’HAWKS TAKE FLIGHT
Carson, Seattle stick landing to get record over .500
A SEAHAWK took to the North Carolina sky Sunday afternoon.
It was Chris Carson, a tailback. He ran directly at Panthers safety Eric Reid, eyed the defender’s decision to tackle him low and elected to try to leap over his helmet.
Reid managed to clip Carson, but the Seahawk spun in the air, like a gymnast off a vault. Carson twisted 360 degrees during his flight. Upon landing — on two feet — he continued to charge ahead, looking for more real estate. It went down as a 15-yard gain in the books, and was another bit of evidence Seattle is still fighting.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Carson said. “I’m just glad I came down like that.”
The Seahawks won on the road, 30-27, after kicker Sebastian Janiskowski — still kicking at 40 years old! — converted a 31-yard field goal attempt as time expired. Seattle improved to 6-5 on the season; Carolina, which had been unbeaten at home, now has the same overall record despite 125 rushing yards and 112 receiving yards from Christian McCaffrey, who scored one touchdown each way, as well.
No matter. Carolina has crashed back to earth as Seattle tries to sustain momentum beyond two-win stretch once more.
Seattle stumbled to an 0-2 start before evening out with back-toback wins. It has been a win-two, lose-two season all the way. The last two victories have been by three points each as quarterback Russell Wilson led the way.
In beating the Packers last week, Wilson completed 21-of-31 passes for 225 yards and a pair of touchdowns. In outlasting the Panthers, he completed 22-of-31 passes for 330 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was his first time surpassing 300 yards in a game this season. He hit receivers for big gains (to David Moore for 54 yards) and short (to Tyler Lockett for 12 yards on a touchdown connection.)
“When Russell keeps it alive, we understand how hard it is for defenders to try to guard somebody more than five seconds,” Lockett said. “If it is longer than four or five seconds, it puts us in a better position to get open.”
Wilson will need to keep the offense alive down the stretch if Seattle is to reach the playoffs. The Seahawks have two aces in the schedule with both games against the 49ers to be played. If it can handle business against the rival that is now 2-9, Seattle could find its way into the playoffs.
To be certain, believing in such a run is not looking like as large a leap of faith as it once had. GOING BROWN WITH THE SHIP Hue Jackson got the game ball for this Cleveland win.
Four weeks after being fired by the Browns, Jackson stood on the Bengals’ sideline as an assistant coach in Cincinnati.
When Cleveland defensive back Damarious Randall picked off an Andy Dalton pass, and found himself face-toface with his former coach, he handed the ball to Jackson, who accepted it and patted Randall’s helmet. Jackson proceeded to put the ball down. If Jackson brought any useful intelligence about his own team downstate, it was not evident as the Browns won, 35-20.
It was clear many in Cleveland held hard feelings against Jackson. Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield, who threw four touchdown passes, was one of them. It was Mayfield’s best game as a professional, and he kept Jackson at a distance on the f ield. Mayfield shook his hand but declined to embrace Jackson.
“Somebody that was in our locker room asking us to play for him and then go to another team we play twice a year, everybody can have their spin on it, but that’s how I feel,” Mayfield said in his postgame press conference.
The win snapped a 25-game losing streak for the Browns on the road, and Mayfield continued to show improvement since Jackson was dismissed.
PLAY OF THE DAY
It was first-and-10 from Pittsburgh’s own 3-yard line when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger received the snap under center. The game was tied, 10-10, with 10:45 remaining in the third quarter. He dropped back, and, throwing off his back foot, floated a pass to wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster as a pass rusher collided with him. The ball traveled 35 yards in the air, and Smith-Schuster took it from there, beating cornerback Bradley Roby and then eluding safety Darian Stewart downfield with a swerve move. Both defensive backs continued to give chase, but Smith-Schuster stiff-armed Stewart at the 20-yard line to maintain his separation. Roby fell over Stewart. Both were on the ground as Smith-Schuster finished with a sprint for a 97-yard touchdown. He finished the game with 189 receiving yards, but even those were not enough as Denver won, 24-17.
FISTS UP
Leonard Fournette punched in a pair of touchdowns in Buffalo before being ejected for throwing haymakers against pass-rusher Shaq Lawson. With 95 yards on 18 carries, Fournette looked prime to lead the Jaguars to a needed victory in Buffalo before he went into what he called “protective mode.” The melee started after Jaguars receiver Donte Moncrief and Bills cornerback Levi Wallace battled for the ball on a deep pass down the left sideline. Initially ruled a touchdown, Moncrief was later ruled down at the 1-yard line. It was 14-14 with a few minutes left in the third quarter. In the moment, neither player let go of the ball after falling to the ground, even after an official tried to separate the two. In an ensuing gathering, Jacksonville wideout Dede Westbrook pushed Buffalo safety Micah Hyde. Fournette, who was not in during the play, sprinted across the field from the Jacksonville sideline. Once near the action, Fournette took exception to Lawson’s shove of Jacksonville running back Carlos Hyde. Fournette pushed Lawson before raising both of his fists and punching Lawson multiple times as Lawson moved back against a wall. Lawson returned the hits as teammates tried to disentangle the two. “I mean, that’s my brother,” Fournette said of his motivation to protect Hyde. “All of them are my brothers. I don’t know [how] y’all was raised, but that’s just me.” A fan also reached out from the stands to strike Fournette as he was escorted off the field after his ejection. “My biggest thing was when the fan hit me. I had a problem with that,” Fournette said. “[Lawson] was saying what he had to say. I really don’t care. Words are just words. They don’t mean nothing to me. Just got to move on.”