I’m sitting in my bedroom about to watch the Seahawks-Redskins game and I assume that’s what you’re doing too, wherever you are. So, let’s live blog it. I’ll update this frequently with my thoughts and analysis, and I encourage you to do the same.
1:35 So far in this season’s wild card round, home teams are 3-0. Unfortunately, I predicted three road teams to win. One of those road teams was the Seahawks – I predicted them to beat the Redskins. Here’s a link to that prediction blog.
1:42 Alfred Morris gains eight yards on a pitch sweep to the right on the first play of the game. Frank Gore does not have the speed or the power to make that run. The Redskins come out running on the Seahawks. Good strategy.
1:45 After a few successful runs, the Redskins set up play action. Griffin hits Garcon deep down the left sideline. Garcon beat Browner on the play. Good strategy to target Browner instead of Richard Sherman. The 49ers should take note.
1:51 Griffin calmly fires a dart to backup running back Evan Royster in the endzone on third and goal from the four. Griffin has been limping, but he’s also been decisive and poised in the pocket. 7-0 Redskins.
1:55 The Seahawks call a shot play for their first play and Wilson overthrows it. I don’t like that call. Establish Marshawn Lynch while you can.
1:56 The Redskins sack Wilson on third and two and the Seahawks go three-and-out. Marshawn Lynch didn’t touch the ball once. The Redskins return the punt almost to midfield. They have a golden opportunity to take an early two-touchdown lead and take Marshawn Lynch out of the game.
2:07 The Redskins easily drive the field for another touchdown. Griffin ends up hitting TE Logan Paulsen for a short touchdown pass. Griffin is slow and he’s limping all over the field, but he’s playing brilliantly from the pocket. He has to be the best rookie quarterback in the NFL, better than Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson. Let’s see if Wilson can lead his team back on the road.
2:13 It’s amazing – this game already feels over and Marshawn Lynch hasn’t touched the ball.
2:14 First play of their second drive, they hand off to Lynch and he gains four yards. Of course he gained for yards.
2:14 Second play, they take Marshawn Lynch off the field and go with five wide receivers. Not smart. Wilson gets sacked. Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell is having a bad start to the game.
2:15 Zach Miller saves the game for the Seahawks. He catches a short pass and lumbers past the first down marker on third down to keep the drive alive.
2:19 Wilson gains 19 yards up the middle on a zone read run. The Seahawks need a touchdown on this drive.
2:21 A few plays later, Griffin uncorks a bomb to Sidney Rice on the right sideline for a 27 yard gain. First and 10 at the Redskins’ 12.
2:22 On second and seven, Wilson holds the ball forever in the pocket as he looks for someone open in the end zone. He finally throws it and it’s right to a Redskins, who drops it.
2:23 On third down, the Seahawks can’t get the play off in time and they’re flagged for delay of game. Terrible. The Seahawks call timeout. They need to call the perfect play because they need to score. Their defense cannot stop the Redskins offense, so the Seahawks’ offense needs to keep pace.
2:26 Wilson throws it off the cross bar, incomplete. That play was a dud from the beginning. The Seahawks have to settle for a field goal. 14-3 Redskins.
2:33 Griffin throws a ground ball on third down. He can barely move. The Redskins punt, and the Seahawks will have it at their 27. They can take the momentum from Washington with a TD on this drive.
2:36 The Seahawks wisely start this drive by handing it off to Lynch. He gains eight yards.
2:39 A few plays later Wilson fumbles. Lynch recovers and gains 18 yards. First and 10 at the Redskins’ 36 yard line.
2:40 Wilson play fakes and hits Michael Robinson for a 19-yard gain on second and nine. The Seahawks started out horribly but they’re cooking with gas now.
2:41 Next play, Wilson keeps the ball on a read option and gains 12 yards. First and goal from the 5.
2:42 On second and goal from the 4, Wilson play fakes and hits Michael Robinson in the left flat. He’s wide open, and he jogs into the end zone for a touchdown. 14-10 Redskins, and they’ve lost all of the momentum. They’ve given up 10 unanswered points and their quarterback can barely move.
2:44 Wilson has a 131.2 QB rating. He is good anywhere, not just in Seattle.
2:47 On second and seven Kyle Shanahan calls for a play action deep shot to Garcon. Griffin throws it and Earl Thomas makes a diving interception. The Redskins are falling apart. Seahawks ball at their 26.
2:50 On third and five, Wilson hits Doug Baldwin over the middle for six yards, and on the very next play Wilson throws deep down the middle for Baldwin, who catches it and gains 33 yards. First and 10 at the Redskins’ 30 yard line. You’ve got to give the Seahawks credit for not folding once they fell to an early 14-0 deficit. They’re a tougher team than we knew.
2:56 With 32 seconds left in the first half, the Seahawks face third and seven from the Redskins 16.
2:57 Wilson hits Golden Tate two yards in front of the first down. Tate spins left, falls and loses a yard. If he had spun right he probably would have picked up the first down. The Seahawks will have to settle for a field goal, and the Redskins will keep the lead going into halftime.
2:58 The Seahawks make the field goal. 14-13 at halftime. The Redskins need to make some serious adjustments right now or they’re going to lose. Should they bench the injured Griffin and play Kirk Cousins?
3:07 The read option and the pistol formation are good change ups when the quarterback is a run threat. The Seahawks use the read option as a change up and they’ve gotten a few big plays from it in this game. The Redskins use it more as a base offense, and it’s worked for them all season, but now Griffin is hurt. He is not a run threat today. So the pistol will not help the Redskins against the Seahawks. Washington needs to throw out most of their offense and do something else in the second half. That’s a bad position for a football team to be in. I’d be surprised if the Redskins hung on and won this game.
3:13 The Seahawks get the ball first and on their first play of the second half, Lynch 26 yards around the right side. The Redskins look defeated.
3:18 Game changer: On first and goal from two, Lynch runs up the middle and fumbles and the Redskins recover. Let’s see if the Redskins offense can do anything backed up against their own end zone.
3:22 Griffin hits Santana Moss for five yards on third and four. They’re off their goal line. Chris Clemons is down in a lot of pain. The game was going the Seahawks way, and in two minutes they lost all of the momentum. Wow.
3:27 After one more first down, the Redskins stall and punt. Alfred Morris is 90 percent of their offense. It’s anyone’s game. The Seahawks will start at their 30 yard line.
3:33 After a first down, Wilson play fakes, surveys the field and takes off running through the middle of the pocket. He picks up 28 yards. First and 10 at the Redskins 30.
3:34 On second and nine, Wilson overthrows Baldwin in the end zone. He was open.
3:35 On third and nine the Redskins blitz and sack Wilson for a loss of nine, knocking the Seahawks out of field goal range. Huge play. The Redskins keep the lead for now.
3:39 The Redskins start at their six yard line. On first down, Griffin gets tackled for a loss of four.
3:41 On third and fourteen, Griffin completes a short pass to Garcon, who does not pick up the first down. The Redskins have to punt from their end zone. It goes out of bounds at the Seahawks’ 41 yard line.
3:37 On third and two, the Redskins blitz and sack Wilson. Blitzing has been working for Washington in the second half.
3:52 The Redskins offense craps out after one first down, and they have to punt. Neither team will take control of this game.
3:53 Mike Shanahan should have taken Griffin out of the game at halftime. He’s limping around the field. Very poor leadership by Shanahan.
3:57 Wilson just converted a crucial third-and-ten. He hit Zach Miller underneath, and he ran for a 22-yard gain. First and 10 at the Washington 32.
3:59 Play of the year candidate: On third and five from the 27, Wilson hands off to Lynch, who busts through the line of scrimmage and takes off toward the end zone. Russell Wilson follows him, sprints past him and sets a key block at the five yard line before Lynch scores.
4:03 The Seahawks go for two to try to push the lead to seven points. The Seahawks line up in a spread formation with Wilson in the shotgun. Zach Miller, from the left slot, runs a quick slant and Wilson hits him in the end zone. 21-14 Seahawks with 7:08 left in the fourth quarter.
4:05 Griffin is back on the field. Big mistake by Shanahan.
4:06 The Redskins call a play action deep pass on first down and Griffin gets sacked. Atrocious play call. Second and 22.
4:07 Next play, bad snap. Griffin hurts himself trying to catch it. He doesn’t catch it, he fumbles it and the Seahawks recover close to the goal line.
4:08 Shame on Shanahan for leaving Griffin in the game.
4:13 Hauschka makes a field goal. 24-14 Seahawks. 5:32 left.
4:15 Kirk Cousins is the quarterback. He needs to lead a scoring drive right now.
4:16 First play, he completes a tough pass off his back foot to Hankerson for 15 yards. He’s leading a no huddle offense.
4:17 Two plays later, Cousins completes a 12-yard pass to Hankerson on the left sideline. No question Cousins should have started the second half.
4:18 Cousins cannot convert a fourth-and-14. The Seahawks blitzed and nailed Cousins as he was throwing. No chance for a Redskins comeback now.
4:21 The Seahawks will travel to Atlanta to play the Falcons next week. That’s a good matchup for Seattle. The Falcons play on turf, and the Seahawks are a much faster and explosie team on turf. Also, Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner match up well with the Faclons’ two best offensive weapons – Roddy White and Julio Jones.
4:23 Which two teams do you think will play in the NFC Championship game?
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