Click here to see all recaps on a single page
| Other Week 19 Game Recaps | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JAX at NE | NYG at DAL | SD at IND | SEA at GB | ||||
Week 19 Game Recap: Seattle Seahawks 20, Green Bay Packers 42
What you need to know
| Seattle Seahawks |
On a snow covered field, Matt Hasselbeck threw for 194 yards and a touchdown, while completing 19 of his 33 passes. Tight end Marcus Pollard dropped what would have been an easy touchdown in the third quarter, and the Seahawks receivers had a total of six drops in the game, not helping Hasselbeck's cause.
Shaun Alexander carried the load again for the Seahawks, but with Green Bay pulling ahead in the second quarter, the running game was mainly abandoned. At one point in the first half the announcers indicated that Alexander was "running well", but at that point in the game he had carried the ball five times for nine yards. This is no where near the MVP runner of 2005. Backup Maurice Morris looked no better, and in a strange move by the team they chose not to utilize Leonard Weaver until the game had already been decided, late in the game.
Bobby Engram led the team in receptions with six, and yards with 67, plus accounted for Matt Hasselbeck's lone passing touchdown of the game; an 11 yard catch in triple coverage. Hasselbeck has a lot of confidence in the veteran Engram, but he did unexpectedly drop two of the passes thrown his way.
| Green Bay Packers |
Ryan Grant was the big story in this one, running for 201 yards on 27 carries, while putting up scores on three separate drives. Grant had four carries of 26 or more yards, and apparently made the right footwear choice, as he looked a step faster than anyone else on the field. Grant made it interesting though, fumbling on the Packers first two drives of the game, both times setting up the Seahawks in the redzone. Even with a 14-0 lead, the Seahawks could not stop the run. Despite the fumbles, they stuck with Grant and he carried their way to a victory. Brandon Jackson got some late game work, and also looked effective, but there's no doubt who the teams workhorse back is at this time.
Brett Favre was highly efficient when he did throw, he just didn't have to all that often. Favre completed 18 of his 23 passes for 173 yards, and three touchdowns. You got the feeling that he could have had a lot of success through the air, even in adverse conditions. But with the running game working as well as it did, there was no need to air it out.
Greg Jennings got the Packers on the board with a 15 yard touchdown in the first quarter to bring the game to within 14-7. After a Ryan Grant touchdown tied the game, one drive later Jennings put them in the lead for good with his second touchdown of the game; a two yard play in the second quarter. Jennings caught six passes for 71 yards to go with those scores, and seems to have solidified himself as Brett Favre's go to receiver.
What you ought to know
| QB Matt Hasselbeck, Pass: 19 - 33 - 194 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 2 - -1 - 0 |
Matt Hasselbeck completed 19 of 33 passes for 194 yards, and one touchdown with no turnovers. Considering the weather conditions got out of hand, and the Seahawks running game provided little support, this was a good effort by Hasselbeck. His receivers did not do him any favors, most notably Bobby Engram and Marcus Pollard who each had two drops. One of Pollard's would have been an easy touchdown, and the Seahawks had to eventually settle for a fieldgoal on the drive.
| RB Shaun Alexander, Rush: 9 - 20 - 1, Rec: 2 - 13 - 0 (2 targets) |
Shaun Alexander carried the ball nine times for 20 yards, while scoring a one yard touchdown in the first quarter, when a Ryan Grant fumble setup the Seahawks in the redzone. He started the game, and got a majority of the teams carries, but when the Seahawks got down mid way through the second quarter, the running game was mainly abandoned. Alexander again went down easy, and displayed very few broken tackles throughout the game. He caught both of his targets for 13 yards.
| RB Leonard Weaver, Rush: 4 - 10 - 0 (1 targets) |
Leonard Weaver again starting as the fullback, carried the ball four times for ten yards. Despite showing the explosive ability that fellow running backs Shaun Alexander and Maurice Morris have failed to in recent weeks, the Seahawks did not make an effort to get the ball in Weaver's hands until the very end of the game.
| RB Maurice Morris, Rush: 3 - -1 - 0 (1 targets) |
Morris carried the ball three times for negative one yards. He had an eight yard carry nullified by an offensive holding penalty in the first quarter, but the Seahawks did not use the running game much once the Packers took the lead. He spelled started Shaun Alexander on occasion, but did not appear to be a large part of the gameplan. He received one target.
| WR Bobby Engram, Rec: 6 - 67 - 1 (10 targets) |
Bobby Engram played in the slot, and again was Matt Hasselbeck's favorite target, garnering six receptions, 67 yards, and a touchdown on ten targets. On the 11 yard touchdown, Hasselbeck threw into triple coverage, but Engram still came down with the ball in traffic to put the Seahawks up 14-0 with only four minutes gone in the game. Uncharacteristic of Engram were two drops, both in the second half with the snow falling down heavily.
| WR Nate Burleson, Rec: 4 - 33 - 0 (8 targets) |
Nate Burleson surprisingly started along side Deion Branch in a two receiver set, and caught four receptions for 33 yards on eight targets in the game. Burleson's biggest play of the game came when he caught a ball for a first down along the right side, and broke a few tackles for a 22 yard gain. Otherwise he was fairly quiet, despite the Seahawks in passing mode for much of the game.
| WR D.J. Hackett, Rec: 2 - 15 - 0 (3 targets) |
Hackett coming off an impressive performance in the Wild Card round, only caught two passes for 15 yards, with three targets. Even with Deion Branch getting injured very early in the game, and the Seahawks in passing mode throughout, Matt Hasselbeck did not look Hackett's way very often.
| WR Deion Branch |
Inactive the past two games with a calf injury, Deion Branch was able to start the game in a two receiver set, but only two and a half minutes into the game went down on a player where it appeared Branch twisted his knee. He hobbled off after a moment, but did not return. It was suspected that it could have been a serious knee injury.
| TE Marcus Pollard, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (4 targets) |
It was not a pretty game for Marcus Pollard. On the first play of the second quarter, Pollard's only reception of the game came on a short pass down the right side for three yards, where he fumbled the ball and the Packers recovered, setting them up in the redzone. They would eventually convert with a Greg Jennings touchdown, giving them a 21-14 lead that they would not relinquish. Pollard was also highlighted on a play in the third quarter where Matt Hasselbeck found him open in the right corner of the endzone, but Pollard let the ball go through his hands for the incompletion. The Seahawks would eventually have to settle for a field goal. If that wasn't bad enough, in the fourth quarter with the Seahawks moving down the field, on fourth and ten Hasselbeck hit Pollard over the middle for what would have been a 20 yard gain and first down. Pollard again let it go through his fingers, capping off a dreadful effort.
| PK Josh Brown 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points |
Josh Brown converted on both of his kicks from 29 and 27 respectively, while hitting both of his extra point attempts.
| SEA Rush Defense |
Terrible. The Packers as a team ran 35 times for 235 yards, for a 6.7 yards per carry average. Given that the Seahawks played so well against the Redskins last week, this was an especially disappointing effort. Ryan Grant tore them up for numerous long gains, on the way to a 201 yard, three touchdown performance. When Brandon Jackson entered the game in Grant's place, he also looked highly effective. The Seahawks simply could not contain Grant though, and he is the biggest reason they didn't hold on to their 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
| SEA Pass Defense |
The Packers did not have to pass frequently, as the Seahawks gave up 235 yards on the ground. That said, when Favre did pass, it was with success. He completed 78 percent of his 23 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns. Greg Jennings gave the Seahawk corners trouble, accounting for two of those scores. With the game in hand, the Packers went to the running game to take them home from early in the third quarter on. There was one sack on Favre, but otherwise the pressure up front was dismal.
| QB Brett Favre, Pass: 18 - 23 - 173 - 3 TD / 0 INT |
Brett Favre completed 18 of 23 passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns. With Ryan Grant seemingly unstoppable, the Packers did not ask Favre to air it out much in the second half. Favre found Greg Jennings for two of his touchdowns, and definitely seems to favor the second yard wide out around the end zone. Favre's most impressive play came in the second half where he eluded the pass rush and scrambled outside the pocket. He began to stumble and as he was about to go down threw and under handed pass to Donald Lee, that went for an 11 yard gain and first down, setting up the Packers in the red zone.
| RB Ryan Grant, Rush: 27 - 201 - 3, Rec: 2 - 6 - 0 (2 targets) |
Ryan Grant carried the ball 27 times for an amazing 201 yards and three touchdowns, despite the snow covered field clearly making footing difficult. Grant had four separate carries of 26 or more yards, and was hitting the holes with great explosiveness. The Seahawks had no answer for him, and as the Packers took control they kept feeding him the ball to ice away the game in the second half. Despite two costly first quarter fumbles that allowed the Seahawks a 14-0 lead, they stuck with him as their workhorse, and he certainly rewarded them for that choice. He caught both of his targets for six yards.
| RB Brandon Jackson, Rush: 8 - 34 - 0, Rec: 1 - 13 - 1 (1 targets) |
With Ryan Grant running all over the Seahawks, Brandon Jackson only had two carries through three quarters. He ended up with eight total carries for 34 yards, and looked effective in place of Grant. He had a long carry of 18, and another impressive one of ten in the fourth quarter where he dragged a defender a number of yards to barely get the first down. Jackson's only reception of the game came in the third quarter, when Brett Favre found him short on the right side, and Jackson took it in for a 13 yard touchdown.
| WR Greg Jennings, Rec: 6 - 71 - 2 (8 targets) |
Greg Jennings caught six passes for 71 yards, and two touchdowns on eight targets from Brett Favre. Jennings started the Packers scoring when he beat single coverage down the left side, and Favre got it to him for the 15 yard score. After a Ryan Grant touchdown tied the game, Favre again hit Jennings for a two yard touchdown in the early second quarter to take the lead. The Packers were not forced to pass the ball often, but when they did it seemed as though Favre favors Jennings for big plays, and around the end zone.
| WR James Jones, Rec: 3 - 42 - 0 (4 targets) |
James Jones played the slot in three receiver sets, and caught three passes for 42 yards on four targets. Jones had a big gain of 31 yards in the first quarter, where Favre found him short over the middle and he ran for an additional 25 yards after the catch. He was not used near as much once the Packers got into running mode, as they preferred the double tight end formation.
| WR Donald Driver, Rec: 3 - 18 - 0 (4 targets) |
Per usual, Driver started opposite Greg Jennings. He caught only three passes for 18 yards, on four targets. As a whole, Brett Favre and the passing game took a backseat to Ryan Grant, though it certainly seemed as if Favre's go to guy is now Greg Jennings.
| WR Koren Robinson |
Koren Robinson played occasionally as a fourth receiver, but did not earn any receiving targets. As usual he played on special teams as a kick returner, but the Seahawks shied away from kicking directly to him.
| TE Donald Lee, Rec: 2 - 16 - 0 (3 targets) |
Donald Lee caught two passes for 16 yards on three targets. The Packers had a lot of success on the ground with Ryan Grant, so Lee mainly stayed in the pocket to block for the running game.
| PK Mason Crosby 0 - 0 FG, 6 - 6 XP, 6 points |
Crosby converted all of his six extra point attempts, and did not need to attempt any field goals.
| GB Rush Defense |
The Seahawks carried the ball 18 times for 28 yards, an embarrassing 1.8 yards per carry. Though Seattle has had little success on the ground for much of the year, this was still a really strong effort by the Packers front seven. There weren't any obvious running lanes for Alexander and company to go through, and they did a good job wrapping up the ball carrier.
| GB Pass Defense |
Matt Hasselbeck completed 58 percent of his 33 attempts, for 194 yards and one touchdown. The only Seattle touchdowns of the game came after Ryan Grant fumbles set up the Seahawks offense in the redzone. This unit did an adequate job pressuring Hasselbeck, even though it didn't appear they blitzed him very often. There were a few missed tackles in the secondary that allowed long gains, but otherwise they did not allow the big play or any Seahawk receivers to get in behind them. DJ Hackett was notably non existent after a large game last week in the Wild Card round. They sacked Hasselbeck twice.
