Wow! What a Game...Thrilling Wilson Led Seahawk Comeback Falls Just Short...by Mark Arnold

        Wow! What a game! You can watch football for a longtime and not see again what you saw today. 

        This was a game that lends itself to "What Ifs...?" 

        What if the Seahawks got even a field goal out of their red zone trips in the first half?

        What if the Seahawks got any kind of pass rush at all? No sacks on Ryan and Bruce Irvin a complete non factor. Was he even in the game?

        What if Chris Clemons (Hawks top pass rusher) does not tear up his knee on that terrible excuse for a field in last week's game against Washington?

        What if the Seahawks played that final Falcon drive with a tight man to man defense in the secondary instead of a soft "bend but don't break" zone?

        What if Pete Carroll doesn't call that ill advised time out to try and ice the Falcon kicker at the end of the game? (You will recall his first kick was wide right.)

         With a little more thought I could come up with a thousand more "what ifs...?" We all could. But as Seahawk fans don't let that overshadow or diminish what you saw transpire today on the artificial turf in Atlanta, Georgia... and that is one of the great comebacks in NFL post season history. To be down by 20 with less than 3 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter and to come back and actually take the lead with 35 seconds left, on the road in a hostile stadium...was one of the most thrilling things I have witnessed on a football field in a long time. 

        And what can you say about Russell Wilson? His performance was something to behold. The sheer will to win combined with the athleticism and skill to translate that will to effective action on the field...it was absolutely aesthetic and as good as any of the greats I have ever seen...and I have seen almost all of them.

        All that said, there is something I learned in sports a long time ago...the team that should have won did...and that team was the Atlanta Falcons. All those "What ifs...?" cut both ways and today there were just a few less of them for the Falcons than the Hawks. But keep your chin up Hawk fans. What you have seen this season is just the beginning of a ride that within a year or two will have us in the Super Bowl.

        And congratulations to the Atlanta Falcons. Good luck on the upcoming NFC championship game against the 49ers. From the way the 9ers dismantled the Packers in their playoff game yesterday the Falcons will need all the luck they can get.

Copyright © 2013

By Mark Arnold

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