Upon first glance at any score of an NFL game not watched you tend to get this mental picture of how the game probably shook out. You know, without even watching the game, you get this gut feeling that the game was a barn-burner; the game was a nail-biter; the game was a blow-out, or even the game could have been won on a last second field goal.

Your next thought is finding the highlights or reading about the game to check your gut instinct. You know, that game in which you only saw the final score.

 Chicago 27 Green Bay 20 F/  Baltimore 9 San Francisco 7 F / Seattle 0 Pittsburgh 21 F/  Ja.

Hold up! Since you have TiVo, rewind back a few frames to check what you just saw scrolling across the bottom of your overpriced Hi Definition screen. You did see correctly. You did see Green Bay suffer the teams first loss. Could it have ended on a goal line stand? You did wish you hadn't missed the offensive fireworks on display at Monster Park in San Fransisco. And yes, you did see a Seahawk had performed a natural miracle. A Seahawk had laid a Goose Egg in Pittsburgh.

Fun for the whole family. Fun for the Pittsburgh family. Fun for the Steelers' faithful. Fun in the sun for a 'Hawk flying across the nation with a 3 - 1 record and leading the NFC West in the standings? No, not really. Fun for my family and I? Of course. However not for reason you may think. Not because the family and I are the aforementioned Steelers' faithful. As the Seahawks were laying this egg in the nest that is Heinz Field, we were standing in lines to ride the Maverick, the Top Thrill Dragster, the Power Tower, and of course the Corksrew  among others. And as any Amusement Park fan would know, my family and I were enjoying the day at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.

We knew what to expect that Sunday at Cedar Point; a mere 184 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. We had traveled to the top of Ohio before and enjoyed all there was to enjoy at the best Amusement Park in the world!  And given the temperature was uncharacteristically likened to a hot summer day for the first full  weekend of October; we just assumed that  everything else in the world was as atypical as much as it was predictable.

The Seattle Seahawks had made the same assumptions it appeared. On Monday when we returned to our Kentucky home I watched as the NFL scores scrolled across the bottom of our overpriced Hi Definition screen. 21 - 0? That Pittsburgh defense must have been jacked up. I thought. That Seattle offense must have had at least three or four chances to score, but just couldn't get it done on the road. I thought. I knew what I thought. But what was Seattle thinking? Before the game? During the game? After the game?

After the game, and after head coach Mike Holmgren gave his post-game speech, the Seattle Seahawks bought into the fact that this was just one game. One of eleven more to play as they make their push toward the NFC West title and the subsequent sprint toward the Super Bowl. The team was encouraged I'm sure to forget about what had just happened and start looking forward to their next opponent. Yet when you finish a game you have prepared all week for on defense, offense, and special teams, and you know just a safety, just two points was all that was needed to beat you that day, well you begin to question what just happened and how.

Whether any member of the team will admit it or not, many, if not all players, as well as coach Holmgren himself quesitoned on their flight home from that performance, " Where did we go wrong?" As well as, " Where do we go from here?"

Simple questions indeed but not so simple are the answers. Truly, what does this shut-out mean to a Seahawks team coming into the game on a high-note, playing like they were flat-lining, and ending the game as if there was nothing more to do to bring them back to life?

Honestly, the answers are not that impossible to find. The truth lies hidden in the performance. What does the shut-out last Sunday at Heinz field mean to this 2007 -2008 version of the Seattle Seahawks?

Very little.

Coach Holmgren would have been correct in derailing the bad thoughts of a shut-out and reiterating the fact that this loss was just one. One loss, no matter how bad it looks, scrolling across the screen at the bottom of any television is just what it is. One loss.

Seattle was beaten by a better team Sunday. Don't misconstrue my thinking. Any loss will make a team wonder where they are as far as progression from week to week. Any loss will cause a team to wonder if it will happen again next week. Any loss will make a coaching staff and most notably a head coach ponder where the blame should lie.

My wife and I stood in line this past Sunday, for nearly an hour and a half taking small strides at times to reach the seats of the Top Thrill Dragster. A ride that begins at 0 mph, then 4 seconds later, you are screaming at 120 mph.  After the 17 seconds (the total ride time) are gone you have just ascended and descended 420 feet in the air. The line was long, the wait was exhausting. The ride was worth it all. We had to take those steps though to reach our goal.  Even if it only lasted 17 seconds.

Seventeen seconds. Seventeen weeks. The Seahawks know they can overcome this beat-down by the Steelers. They know they dominated an upstart Tampa Bay team in week one. They know they only lost by 3 to division rival and another team with tremendous potential at Arizona. They know they beat a good Cincinnati team at home which at the time wasn't as dessicrated on defense as it is now.  They also know they traveled to San Fransisco and handled another division rival by 20 points. Coincidentally, the team that beat them twice last year. But they also know about the egg left at Heinz Field this past Sunday.

Holmgren may have a lot of blame to throw around. Possibly a lot of blame on himself. Possibly on the heat. I know, I felt that same heat just 184 miles away in neighboring Ohio. But to blame would only remove a nail in the coffin of the Seahawks performance last Sunday. And to blame would only make the loss seem too significant to overcome.The team should gather what positives they can from that performance and use them as a catalyst. Like taking those small steps it seemed that day for my wife and I to get to our goal. We knew those small strides were worth it.

In a game that was scoreless and Seattle still holding it's own on defense deep into the first half, RB Najeh Davenport for Pittsburgh got the team going with a 45 yard run. That set up a 13 yard pass from Ben Roethisberger to TE Heath Miller within the last two minutes of the half. The TD capped off a 10 play drive which was the only score in a 7 -0 halftime game. The only score the Steelers would need.

That drive was essentially Pittsburgh's 0 - 120 mph catalyst. Roethisberger finished the game 18- 22, 206 yards, and a touchdown.

However like all good rollercoasters blazing with speed and towering with height, the game did have it's climax after Pittsburgh scored. Within the final minute of the first half Seattle counterpunched with it's best chance at scoring in the game. The Seahawks QB Matt Hasselback seem to engineer his teams version of the Maverick. A two and a half minute ride that was less than worthy of the wait for Seattle. At the Steelers 14 yard line and a chance to tie, Hasselback threw a pass that Pittsburgh's Ike Taylor decided he would own that day.  The Seahawks would never seriously threaten again.

On the road, or on a coaster, it's tough to wait for that window of opportunity to arrive and then have it shut down suddenly. My wife and I know. The Top Thrill Dragster shut down once while we were in line. Hasselback and teammate Shaun Alexander ( 11 carries, 45 yards)  hopped in line for the ride, but before they could get on track, or in reference to the Maverick's 4, 450 feet of smooth winding course, the ride closed. Although you miss your chance to ride, you are almost certain there will be another. Wait in line. Wait for the go ahead signal to restart the fun. This is the NFL, you will get more chances to capitalize on your opportunities.

For Seattle though, that opportunity never arose in the second half. The Steelers did what the Steelers do best in the third and fourth quarters. Like the Corkscrew  which is a short but fun ride that takes you through many rotations and inversions, Pittsburgh unleashed its own version. The result? Pittsburgh dominated the second half like very few teams can.  Theory being a good Seattle offense can't score without the ball, the Steelers smothered the time of possession by keeping the ball on offense themselves nearly 25 of the 30 minutes of the second half. That corkscrew had to hurt Seattle's offense as it felt every minute fly by as fast as the ride itself.  Agonizing as they watched the lead grow to 21 but having no control. Unlike the coaster though the second half was anything but short and fun for the visiting Seahawks.

A defense that stood up to the challenge in the first half seemingly had no answers in the second half.  A defense staying on the field for 25 of 30 second half minutes is almost unheard of these days. Just attribution to an efficient Pittsburgh offense, and their 5 minute defense.

No, watching the scores scrolling by at the bottom of my overpriced Hi Definition screen and seeing Seattle 0 and Pittsburgh 21 F, I would have thought the game was completely dominated by defense. Sometimes that gut feeling about the games are wrong. If you don't get the chance to watch them, I would guess most of the time they are.

So where do we go from here? Waiting in line at Cedar Point to ride the Power Tower. We had to ask ourselves, "Do we want to go up or down?" See the ride has four towers, two to skyrocket you up to the sky then gently bring you down. Another two to slowly rise you to the top and suddenly send you furiously back to earth. Both fun. Both unique in their own way.

Yes, don't believe Holmgren didn't ask his team a similar question. "Do we want to hang our heads, or do we want to pick ourselves up and compete and reach our goals?" I guess there is very little a loss can do except make you wonder if you gave it your all. As a guy that didn't get to watch the game, I can't say whether Seattle gave it their all in the second half or not. Certainly there are major issues on defense when you MUST stay on the field that long in one half. But also, looking to the Seattle sideline, don't you think some defensive players were ready to come out of the game. Ask Holmgren at some point to put Matt Hasselback and Shaun Alexander the "stars" of the team in on defense?

If you can't get us off the field, time-out, you come stop this then. We can't!

I'm sure there will be more games over this 11 week stretch when Seattle's moxie will be put to the test again. Will they pass the test this time? Can the offense stay on the field? Can the defense stay off the field? These are the Seahawks! These are the ones a couple of years removed from losing to Pittsburgh in SuperBowl Extra Extra Large! There will be games when they are riding their own version of the Power Tower. Most every team will have that up and down season. It's only Week 6, so I say....

It's just one loss. Right? Just two losses against three wins on the season. A lot of teams would love to be over .500 right now. What does this shut-out mean to the Seattle Seahawks? No way of telling till the next game. Which by the way just happens to be at home. Against the 0 - 5 Saints. Some will call this a "get well quick" game.

My message to the Seahawks is " Get Well Soon! ". New Orleans front seven are pretty stout. Alexander may have another tough outing. Having a healing broken hand doesn't help.

Just as my wife and I stood in line to reach our goals, we patiently waited our turn. Our turn to shine, to scream, to shout, to have fun. Seattle must do the same thing. Be patient. Don't think you must be ahead by 20 at half-time to knock the critics of last weeks performance. For last week was just one game. Just one loss. Not a loss to a division rival. Just one loss.

And with that loss, a shut-out no less, what does it all really mean? It means the Seattle Seahawks coming into this weekend has 3 wins, and 2 losses.

Get in line Seattle for whatever ride you feel like standing in line for. You can only ride one ride at a time though. And remember, hustle doesn't show up on a stat sheet.

It's just a loss. Just one loss.

-F88