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In the Dr. D household, we've had our own little mini-taunt battles.
Dr. D Junior, and Mrs. Dr. D, have been trying to sell him that the Seahawks receivers are really good, man. Dr. D does not even bother with pointing to the yardage totals; that would be too easy. Instead it's like "Man, Dad! Look at that CATCH by Tate!" to which he buys in for a moment ... yeah, man, that really was sweet. And he had another one like that earlier! "That's what I've been telling you!" All the way with Golden Tate. Two big catches already. I'm comin' around.
... two catches ... setting his career high. Two reception game, baby. At which point Dr. D Junior realizes he's been had again...
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Dr. D starting to look like Rocky in the 13th round of the Creed fight
I'll tell you, though. Three games ago, it was the Taunt catch.
Two games ago, it was that Storm-of-the-Decade punt return, to bail out the Seahawks from that home loss to a winless team.
Last game, the one-hander TD in the corner that was the capstone of ESPN's highlight reel.
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Mrs. D simply cannot contain herself: "There are three players I've ever seen with that look in their eye:
THE Golden Tate. Yep, him and Michael Jordan. And Jake LaMotta. The three greatest warriors in the history of the Western Hemisphere.
But you get to thinking about it ... What look is that, exactly, honey. "The one that gets frustrated, and determined, and says if my teammates can't do it, then I'll do it."
Well, the punt return from his own 3-yard line, kinda...
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Golden Tate stands #27 on the NFL yardage leaders. That's not inconsistent with the idea of an emerging star. :: shrug :: Can he do bread-and-butter, though? His 5th catch, Sunday, was a slant on 3rd-and-8* for nine yards. A feature receiver is more than somebody who creates highlights. He's somebody who generates offense when you're struggling.
Dr. D would be happy to hear your opinions, as to whether Golden Tate has it in him to become a feature-type receiver.
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Golden Tate Linkage
Tate's Elusiveness. Field Gulls had a May story that put the stats to the discussion. He breaks tackles on 30% of his receptions, which is a little bit like saying "James Paxton strikes out 18 men per nine innings." I mean, MANY of a receiver's catches are made at the very moment that NFL piranhas are biting him from three sides. You wrestle the ball away from a defender, it's not like you're then going to get away from him.
But ... Golden Tate may be THE most elusive receiver in the NFL. Even including Percy Harvin.
The same article quoted somebody important who said,
"Tate and Harvin are the two hardest receivers to bring down in the NFL, apparently, and they'll be lining up next to each other this season. This is the stuff that gives defensive coordinators ulcers."
Adding to the deliciousness: Tate is an "outside" elusive receiver and Harvin is an "inside" elusive receiver. Just. Wow.
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Field Gulls has this article on "Constraint Theory." In my day they just called these "Sting Plays." Sure, if they're blitzing, you throw a screen pass. If the secondary is crashing the line too hard, you play-action and go up top. Nowadays they've got to make it sound like nuclear physics...
Reason #3 that baseball is better than football. ;- ) They call it "pulling the string," not "Constraint Theory."
Still: Golden Tate's bubble screens keep the defense honest. You can't crash the backfield if it's going to give Golden Tate three broken-field runs on the day.
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Tate doesn't have a ton of yardage, but ... it is true that MUCH of a feature wideout's yardage is CAUSED BY the intent to use him a lot. That's always been true. So, it makes Dr. D wonder... if the Seahawks suddenly realized (at the moment of the Tampa Bay punt return) that Tate is worthy of featuring, could they get him 1,200 yards a year?
Hm.
Well, he was a #60 overall. Which is in the ballpark of being a 1st-round pick. It's not like he's a CFL refugee.
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If One's Good, Two um, Four um, Five Are Better, Dept.
The Seahawks have usually lacked even one player who was, by himself, worth buying a ticket turning the TV on for. Now they've got Wilson, Lynch, Sherman, and ... Golden Tate. Any one of those guys, I mean, that is what sports are all about. To quote John Malkovich picking up a MAC-10: Now This. is. Exciting.
Oh, yeah. Percy Harvin. Just how many vented .44 mag's is Pete Carroll going to give us to play with? And is there any way to get him into the same room with Chuck Armstrong? Wait, no, there's not, is there.
I hope Tate actually is productive enough to warrant a contract. It certainly adds a lot to my Sunday to watch him play football.
Tate has this way of making plays, and in doing so, has turned losses to victories. He's done it three times now. That taunt catch...that was just...wow. I don't remember any Seahawks making plays like this. Largent perhaps, but Largent was always...open. Wide open. I don't remember him stealing interceptions and turning them into game winning touchdowns like Tate has done twice now.