I'm feeling pretty good. Since the weather got colder, I'm having some more soreness and stiffness in my neck. But for the most part I feel great.
It's been fun watching the team grow. I see a team that's really starting to believe in itself. The guys are playing really smart, mistake-free football that shows how much they are maturing. It's showing up in a five-game winning streak. I feel like we're playing our best football just at the right time.
To beat Arizona (42-21) was really significant. They've been a team that's been a bugaboo for us for the last couple of years. To have them at home, and to play the way we did against them was special. Everybody probably thought we matched up real well with them, but we dominated them in every aspect of the game.
The defense played well, got a lot of turnovers (five), which is what you need in order to do well in the playoffs.
The offense put drives together, and you had Matt (Hasselbeck) throw touchdown passes to four different guys. That's great for the whole team. A team effort coming together like that can only help as we go forward.
It's been great for me to watch Leonard (Weaver) grow into the position, and getting better and better each week at fullback. I mean, he made a phenomenal run on that screen, catching in the flat, setting up his blocks and making that cutback to get down the field (for 46 yards). He's doing better as far as blocking every week. He was pass-blocking on one play and I thought he took one guy's head off he hit him so hard. He almost picked him up off the ground and put him on his back he hit him so hard. That's the type of ability Leonard has. It's just a matter of him growing and continuing to focus on the right thing.
It's all about him doing the right thing out there on the field and not having any mental mistakes. He has the talent to be a really good player. I'm there to help him when he wants me to. He doesn't need me there telling him things all the time when it isn't necessary or he doesn't want it. But he does ask me about things when he has questions about different situations. Obviously, (coach) Stump Mitchell is doing a great job of getting him and the other running backs prepared every week.
Really I'm just there to observe and point things out if I see something that maybe somebody else didn't catch. I'm just another set of eyes out there. I will point out some particular nuances about a particular team and players to Leonard before he goes out there for the games on Sundays.
To be honest with you, it's becoming more difficult for me on Sundays to sit back and watch - especially because I can feel the success of the team gaining momentum, and getting ready for the playoffs. This is what you hope to be a part of when you are a professional football player, and I'm not used to just watching. Things are coming together at just the right time. I'm happy for the guys. It's truly a team effort. Everybody is working real hard and they deserve everything they can accomplish.
I knew I would feel this way at some point, and it's up to me to deal with it. But I love the positive energy this team has and you can see the chemistry improving every week in practice and in the games. Hopefully, it will continue to grow these final three weeks and carry over into the playoffs. And we'll see how far it takes us.
