First of all, for all the people shocked at the chippyness of this game, and how these two teams could possibly be rivals, I’ll say to you that you can look no further than any other game we’ve played against the Seahawks. They’ve all been chippy, and they’ve all been tough. While Trent Williams was the key guy in a lot of the video getting into it, and while it’s documented that the Seahawks may have started it by taking offense to a Redskins huddle at midfield, I wouldn’t count out veterans like Mike Sellers and Santana Moss having a lot to do with it before the game on our side.
On to the game, the opening drive was refreshing. It’s been a long time since this team has started a game with a long drive, and even longer since scoring (a touchdown at that) on the opening drive. It was a bit disappointing following up that drive with drives that just fell short, or ended early due to penalties in this chippy game, but my biggest praise goes to Kyle Shanahan for sticking with the run. There were definitely times we didn’t run enough still, but the early influx of the run definitely kept the Seahawks honest enough.