ST. LOUIS — The game didn’t start out in the finest fashion.
Two interceptions, a blocked punt and a 7-0 deficit marred the first eight minutes of Sunday’s matchup against the Rams. But the final 52 minutes showed a relentless spirit that propelled the Seahawks to a solid 24-7 victory.
In much the same way as Sunday’s game, the beginning of the 2011 season didn’t go in the most exemplary of ways. And now the Seahawks are hoping that, like this weekend’s win in St. Louis, the finishing kick will outweigh any junk dredged up at the start.
The Seahawks have commenced the second half of the 2011 campaign with a flurry, capturing two consecutive wins and, with three straight home games on deck, setting themselves up for a potentially fantastic finish.
And Sunday’s game could be — if the Seahawks have their way — a perfect microcosm for the season at hand.
“I love the way this happened,” Coach Pete Carroll told his players in the joy-filled locker room following the win. “The first quarter was hard but we just kept playing. And as we kept playing, we got stronger.”
After the Rams’ first two drives tallied 50 yards and a 7-0 lead, the Seattle defense didn’t allow another point and only 155 yards the rest of the game. St. Louis never reached the red zone and crossed midfield just twice for the remainder of the afternoon. The Seahawks offense, meanwhile, gathered itself and wound up scoring 24 points, its third-best output this season.
“The best thing is, we had adversity, on the road, and you didn’t back down one bit,” Carroll said in his postgame speech.
The coach’s halftime address had a similar tone as he called for a rebound from the rough start to Sunday’s game.
“Not one guy is wavering,” Carroll said at intermission. “Let’s look back on this first quarter and show how we bounce.”
That they did. And now the Seahawks, who were once 2-6 and in a dire position, find themselves 4-6, with a burst of momentum and heading home for a trilogy of games at CenturyLink Field to push further into the finishing potion of the 2011 season.
“It’s not about how you start; it’s how you finish,” Carroll told his players, echoing one of his oft-used battle cries and philosophies. “This won’t mean a thing unless we do something now.”
With loads of improvement still on the table, the Seahawks now turn their focus to the Redskins, their next opponent on this eight-game homestretch that they’re now two games — and two wins — into.
“We can get better — a lot better,” Carroll said.
To end his speech on Sunday evening in the Edward Jones Dome locker room, Carroll referenced the beginning of the finish again, a dichotomy that has taken on a life of its own among the suddenly hot Seahawks.
“We’re just getting started!” Carroll said exuberantly. “We’re just getting going!”
