Oakland loses to Cleveland and falls to 2-4.

San Francisco loses to Seattle and falls to 2-4.

july said:

You're a Seattle fan too, right? It was a close game, but our guys came through.

Moonbeam said:

Paisley said:

Moonbeam said:

Paisley said:

I knew you'd answer this thread!

Moonbeam said:

Of course I'm going to, I see bay area football teams and I'm all over it.

Paisley said:

july said:

Paisley said:

THIS SHIT CRACKED ME UP






At least the Seahawks weren't that great, either

David Steele Monday, October 13, 2003

---




Seattle -- Here's your silver lining, 49ers fans. You know you need one, desperately. There are not many circumstances under which 2-4 is acceptable. Fortunately, the Seattle Seahawks provided you with a few on Sunday night.

Well, really just one: They're not that good. Not good enough to run away and hide. Not good enough to wrap up the NFC West by Thanksgiving. They might have been a mishandled extra-point snap away from a devastating loss, one that would have seriously tainted their fine start and would have pushed the 49ers -

almost against their will - into contention.

No, really -- contention. After snatching victory from the jaws of victory at Seahawks Stadium, the host team's players and coaches spent more time than they really wanted contemplating the difference between 4-1 and 3-2. "It's one game, if I do the math right,'' coach Mike Holmgren said in an attempt at humor that even he had to admit fell short.

Besides, he was doing regular math; football math would have been even harsher to the early division leaders. A loss would have put the 49ers, for all their feeble play earlier this season and for far too much of this game, at .500, and believe it or not, a half-game out of first place with plenty of time to close the gap. Now they're two-and-a-half back, and time seems a little shorter.

But with all the myriad ways the Seahawks experimented with losing a game they dominated for the first 27 minutes, two-and-a-half games could evaporate before either team knows it.

"I think we just like teasing people,'' said Shaun Alexander. "We're seeing if we can make them get really, really close and keep people around until the end, and we do it really, really well.''

Again with the jokes.

Problem is, that group of players gathered around Holmgren a minute or so into the fourth quarter didn't seem amused. Neither did Holmgren, unless laughter is what makes the veins pop out of his neck like that and turns his face lobster-red.

The occasion was the Seahawks' fifth personal foul of the game, second on that particular series and third in the previous four minutes. This one was on quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, of all people, when the supposed field general threw the ball at Andre Carter after he'd chased and caught him on third-and- 19. The penalty and ensuing punt set up the 49ers nicely for a shot at kicking the go-ahead field goal.

So Holmgren gathered the offensive team around him after the ensuing punt and made his feelings fairly clear about the knuckleheaded play that had brought them to the precipice of an embarrassing loss. Hits out of bounds, hits after whistles, trash talk, overreactions, along with the other blown opportunities to put the fading Niners away. Four of the five personal fouls, in fact, had a hand in 49ers scores, and this after a first half in which the 49ers couldn't have made it to the end zone escorted by a Secret Service motorcade.

"He wants us to play with emotion,'' Hasselbeck said of the steaming Holmgren, "but he doesn't want the emotions to get the better of us. He talks about having poise and composure. He had a lot to say, and we have a lot to work on.''

And not just the overheated play, either. Between the soft prevent defense that allowed the 49ers to get on the scoreboard late in the half, and the decision to run the second-half kickoff out of the end zone (only to the 13), and the ugly Hasselbeck interception late in the third, and the two missed chances for defensive backs to catch balls that Terrell Owens dropped, the Seahawks tried to give the game and their division edge away as much as the 49ers labored to take it.

With eight minutes to go, the big lead was gone; 12 plays after Hasselbeck's indiscretion and five plays after Ken Lucas failed to come up with an Owens drop inside the 15, Owen Pochman put the 49ers ahead for the first time all night, 19-17.

Give the Seahawks credit for reverting to form on both sides of the ball the final eight minutes and winning. But instead of truly burying the 49ers, the Seahawks gave them life, faint as it might be. "There are definitely no quitters on this team,'' pointed out Jeremy Newberry, "or we would have quit at the end of the first half.''

After a game like this, a gift the 49ers just weren't quite up to accepting, there's no reason to quit at all the rest of the year. Good for the 49ers. Good for the NFC West. Bad for the Seahawks, on whose very unstable head rests the crown.

See you SF folks in December for the rematch...
Dec 27 @San Francisco 5:00pm EST

last game of the regular season edit...
[This message was edited Mon Oct 13 13:54:30 PDT 2003 by july]

july said:

You won't get spoted 17 points next time.

00769BAD said:

WEll, that remains to be seen... On Saturday afternoon... In San Fran on Dec 27th...

last game of the regular season edit...
[This message was edited Mon Oct 13 13:54:58 PDT 2003 by july]

00769BAD said:

Nah, probably 31.

Go Browns!

kind of interesting that the Browns beat both of the bay area teams in a four-week span. Hopefully the Browns will use the Raiders game as a marker for a decent season.

The winless Chargers are next. ...

[w] http://www.berniesinsiders.com -- I do most of the grafix for the site ...
[This message was edited Mon Oct 13 12:58:26 PDT 2003 by a2grafix]

Damn I love football...

a2grafix said:

Awww... Shit... We got Shawn back...
Shawn Springs returns to active duty ahead of schedule.


We got Chicago next...
Oct 19 Chicago 4:15pm EST

1-4 Against... 4-1

a2grafix said:

See you in November in Seattle...
Nov 30 @Seattle 4:15pm EST

Against...