienced that you likely did not:
- Screaming so loud (69,000 other voices plus mine), three or more false starts were committed by the visiting offense.
- I was fortunate enough to stand on the field for the pre-game activities, including this flyover, and performance of the national anthem.
- (Insert reason here, I was at Century Link Field. Where were you??)
I know that my vault of NFL memories is about as full as a day old checking account, which can make my credibility seem about as good a snow salesman’s in the desert. It occurred to me through trying to double fist two 16 oz. Rainier beers during the second quarter, though, that there are many indelible takeaways from this game, and some of them are metaphors for this 2015 NFL Season.
- The game (League) ain’t the same no mo’:
If you asked anyone, sports writers, analysts, and fanatics alike, to predict the unbeaten teams by the halfway point in the 2015 NFL season, likely none of them could have predicted that the Panthers, Bengals, Packers, Patriots, and Broncos would have been the teams. Sure, the Pack and Pats were top picks for a number of writers before the playoffs of last season even ended. The Seattle Seahawks were right up there as well.
We’ll gloss over the first 8 weeks, but basically, the above listed teams went through with perfect records, while the remaining majority of the leagues’ teams were holding on to their life rafts in the corresponding wake. Just about nothing seemed to be going ‘right’, where right meant that the typical winners racked up all of the wins, and the typical losers racked up the scraps. This season though, took the road less traveled, and watching the season unfold is sort of like watching a rodeo rider ride bulls for the first time. Most of the fundamentals transfer over, but sometimes luck just isn’t in the riders favor.
“Goliath” teams have fallen spectacularly victim to “David” teams. When the Detroit Lions traveled to Seattle to face the Hawks on Monday Night Football, most people wrote the Lions off. The stats didn’t give them much reason not to: Detroit’s passing game had regressed, and they were without Ndomakung Suh. The result? A narrow and hotly contested victory, 13-10 in favor of Seattle. Overtime losses to Cincinnati and St. Louis on the road left many Seattle fans scratching their heads. Currently sitting at 4-5, the once thought infallible birds of prey are looking awfully caged.
Such is the same for the majority of the NFC: The Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers sit 1st and 2nd atop the NFC North, the Carolina Panthers are sitting pretty in the once ridiculed NFC South, and after a red hot start, the Atlanta Falcons have begun to cool off, just a few games away from a Cam Newton led team that was laughed out of post season talk just a year ago. In short, today’s rappers said it best: The game ain’t the same no mo’.
You can look at it in many ways, but the amount of Offensive Pass Interference calls thrown in the first 10 weeks of this season (60) are well on pace to break the 2014 season’s total (84). This proves to a degree that referees, lampooned in the media for not throwing their flags, are now throwing them early, often, and (seemingly) without care for our beloved game. What constitutes a catch? Depends on the Referee you ask, the day of the week, and the weather. Because catches that should be legitimate catches are not being called catches, and catches that have no business even warming up for other catches are masquerading (and being called) as catches. No team in the league is exempt from this, not your favorite, nor my favorite.
The league has become more pass heavy. The leagues top quarterbacks today (Brady, Brees, E. Manning, Palmer, Rodgers) are chucking the rock more than in previous seasons, and if a defensive back so much as touches an opposing receiver outside of ten yards down the field, que the flag, and move the chains to the spot of the foul. Very often are these calls challenged, because coaches likely don’t see the need to spend a timeout arguing with a referee when they (the referee) could easily argue for the sake of player safety. Or, if you believe all the conspiracy theories (about the league wanting to make higher scoring games a priority), you’ll buy into the calls, because maybe it has some sort of coreolis effect on your fantasy football team.
What. Ever.
With the rise of dual threat/mobile quarterbacks, the game simply isn’t the same. Quarterbacks, often started right after they are drafted with little to no time to progress underneath a flurry of offensive coordinators, are left with no other option but sink or swim. So they do a little of both, dazzling us with their deep ball skills, and frustrating us when they throw a pick into triple coverage. (Our excuse? ‘The old QB wouldn’t have done that’). Outside of Peyton Manning (whose record breaking season should come with another record for fastest regression), Brady, Brees, E. Manning, Palmer, and Rodgers might be the last of their kinds.
I’d like to point out that the newer style of play infusing itself into the NFL today isn’t bad by any means. It’s nerve wracking, exhilarating, and exhausting to see mobile quarterbacks like Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson and even Collin Kaepernick (pre-regression in this season) scramble for yards after their first, second, or third field read falls through. ‘Extending the play’ is the new buzzword, which simply means running the ball yourself when the passing options are nil. Coaches love it because it keeps the offense on the field. Fans hate it, because it doesn’t generate them as much fantasy points. Or, they hate it because they’re used to seeing the dual threat work. What happens when it doesn’t? Oh, hello there, Mr. Hyde, how are you doing?
- Fans… are like Piranhas.
I don’t mean this in a bad way. As I’ve earlier stated, I used to be the Mr. Hyde of fans: Screaming at the T.V., heckling people who wore opposing teams Jersey’s, blaming the referees for ‘bad’ calls, when I don’t get paid to know the game beyond Monday, Thursday, and Sunday, etc. etc. As I’ve progressed through my fandom, I’d like to think I’m more of a Dr. Jekyll type: reserved, by the books, more focused on numbers and the play breakdowns, counting yards and trying to track the ball when the cameras aren’t panning quick enough. Overall though, most fans are a lot like Piranhas.
Every bit Mr. Hyde, fans swarm just about any place they can congregate. A stairwell or ramp in the stadium, a long bathroom line, a woefully small alcohol line with outrageous prices. Everyone in those settings is really just swimming along. “Oh, Look! The games on this T.V. What a B.S. Call, Zebra! Yeah, can you believe the nerve of that guy?” How many times have you either heard or said something to this nature while watching a game (at home, the bar, or the field)? The feeling intensifies when you’re sitting in a sea of screaming fans. Unless you make an above average wage, you’re likely occupying perch seats rather than on the field ones, making the delay between what your eyes see, and what your brain interprets after the announcer makes the call and the replay comes up, a true test of wit. This doesn’t make me want to go to a game any less. Because at games, you make the commentary with folks around you, rather then eating whatever Chris Collingsworth, Ray Lewis, or Jon Gruden are serving.
A scoring play, drive, or beneficial call for your team sends the whole school into frenzy. It’s a good thing! Everyone is clapping hands, hugging each other; you forget that you’re hundreds of feet from the players. For all you know, in that moment, the players appear to be life size, rather than somewhat miniature. The coaches could have miffed the call completely, or made a wrong call entirely, but it doesn’t matter. You don’t notice, or care. The guy sitting next to you who is loud and obnoxious is now your best friend, for the next 30-45 seconds.
A scoring play, drive, or beneficial call for the opposing team sends the whole school into a feeding frenzy. Nobody is clapping hands, everyone is shouting nearly incoherent things at the refs, god, the beer makers, to each other, hell just about anyone who will listen. In that moment, the players on the field don’t seem so life size anymore. And that’s where the criticisms come in. The coach could have made the correct call, and he’s been outcoached. The players could have misread the play, whatever have you. It doesn’t matter, as you’re seeing blood at this point, with the majority of the fans around you.
Of course, as I mentioned earlier with the penalty calls for pass interference, the average fan isn’t likely to agree with PI calls on their players, and for good reason. Our positivity bias makes what we see and interpret irrelevant; we’re the omnipotent ones, not the Refs. We are often beyond ready and willing to give an earful about a blown call on the opposing team. To be fair, time will tell if the referees are making the right calls. Often times, they throw the flag on Sunday, only to announce Monday or Tuesday (when the W or L is already tallied and set in stone for your team) that they made the wrong call. If this happens for your team, you don’t lose your piranha sense of self, while outside of the stadium. It comes rushing back. It’s a pretty safe assumption that with a near record-breaking pace for PI calls this season, that there will plenty that were incorrectly called. The onslaught of 24-hour sports/news/commentary doesn’t make this any easier to deal with. We then, assimilate some of that style as fans.
All of this refers back to our Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. While sitting at the stadium Sunday night, I was livid that Arizona head coach Bruce Arians was challenging every call. I was more than a little livid at what I thought were clearly missed Seahawks connections down field, and an all out assault from the Cardinals on defense. If you had a camera on me for the four quarters of the game, footage filmed of me would likely sound off like so:
1st Quarter:
“Are you fucking kidding me right now, Ref? ANOTHER Penalty. Cool, bro. 1st and 20, NBD.”
“Seriously, no score yet is a good thing…”
2nd Quarter:
“Welp, that didn’t last long.” (AZ FG)
“You’ve… got… to… be… kidding… me.” (Russell Wilson fumble, ensuing safety)
“Hey! They scored! Defense? What Defense? Where we’re going, we don’t need defense!”
“Again!?”
“I should have picked up Malcolm Floyd for my fantasy team! NBD!”
“ARRRRRRRRRRRRRG YEAAAAAAAAAAH!!!/INAUDIBLE NOISES” (one of three false starts committed by Cardinals)
“Tukuafu scores! HAHAHAHAH IN YOUR FACE AZ!”
“Still a two score game, bruh. I ain’t worried.” (Talking aloud, to everyone and no one)
3rd Quarter:
Looks down at fantasy sports app, shows to fan next to me: “It’s a very good thing I got so much grief for grabbing Hauschka early in my fantasy football drafts. Every other kicker I’ve faced this season has screwed the pooch. Man, Hauschka really is money.”
“Still a two score game. No worries. Nothing is happening; I’m going to go use to restroom. Watch my beer?”
Walking up the stairs, hears an exponentially thunderous cry, literally starts sprinting up the steps, just in time to see Doug Baldwin’s TD replay on the big screen: “YEAAAAAAAAAH MAN! DOUGGY FRESH! Down by 8 points! And a whole ‘nother quarter. No problem.”
4th Quarter:
“Carson, just so you know, I benched you this week man. That means you’re supposed to suck, not accumulate more passing yards“.
“DOWN BY CONTACT? YEAH FUCKING RIGHT, ZEBRA!!”
“Oh, yeah, totally got touched there, down by contact You’re right ref, my bad.”
“BEASSSSSSSSSSSST MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODE off of the turnover!”
“Two, two poi-…fuck. No worries, no worries, points is points.”
“AWWWWWWW YEAH! Palmer can’t hold onto the football. Wait, wait, WAIT BOBBBBBBY! Shit yeah! Wagner with the TD! Wait, I think I didn’t start him in my lineup in my defensive player fantasy league this week. FML. Hey man, POINTS IS POINTS!!! AZ Where you at?!?!?!”
“I totally see why 2 Chainz changed his name from Titty Boi to 2Chainz. He probably makes a lot of 2-point conversions. Meanwhile, Seattle is oh-for-two on the twos. GAAAAAAH.”
“SEAAAAAAA……..HAWKS”
“Oh wow, don’t cover the Tight End, YET A-FUCKING-GAIN. Is there a call in the rule books that HASN’T been called on the L.O.B yet?” (Jermaine Gresham TD reception)
“STUFF HIM, STOP THE RUN, DAMMIT!” (Century Link falls silent, until the announcer confirms it is a TD)
“Hey man, it just got like, deathly quiet. I think I could like, hear my feelings. Because I’m pretty sure my heart just stopped.”(Ellington 48 yard TD run)
END OF GAME
“Well, man, I got to be honest. That was a hell of a game. I should probably text my AZ friends and congratulate them.” **looks at phone, realizes battery is a 5%, texts Girlfriend “Ill find a bar a few blocks up from the stadium. Come get me.”
WALKING DOWN STAIRS OUT OF STADIUM
“Man, we had that. What were they, like 1 for 8 on 3rd down? Are we sure that Jimmy TD wasn’t a catch? Golden Tate’s TD two weeks back was a catch man!”
“No, I don’t know how many yards Fitzgerald got tonight, but he was collecting first downs like a payday loan shark, man. He definitely got 100 plus yards. I locked eyes with him on the sidelines before the game and smirked at him with my arms crossed. I’m pretty sure I’m the reason Seattle lost the game, man. Schadenfraude, man.”
“Next time? Steelers’ game. You? Nice. See you then!”
***Walks around, finds one bar open, named Rock Bottom Brewing***
Girlfriend texts: “Where are you?”
My reply: “Rock Bottom”
Girlfriend’s reply (paraphrasing): “No you aren’t. It’s one loss. They’ll be fine. I however, lost this week in fantasy AGAIN. Finish your beer. This day sucks. Wait, where did you say you are again?!”
- Analysis & Conclusion
As you can clearly see, I spent the majority of the game inside the mind of Mr. Hyde, hanging with the piranhas. So I’ll switch to Dr. Jekyll for this penultimate piece. With the Seahawks spending the last few years taking the NFC West out behind the shed like a sick dog (WARNING, GRAPHIC. Oh, I probably should have said that before, whoops), It’s a safe assumption that most of us have become accustomed to weaker opponents. As I mentioned earlier, outside of the 49ers, just about every other team that’s been lauded as whack shows have looked more like something out of American Horror Story, wreaking havoc on our preseason predictions.
Even the ‘traditionally’ weaker teams in the NFC have similar records to the two SB tripping Seahawks. Simply put, the rest of the league decided this was the year that their motivational videos and their episodes of Hard Knocks actually were going to translate to on the field production. Especially the NFC, where the standard used to be what is now the exception to the rule.
Some people call it a post season hangover. I’m thinking it’s more along the lines of being stunned repeatedly when you’re not expecting it, and still trying to play without adapting to what stunned you in the first place. Like when you have your phone set on vibrate for so long, that you begin to feel phantom vibrations when your phone is nowhere near you.
I’ve written many posts along the way, loss or win, about how I believe, as a fan, that the post season isn’t out of sight. I’m currently sitting in an inner tube in 20 ft. seas with some REI gear on in a CAT 3 Shit Hurricane, but politely refuse to accept that the weather might be stormier than you’d like me to admit. I can admit this speaks directly to my inability to fully comprehend the game. I often call out referees for blown calls when I haven’t taken the time to read their rule book. I should get on doing that.
No, the loses this season have been a big ol’ piece of humble pie for the Rainier sized mountain I’ve been trash talking from since last season. The pundits are blaming anything they can, the holdout of Kam Chancellor, Russell’s big contract, big house, love interests, Mama Lynch, conspiracy theories, etc etc. It’s no surprise that, after a few years of leading the league in penalties, that referees are not gunshy in chucking yellow flags around this time. They’ve likely become hardened to the particular brand of style that Seattle embodies, but are still just as amazed as the fans are that we’re racking losses up like Black Friday specials at Target or Walmart. Hopefully, none of them are pulling Pete Roses and betting on the ‘Hawks.
Wilson did look woefully ineffective for the majority of this game. The Legion of Boom did make some crucial plays, but practically got caught with their pants down on other plays. A pair of strip sacks (converted for TDs) would psychologically batter almost any other QB who visits Century Link field, yet this time, the strip sacks might as well have been Viagra for Carson Palmer (who got fined after his Backstreet Boys style hip thrust at the crowd). We have to look at the cold hard facts- the Seattle Defense can win a majority of closer games, but sometimes (just like the record setting game this season between both the New York Giants and the New Orleans Saints), the offense has to do more, has to put more points on the board, and prevent the other team from catching up. Seattle’s style these days appears to be more akin to throwing a quick succession of punches and kicks, getting a devastating takedown, and allowing their opponent a full ten seconds of no contact to get back up and make their Rocky IV dreams come true.
At a visceral, human level, Seattle may not be as accustomed to losing as it has this season. It’s fans are used to lower loss seasons: 11-5 in 2012, 13-3 in 2013, 12-4 in 2014. The first 9-7 season under Pete Carroll (2011) has probably been stricken from peoples’ memories like doublespeak in 1984. What’s a winning season? For some teams, it’s 9-7. For others, nothing less than 13-3 is considered a winning season. The real kicker? The first time the Seahawks went to the Superbowl, in 2005, they faced a Pittsburgh Steelers team that started off the season 7-5, ending the regular season 11-5, before unleashing volleys of trick plays, and generally making the term ‘Wild Card’ a mythic term that teams can be envious of. and 11-5 run very may will be where Seattle ends the season. It remains to be seen if the rest of the NFC collapses or continues on toward their quest to mathematically eliminate the Hawks.
People want to discuss the topic of hunger, as if (like Earl Thomas III said recently) you need to poll everyone in the teams locker room and dictate their tenacity or hunger. While Russell Wilson was lambasted in the media for the teams 1-0 approach every week (that is, taking each week by itself and not getting ahead of themselves mentally), they’ve put themselves into a zero margin for error corner. Where you once could rely on the NFC South to pretty much give up an extra playoff spot most years, unless the 2015 NFL Season regresses awfully quickly and in fantastic fashion, the Seahawks just might find themselves on the outside looking in. We, as fans, will actually have to listen to color commentators compare other teams passing jaunts on 4th and 1 in a snarky manner during the postseason televised games, which may not include our boys in blue and green.
The hunger is there, undeniably evidenced by moments of sheer brilliance. What isn’t there is maybe the hunger pangs, the fear and stress of making it to the next game, wondering if they can expound all of their energy to survive another gladiator esque series of wins. Maybe, going into each game (regardless of whatever the Vegas odds are), Seattle should take a 0-1 approach; setting themselves as underdogs, an unproven team. Maybe, instead of trying to go 1-0 every week on a historic hopeful trip to the postseason, they should see themselves as 0-1, where the one loss represents the cataclysmic end of their season. They should approach each game like it may be their last, and translate that to on the field events.
I’ve seen what the 12s can do. I’ve seen it on TV, and I’ve been in the stadium. I raised my voice to decibels where it hasn’t gone before. When they players raise their arms like orchestra conductors, we all levy the audible boom (AND IT WORKS) . But can we get a little more Boom lowered on the opposing team?
I haven’t lost any faith in the Seahawks. I love their gritty style of play, and I long stopped comparing their 2013 and 2014 seasons to this one. I’m actually trying to pay attention to their 2012 and 2011 seasons, looking to see if mistakes there, are still present today. Often times, when the mistakes are outweighed by the brilliant happenstances, we tend to overlook the shortcomings entirely. Instead of playing to the team’s strengths, a good old fashioned lockdown in the VMAC with some constructive criticism sessions (and some humble pie crumbs) might finally exorcise whatever demons are ailing our beloved ‘Hawks this season. Because if there’s anything that’s readily apparent, there is some fingers that have been silently pointed, and plenty of shade thrown at each other, with no accountability.
Which is why, I think, going into this week’s game with San Francisco, I don’t look at the Blaine Gabbert led team as a pushover. I look at them as team that’s already got a pair of interceptions against #3 this season. The Falcons may have narrowly lost in their last showing versus the 49ers, but it wasn’t for lack of effort on Gabberts part, pelting his tight end Garrett Celek. Stud running back and wide receivers for the Falcons were contained. The 49ers will look to make this a statement game, as will Jim Tomsula. So it would be nice to see a game where Seattle plays strong defensively, while piling on the points offensively as well. Like, so many points we debate if Tavaris Jackson should come in and put the icing on the cake.
Because one thing may be for sure: the rest of the way isn’t ‘looking’ easy any more; a Pittsburgh Steelers team that has roasted the majority of the defenses they’ve faced this season (including a blowout win against Arizona), anchored by what could possibly be the speediest pair of wide receivers in the NFL. a 7-2 Minnesota Vikings team. A pair of tough road games, two home games, and a rematch against (presumably still) the division leading Cardinals, in AZ. If Seattle has always been regarded like a bully in the NFC West, it’s time to collect some lunch money and fatty cakes on the playground. The hunger is there. Lower the Boom. Stuff the ball down the opponents throat, hose ’em down with deep passes (via Jimmy Graham), and don’t let up until it’s time to use the three timeouts to burn the clock in the 4th quarter.
oh, and fucking GO HAWKS.
(Sorry, Mr. Hyde had to get the last word in after I went on my Dr. Jekyll rant.)
…Till next time
All Over The Place Writing 