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Last week's shellacking by the New England Patriots left Cheeseheads wondering how the Pack would respond against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football. In a rare November snowstorm in Seattle, the Packers responded gamely, but in the end they fell to a superior team by a score of 34 - 24.
By halftime the Packers had forced the Seahawks into four turnovers, two interceptions by Charles Woodson and another by fellow cornerback Al Harris. The fourth was a fumble recovery by rookie Abdul Hodge, starting his first game in place of injured middle linebacker Nick Barnett. Hodge's fumble recovery, set up by Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila's pressure on the Seattle quarterback, was returned for a touchdown. With the Seahawks raining down interceptions, the Packer offense missed several golden opportunities. Turnovers not converted into points usually come back to haunt, and they sure did Monday night. The Packer defense bent but allowed no touchdowns in the first half, which ended with the Packers leading 14 - 12.
The three rookies on the Packer offensive line had a horrible time last week against a talented Patriot defensive line. They didn't fair much better against the Seahawk defensive front four, which is not nearly as talented. The Packer running game spun its wheels in the snow and it became obvious once again that our rookie linemen have not yet arrived.
The Pack took a 21 -12 lead in the third quarter on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Brett Favre to Donald Driver. The Seahawks quickly responded with a touchdown and Cheeseheads were witnessing a heck of a ball game. The underdog Packers took a tenuous 21 - 19 lead into the fourth quarter but that soon changed as the Seahawks somewhat surprisingly had great success running the ball on the Packer defense all night long. Seattle's Shawn Alexander is a great running back and he seemed to gain steam as the game progressed. The Packers' defense seemed to have no solution to Alexander, who ended up with over 200 yards on the night.
Without a running game, Favre forced a number of his throws and ended up with three interceptions in another sub-par performance. In the end, the Seahawks proved to be a superior team with sufficient talent to overcome four turnovers and the Packers remain seeking answers to numerous questions.
The officials also contributed to the outcome of this game. The referee crew made numerous horrible calls in this game and the NFL ought to discipline them.
Next up for the Pack are the New York Jets. The Jets this year are a so-so team and the Pack should have a decent chance of winning in Lambeau. A win at home would be a nice tonic for Cheeseheads, who richly deserve a win at Lambeau.
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