In defense of conservative play calling..

[CamMoon]

On average an NFL teams will see the ball about 10-14 times a game. Since it was already halftime at best the Seahawks could have hoped for 7 more chances to score, barring turnovers or anything of that nature. The problem with being aggressive is that if you do turn the ball over, especially in your own territory the game is lengthened. Quick scores are killers when trying to maintain a lead so playing it safe was the best option. So, giving 10 yard cushions isn't a bad idea since time will continue to run off of the clock. There was literally no way for Seattle to come back unless we turned the ball over or they got a quick score.

[chknwing]

that sounds awesome and all but they were 1 onside kick away from potentially winning

[CamMoon]

Wouldn't have  case had the offense executed. There was several tipped balls at the line that shortened our drives.

[Donald LaFell]

we played like poo in the 2nd half and the Seahawks did what they wanted. If the Seahawks were up on us 31-0 I guarantee we would not have made a game out of it.

[Harbingers]

13 minutes ago, chknwing said:

that sounds awesome and all but they were 1 onside kick away from potentially winning

You really didn't trust TD to let that happen? Come on man.

[IMON KRAQUE]

I'm 100% confident that our guys are 110% confident they can win next week

[Achilles]

It is nearly impossible to hold on to a big lead for an entire 30 minutes of football against a team like Seattle.  We did it once all season (home against  ATL).  That being said, basically Russell Wilson just made some sick throws under duress and they mounted a comeback.

The conservative play calling is definitely designed to not give up the big play and to run out the clock.  It worked.  We won.  It wasn't pretty, but the coaches did enough.  The players did enough.  One thing that may go overlooked:  We never trailed in that game.

The biggest problem was that our offense didn't really sustain much.  If we could have scored even 2 FGs in that entire half, the game would have been out of reach.  Not enough first downs.  That was a problem that put all the pressure on the defense to hold a huge lead with tons of time.  However, and this is huge:  We did not turn the ball over!

Everyone complains about the pattern of the Indy, GB, and NYG games.  It was the same today.  Point is: We won all of them.  4-0 in games that go like this one.

In the end we did enough things right to win the game.  That was Rivera's line.  I think he's exactly right.

Arizona is a team that can score fast and often and score 24 points in a half, so...

Would you rather have a close game that goes down to the wire?

Or

Have one team get out to a big lead only to have the game come down to an onside kick?

Either way it's the NFL.  You win the game, you go on to the next round.

We are on to the next round.  Doesn't matter how.

[pantherclaw]

34 minutes ago, chknwing said:

that sounds awesome and all but they were 1 onside kick away from potentially winning

Get over it already.

[teeray]

The final score was also a pretty good defense of it.  We won.

[chknwing]

24 minutes ago, pantherclaw said:

Get over it already.

get over what? Ohhhh you mean the we won thing.  No poo.  And no one was even talking about that.  I made a comment on his post, not the game.  He was pointing out that Seattle wouldn't have had enough time/possessions to comeback. which isnt true.

[KSpan]

29 minutes ago, pantherclaw said:

Get over it already.

But he's right. From a 31 point lead to a single-possession game hinging on an onside kick is silly when a team doesn't score a single point for an entire half in the playoffs. No one is saying Carolina should have gone for 60, but a minimum of a field goal changes everything. 

That said, a win is a win. If Seattle had recovered, however...

[pantherclaw]

I'm not disagreeing. The offense could have helped out defense out, and they should have. 

 

I'm not going to dwell on it. This team will do what it takes to win the game/games.

[Anybodyhome]

The only thing missing that kept me from believing I was suffering from a degenerative memory condition was a 3rd and 7 draw play. 

Other than that, it looked like John Fox and Dan Henning were making guest appearances as second half coaches. 

And say all you want along the lines of, "I knew we had it all along," or, "There was never any doubt." Yeah okay, but there were 70,000 plus in that stadium yesterday who were dead silent for the last 25 minutes of that game who weren't convinced.  

[firefox1234]

Poor execution on offense than a poor gameplan in my opinion...