The Seattle Seahawks were absolutely perfect 鈥� with flaws, naturally. That's what perfection is in professional sports. It's not the Mona Lisa or David, but it's a work of art nonetheless.
Three points isn't normally perfection, nor is a (relatively) pedestrian 142 yards passing from Russell Wilson. may have had two touchdowns, but he rarely bowled over anyone. The Seahawks waited for their chances, and they leaned heavily on their defence to shut the lid tight on a stifling first half.
It was like they were waiting... waiting for that San Francisco storm that would never come. The final result? 29-3 Seattle, with no time for questions.
Many would have watched Sunday night's destruction of the reigning NFC Champion 49ers and said, quite stupidly, that San Fran just wasn't the team they thought they were.
Of course, the Seahawks saw their flop and slapped them out of their seat. On this night 鈥� in front of that Seattle crowd 鈥� San Francisco just didn't belong in the same division. Heck, they didn't belong in the same time zone.
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Frank Gore was stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey, finishing his night with 16 yards on nine carries. Colin Kaepernick did run for 87 total yards, but does anyone remember any of them? Instead, his three interceptions 鈥� all at crucial moments, with the last one the acting nail in the coffin 鈥� are the only visual we'll have of him.
Most impressive, perhaps, was Seattle's annihilation of the threat posed by Niners receiver Anquan Boldin, who had 208 yards last week in a victory over the Green Bay Packers 鈥� just this afternoon.
On Sunday night, Boldin was held to one catch and seven yards. So, zip of anything. Credit goes to Richard Sherman, who added an interception in the second half while the Seahawks were rolling to an increasingly easy 鈥� and all the more convincing 鈥� NFC West win.
And yet, while you could consider Seattle's performance a domination, the win was rather essential to their season-long survival. The 49ers and the Seahawks are lumped together in the West, and only one team can clinch the crown or the buy.
Seattle's home record 鈥� now 9-0 stretching back to the beginning of last season 鈥� is as important to their playoff seeding as anything else they have going for them, and a loss to San Fran tonight would have left them scrambling to win every contestable contest for the rest of Twenty-Thirteen.
In other words, they would have lost control of their destiny.
But, by process of elimination, Seattle became the best team in the NFL for at least one week. For September, that's worth celebrating.
