Washington/Seattle---The Local Looks
In Seattle, a scare and then comfort in Todd Collins finally being Todd Collins. From the Seattle Post and columnist Art Thiel, drinking perhaps too much of the local Seahawk kool-aid:
"If any sports comparisons are valid, they have a little San Antonio Spurs about them. No championships yet, of course, but a quiet resolve that relies on teamwide efficiency instead of celebrating individuals. Sports fans know how little-embraced are the Spurs, despite embodying the virtues Americans are said to cherish. As with the Spurs, the Seahawks are reluctant honkers of the horn. Best of all for Seahawks fans was another tell-tale of a mature team: No big whoop in the locker room."
That's probably because they were damn lucky to win. And, in this Spurs/Seahawks analogy, I am having a tough time following who on the Seahawks is playing the role of Tim Duncan, but, hey, no hallucinations for me this morning, that might be where I am off.
In Washington, Michael Wilbon in the Post on the crucial 4th quarter meltdown:
"But the missed Suisham field goal changed everything. Coaches and players like to talk about "all three phases" of the game and how no one play should be identified as determining the outcome of a game. But even Collins called coming away without points "pivotal. We've got to convert that into points, especially in the playoffs. That was a big missed opportunity. We'd have been up 21-13." Kerney called it "the key momentum change" in the game: "I think that miss really fed us a great deal or energy and a great deal of emotion. From that point on, things went well and we just took control of the game." Seattle drove for one score, Collins started to play like a backup coaches would rather leave in mothballs for 10 years, Romo was off the hook and Destiny's Team was headed for the longest imaginable flight east. It's hard not to review the sequence and come to any conclusion other than the Redskins blew a wonderful chance at stealing a playoff game on the road."
Yeah, points there would have been huge. Steadier play from Collins later would have helped too. And some defensive stops. But sometimes when it comes unraveled, it does so all at once. Tough ending to the season for Washington.
