Life Behind Enemy Lines: Preseason week 4

Being born and raised in the inland northwest I have been surrounded by Seahawks fans all my life.  The local television stations always talk about “The Hawks” and of course most of my friends and even relatives are Seahawks fans.  Every so often I see a Rams hat or t-shirt in the local supermarket, but with the kind of football the Rams have played over the last few seasons those sightings have been few and far between.  Living in relative isolation can provide a different perspective, especially if that isolation is coupled with enemy propaganda.  I intend to make this a regular article about life as a Rams fan deep in Seahawks territory.  What the local media buzz is and what the fans are talking about.

Russell Wilson.  Not sure what the local media is talking about where you are reading this from, but here in the Inland Northwest a lot of airtime is being devoted to Russell Wilson.  After going 13/19 for 185 yards and 2 touchdowns and having two runs for 58 yards against the Chiefs Wilson has set the local sports world on fire.  Seahawks fans are absolutely giddy after reading the box score from the 3rd week of preseason.  Like all good fans it is difficult to temper the excitement and optimism of a performance like that, even if it is just the preseason.  His overall stat line for the preseason has been very good as well 35/52 for 464 yards, 5 touchdowns and only one interception.  A very impressive showing for the 3rd rounder out of Wisconsin.  Preseason box scores are usually incredibly misleading, and while I think Wilson deserves some praise for his play perhaps it has been blown out of proportion a tad.  In the preseason defenses typically run a very basic or vanilla scheme, doing very little to no blitzing and almost never trying to disguise coverages.  These are the things that will typically affect the average rookie quarterback, adjusting to the speed and complexity of the NFL is no easy task and I wouldn’t expect Wilson’s statistics to be as impressive once the games start to count.

Robert Turbin.  While perhaps the local media and fans aren’t spending a lot of time discussing Robert Turbin they should be.  Watching Turbin play in college at Utah State I recognized early he would fill a role for an NFL team as a power back, perhaps as part of a two back system.  His performance against the Chief’s showed that he should be an adequate backup to Marshawn Lynch or a viable replacement in the even Lynch’s off field issues garner a suspension or he ends up injured for any amount of time.  Turbin ran the ball 14 times for 93 yards against the Chiefs, he runs hard and refuses to go down which is the type of running that Pete Carroll has built his team around.

Almost every Seahawks fan I have talked to believes their team is going to the playoffs this year, and some even believe they will take the NFC West.  I personally believe there is too much talent and quality coaching down by the Bay, but the Seahawks just may compete for a playoff spot if the promising young players on their roster develop quickly.  Of course that statement could be said for just about every other team in the NFL that missed the playoffs last year.  If the Rams have 60% of their draft picks develop into quality contributors before the bye week they could be thinking playoffs too.  Probably not a very realistic expectation, but one thing Seahawks and Rams fans have in common is that we are all fans, and as fans we are allowed to dream.

Go Rams!!!