He may not garner as much attention as the other Stanford graduate on the Seattle roster, but Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin ’11 has established his presence on the field for the defending Super Bowl champions.
On one of the biggest stages in the NFL regular season — Monday Night Football — Baldwin managed to fly under the radar yet again, picking up a team leading 50 receiving yards on four receptions to help Seattle pick up a hard-fought 27-17 win over the Washington Redskins.
While Baldwin quietly put together one of his best performances of the season, all cameras were on his former Stanford teammate Richard Sherman ’11 who spent most of the day covering his childhood friend DeSean Jackson.
The end result was a far cry from what Sherman and the Legion of Boom would have preferred as Jackson burned the Seahawks secondary on several occasions, racking up 157 yards on five receptions and a 60-yard touchdown catch where he raced by Sherman and Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor.
Throughout the game, Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins looked unafraid to throw the ball in Sherman’s direction and Jackson’s breakout performance marked the second game this season where the Seattle secondary gave up an uncharacteristic number of yards, following a standout performance by Chargers receiver Keenan Allen.
Nevertheless, the Seahawks left FedEx Field with a win on Monday night and improved to 3-1 on the season.
On the other sideline, Redskins’ rookie linebacker Trent Murphy ’13, the first Cardinal picked in last year’s draft, recorded a tackle in the game, bringing his career total up to five. Washington fell to 1-4 after the loss.
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Keeping in the spirit of sloppy Stanford offenses in Indiana this week, the Indianapolis Colts, led by former Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck ’12 and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton, recovered from a shaky start to put away the Baltimore Ravens 20-13.
In a game filled with penalties and turnovers, including two Luck interceptions, the Colts grinded out the win behind a revived running game and a physical defense. Luck ultimately sealed the game in the fourth quarter with a 13-yard touchdown run and with a long, clock-killing drive that stymied the Ravens’ comeback hopes.
Overall, Luck went 32-for-49 for 312 yards with a touchdown. His former Stanford teammate Coby Fleener ’12 hauled in the longest reception of the day for Indianapolis with a 30-yard catch. Former Stanford receiver Griff Whalen ’12 had a tough day returning punts, first losing a ball in the open roof of Lucas Oil Stadium and later fumbling on a return.
Unlike the Stanford football squad, however, the Colts were able to overcome their miscues and pull away late against Baltimore, improving to 3-2 on the season after starting 0-2.
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On the whole, it was a tough weekend for Stanford alums in the NFL. Patriots offensive lineman Cameron Fleming ’14 sat out of New England’s 43-17 romp of the Bengals with a finger injury sustained last week against Kansas City. Fleming joins former Cardinal running back Tyler Gaffney ’14 as Stanford graduates in the Patriots organization dealing with injuries.
In Jacksonville, Toby Gerhart’s tough start to the season continued as he picked up nine yards on a season-low four carries. Some sources reported that Gerhart suffered a sprained foot on his second carry of the game.
The Jags’ 17-9 loss to Pittsburgh marked another blow in a tough season for Gerhart. After signing with the Jaguars in the offseason after backing-up Adrian Peterson in Minnesota for four years, the former Heisman trophy runner-up has failed to grasp the starting running back role and has seen his playing time diminish over the past couple of weeks. The Jaguars return to the field next Sunday against Tennessee, but it is unclear how healthy Gerhart will be for the game.
Contact Vihan Lakshman at vihan ‘at’ stanford.edu.