What's Going On At Field Gulls Before The Seahawks Play The Cowboys

Seattle is a city whose citizens have a reputation for being a little offbeat and quirky, who do things a bit differently, but with a certain style and a good bit of fun. Given that, their SBN franchise Field Gulls is perhaps the perfect sports blog for the town. (Just look at their slogan: "The stupidest name in smart football analysis.")

The articles at Field Gulls are well written, include real honest to goodness research, and often made me laugh. Plus the people on the site are just remarkably nice. And they are stunningly honest in assessing the state of the Seahawks, who come into the game with a 2-5 record and bunches of issues. Yet they do so without bitterness or anger. Some of their articles might not be everyone's cup of premium roast coffee, but I thoroughly enjoyed putting this post together.

One thing to brace yourself for: You might just see mention of or an image or two of a certain fumbled snap on a field goal try that will likely be rather upsetting to you.

Decide for yourself after the jump.

But even in talking about the failed field goal, they have a bit of perspective that is lacking in, say, another site that will remain nameless but that also has green in its uniforms and a feathered mascot. In a Thoughts Before the Game post, they make this observation about the moment all Cowboys fans want to forget:

We don't play the Cowboys often, and the last two times we met they blew us out.  None of us will ever forget the playoff game, but that was almost five years ago.  It's irrelevant to this team, of which hardly any of those players are still around.  

Hmm. Maybe we can learn a thing or two about dealing with the now and not the past, too. But there is a lot in this article. It brings some some interesting things about the matchup. This, I thought, was a very inventive take:

There's a Chance the Seahawks Will Win 18-16

Just an odd anomaly on the Cowboys scores this season: 

They lost in week one to the Jets by a score of 24-27 and then beat the 49ers the following week by the inverse score: 27-24.

They beat the Rams in week 7 by a score of 34-7, and then lost the following week to the Eagles by the inverse score: 7-34.

So if my powers of deduction are correct, if you look at the Cowboys week three win over the Redskins by a score of 18-16 following their inverse win over the 49ers, then they'll lose this week by the inverse score.

Science.

The rest of it is worth a read, if for no other reason than to read someone else give Jason Witten his due.

One exception to being a substantial read is a little piece called Post Your Hawk, which is both a FanPost promoted to the front page and an ongoing prediction contest. The comments are interesting, because it seems most (although not all) of the 'Hawks fans think Dallas is going to win, but I had to pull this quote (about how he expects the Cowboys to deal with Seattle):

Yikes, this is going to be a stompling (stomple = stomp + trample).

How can you not like someone who comes up with that?

And I really like a well thought out, nicely researched analysis. If you are not aware, there is a quarterback issue for the Seahawks. Tarvaris Jackson is the current starter, and the general consensus is that his is not the quarterback of the future. With a bad start to the season, there is a faction in Seattle that likes the Suck for Luck approach (although the Colts and Dolphins do seem to have an insurmountable lead there). But in Thinking Dynasty? It Goes Further Than Quarterback, one of the writers goes back to the old saw that offense may win games, but, well, you know the rest.

Dynasties in this modern era from 1980-2011 have a tough defense every single one of them. Be it the Cowboys or 49ers, Redskins and even the Patriots, all have featured defenses that made plays and offenses that were disciplined and less than flashy.

Yeah, I am a sucker for anyone who says good things about my 'Boys, but the article uses good logic and stats to support the case.

An aspect of the Seahawks that they have in common with the Cowboys is that they have gone with a serious youth movement on the offensive line. They seem to be having even more problems than Dallas is. One Side of the Line: The Intimate Details of the 'Hawks OL takes a look at the personal (like age, height, and especially weight) info on their big uglies. It is interesting because you can make some comparisons with what they are dealing with (which includes a poorly performing McQuistan, Pat's twin brother Paul). It is entertaining because of stuff like this:

The average weight of the nine on the active roster is 315.  Our buddy LJP is the lightest of the group at "only" 301.  I wonder if he gets made fun of?  Imagine jokes among offensive linemen.  We laugh at fat people (wait, you don't?  Oops.), but they probably get a kick out of the skinny guy on the block and kick him and make him their bitch.  "You don't want to take my uniform to the laundry basket?  Really?  Really.  Ok yeah, that's what I thought.  Skinny ass punk."

You can also read some of their articles just to get some scouting info on their team, like Assessing the Awfense. I suppose the spelling in the title kinda gives the bottom line away, but just like everywhere else, the writer is someone after my own heart.

You want to be a "run-first" team, so what do you do? Well, first, you run. Second, you fall behind because you can't run. Third, you pass. Fourth, you still lose because your quarterback is average and your line is not yet performing. Fifth, you run a draw on 3rd and 16 that nets you 8 yards so you can feel a little better about the rushing statistics if nothing else. Sixth, you lose.

Now, I have offered a lot of praise to the Field Gulls writers for the self depreciating humor they use. But just to show that they are capable of using some wicked wit to talk about the other guys, I offer you Eight Simple Things About Tony Romo. If you can lighten up a bit and appreciate a good laugh at the expense of one of your own, this is an outstanding read. Please don't go off, as apparently the Giants fan base did when the author dared to write the same kind of article about Eli Manning (this is another series). The article does have some info about Tony you might not be aware of, and to me it totally redeemed itself with this section:

Tony Romo's Name Rhymes with a Derogatory Word, and I Thank You Not To Use It

You're better than that.  We're better than that.  

I'm proud of this blog and the people who comment here.  Let's not lowest-common-denominator a player who has so much more to make fun of.  Be clever.  If your only insult to Romo is that his name rhymes with that word, then the terrorists win. 

If you want to make fun of his name, try something different.

It goes on to list some alternatives ranging from mildly amusing to LOL funny (check out BOMO).

I have to say, this was one of the most fun posts I have done. I want to thank the writers at Field Gulls for some truly tasty reading, and for being really great sports.

(If you didn't click the Eli Manning link, you really need to.)