SZ644

BY JIM DAWSON

NOVEMBER 14, 2016

SEAHAWKS FLY OVER PATRIOTS AT GILLETTE 31-24

There were ominous signs that this would not be the Patriots night when their defense allowed Seattle to go 75 yards in 59 seconds to take a lead (19-14) into the half. I remarked that the Seahawks had won the 1^st half and that the Pats needed to win the 2^nd. They didn’t.

The Patriot pass defense was deplorable. Scott Zolak talked about how the Pats switched from zone coverage to man-to-man. Neither worked. Seahawk receivers were wide open all night. At times Russell Wilson just lobbed the ball to a receiver who had no one near him. Even Malcolm Butler was beaten in the corner of the end zone by Doug Baldwin.

Russell Wilson has had ankle and knee problems as well as a pectoral muscle issue. So he wasn’t about to take off running much (3 for 6 yards). The Pats never mounted a sustained pass rush on him even though they had sacks from Ninkovich (1^st of the year) and Trey Flowers, who had 2 (also 2 vs Bills). While there will be talk about the absence of LB Jamie Collins hurting the D, you can’t blame the loss on just his trade. This was a complete breakdown.

The Pats aided and abetted the enemy with two turnovers. Tom Brady had a chance to tie Cleveland Browns QB Milt Plum’s record of no interceptions in the first 9 games at the start of a season (a team effort since Garoppolo and Brissett started the first 4 games). He threw a terrible interception in the 2^nd quarter while on the run which ended that streak. Later Julian Edelman had a costly fumble at the Seattle 38. Richard Sherman returned it to the Pats 48, and it resulted in a TD and 31-24 Seattle lead. The Pats’ Cyrus Jones fumbled after a 43-yard kickoff return. Fortunately it was recovered by Nate Ebner. Jones had just gotten out of Bill Belichick’s doghouse for getting kicked out of a game, and fumbling on punt returns. However with the struggles of CBs to cover receivers, Jones still could help out. You’ll probably see someone else on kickoffs and punts (Amendola maybe).

Seattle’s defense is a hard hitting group who play the whole game. However Kam Chancellor tried to take out Tom Brady by targeting Brady’s right knee when the QB had to escape the pass rush. Brady could be seen limping after that. The injury would come back to haunt them at the end of the game when the Pats had a chance to tie the game. Despite what Chancellor said after the game, the hit appeared to be a cheap shot.

Thanks to another head scratching coaching decision by Pete Carroll (I think you recall the first), Seattle, after scoring a TD to go up by 31-24 elected to go for two points. Had they just kicked the extra point, the Pats would have needed a TD and then a 2-point play, no easy thing, especially against Seattle’s defense. When Seattle’s 2-point attempt failed, the Pats needed to just score a TD and kick the extra point for a tie.

That scenario seemed ready to play out at the end of the game after a great 26-yard catch by Gronk which got the Pats to Seattle’s 2. It appeared that the Pats wanted to score but were taking time off the clock so Seattle couldn’t come back in regulation. McDaniels let Brady sneak for a yard. After LeGarrette Blount (3 rushing TDs on the night) dove over the pile (no gain they said), Josh McDaniels made a bad decision. He had Brady try to score on a QB sneak on 3^rd down (Brady fumbled it). McDaniels should have stayed with Blount since Brady had the gimpy knee. The 4^th down play was an incomplete pass to Gronk who was grabbed by the defender with a ref looking on. No call. Game lost. Pats Fans all expected the game to be tied and to go into overtime. Not on this night.

The Patriots now have lost two games at home, a rarity. Admittedly one of those was with Jacoby Brissett at QB. So now on to San Francisco. That porous Patriot defense needs some serious work.

STATS FROM GAMEBOOK, COMMENTS BY ME

The Patriots were hurt by both the run and pass. In the first half, Seattle, a team that had trouble running, had 67 yards. CJ Prosise had 8 carries (40 yards), and nicked up Christine Michael 3 for 19 yards. Prosise hurt the Pats badly in the passing game with 7 targets, 7 catches (87 yards) as no one seemed to cover him. Doug Baldwin also was a monster (8 targets, 6 catches) with 3 TDs.

Russell Wilson (25 of 37) outplayed Tom Brady (23-32, 1 INT, 1 fumble). Wilson led Seattle to 18 1^st downs passing and threw for 3 TDs. Brady had 13 firsts, no TD passes. Seattle had more yards rushing and more yards passing. Still the Pats had a chance to tie.

A few positives: Martellus Bennett was targeted 7 times and had 7 catches (102 yards) with a bum ankle. Edelman was 9 times, 7 catches, 99 yards and an unfortunate fumble.

LB Shea McClellin blocked a Hauschka extra point. It factored.

Sportzine is available at jimdawsonsports.com thanks to Buffalo Steve Lenz

NFL LEFTOVERS

A check of Sunday’s scores reveals some interesting tidbits:

The Steelers went for two points four times after touchdowns and failed. They lost to Dallas 35-30. Dallas went for 2 on two of their four TDs and failed both times.

Carolina had about a 10 minute edge in time of possession against KC and blew a 17-

point lead, losing 20-17. Yes, the Panthers failed to score in the 2^nd half.

Speaking of time of possession, the Eagles ran for 208 yards and had the ball about 16 minutes longer than the Falcons.

Big Contract Brock Osweiler of the Texans was 14 of 27 for 99 yards (92 after a sack).

BULLETS

• The Globe’s Nick Cafardo (11/13) often quotes stats guru Bill Chuck. Sunday Chuck noted the pitcher who has had the most wins in the last 10 years and the pitcher with the most losses over the last 10 years. Answers at the end of this Bullets column.

• R.I.P Leonard Cohen. The Canadian singer/songwriter and poet left us some great music like Suzanne, Bird on a Wire, and First We Take Manhattan to name a few. I also liked The Future (on the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers). Leonard was 82.

• R.I.P. Leon Russell from Lawton, Oklahoma. Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges) was 74. Leon left us, among others, Delta Lady, A Song for You, Tightrope, Stranger in a Strange Land, and I loved his version of George Harrison’s Beware of Darkness.

• R.I.P. Robert Vaughn, best known for playing Napoleon Solo in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Vaughn was 83. He was in Bullitt and The Young Philadelphians. I liked him when he played against type as Lee, a gunslinger who has lost his nerve in John Sturges’ wonderful western The Magnificent Seven (a remake of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai).

• Most wins – Justin Verlander (156). Most losses – Edwin Jackson (110).

E-MAIL

Re: Last Issue’s music quiz:

I knew it was Jon Voight’s brother but didn’t know the name or songs. I googled it so no credit allowed. Chip Taylor. Wild Thing and Angel of the Morning, two songs which certainly go hand in hand.

Matt Dawson

Matt, interesting that it was the Juice Newton version of Angel in the Morning that went to #1, not Merrilee Rush's version. - Z

THE HOT CLUB

I was telling Buffalo Steve and a couple of the guys about a strange BBC anthology series called Black Mirror. Victoria and I watched the first show (each is different). It was the strangest story that I’ve seen in a long time. The premise is that the Royal Princess has been abducted. To free the Princess, the abductor wants the Prime Minister to have sex with a pig while it’s all shown live on TV (you learn this right away). I said that I liked it more than Victoria. Buffalo Steve said, “Well she’s a lady.”

Black Mirror has been on since 2011. IMDb gave season 3 (2016) an outstanding 8.9. There have been 13 episodes. Six more are planned for 2017. The new Twilight Zone.

The Bear visited. He’s a Montreal Canadiens fan. The Canadiens had just beaten the Bruins. I asked the Bear: “Has Montreal lost a game yet?” “Not in the Garden”, he said.

As I write Montreal is 13-2-1 and still undefeated (9-0) at home (Bell Centre).

Mark, a friend of Captain Jack’s, and I were talking music. Mark said he thinks that 80% of men who listen to and collect music prefer male singers. I disagreed. Readers?

The Hot Club kitchen is finished. And the fryolator has been installed, so now you can have French Fries with your meal.

LAST ISSUE’S QUIZ ANSWER (WIKIPEDIA IS USED AS A REFERENCE)

So who was that brother of a famous actor, whose niece is also an actor (and is weekly tabloid fodder) who wrote two #1 songs? Why Chip Taylor (aka James Wesley Voight), brother of Jon, uncle of Angelina Jolie. Chip wrote Wild Thing which went to #1 with the Troggs and Angel in the Morning which Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts got to #7. The latter song was offered to Connie Francis who turned it down considering it too risqué. Taylor wrote a bunch of other songs including Try which Janis Joplin did. Taylor gave up his music career for awhile as he became a gambler (blackjack and horses).

THIS WEEK’S QUIZ

This artist had the most success with an entire album of another person’s songs. The album helped to re-invigorate the songwriter’s career in the ’80’s. The album has Stevie Ray Vaughn on the 1^st track. Other guest artists on the LP were guitarists David Lindley and Robben Ford. Van Dyke Parks was the arranger. Who did the LP and what was the title ? Whose songs were covered?