First quarter

Published on January 8, 2011 by Seahawk Fanatic     

Peephole perspective: The Saints jumped to a 10-0 lead, but Matt Hasselbeck’s 11-yard TD pass to TE John Carlson got the Seahawks on the board. Saints, 10-7

Player of the quarter: Drew Brees. The Saints’ Pro Bowl QB was 9 of 13 for 94 yards, including a 1-yard TD pass to former Seahawks FB Heath Evans.

Play of the quarter: The TD pass from Hasselbeck to Carlson. It’s a play the Seahawks practice all the time, but rarely have been able to execute in a game.

Numbers of the quarter: 8 and 9. The 8 was Hasselbeck, who was 6 of 7 in the quarter. The 9 was Brees. Put them together and you get Carlson’s number (89).

The bigger picture: The Saints got the ball first when TE Jeremy Shockey called heads during the coin toss and it was. They also got the ball at the 40 as Olindo Mare’s kickoff went out of bounds. Drew Brees then moved the Saints 52 yards in eight plays to a 26-yard field goal by Garrett Hartley. The big play was Brees’ 30-yard pass to WR Marques Colston to the Seahawks’ 16. Brees was 4 of 5 for 49 yards.

The Saints got the ball right back – at the Seahawks’ 35 – when Matt Hasselbeck’s third-and-1 pass went off WR Ben Obomanu and was intercepted by CB Jabari Greer. The defense appeared to have the Saints stopped twice, but Brees went to WR Reggie Bush for 10 yards on third-and-8 and rookie CB Walter Thurmond was guilty of pass interference at the goal line against WR Lance Moore on Brees’ third-and-3 pass. On the next lay, Brees passed to former Seahawks FB Heath Evans for the 1-yard TD that made it 10-0 with 6:21 left in the quarter.

The Seahawks answered, after Michael Robinson returned the short kickoff 18 yards to the Seahawks’ 43. The TD came on Hasselbeck’s 11-yard pass to TE John Carlson with 3:38 left. Hasselbeck was 4 of 4 for 36 yards on the six-play, 57-yard drive and RB Marshawn Lynch carried twice for 16 yards. The Seahawks did not have a third down play on the drive.

Tags: ben obomanu, Coin Toss, drew brees, Eight Plays, Former Seahawks, Game Numbers, Goal Line, Heath Evans, Jabari Greer, Jeremy Shockey, John Carlson, Lance Moore, Marques Colston, Marshawn Lynch, Matt Hasselbeck, Michael Robinson, Olindo Mare, Reggie Bush, Thurmond, Yard Field Goal