Football should be about fun and the Seattle Seahawks finally made it so by running the San Francisco 49ers off of their home field Sunday (10-26-08) behind the catch and run explosion of Leonard "Green Shoes" Weaver and the pass snatching ability of Josh Wilson, winning 34-13.
On a day when Seattle's defense not only showed up but played, Weaver turned two short receptions by back-up quarterback Seneca Wallace into 43 and 62-yard touchdowns.
Just watching Weaver stream down the sideline in shoes with a prominent lime green presence was worth the price of admission. Weaver, Seattle's 6-foot, 242-pound fullback, was high-stepping and high-styling in taking the rock to the house twice. Normally Weaver is the lead blocker for running backs Julius Jones and Mo Morris.
Weaver's green shoes are reminiscent of another more famous athlete from the mid-1970s, Billy "White Shoes" Johnson. Johnson, a 3-time, All-Pro selection as a kick return specialist, wore white shoes when everyone else wore black shoes.
Johnson had great speed, and long before showboating became an end-zone pastime in the NFL, he was one of the first players to launch scoring celebrations, initially by doing the then-famous soul dance, the "Funky Chicken".
Josh Wilson, the Seahawks' second-year defensive back and kickoff return specialist, picked up a fumble in last week's 20-10 loss at Tampa Bay and was scampering for an apparent 96-yard touchdown when some official whistled the play dead.
It came as no surprise Sunday when Wilson picked off a J. T. O'Sullivan pass and took off on a 75-yard inception return to put Seattle up 20-3 with 31 seconds left in the 1st half. Coach Mike Holmgren saw Wilson's theft as a tremendous momentum shift for his
Seahawks.
The Seahawk defense had sacked O'Sullivan 8 times in their first meeting this year in Seattle, but the 49ers walked away with a 33-30 overtime victory. This time they got to San Francisco's quarterbacks 5 times but forced starter O'Sullivan to fumble twice, and 6-foot-5, 272-pound defensive end Patrick Kerney picked up one of the fumbles and ran 50 yards, setting up a second field goal in the 1st quarter.
Seattle's missing defense earlier in the season showed up in J. T. O'Sullivan's backfield, putting so much pressure on O'Sullivan that new 49er coach Mike Singletary yanked him in favor of Shaun Hill. It didn't seem to matter because Seattle left San Francisco on top this time.
The Seahawks, now 2-5 on the year, are tied for 2nd place in the National Conference's weak West Division with the St. Louis Rams. The Arizona Cardinals are leading the division with a 4-3 mark.
Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley
Read my other detailed, knowledgeable, interesting articles on Seattle Seahawk football, including:
"Does Seattle Have Too Many Stars and Not Enough Football Players?"
"Seattle's Only Hope For Sports Success Is Now Hiding in a Dumper Somewhere"
"Will Seahawks' Woeful 0-2 Start Leave Them Out of the Chase For the Super Bowl Title?
"Seattle Seahawks' Opener in Buffalo Proves an Awful Study in Ineptitude"
"Here Come the Seahawks: Stumbling and Bumbling into Holmgren's Last Year"
"Can the Seahawks Find the Grit to Deliver Holmgren a 2nd Super Bowl Winning Team?"
Find my Blog at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
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