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| It was a huge weekend for the Seahawks... And their fans. |
Every Tuesday during football season, editors Jeremy and Joe will bring you the good, the bad and the ugly from the college and pro football weekend that was.
The Good
Everything The Seattle Seahawks Do
I mean, we all saw that game, right? Russell Wilson didn't have a ton of success throwing the ball (just 8 for 19 for 142 yards and a passer rating of 63.9), but pretty much everything else that happened in the game went Seattle's way. Their pass rush was overwhelming, they stopped inside runs before they even started, they forced turnovers, and generally beat up the most physical team in the league. We're only in Week 2 but I wouldn't be surprised if three months from now we looked back and decided that beating the 49ers by 26 points was the most impressive win of the season by any team.
-JC
Seattle's 12th Man
Not only did Seattle's football team dismantle division rival San Francisco on Sunday night, Seattle's coffee drinking, flannel wearing, Nirvana cover band forming fans also set a Guinness World Record for loudest stadium. The Seahawks' now famed 12th Man achieved the two highest decibel levels ever reached in a stadium, first 131.76 decibels in the first quarter, then 136.6 decibels during a third quarter goal line stand.
There wasn't much reason to cheer in the fourth, as the first 11 men of the Seahawks took care of business early down on the field. If you're curious, the 12th Man broke the previous record of 131.76 set by fans of the Turkish soccer club Galatasaray S.K. Haha, suck it Turkey! USA! USA! USA!
-JP
Alabama
ROLL TIDE!
-JP
Wide Receivers Blocking Downfield
It was a good week for receivers making key blocks downfield. Just in the Monday Night game alone, A.J. Green sprung one touchdown and another long play that set up another. On Giovanni Bernard's touchdown in the 4th quarter, Green took Ike Taylor, pushed him 10 yards downfield and then basically out of bounds while Bernard waltzed into the end zone untouched. Earlier in the game, he made a similar block on Tyler Eifert's 61-yard catch-and-run that set up Bernard's first touchdown.
In Sunday's games, DeSean Jackson had a few nice blocks to spring big plays from LeSean McCoy, and Green Bay's receivers took turns throwing key blocks for each other en route to 480 total passing yards on the day for Aaron Rodgers.
-JC
Eddie Royal
Hey, um, Eddie Royal is leading the NFL in touchdowns. He's scored five in two games. That's weird, right?
-JC
The Bad
Johnny Manziel Playing From Behind
During Saturday's Alabama-Texas A&M game, CBS showed a very interesting statistic regarding Johnny Manziel. When Texas A&M is either tied or ahead in the game, Manziel's touchdown-to-interception ratio is a stellar 32-6. When he's trailing in the game, however, that ratio plummets to 5-6, if you include Saturday's game. Manziel is a spectacular talent, but it may be the case that when the Aggies are behind and the threat of him running the ball is diminished, it's easier for opponents to defend him when they know he has to throw. It probably won't become an issue any time soon, as most of Texas A&M's schedule is cupcakes between now and a November 23rd showdown against LSU, but it's definitely something to keep an eye on against good competition.
-JC
Michigan and Notre Dame Hangovers
I don't know if Michigan and Notre Dame celebrated their exciting Saturday night game two weeks ago by drinking NyQuil all week, but both sleep walked through their games this past Saturday. First, Michigan needed a go-ahead score in the final 2:20 and a goal line stand to defeat lowly Akron at home. Then, the Irish went on the road and looked about as effective against Purdue as Indiana State did the week before for three quarters.
Come on Notre Dame, if you're gonna beat my favorite team, at least cover the spread so I can be right about it. The Bengals had that courtesy last night.
-JP
Bo Belini
Good ole Bo is a solid 51-21 at Nebraska, but he's dealing with a few issues this week. First, there are the on-field issues, primarily with his "Blackshirt Defense." The once revered Blackshirts are now one of the worst defenses in major college football, and after giving up 38 unanswered points to UCLA in Lincoln Saturday, a pretty important Husker alum came out to publicly criticize the defensive coaching staff.
Tommie Frazier, a largely insignificant bust of a QB to the casual football fan, but God to the legions of Husker faithful, had this to say. On Twitter, of course.
"After letting it sink in for about 4 hours I still struggling. It's time to get rid of the defensive play caller, the Dc, lb dl and db coaches. I hate saying this but this crap is getting old. How in the hell do you not make adjustments or put your players in the position to compete? If this is what is going to happen for the remainder of the season, count me out."
This led to Pelini basically saying "who cares, we don't need him," and everyone in the state of Nebraska having a panic attack on their tractors at the same time. Making matters worse, Deadspin published this recording from an anonymous source where Pelini drops the F-bomb every other word and calls Husker fans "fair weather."
Yeah, that's what people in the middle of a corn field with nothing to do but watch your football team are, fair weather.
-JP
USF
You know, I took a lot of grief on some USF Bull message boards for my AAC preview. I had the Bulls going to a bowl game and thought their defense would be salty with the addition of Notre Dame transfer Aaron Lynch. I also thought first year coach Willie Taggart would put together enough of an offense for USF to be at least competitive in the AAC.
Considering this program had won a combined two conference games over the last two seasons, I thought I was being optimistic. But not in internet message board world! I was told to "suck a fat one," and that I "didn't know anything about these Bulls." Well guys, you were right, this team is far worse than I anticipated, with blowout losses to FCS McNeese State, offensively challenged Michigan State and one of the worst programs in the FBS, Florida Atlantic.
Man do I feel silly.
-JP
The Ugly
Everything The Jacksonville Jaguars Attempt To Do
They were trailing 19-3 late in the fourth quarter against the Raiders. That's it. That's the joke.
-JC
Jaguars Fans
The Jacksonville Jaguars are probably the worst team in football, and are most definitely the hardest team to watch, leading pretty much everybody and their mother to ask "why doesn't this team sign Tim Tebow?" I mean, he's a local guy, a legend down the road in Gainesville and, for all his flaws, is pretty entertaining on the field.
Also, he's not Blaine Gabbert, which is a real plus.
Well, Jaguars fans have united for a cause: Get Tebow on the Jags! Well, sorta. A group of fans organized a pro-Tebow rally last Sunday at 3:16 pm that was scheduled to last 3 hours and 16 minutes. Both are clearly a nod to Stone Cold Steve Austin's "Austin 3:16" shirts, showing that if Jaguars owner Shad Kahn doesn't sign Tebow, they will all run into his office and stomp a mudhole in his ass. OH HELL YEAH!
Actually, it's because Tebow often wore eye black that read John 3:16 in college, but I like my explanation better. Well, either way, it appears Jaguar fans are about as good at getting things done as their favorite team is, because here is a Vine clip of the rally at 3:16 pm Sunday.
https://vine.co/v/hn03HnBEdXh
I think my favorite part is their rallying cry. "JAGS TEBOW: WHY NOT?"
It doesn't get any more passionate than that. "Seriously, just sign him. It might work and it might not… Probably not, but still!"
-JP
Eli Manning and the New York Giants
I suppose nobody really expected them to be a powerhouse this year (although I did name them as my NFC Super Bowl sleeper in our Way Too Long NFL Preview), and while they have started the season 0-2, I don't think anyone expects them to be one of the worst teams in the league. A 9-7 season seems likely, and given the state of the NFC East, that might be good enough to steal a playoff berth.
That being said, they've committed 10 turnovers in two games. That's a lot. If you exclude the Jets and Vikings, the Giants have committed more turnovers than any other two teams combined. That's bad. Interceptions have always been an issue for Eli - he's led the league in picks thrown twice, and he's thrown more interceptions than anyone else since he entered the league in 2004. Now this. Granted, throwing seven interceptions through two games (on pace for 56 for the season) is pretty unsustainable. But for the Giants to get their season back on track, Eli needs to be smarter with the ball.
-JC
Iowa State Locker Room Security
Iowa vs Iowa State may not be one of the most intense rivalries in college football, but $#!+ got real this past Saturday. After the Hawkeyes went on the road to defeat the Cyclones 27-21, they returned to their guest locker room to discover that nine of them had been robbed of cash and cell phones.
Oh those playful college pranks!
-JP
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