Seahawks pound Packers in NFL opener

Week 1
September 4, 2014 - 7:30 p.m. - NBC
CenturyLink Field
Seattle, Washington

Packers 16 - Seahawks 36

The defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks looked like the world champions as they crushed the Packers to kickoff the 2014-2015 NFL season.

Photo credit: packers.com

The Packers returned to the gridiron seven months after being eliminated in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.  First opponent: the Seattle Seahawks.  This game was all about the Seahawks as they celebrated their Super Bowl championship.  Prior to kickoff, the Seahawks unveiled their Super Bowl championship banner.  The football game was also all about the Seahawks as they outplayed, outmatched, and outmanned the Green Bay Packers.

In the first quarter with the Seahawks leading 3-0, Tim Masthay sent a punt to the Seahawks punt returner Earl Thomas who muffed the punt leading to a Packers recovery.  Green Bay took the turnover and stuffed it into the end zone with a 2-yard run by John Kuhn.  This was the only point in this game that the Packers were winning.  Seattle responded quickly with a Russell Wilson touchdown pass to Ricardo Lockette.  Mason Crosby tied the game at 10-10 with a 23-yard field goal, however, Marshawn Lynch marched his way into the end zone prior to halftime to give the Seahawks a 17-10 lead.

The Packers may have trailed by seven at halftime, but the Seahawks had this game under control from the get-go.  The Seahawks dominated with their running game.  Marshawn Lynch rushed for 110 yards on twenty carries and two touchdowns.  The Seahawks recorded a total of 207 yards on the ground for the game.  The Packers made mistake after mistake.  The Packers made many fundamental errors.  The Packers were also flagged eight times.  The Packers had to play a perfect game against the defending Super Bowl champions to have a chance in Seattle in front of the 12th man.  Far from perfect is the best way to describe the Packers performance in Week 1.

Although he faced the taunting defense of the Seahawks, Aaron Rodgers played a statistically poor game.  Rodgers completed 23 of 33 passes for 189 yards with a touchdown and one interception.  Rodgers averaged just 5.7 yards per pass attempt.  Eddie Lacy was held in check with 37 rushing yards on just seven carries.  Jordy Nelson caught nine balls for 83 yards and Randall Cobb caught six passes for 58 yards and a touchdown.

The defense looked the same as last year (which is bad news).  The Packers appear to be very weak up the middle and at the inside linebacker position.  Brad Jones had a horrible game.  Twice Jones had a costly holding/illegal contact penalty on a third down play.  First round draft pick Ha Ha Clinton-Dix had a poor tackling game.  Clinton-Dix has a lot to learn and experience will help, but he did show glimpses of safety play that we have been lacking the past couple years.  Clay Matthews looked great.  Newcomer Julius Peppers was okay.  Overall, the Packers defense was subpar again.

It wouldn't be the Packers if there wasn't some injuries to report.  According to Mike McCarthy, Eddie Lacy suffered a concussion in the 4th quarter after a crushing blow to his head by Seahawks defender.  This is Lacy's second concussion in the last twelve months and certainly is a cause for concern going forward.  Right tackle Bryan Bulaga suffered a knee injury to the same surgically repaired knee from a season ago.  If either player misses any significant time, the result will be devastating on the offensive side of the ball.

Detroit Lions  1-0
Minnesota Vikings  1-0
Green Bay Packers  0-1
Chicago Bears  0-1