Seahawks Go In Reverse, And Win Galloway’s Dramatic Run Helps Seattle Whip Jaguars

Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski knew coach Dennis Erickson was joking when the head coach blurted into the headphones, “Let’s run the reverse, I think it will score.”

The joke was on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Seattle rookie receiver Joey Galloway took the third-and-7, second-quarter handoff and found little running room open down the right sidelines. He reversed field and raced to the left side.

Reverse means charge to Galloway, who then raced 86 yards for a touchdown with Pro Bowl halfback Chris Warren as his escort.

“I’m the man,” Galloway shouted toward 71,200 stunned Jaguar fans Sunday.

Galloway is the man. His team-record run was just part of a special day in which he accounted for three touchdowns, 200 yards of offense and 237 all-purpose yards in leading the Seahawks to a 47-30 victory over the Jaguars.

“I felt like I was in a zone at the time,” Galloway said of his chest-pounding proclamation. “I was looking for a hole to get a first down. I knew it was third-and-7. I knew I wasn’t going to get the first down to the right, so I was trying to find a hole and get the first down.”

Erickson’s play-call would normally be considered uncanny. A trick play at your 14 on third down is not standard. Neither is Galloway. His 4.19-second, 40-yard speed makes opposing defenses look as though they are in slow motion. Galloway has an 89-yard punt return this season. He has taken seven reverses for 156 yards.

“Like we’ve been saying, if you put it in Joey’s hands, he’s going to make some stuff happen,” quarterback Rick Mirer said. “With him, you’ve always got a chance. You don’t want to turn it over there (at the 14), so there’s not a whole lot of great calls. You don’t draw it up like that - 86 yards in one play.”

But even that wasn’t enough in what turned out to be the strangest game of the Seahawks’ resurging 4-6 season. Galloway’s touchdown run opened a 21-14 lead.

Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell countered with a 73-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass to Ernest Givins. Brunell followed that with a 52-yard drive capped by a 26-yard Mike Hollis field goal.

With 30 seconds left in the first half, Mirer hit Galloway with a 24-yard completion to move the Seahawks to the Jaguar 33 and into field-goal range. But then a high pass bounced off the hands of Brian Blades into those of safety Harry Colon, who raced 41 yards with the interception to set up a 50-yard Hollis field goal.

The Seahawks couldn’t believe it. Galloway had 162 combined yards in the half. He scored two touchdowns. Halfback Chris Warren had 79 first-half rushing yards, including a 29-yard touchdown run. Yet, thanks to 124 yards in first-half penalties and a defense that allowed 193 yards, the Seahawks trailed at half, 27-21.

“A lot of things were said at halftime,” Erickson said of Seattle’s crazed locker room. “We didn’t play like we should on defense. It was ridiculous.”

Faced with the possibility of losing to an expansion team, the Seahawks reversed their focused in the second half. The defense shut down the Jaguars, limiting them to 73 yards and a field goal on only 18 plays.

Cornerback Corey Harris grabbed the first of two Jaguars turnovers by intercepting a pass three plays into the second half.

Once again, it was time for the man. Mirer fired a 13-yard completion to Galloway on a key third down and then hit him with a perfect fade route in the corner of the end zone for a 23-yard score that gave the Seahawks a 28-27 lead with 11:57 left in the third quarter.

Cramps in both calves and both groin muscles ended Galloway’s day early, but he had provided enough momentum to carry the team to its second consecutive victory. Strong running by Warren, who rushed for 121 yards on 27 carries, and timely passing by Mirer, who threw for 244 yards, highlighted a 19-point fourth-quarter explosion that put the game out of reach.

“It seems like defenses rotate their attention to either Joey or me,” said Blades, the star of the victory last week over the New York Giants. “If we can do that week in and week out, we’ll win a lot of ballgames, but we have to keep going.”

The “going” still was tough in the fourth quarter. Mack Strong’s 4-yard touchdown put the Seahawks ahead, 35-27, but a Hollis 29-yard field goal trimmed the lead to five. Mirer, with Galloway and tight end Christian Fauria (knee) on the sidelines with injuries, led an 11-play, 63-yard drive that ate up 6:19 and put the Seahawks ahead 38-30.

The Jaguars crumbled after that. Tracy Johnson scored a 2-yard touchdown with 1:06 left after Seattle recovered a fumble and defensive tackle Sam Adams sacked Brunell for a safety.

The 47 points is the most scored by a Seahawks team since the second game of the 1985 season. The 481 yards of total offense was the most this season and the fourth time the Seahawks gained more than 400 yards in a game.

Seattle 14 7 7 19 - 47

Jacksonville 7 20 0 3 - 30

First quarter

Sea-Warren 29 run (Peterson kick), 4:49.

Jac-Brunell 3 run (Hollis), 8:30.

Sea-Galloway 38 pass from Mirer (Peterson kick), 15:00.

Second quarter

Jac-Dunbar 2 run (Hollis kick), 2:47.

Sea-Galloway 86 run (Peterson kick), 4:04.

Jac-Givins 15 pass from Brunell (Hollis kick), 7:58.

Jac-FG Hollis 26, 13:38.

Jac-FG Hollis 50, 15:00.

Third quarter

Sea-Galloway 23 pass from Mirer (Peterson kick), 4:03.

Fourth quarter

Sea-Strong 4 run (Peterson kick), 1:13.

Jac-FG Hollis 29, 4:23.

Sea-FG Peterson 25, 10:42.

Sea-Johnson 2 run (Peterson kick), 13:57.

Sea-Safety, Brunell sacked in end zone, 14:10.

A-71,290.

Sea Jac First downs 26 19 Rushes-yards 40-246 28-161 Passing 235 105 Punt Returns 3-7 3-19 Kickoff Returns 6-108 8-174 Interceptions Ret. 1-0 1-41 Comp-Att-Int 18-31-1 13-20-1 Sacked-Yards Lost 2-9 3-16 Punts 3-48 3-46 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-1 Penalties-Yards 10-129 9-75 Time of Possession 34:03 25:57

Individual statistics RUSHINGSeattle, Warren 27-121, Galloway 1-86, Mirer 7-27, Smith 2-5, Strong 2-5, Johnson 1-2. Jacksonville, Brunell 6-60, Dunbar 15-53, Maston 4-29, Stewart 3-19.

PASSINGSeattle, Mirer 18-31-1-244. Jacksonville, Brunell 13-20-1-121.

RECEIVINGSeattle, Galloway 5-114, Blades 5-43, Warren 4-52, Strong 2-9, Thomas 1-16, Fauria 1-10. Jacksonville, Givens 5-46, Jackson 3-16, Griffith 3-32, Mitchell 1-15, Smith 1-9, Howard 1-3.

MISSED FIELD GOALSNone.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: HAWKS 47 JAGUARS 30 Hawks star: Joey Galloway caught 2 TD passes and ran for another Where Hawks stand: Seattle is 4-6, tied for last place with San Diego in AFC West Next game: At Washington, 10 a.m.