SportsRecreation
PENINSULA DAILY NEWS
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2012
B3
Baldwin saves big night for old coach On second-and-goal from the 6, Wilson zipped a pass past San Francisco’s Chris Colliver and Baldwin was able to fight off contact and reach out and grab the laser beam on his fingertips for another touchdown. “The guy played a different technique that we hadn’t seen,” Baldwin said. “Somehow, some way I was able get inside of him and make the play.”
BY RYAN DIVISH MCCLATCHY NEWS SERVICE
SEATTLE — In the din of laughter, yelling and music permeating the Seattle Seahawks’ locker room, Doug Baldwin seemed pretty subdued. It seemed odd in light of his performance in the Seahawks’ 42-13 whipping of the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night. Baldwin caught a teamhigh four passes for 53 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Three of those catches were as good as any made at CenturyLink Field this season. And he did with his former college coach at Stanford, Jim Harbaugh, on the opposing sideline. Did it make it any sweeter having perhaps his best game of the season against Harbaugh, who was celebrating his 49th birthday? “I’d be lying to you if I said it didn’t,” Baldwin said, his face breaking into a wide grin. Baldwin’s big night started on the Seahawks’ second possession. On second-and-3 from their own 21, Russell Wilson faked a handoff to Marshawn Lynch and fired a deep pass to Baldwin streaking down the middle of the field with only one defender – Carlos Rogers – on him. “We knew if we got a particular look, Russell was going to throw it up to me,” Baldwin said. “The safety slid down to
‘Beautiful play’
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Seattle’s Doug Baldwin scores a touchdown as San Francisco’s Patrick Willis looks on in the second half of their game in Seattle. cover Golden [Tate] and Russell threw a damn good ball.” The ball was perfect, but the catch wasn’t. The ball actually went through Baldwin’s hands as he leaped and bounced off his chest. But he was able to corral the ball as he fell to the turf. “I was a little worried,” he said of the bobble “But after you hit the ground, and you know that you
But Baldwin wasn’t done caught it, all that worry goes away. I had it the making the highlight reel. His third catch of the whole way.” game might have been more impressive than his first. An upgrade On Seattle’s second drive The 43-yard completion of the third quarter, the completely upgraded the Seahawks were faced with Seahawks’ field position third-and-goal from Niners’ and helped set up Wilson’s 4. touchdown pass to MarWilson again saw Rogers shawn Lynch seven plays lined up in man-to-man covlater. erage on Baldwin, who ran “It was just a perfect a fade route to the corner. Wilson’s pass was just ball,” Baldwin said.
out of the reach of Rogers’ outstretched hands and Baldwin made a leaping catch while getting his left foot firmly in bounds and tapping the toe of his right foot in the end zone before falling out of bounds. “The ball was thrown in a perfect spot,” Baldwin said. “Russell couldn’t have thrown it any better. I just made a play on it.” Baldwin’s final catch of the night was far from easy.
Said coach Pete Carroll: “His two touchdowns were beautiful plays.” Baldwin was targeted by Wilson on six pass attempts, the most this season. After catching a teamhigh 51 passes last season, a number of factors cut into Baldwin’s numbers: early injuries; Sidney Rice’s return to health; Golden Tate’s improved play; and the re-emergence of the team’s tight ends. “It was frustrating at the beginning of the season because you have high expectations for yourself,” he said. “But you just have to focus on the things you can control. I was able to stay focused.” Baldwin also knows that having diversity among the receivers makes the offense that much more dangerous. “That’s the way our offense is built,” Baldwin said. “We keep the defense off balance. They never know who’s going to get the ball, who’s going to go off.”
Colts, Bengals make NFL playoffs with victories THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
One year after putting together the NFL’s worst record, the Indianapolis Colts are headed to the playoffs. Joining them on Sunday were the Cincinnati Bengals, finishing out the field in the AFC.
The Colts (10-5) equaled the 2008 Miami Dolphins as the only teams to win at least 10 games after losing 14 or more the previous season. Top overall draft pick Andrew Luck completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne late in the fourth quarter for a 20-13
victory at Kansas City. Cincinnati qualified for a second straight postseason berth for only the second time in franchise history, edging archrival Pittsburgh 13-10. The Bengals have never gone to the playoffs in successive years that did not involve a strike-shortened
season. Luck finished with 205 yards passing to break Cam Newton’s year-old rookie record of 4,051 yards in a season. He also extended his rookie record for fourthquarter comebacks to seven by leading his team downfield in the closing minutes.
“Mission accomplished. That’s all I can say,” Colts interim coach Bruce Arians said. For the Bengals (9-6), Andy Dalton hit A.J. Green with a 21-yard pass in the final moments, setting up Josh Brown’s 43-yard field goal with 4 seconds remaining.
The loss eliminated the Steelers from contention. “A lot of people talked about we hadn’t been in in back-to-back seasons in 30 years,” Green said. “I don’t worry about that stuff. I’ve been here two years and we made the playoffs all two years. That’s all we can control.”
Hawks: The new bullies on the block CONTINUED FROM B1 the Seahawks had invested too much energy toward “The play of the game, Sunday night to go through for me, was Red’s block,” the motions for three quarters. Carroll said afterward. And so the beating went “The bell rang right on. there. You think you have a The Seattle defense chance to beat these guys revealed 49ers quarterback — you can feel it from the Colin Kaepernick as the start — but that really sent inexperienced second-year the message.” player he didn’t resemble in Sherman scored with five previous starts. 14:05 remaining in the secIt held the great Frank ond quarter. Gore — the guy who gained A less determined, more 131 yards on the Seahawks accomplished team might at San Francisco — to 28 relax once it’s up 21-0, but yards.
Which poses a question: How does a defense reduce a potential Hall-of-Fame running back into a nonfactor? The defense makes him a non-factor because its teammates on offense are scoring three touchdowns en route to a 28-6 halftime lead. San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh might be a disciple of the ground control principles once espoused by Bo Schembechler (his college coach at Michigan) and Mike Ditka (his first NFL
coach), but even Harbaugh realized his team’s only chance at a comeback was to throw and throw some more. Kaepernick ended up attempting 36 passes, 15 more than Wilson. But Wilson’s efficiency, once again, was off the charts: four touchdowns out of 15 completions. Between Wilson’s knack for extending plays on the run with his dart-frog reflexes, and Lynch’s typical impersonation of a battering ram, the Seahawks con-
Appeals: Sherman is positive
ay?”
“What i
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know if I can pursue it further.” News of Sherman’s suspension and that of fellow cornerback Brandon Browner broke after the Seahawks’ loss at Miami on Nov. 28. Browner dropped his appeal on Dec. 5 and was suspended for the final four games of the regular season.
Browner will return and be eligible to play for the Seahawks in the playoffs. If Sherman’s suspension is upheld, he would miss the playoffs. He said the process hasn’t been a distraction. “Not at all,” he said. “I’ve faced worse than that throughout my whole life. Nothing little like that can hold you back.”
concluded Harbaugh, who added: “We will wake up [Monday] with a half-game lead on the division.” As for the Seahawks? They woke up Monday a half-game down in the division, but believing they can win a playoff game or three anywhere, against anybody. They’ve got the whole world, in their hands.
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CONTINUED FROM B1 the Seahawks’ blowout victory. Sherman missed two Sherman didn’t have an days of practice this week idea of when a decision while his appeal was would come on his appeal. heard, but any lack of He will pursue the appeal preparation for the 49ers further if he can. didn’t show. “I wish I could. I don’t Sherman had an interknow if it’s possible,” Sherception, four passes man said. defensed, and he returned “If I could pursue it fura blocked field goal 90 ther, because I’d win in a yards for a touchdown in neutral court, but I don’t
verted 11 of 13 third downs. “Actually, 11-for-12 on third downs,” Wilson pointed out. “Because we took a kneel-down on the last one .” By then Matt Flynn had replaced Wilson, and some of the fans in the raindrenched crowd were heading home. The beat down of the 49ers was complete. “It’s not our first loss,”
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