AND THE GAME BALL GOES TO... The Best Performances Of The Seahawks. Week One

The Pete Carroll era has officially started in Seattle, and it started with a bang.  Seattle dominated the 49ers and made a statement to the rest of the league with a 31-6 victory Sunday.    My top three candidates for game balls are as follows.

            3.  Matt Hasselbeck.  Matt went 18-23 for 170 yards and 2 TDs.  He also ran one in.  Matt has had a very inconsistent last two years, mainly due to injury.  His performance, short of his first throw, looked like the Matt of old.  Great play by the offensive line and great double move routes by the receivers but of all the offense, Matt had an outstanding game.

             2.  Pete Carroll.  The Seahawks have more new faces in the locker room than any other team in the league.  You would never have guessed it by the way they played.  Offence, defense and special teams look like they had been together for years.  Pete and his staff are the reason for that.  It is obvious that the team has bought into his system and his enthusiastic coaching style had the team rolling.

1.  The Entire Defense.  Enough cannot be said about the job the entire defense did holding the 49ers to 6 points.  The line and the backers bent earlier but never broke.  They were put into bad situations by the offense in the first quarter and challenged multiple times when the 49ers went for it on 4^th down.  Each time they rose to the challenge and stifled San Fran’s offense.  The secondary was phenomenal.  A pick by Babs and a pick six by Tru ignited the crowd.  Outstanding coverage and tackling by Jennings and rookie Earl Thomas were the mainstay of the day and a major contributor to the defense’s ability to control the 9ers like they did.  The defense held Frank Gore to 38 rushing yards; this drastically affected Smith’s ability to boot leg and reduced the effectiveness of play action.

Game one of the Pete Carroll era was great and has given the 12^th man nation reason to be excited and wanting more.  Great game Hawks and welcome to Seattle Pete.