THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Adams might be even better than advertised
NOTE: If anyone has seen or found Sammie the World’s Greatest Cat, please get in touch with me.
Sammie screamed and leaped out of our third-story window on Sunday, right after Fox color analyst Mark Schlereth called the venue in Atlanta a FOOTBALL field for the thousandth time in just over two hours.
Sammie obviously never thought the game was baseball or hockey — and I’m afraid she couldn’t handle having her intelligence insulted.
Please come home, SWGC, and I promise we’ll always watch these games on “Mute” from now on!
SO, YEAH…
Russ cooked.
And Jamal Adams did the serving with notable violence.
Woo, boy, there will be howls of excitement from a huge segment of Seahawks fans after Pete Carroll’s run-until-your-ears-hurt philosophy was temporarily shelved Sunday afternoon.
It wasn’t simply that running backs Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde were being stuffed, either.
Nope, maybe gaining wisdom at age 69, Pete Carroll decided that allowing Russell Wilson to perform open-heart surgery on the hapless Atlanta pass defense was just a swell idea, after all.
After a couple of early sacks, Russ obliged by connecting on 31 of 35 throws for four touchdowns, 322 yards and no picks (of course), as the Hawks dismantled Atlanta 38-25 with a second-half barrage.
WILSON finished with a QB rating of 143.1, which under the NFL’s bizarre computing system, is roughly higher than the national debt.
Russ delivered the dagger with just under 10 minutes left in the third quarter — a stunningly perfect 38-yard TD strike to DK Metcalf on fourth-and-5.
The Hawks had been leading just 14-12 at the time, and somehow, you just knew that throw would take the air out of the Falcons.
And sure enough, the Seahawks just slapped Atlanta around after that — despite rushing for a total of only 84 yards, and running 59 plays to 77 for the Falcons.
Score one for those “Let Russ Cook” junkies!
In fact, Wilson was the Seahawks' leading rusher with a whopping 29 yards — rumbling for 28 of them on one gorgeous option play, on which the entire population of Georgia was certain Tyler Lockett would get a pitchout.
Meanwhile, Russ tortured the Falcons with a dizzying array of short stuff to wide-open receivers.
Two of his TD throws were to Carson and another was a red-zone fastball to new tight end Greg Olson.
IT MUST be depressing for defenses to grasp that Wilson knows where you’ll be better than you do.
He’s like a poker player who can see your cards.
Meanwhile…
Wilson’s brilliance is almost taken for granted — although the serious early cooking was new — but I think most Hawks partisans were really anxious to see how the revamped defense would hold up against a Falcons gang that has some serious weapons.
Answer…
Just fine.
Sure, Matt Ryan pitched for 450 yards, but a lot of that came in garbage time after the Hawks had run off to a 20-point lead.
Seattle amazingly held up on four — count ‘em, four — short fourth-down plays, including a fake punt that might have worked if Marquise Blair hadn’t driven his helmet right through the football to cause a fumble.
There was even a pass rush when it mattered, as Benson Mayowa and Adams each got a sack and L.J. Collier forced Ryan into an intentional grounding call.
AS FOR Adams, the lad Seattle spent two first-round draft picks (and Bradley McDougald) to acquire from the Jets…
I’d say they underpaid.
Adams was everywhere — making that sack and chasing Ryan around, executing sure tackles in space, getting in on pass coverage.
He was a monster, and looks like he can create havoc every week.
Just how teams will game-plan to avoid this guy, I have no idea.
Maybe Adams’ coolest play came right at the end, when Ryan heaved a Hail Mary in hopes of keeping the matter in doubt throughout the final seconds.’
Fellow safety Quandre Diggs went up to intercept the pass in a crowd, and as Diggs came down, Adams wrapped his arms around Quandre to make sure the ball didn’t pop free.
It seems impossible, given the hype — but Adams actually looks even better than advertised.
The big question coming into Sunday was whether the Seahawks could be better than last year (11 wins, lost in the playoff divisional round).
There will be tougher tests than the Falcons, for sure, but…
Russ is Russ, and…
Jamal Adams?
Wowza!
Email: scameron@cdapress.com
Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “Moments, Memories and Madness,” his reminiscences from several decades as a sports journalist, runs each Sunday.
Steve also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball, once per month during the offseason.