Chiefs offense to much for Seahawks in 42-24 win

By Kshell

The Kansas City Chiefs(7-4) offense proved to be to much for the Seattle Seahawks(5-6) crushing the Seahawks 42-24 at Qwest Field. The Seahawks have now been blow out two home games in a row and have lost four out of five weeks now. The Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe couldn't be stopped all game long. The Chiefs could throw to Bowe whenever they wanted and could run the ball as well. The Chiefs overcame some special teams errors early on and put out 503 yards total offense on the Seahawks defense. The Seahawks offense still can't run the ball and Matt Hasselbeck turned the ball over three times. The Seahawks have also lost their division lead as the Rams won and own the tiebreaker.

The Chiefs didn't waste on offense scoring on their first possession of the game. The Chiefs had drove down the field 72 yards in just seven plays ending with a Matt Cassel would hit Dwayne Bowe for a seven yard touchdown pass. The Seahawks on their first possession elected to go for it on fourth and one and decided to throw a fade pass to Golden Tate which the pass was incomplete. The Chiefs would drive down the field in eight plays but would be force to kick a field goal. The Seahawks would block the field goal but again go three and out.

The Seahawks would finally force the Chiefs to punt and the Seahawks special teams would help the team yet again. The Seahawks would block the punt then Earl Thomas would pick up the ball and return it 10 yards for a touchdown to tie the score up at 7-7. The Chiefs would respond by going on a 15 play 74 yard drive ending with defensive tackle Shaun Smith running it in on third and goal from the one yard line. Smith would later record a sack becoming the first player since William "Refridgerator" Perry did that for the Chicago Bears in the 1980's. After the Seahawks would be stopped once again the Chiefs would go on an eight play 80 yard drive when Cassel would hit a wide open Bowe for a 36 yard touchdown pass to give the Chiefs a 21-7 lead.

The Seahawks would force a fumble right before halftime and settle on an Olindo Mare 43 yard field goal to cut the lead to 21-10 at halftime. The score didn't do the game justice as the Chiefs ran 43 plays to the Seahawks 23 plays. The Chiefs had gained 272 to the Seahawks gained just 60 yards. The first half brought back memories of the Giants 41-7 win over the Seahawks. The Seahawks offense would finally get something going in the second half though.

In the second half the Seahawks would start off with a bang. Matt Hasselbeck would hit Ben Obomanu for a 52 yard pass to the Chiefs 19 yard line. After a six yard penalty Hasselbeck would hit tight end Chris Baker for a 13 yard touchdown to cut the lead to 21-17. The Seahawks despite being dominated all game long had finally pulled within one score. After the Seahawks stopped the Chiefs on the first two possessions the offense couldn't give the Seahawks their first lead. At the end of the third quarter the Chiefs led 21-17 but would erupt in the fourth quarter.

The Chiefs would go on an 11 play 71 yard drive which would end in a Jamaal Charles three yard touchdown run on third and one which would see him break two tackles to put the Chiefs up 28-17. Then on the Seahawks next possession Derek Johnson would get a sack on Matt Hasselbeck and strip him of the ball. The Chiefs would have the ball on the Seahawks 22 yard line and would score when Cassel would connect with Bowe for the third time from nine yards out to give the Chiefs a commanding 35-17 lead.

The Seahawks would repond when Hasselbeck would hit Obomanu for an 86 touchdown pass that saw Obomanu wide open. That would cut the lead to 35-24. Unfortunatly for the Seahawks they still couldn't stop the Chiefs offense as the Chiefs would go on a 10 play 80 yard drive which would end with Cassel throwing his fourth touchdown pass of the game this time to Tony Moeaki from six yards out. The Chiefs would take a 42-24 lead and eventually win the game 42-24.

The Seahawks defense couldn't get enough stops when it was all said and done. The Chiefs Matt Cassel who was playing against his old college coach in Pete Carroll completed 22 of 32 passes for 233 yards and four touchdowns. His main target was Dwayne Bowe who would have 13 receptions for 170 yards and three touchdowns. The Chiefs also ran the ball well with Charles gaining 173 yards on just 22 carries(7.9 YPC) with a touchdown while Thomas Jones ran for 68 yards on 20 carries. The Seahawks once again were a one dimensional offense.

The Seahawks had to rely on the passing game once again as the running game was non existent. Marshawn Lynch has been a total disappointment since arriving in Seattle rushing for 20 yards on just seven carries(2.9 YPC) while Justin Forsett had three carries for two yards on the game. Up until the final drive Forsett had just one carry the whole game. He needs to see more carries that is for sure. The Seahawks had to rely on Matt Hasselbeck who didn't have a bad game but wasn't particularly sharp either. Hasselbeck would finish with 20 of 37 passing for 282 yards with two touchdowns but two interceptions and a fumble. Hasselbeck main weapon on the season Mike Williams was ruled inactive prior to the game so Hasselbeck found tall receiver Ben Obamonu who had five receptions for 159 yards and a touchdown. Hasselbeck also has a new third down receiver in Brandon Stokley who had five receptions for 51 yards.

The Seahawks find themselves in a 5-6 hole but fortunately for them the division is pretty bad so they are still tied for first place. The Seahawks take on the 1-10 Carolina Panthers next week at home in a game the Seahawks should win. The Seahawks still play at the 49ers and host the St.Louis Rams last game of the year. Pete Carroll was working the magic earlier in the year when the Seahawks were 4-2 but lately the running game has been extremely terrible while the defense has been poor. The Seahawks in their last five games have lost 33-3,41-7, won 36-18, lost 34-19 and now today 42-24. The Seahawks have five games left to try and raise another division championship banner. It starts next week at home against a very winnable opponent.

Observations:

- The Seahawks going into this week were just one of three teams(Dolphins and Lions the other) to not have a single 100 yard rusher in a game. The Seahawks have gotton nothing from Marshawn Lynch this season. Lynch for the Seahawks has 273 yards rushing on 88 carries which is just 3.1 YPC and averaging just 39 yards rushing a game. The Seahawks need to find a running game to help Matt Hasselbeck out.

- The Seahawks rush defense was tough before Red Bryant got hurt. Since his injury the Raiders, Giants, Saints and now Chiefs ran all over the Seahawks. The Seahawks used to stuff to run then bring the pressure on third and longs. The Seahawks defense can longer do that which makes it very difficult to get stops. The Seahawks secondary is kind of weak with the exception of Earl Thomas so no pressure means opposing quarterbacks will light the Seahawks up.

- The Seahawks special teams has been terrific this year. With Leon Washington's returns on kickoffs and punt returns and now the coverage teams has been great as well. Today the Seahawks blocked a field goal and a punt. The Seahawks coverage units were great as well using runningbacks Forsett and Leon Washington running down their to make tackles.

- The Seahawks are now 1-3 against the AFC this year. Last year the Seahawks went 1-3 against the AFC while going 1-3 against the AFC the previous year as well. Thankfully for the Seahawks they moved to the NFC as the AFC has taken it to them. In fact the last time the Seahawks won on the AFC against the AFC was in 2006 at Denver.

All in all the Seahawks are still tied for first place. They may have a losing record but with five games left still control their own destiny to make the postseason. They must avoid what happened last year when they were 5-7 and lost four games in a row to finish the season. Pete Carroll inherited a tough situation but he is making the best of it but nobody will remember that if the Seahawks collapse. Win next week at home against Carolina and gain some confidence. Remember at the start of the year if someone told you Seahawks would be tied for the division lead with five weeks left you would take that.