Lucky 13...

If you are like me, you had a chance to watch the great comeback by the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. By the time I got home, QB Russell Wilson was starting to do his magic trying to erase a 20-0 halftime deficit.

In the last few weeks, I only had a chance to watch highlights of the Seattle 11 because like a lot of people I have the Dish and no Channel 28. I did see some of the Sunday night game when they took out the 49ers in a rainy blowout but no other game until the one in Atlanta.

The one game I saw that really bothered me was the game in Miami that was lost very late. Like Sunday a stop needed to be made and the defense couldn’t do it. Honestly, the Seahawks really started playing well when Channel 28 went off the air. I listened to some of the blowout against Arizona and Buffalo and wondered if that had something to do with it.

The emergence of Russell Wilson as a bona fide professional has been a joy to see, when I could. I remember chatting with others as to when Coach Pete Carroll would allow the offense to open up with Wilson at the control. When they did, most of us and many in the national media, had an inkling that Seattle may be the team to beat in the playoffs.

A big part of Seattle’s problem on Sunday was the lack of pressure from their defensive line with the absence of Chris Clemons. Seattle’s sack leader injured his knee in the opening playoff game and without him Falcon QB Matt Ryan had more time to exploit the Seahawks downfield which really was evident on the two play drive to end the game.

Now I could easily point fingers at a play here or a missed opportunity there. I could scrutinize the play calling in a couple of instances but Seattle rallied to put themselves in a position to win a huge game on the road. I will let the Seahawk players and coaching staff take care of the scrutiny. It affected them more than it does me, and as a fan, I believe they know what to be disappointed with and leave it there. As close as they got this year this group should come back hungry to challenge for the big game next year. I can live with that.

Seattle has the first QB that I’ve really enjoyed watching since Jim Zorn. For those of you who don’t know this name, he was the very first Seahawk QB and even though Seattle had troubles earning wins in those early days, they were fun to watch much like the present team. The only thing different is the fact that Seattle has surrounded Russell Wilson with talent on both sides of the ball.

Wilson is not a running QB per se but a guy who can run, pass and get himself in a position to do great things and drive a defense up the wall. He is just what Seattle needs as a rallying point and what a great young man with quality leadership skills.

If you wonder why this column is titled “Lucky 13” you need only to look back to November 30 when the LRS Broncos picked up victory number 13 to win the 2B State Football Championship. A few weeks later the Eastern Washington University Eagles were knocked out in the semi-finals of the FCS playoffs. Had they won that game and the final they would have garnered 13 victories.

The Seattle Seahawks ended their season with 12 wins. Had they earned the elusive 13th victory on Sunday, who knows how much farther they could have gone. The one thing I do know is that LRS returns Dylan Hartz as their QB; Vernon Adams will lead the EWU Eagles and Russell Wilson will be the Seahawk signal caller. I like the chances that my three favorite teams will take into the next football season starting September of 2013 with these guys running the offense.