Saints 20 Seahawks 17 The Saints won a strange one in overtime thanks to superior special teams play. Seattle received the opening kickoff and reached the edge of FG range in only five plays- Warren 10 run, Warren 8 catch, Broussard 5 run, Blades 7 catch, Warren 6 run. After pressure forced an incompletion and a sack, a 3rd down catch by Warren set up 4th & 7 from the NO 36. The Seahawks eschewed the long FG attempt and punted into the endzone, netting 16 yds. On the team's third play from scrimmage, Mario Bates gained one of the two yds needed for the 1st. The ball went to the visitors, who managed a single 1st before booting it back. After a second 3 & punt Saints series, Moon went to work- Galloway for 6 on 3rd & 3, Pritchard for 10 on 3rd & 6, Crumpler for 18 on 2nd & 10. Seattle kicked a 37 yarder when the drive stalled. On 3rd & 5 from the NO 39, a Seahawk pounced on a Heath Shuler throw and beat the QB to the endzone, so with 11:31 left in the half, the Saints were down 10-0. Eric Guliford returned the ensuing kickoff to the Seattle 44, but the field position was wasted- on 3rd & 6 Keno Hills was easily beaten for a sack. Mark Royals' punt went into the endzone for a touchback. The 'Hawks made it to their 46 before a dropped deep ball followed by two other incompletions brought up a punting situation. A somewhat-offline snap led to a fumble by the punter, and the Saints took over at the Seattle 33. On 3rd & 8, a 14 yd catch by Guliford gave the team its first 1st of the game. Two plays later came the second 1st- Shuler sneaked for barely enough on 3rd & 1 from the 8. With 37 seconds left before halftime and the team facing 4th & goal from the 1, Ray Zellars made the play. Somehow, the Saints went into the half down only three. A Zellars run and a pass interference penalty gave the team a 1st at their 40, but during a scramble Shuler fumbled, and Seattle recovered at the NO 48. Three Warren runs were good for one 1st, and a Galloway catch was good for another. The visitors wound up settling for a 33 yd FG attempt, which was pushed right. After Zellars was held short on consecutive tries to gain a yard for a 1st, the team appeared to surprise Seattle with a swinging gate play on 4th & 1 from the NO 43. However, the officials ruled that the surprise was due to the ball having been snapped before being ruled in-play. The ensuing punt was fair-caught at the 7. A short while later, a pass bounced off a Seahawk to Richard Harvey, who returned the ball to the Seahawk 21. However, Bates fumbled the ball away on the very next play. The D did its job by forcing a 3 & punt series. Guliford's return set up the O at the Seattle 45. After a Zellars run and an offside penalty moved the sticks, Shuler hit Randal Hill for a 15 yd gain. A 17 yd toss to Zellars followed, and on the next play the RB scored from 2 yds out. With 13:36 left in regulation, it was 14-10 Saints. The D allowed a single 1st before forcing the Seattle punt team to take the field once again. Chris Hewitt came cleanly through the line and blocked the punt, which was eventually recovered at the Seahawk 5. The team failed to find the endzone, though, so Brien kicked a 19 yarder. Warren ran for 11 on 1st, then one play later Galloway caught a ball for 20. On 4th & 3 from the NO 43, pressure forced an incompletion. The O couldn't get a 1st, though, and before long Seattle was back near midfield, thanks to a 25 yd pass interference call on Eric Allen. Blades caught a pass in Saints territory but fumbled during the run-after-catch, and the Saints recovered. The Saints continued the gift exchange- on 3rd & 13 Shuler's pass was intercepted and returned to the NO 39. Three plays later, facing 4th & 5 with 1:48 left in the fourth quarter, Moon hit McKnight with a throw. The WR evaded a few Saints and scored a TD. The PAT tied it. To spark a late drive, Ditka sent in Nussmeier. Nuss hit Guliford for 13 on the first play, then dumped one to McCrary. That second throw gained only a yard, but a late hit after the play put the ball just across the 50. The third throw was to Andre Hastings for a gain of 19. The promising drive ended when a handoff to Zellars failed to be completed- Seattle recovered at the 34. Right away, Moon hit McKnight for a 26 yd gain (plus, a 5 yd facemask was tacked on). With 24 seconds on the clock, Seattle lined up to kick a 45 yd game-winning FG. Once again, the visitors' special teams let them down, as the kick went wide right. On the first play after the overtime kickoff, Winfred Tubbs stepped into Moon's passing lane and grabbed a throw, returning the ball 13 yds to the Seattle 22. Ditka decided not to mess around. Brien came on immediately and kicked the 39 yarder to end it. stats & yardage histograms (from my notes, not official) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ..runnin'...../.......throwin' & catchin'................. 3- 3 h. Shuler 2- 0 douG nussmeier 11-15 m. Bates 13-47-2 r. Zellars 2-21 2- 2 f. Mccrary 1- 1 R. hill 1-15 1-13 A. hastings 2-15 1-19 E. guliford 1-13 1-14 incomplete 6 0 intercepted 2 0 31-67-2 6-14-64-0-2 4-4-47-0-0 S SB BB BB ZB ZBS <--runs ZZZ GM Z BGM ZZZBZBZBZ Z ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** M A A A EER Z Z R <--passes ..runnin'....../.......throwin' & catchin'.... 1- 7 w. Moon 22- 85 c. Warren 7- 39 3- 16 S. broussard 1- 2 m. stRong 1- (1) j. Galloway 5- 67 m. Pritchard 4- 30 b. Blades 3- 32 J. mcknight 3- 67-1 c. Crumpler 1- 18 incomplete 21 intercepted 2 28-109 23-46-253-1-2 W RW WM <--runs GWWWWSSWSW W WWWWWWWWWW WW ***************************************************************************** - 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 yards gained 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 5 0 <------ ***************************************************************************** W W WPGBWWG W GGBC G J J PJWPP B <--passes comments ^^^^^^^^ * it's hard to know what to make of this one- the same questions on offense remain ******************************************************************************* Frank Serpas III serpas@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu