By fellow 12 Clinton Bonner
It brings me enormous pride to tell the Flock faithful and those coming to #3i3o for the very first time that our blog has picked up its first sponsorship and man oh man, it couldn’t have come at a more fitting time for our ‘Hawks. So without further adieu…
This Seahawks W was brought to us by the new and improved Sex Panther… Sex Panther, 75% of the time it works, every time!
I don’t know about you, but I had sauntered up to my kitchen during halftime feeling preeeeeeeeeeety good about things. Sure, I had a fresh made pizza and a side salad with those sweet, crunchy yellow peppers with blue cheese waiting for me, but the bravado boost I was bolstered by came from our ‘Hawks first 30 minutes of play and a 14 point lead that led me to believe, we’d cruise on to our 4th victory of the season.
It just turned out that ‘cruise’ was probably the wrong verb is all… Fight, claw, nearly perish, all would’ve been more accurate. In the end, the universe righted itself and because we won 75% of this game, we won 100% of that W on Sunday.
So, let’s look at some of the moments and movements that moseyed this seemingly easy-like Sunday, Sunday into something more akin to Sunday, Bloody Sunday.
IN – Godzilla, the Haitian Builder
One of the earliest nicknames handed out on 3 IN, 3 OUT was to Cliff Avril. We dubbed him Godzilla because he just ruins things for other teams. If he’s on your side, man ya love him because he literally saves your people, but if you need to go against Godzilla… good luck.
Avril is a wildly consistent player who has been extremely good his entire career spanning the Lions and of course with our ‘Hawks. With that consistency, comes these games where the man has his own Beast Mode switch turned on and he just can’t be stopped. I’ve said this before, but ask the 2013 Broncos about this, they’ll tell ya.
On Sunday, Avril was in full Godzilla mode early.
His first sack resulted in a Ryan fumble and McDaniel recovery around the 8, which quickly led to the ‘Hawks first points of the afternoon! The explosiveness around the end, the penchant for stripping the ball loose… let’s just say I can watch this all day!
#Seahawks Cliff Avril sets up his rush with speed, executes a dip & rip, “runs the hoop” & finishes w/ a strip/sack pic.twitter.com/IFyhi6MtRQ
— DLineVids (@DLineVids) October 16, 2016
He tallied his 2nd in the first half leading to some inspiring tweets referencing Avril’s plan to build a home in Haiti for every single sack he tallies this season!
Haiti is gonna look like downtown New York by the time @cliffavril has finished with Matt Ryan #3I3O
— Ross Bell (@RossBell1984) October 16, 2016
Cliff Avril vowed to build a house in Haiti for every sack. So the Seahawks and Haiti are winners right now.
— Keith Myers (@MyersNFL) October 16, 2016
In the 2nd half, after Bennett went out with a knee, it was plays from the likes of Avril, McDaniel, Reed, and Cassius that kept the Falcons mainly one-dimensional, which proved to be a big deal on Sunday. Nicely done Godzilla… now return to the ocean until next Sunday when we’ll need you in the desert to face the Phoenix!
OUT – Christine What the Catfish Were You Thinking!?
Wow, two firsts for 3 IN, 3 OUT in one post, as if the Sex Panther sponsorship wasn’t enough!!!
The second first is the fact that a boy named Christine ended up on both the OUT and the IN side of the ledger, all in the same game!!! A little further down the post, you’ll see why he deserved an IN… but man, this is kinda the issue with C-Mike! He simultaneously played a really good game AND made a few plays that had me screaming at my TV… Que lastima!
OK, so what did ‘the Human Dreidel’ – *credit to Keith Ketover for that beauty – do to deserve such a quantum conundrum?
On 2 separate occasions, C-Mike had clear, obvious, not even contested opportunities to reach the first down marker on non-3rd down plays, but somehow, for some unknown reason, seemingly chose to short circuit his own plays! For those with the ability to go back and look at the tape, ya gotta, you have to see this first one to believe it.
Q2 – Around the 7:30 mark, Michael catches a swing pass in stride with room to run and as if Magneto was summoning him towards the sideline, he angles himself out of bounds for an 8 yard gain BUT he still had 2 to 3 yards before he would have even been greeted by any Falcon!
I just couldn’t believe my eyes. Sure it was first down, but as Brandan and Adam teach us week in, week out, winning is better than losing… and in this case, earning 1st downs is better than settling for 2nd and short!
C-Mike just has this odd non-sense of knowing where he is on the field… and it drives me bananas!
In the quarter we shall never speak of, he did it again!!! With about 4:01 to go, this time on 3rd and 1, C-Mike gets the call and the ball in his belly and has room to simply just dart ahead for the MUCH needed first down. The left side of the line washed some players out and he just needed to hit the gas and get 1 stinking yard !!!
For some reason, he decides it’s a perfectly cromulent time to tip toe through the tulips, saunter sideways, and ultimately get stopped for no gain.
We punt. And the quarter we shall never speak of… well…
In one game, in one half, sometimes in one series I see a boy named Christine as a Pro-Bowler and a practice squad player. Maybe his new nickname needs to be Sam Beckett.
**Mid-Writing Update: Realizing the above did occur after Michael was taken out for concussion protocol procedures and came back in – so, gotta be fair and point that out.
IN – Wagz the Dog and Dancin’ Earl
It’s almost sacrilegious to lump both of their performances into one IN, but here’s why we need to.
Earlier this season we talked about how Earl’s big whiffs had cost the Seahawks numerous times and it’s already well documented that while 2014 Wagner was off the charts great, his 2015 was an OK year, and not great.
Wagner has been ridiculous all year, just ridiculous and Earl’s game on Sunday was absolute vintage Earl from 2013.
Wagner’s 14 tackles were a key reason that both Devonta and Tevin didn’t really factor in this game catching or receiving the ball. And though the Falcons had success with the 15+ yard timing routes – and boy did they at times! – the Seahawks took away almost every other part of their game. Watch that tape again and you’ll see #54 around the ball all game long.
On to Earl, this is simple. Any time he gets to do the “I Can’t Dance” Genesis dance, you know he’s just in that Area 29 state of mind.
Prayers up to Taylor Gabriel! #ATLvsSEA pic.twitter.com/gUxfIpwnbt
— The Sports Junky (@TheSportsJunky1) October 16, 2016
Then of course there was this … this is NOT an easy INT to corale:
EARL THOMAS WITH THE INT https://t.co/LlLwvbMwv8
— 360°FantasyFootball (@360FFB) October 16, 2016
Earl had his best game of the year and we have to consider with no Kam Chancellor out there, just how important he was to the Seahawks coming away the victor!
Keep dancin’ Earl.
OUT – Quarter 3: The Quarter We Shall Never Speak Of
IN – A Boy Named Christine!
Imagine if you will an incredibly impressive running back that only needs a smidgen of daylight to rip through the line with exceptional speed, gaining chunks of yards an average RB could only dream of!
Consider what we discussed above, put it aside for a moment, and revisit several of C-Mike’s runs during this game!
Like this one …
Well this time he had a huge hole but who doesn’t like watching Seahawks TDs!!!
His final stat line of 64 yards doesn’t really do his performance justice. Because the quarter we shall never speak of was so bad, we were behind in the 4th and the entire gameplan was over turned.
Re-watch that first half, he’s a huge reason we were up by 14 heading into halftime.
Nice work #32… John L. would be proud.
OUT – Tyler’s Quickness
Hey, we could be like every other pundit and talk about the bad snap from Mr. Frese, the blocked PAT and all the rest… but there is another element of our Special Teams that isn’t as good as last year, and that unfortunately is Tyler Lockett’s wheels.
This isn’t a throw mamma from the train blame game here, Lockett is dealing with a legit knee injury. This is being honest. At this stage in his career, without his ability to make super cuts and decisively hit small gaps on kickoffs and punt returns, Tyler ‘rhymes with rocket’ Lockett has been brought down to Earth and our Special Teams isn’t quite as good because of this.
He’s not some cagey Bartolo Colon-esque veteran who can find a new way to be wildly effective. Lockett needs his quickness, so let’s just hope by the 2nd half of the year, the knee is healed and he’s got it back.
Get in the Flock People!
One of the most fun things each gameday is the often witty banter going on during the games in the Sea Hawkers Ring of Honor page on Facebook. It’s for members of the flock who support the pod on Patreon.
If you dig the show, if you love the ‘Hawks, consider becoming a member, it really is a ton of fun.
1,2,3… What’s Next!?
To Kill a Mockingbird.
If we beat the Red Birds, the best they can be at their bye is 4 and 4. So… let’s make sure of it.
So, so, so, sooooo simple:
- Make Palmer feel like Elway in Super Bowl XLVIII – to do so, we’ll need Bennett healthy, Clark back in, and Godzilla to do his thing.
- Give EDB – Elite Doug Baldwin – the Lionel Richie treatment: All Night Long
- Hold David Johnson to under 77 yards on the ground
We do those things, we go to 5 – 1. So, let’s do those things.
Remember 12s, see something??? Say something on Twitter. Send @seahawkerspod a tweet during the game, tag it #3i3o, and it just might show up in next week’s 3 IN, 3 OUT… and that’s nice!!!
