Instant reaction: Embarrassed, beaten & done

What a way for a season to finish.

Out-played. Out-coached. Out-executed.

Humiliated.

Winning the NFC West for the first time since 2016 was a nice achievement. So was finishing 12-4.

None of it really matters though. They’ve just been dumped out of the playoffs by a division rival. What value is there in winning the NFC West, only to lose to the Rams in the playoffs?

Not just lose — but lose in this way.

This version of the Seahawks, with an established Head Coach and quarterback, veteran players and an expensive roster, should be judged on their post-season performance.

And this latest defeat was one of the worst.

Let’s also consider the circumstances of this game.

The Rams had to start their backup quarterback. John Wolford, an undrafted free agent who played for the Arizona Hotshots in 2019, was thrust into action before needing to be taken to hospital with a horrible looking injury.

In his place stepped Jared Goff — playing with pins in his thumb, after having surgery just two weeks ago.

Despite facing this immense challenge, Sean McVay came up with a gameplan to manage the situation. Both quarterbacks moved the ball better than Russell Wilson. The running game succeeded.

The Seahawks on the other hand, had no plan for their quarterback. Not one that was clear and obvious anyway — unless the plan was to invite Aaron Donald and Leonard Floyd to win the game for LA.

The running game felt like an afterthought to start with. Instead it was replaced by tentative, seemingly short-range passes that neither threatened the Rams defense or moved the chains.

It simply gave Donald and Floyd an opportunity to rub their hands together.

So much for saving Chris Carson for the playoffs. They only used him once they’d bled the passing game dry and 100% confirmed how bad it was.

Wilson looked absolutely shot. Broken.

His #1 receiver is on the sideline throwing his helmet at the bench in frustration. Seattle’s reaction? To telegraph the ball to him on a screen, that was picked off for a touchdown.

For weeks Pete Carroll refused to acknowledge anything was wrong on offense yet the warning signs were clearly there for all to see.

The same old problems on third down. The same jittery quarterback. The same underused Carson.

They did nothing to fix any of this. Complacency. Pure complacency.

Every passing play felt like an enormous struggle. They had nothing to go to. Nothing to get a 3rd and 4 conversion. Nothing to get the quarterback into a rhythm. Nothing easy or simple. No answers.

2/13 on third downs — a problem that has been discussed for weeks but brushed off by Carroll when challenged in a recent press conference.

How could the Rams make life easier for one inexperienced backup and one injured quarterback — and the Seahawks serve up this?

They were pushed around on both lines of scrimmage. Completely beaten up.

The bully? The Rams.

It felt like they ran out of offensive plays practically straight away. Where were the ideas? Where were the adjustments?

And what on earth was going on in the fourth quarter on 4th and 1, where they had an age to get the play in due to Damien Lewis’ injury, only to false start with the clock expiring and then punt.

It was embarrassing. The whole game was a shambles.

The result is a team dumped out in the playoffs as a pretender and a fraud — further away than ever from the Super Bowl.

We’ve just experienced 12 months where the Seahawks have used all of their cap space and spent their next two first round picks, plus their third rounder for this year.

All those resources used to make the wildcard round and surrender like this. A worse exit than a year ago.

Put it on the shelf next to Carolina, Atlanta, Dallas and Green Bay. This one, however, tops the lot. The worst post-season performance of the Carroll era and one of the worst performances period.

So here’s the question that should be asked…

Why is next year going to be any different?

According to Over The Cap, the Seahawks have just $6.3m in effective space if the salary cap reduces to $176m for the 2021 season.

They also only have 34 contracted players.

Admittedly, there has been talk that the cap could be $20m higher than the original $176m estimate. Even so, having $26m in cap space would not be enough to get much done this off-season.

They need to replace or re-sign Shaquill Griffin, Chris Carson and Ethan Pocic. K.J. Wright is a free agent. Jacob Hollister, Benson Mayowa, Carlos Hyde and Mike Iupati are all free agents.

There are 36 players reaching free agency or restricted free agency. They will all need to be signed or replaced.

There’s also the issue of Jamal Adams’ contract. Some people think there’s no urgency here because he has one more year left on his contract and then they can use the franchise tag.

These same people clearly forget that Adams’ dispute with the Jets was largely over their refusal to pay him in 2020. He is due a new contract. He will expect talks to begin. If the Seahawks refuse to negotiate, it’s unlikely to be well received.

If they do negotiate a new deal it will cost them a lot of money. We’ve talked many times already about Laremy Tunsil and Jalen Ramsey resetting the market at their positions because teams traded multiple first round picks without an oven-ready contract extension.

Adams could easily ask for $20m a year. The minimum he will receive is $16m to become the highest paid safety in the NFL.

That’s a huge contract extension that will take up future resources and could consume a large section of the off-season.

And is he worth it? Honestly? He was blitzed more than any other player in the league to deliver 9.5 sacks. He packs a punch playing downfield. He’s also been injured numerous times this year and major reservations about his coverage ability are justified. Is this really the thing you want to prioritise now?

The other problem is the Seahawks only have three or four draft picks. There’s a lack of clarity over whether they possess a conditional seventh rounder that was originally traded to the Jets for Parry Nickerson. Seattle cut him before the 2019 season started and it’s never been fully cleared up if they got the pick back.

Nevertheless, it’s a seventh rounder. They have minimal draft stock to fill holes or trade down for extra stock and add cheap talent.

It increasingly looks like they went all-in for 2020. How they take a step forward now with barely any resources is incredibly difficult to work out.

And as we’ve been discussing a lot recently — what now for Russell Wilson? He’s played the worst half-season of his career over the last few weeks.

Publicly he’ll say what you’d expect him to say. Privately, does he own it? Does he blame the team? The coordinator? Do the Seahawks consider it a fault of Wilson or Brian Schottenheimer? How will Carroll feel about it, given he is ultimately the one calling the shots?

I’d recommend reading this article I wrote recently, discussing the possible ramifications of a playoff flop this season.

Can they seriously continue to play this version of what Pete Carroll calls winning football, after this shocker and the last few offensive performances?

There’s a lot to digest and consider here. We started talking about this in the week and frankly, we need to continue to talk about this.

The Seahawks can’t just keep doing the same thing every year. How many more times do you need to see this ending in the playoffs? Especially given the magnitude of this loss?

At what point are we all going to turn around and realise what a great missed opportunity we’ve all witnessed? The best years of a top quarterback squandered, resources blasted to never take a big step forward.

Always on the fringes of serious contention but never actually there.

Here’s a quick reminder. The 49ers and the Rams played in the last two Super Bowls. The Cardinals have been to the NFC Championship since Seattle last made it.

It’s not wrong to expect better from this team. It’s not spoilt, as some would have you believe, to expect more than three disappointing divisional round losses in six years.

At the very least we should expect better than this. A 30-20 shellacking.

The Seahawks need to be honest with themselves. They need to be brutally honest.

Changes are needed to the coaching staff. Pete Carroll should look beyond his inner circle. It’s time for a fresh set of eyes and ideas. People will probably call for Carroll to go. We know it won’t happen — weeks after he signed a long-term contract extension and with ownership still in flux.

Assuming Carroll remains, he needs to act.

Nobody should be off the hook. Both coordinators. Positional coaches. Nobody should be hiding behind 12-4. There are too many instances where Seattle’s staff were out-coached and that has to change.

Let’s take it a step further. Everything should be on the table in terms of personnel change. In my opinion, the Seahawks should listen to any and all offers. Doing the same thing over and over again isn’t getting them anywhere. They have barely any picks and very little cap space. Be open to possibilities.

They need to work out an identity that is consistent and successful. Jumping from awful defense and ‘Let Russ Cook’ to better defense and an offensive implosion — that’s not how it works. They need a plan that is coherent, effective and everyone needs to be on board with it.

We also need to know what is going on with John Schneider’s future. Is he staying? Is he going? To the Lions or anyone else? If you want him to stay, make it happen this week with a new contract. I don’t see why you wouldn’t if you’re serious about retaining him.

That’s my take anyway, speaking immediately after the game.

Do I think they’ll act on this in the way I’ve suggested? No. I suspect they will put a lot of their issues down to Covid. I think they’ll tell themselves they can fix things. They might be so limited in what they can do due to resources, they’ll simply be forced to try and fix things. There might be some coaching changes, we’ll see.

I think Carroll will blame the pick-six and losing the turnover battle. The penalties. Getting in their own way.

I really hope we don’t hear the words ‘uncharacteristic’ or ‘surprised’ in the subsequent press conference.

But the reality is this is serious. Bad enough to warrant a proper post mortem.

I fear that without a more surgical analysis of why they can’t get close to the NFC Championship game (let alone the Super Bowl) — we’ll simply be here again in 12 months.

Having the same conversations.

2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020.

I’ll go back to what I said earlier. This team should be judged on how it performs in the post-season.

Since 2015, they’ve won three playoff games — a Blair Walsh missed field goal delivered a win against Minnesota, they had a home victory against the Lions and they just about beat the Eagles who lost their quarterback early in the game.

That’s it.

With every year that passes as another wasted opportunity, you can’t help but wonder if the Seahawks — with this regime — will ever reach the top again.

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290 Comments

  1. Stefan

    This is probably the most spot on post game (if you can call it that) analysis. It feels like unless there’s significant changes, next year and beyond will be even worse.

    • Glor

      I just want to hear Carol be as honest

      • D

        I want to hear Carrol say he will look at all available coaches and make changes again. Send away the special teams coordinator (finally) and hire the Jets coach (who was there at least last year). Get a new, college coach to run the offense with new ideas, but most importantly, show Wilson how he has been the definition of dependable for the past several years – game after game. He gets more false starts on his offense than defenses jumping offsides by a wide margin (6:1), he snaps the ball with less than 5 seconds on the play clock, and he makes very few adjustments to the team once they are lined up. Not to mention that he is the slowest QB at getting the play into the huddle for his team to break the huddle and be ready to go. What is he doing in there anyway? Sharing how much he appreciates how they wear their uniforms so pretty?

  2. Colin

    The long term outlook for the franchise is bad. This is just the beginning.

    • Spencer Duncan

      I have no idea where they can go from here.

  3. Tony

    Dave wyman first thought. Defense needs to be more physical. Starts blaming defense. Lol.

  4. 12th chuck

    anyone else feel like let russ cook turned sour when they didnt get brown? dont think wilson will be here next year. I also dont think we will get what we think we should for him.

    • Glor

      We get fleeced typically in trades

      • Mark Guy

        I agree, I like Adams but two first round picks…ouch.

    • Mark

      Wilson won’t be traded, get real. Wilson has taken a pounding for years, eventually it catches up.
      They Simply can’t keep “Scotty.” The offense was horrible, he runs the offense and should be held accountable. Carson is a nice running back, but he runs out of bounds a lot. Something is going on there. The GM needs to be held accountable – he and Pete, together, have made some horrible picks. The offensive line is in trouble. I love Dwayne Brown, but he’s at the end. Iapati should have retired years ago. Pocic is average at best. We all love DK, but he seems immature, starting fights, throwing things on the sidelines, I get his frustration but he needs to grow up. The defense has age, kj, wagner, Dunlap, (free agent). They have limited draft capital with no first round pick. They have limited salary cap money to spend. And finally…. Russell. If he’s going to play that bad they need to re-work his contract. Some big names will be gone next season.

  5. ArmyHawk

    Great read, Paul Allens absence looms even larger now as large signiticant surgery is required to get this team right. I fear there is noone in the seahawks organization to do it.

  6. Russ

    I’m all for getting rid of Schotty and getting an OC who has full reign to create an offense for Russ.

    But Russ has looked rough for 6 weeks now. Regardless of if it was the right game plan, he missed short throws over the middle to Hollister and Dissly multiple times. He shoulders some of this.

    The defense I’m actually a little bullish on. They competed and kept the Seahawks in the game most of the way. Brooks, Reed (CB), and Collier actually look like solid pieces.

    I just can’t believe we watched an offense with this much talent do so little in a playoff game

    • pdway

      “I just can’t believe we watched an offense with this much talent do so little in a playoff game”

      Right? That’s the thing, DK, Lockett, Carson – – I think they are all objectively good players. And russell wilson is supposed to be russell wilson – – but he hasn’t been that guy for a bunch of weeks. I don’t know how to unlock that puzzle.

      • RugbyLock

        They need a new OC and Pete needs to get out of the way as they’re wasting Russell’s HOF career…

        • JILL GALLAGHER

          It’s time for Pete to go!! His old school ways are OLD!! He needs to stop being loyal and fire coaches that aren’t getting it done. if he can’t do that then he needs to go. Russ needs to go back to the way he played a couple years ago. he’s lost a step I thinks he’s too bulked up. Stop trying to extend the play and just throw the ball away instead of taking a loss. DK needs to stop the DIVA CRAP NOW!! He’s great but it’s not all about him and his #’s!! You don’t see the big name QB’S doing pod casts about their first dates! Stop all the outside distractions and concentrate on being the best. ( you do spend a million a yr. on it ) The window is closing get it figured out!!

  7. pdway

    such a strange year – – i mean, was it all smoke and mirrors the first 6 weeks?

    what an utterly bizarre and terrible turnaround for our offense. a star QB who was the MVP frontrunner, the best set of skill position players he’s ever had, and then it turns into this?

    I don’t know if something has happened to Russell or not – I have to believe (b/c what other choice do I have?), that the guy from weeks 1-6 still exists – and we just need a complete overhaul of the offensive coaching staff.

    Truth is – the signs were there all through the 2nd half of the season that we would go out like this – offense hasn’t been good in forever. What a lifeless way to end the year.

    • Chris

      It’s hard to tell since we’re not in the locker room or coaches meetings, but my hunch is that there are multiple factors:

      1. COVID made it hard for defenses (which typically start slow) to prepare. This led to some of Seattle’s early offensive success.

      2. Teams then had some tape to see how the Hawks were succeeding, and schemed to take it away.

      3. A few tight games and Pete lost his nerve, pulling back in on the LRC offense.

      4. We started playing really good defenses that got Russ spooked. He started turtling more.

      • IHeartTacoma

        Great description – turtling. We’ve seen it a lot the last few months.

      • Kendo

        BINGO!!! Defences around the league seemed to gel better together as the season went along. They figured out how to play our offence but we didn’t figure out a response to this. I also think we were caught some lucky breaks this year.

        • God of Thunder

          Correct. Our own Seahawks saw their defence gel too. Unfortunately the offence didn’t adjust enough over the second half of the season. That’s on the coaches at least 66%.

    • Mark Guy

      Once Russell started tossing picks Pete said enough. Things seemed to change after that, I don’t know if Russell got pissed, or if there is a conflict going on with Schotty. The Russ cook thing was a great marketing statement, many fans fell for it. The defenses eventually caught up to their scheme and adjusted. The offensive line was owned by Donald and the Rams. The RAMS are simply better, period. With limited draft capital, limited salary cap money, and aging players on the decline, the future will be challenging. Honestly, I know fans won’t like this, but they need a couple of 4 and 12 seasons to re-load. Even that won’t help a ton, at least not immediately, as we lost next year’s first round pick for Adams. Speaking of Adams, everyone knows he wants his money. If he doesn’t get paid it will be an issue. He’s a nice player with an explosive personality. Fans got use to the high scoring in the beginning, no way that was going to last.

  8. Lukas

    Agree with everything you say, Rob. The Mariners had a solid roster a couple of seasons Abo but realised they were nowhere near a World Series although they just missed the playoffs. They turned the whole roster around. I really hope the Seahawks change SOMETHING this offseason, even if it means getting worse in the short term. I can‘t bare many more of these kind of games and seasons.

  9. Chase

    Thanks for the all the content Rob. I do believe that this ship is rightable. Though I don’t trust the people that are in the position to do it.

    This was a depressing performance today.

  10. Hoggs41

    To me we have to change the offensive philosophy. We need to find common ground between letting Russ Cook and Pete-Ball or this will be the outcome every year. I hate to say it and Im not overreacting but that Pete extension may have been a massive mistake. The defense for sure wasnt the problem.

    • RugbyLock

      Pete needs to get a new OC and step back from the offense. The second half of the season after Buffalo was pathetic.

  11. Kurt Frederick ZUMDIECK

    Rob,

    Brilliant stuff.

    We were never in this game.

    Gashed in the run in the first half. O-line was a turnstile. They looked like they were out of ideas in the second drive. And no commitment to the run, except those slow developing inside handoffs which were useless.

    We never played with speed, with passion.

    Really tired old man on the sideline.

    His cheerleading outfit doesn’t fit anymore.

  12. John_s

    Watching that game and the last 10 games of the regular season. It’s clear that Russ is not the guy to carry a team to the super bowl. The running game and a once in a generation defense carried Russ to the super bowl and now when it’s on his shoulders he has fallen short.

    He has a 1,000 yard running back, 2 record breaking WRs and he cannot manage to get this team over the hump.

    The ridiculous offsides on 4th and 1 after the Lewis injury timeout. Why is he giving a Sunday sermon in the huddle and Break them with 5 seconds left?

    His lack of awareness and his slow processing is catching up to him when the team is looking for him to carry them.

    If we can get the Jets to trade the 2 and a bevy of other picks I would be all for it and draft Zach Wilson.

    • Kurt Frederick ZUMDIECK

      John_s

      It is time to flip the roster and go young. You took your shot now you have an asset in RW. Get some value for hims and go in a different direction.

      Real shame is watching how talented and brutish their D-line was and really dominated us with four guys, even without Donald in there.

      Our O-line went to shit at the wrong time.

    • Ross

      I believe it was the first Rams game this year, around 6 min. left in 4th quarter, Hawks down by a significant margin. Little chance left, but a chance. Russ is running the offense like it’s the first possession of the first quarter, no urgency as the game clock winds down. Then on like a crucial third down he gets a delay of game. At that moment, in my mind I realized: Russ will never be better than he is now and that best is not good enough. That clock management fail gets grace when you’re in year 1 or 2 in the NFL, not year 10.

      The accuracy problems are probably here to stay. Nice throw to Metcalf for the 51 yard TD. But he had almost the same throw later in the game where DK had his man beat by 3 steps yet RW still managed to overthrow him by 5 yards.

      There’s a point in a NFL QB’s tenure where it becomes clear to fans with an eye that the QB needs to move on. Doesn’t mean QB has no value; he may very well do good on a different team and new system but for the current team keeping the QB just means wasted years, delaying the reality of rebuilding. Usually teams are reluctant to make the big QB change for like 3 -5 years meaning player stays with team 3-5 years too long. Think Eli Manning, or Phillip Rivers. I’m old enough to remember even Dave Kriieg who thrived for 2 years (1 maybe not sure) with the Lions once he moved on, but his last 2 years with Hawks were too long – fans knew he needed to go.

      Reality is, rebuilding is in order. Russ and Pete most likely cannot take this team past a wild card win so then what’s the point of continuing on with current cast? Nevertheless, teams rarely make the necessary bold\required move so I expect RW to remain a Hawk to the end with a string of 10-6, 8-8, 9-7 no playoff win seasons in his wake.

  13. Trevor

    They tried to rebuild on the fly and have been stuck in good but far from great mode. Today was a totally predictable end to my least favourable of 40 yrs of watching NFL football.

    I know this is an over reaction but I would not be at all disappointed to see them completely blow this up starting with trading Russ, Bobby and Adam’s then start over with the goal of rebuilding to an SB quality team in 3 years. If not I fear 10-6 with a wild card round playoff loss continues to be the norm. Which I was very vocal about when they signed Russ to his first megs deal,

  14. pdway

    “Wilson looked absolutely shot. Broken.

    The same old problems on third down. The same jittery quarterback. The same underused Carson.

    Every passing play felt like an enormous struggle. They had nothing to go to. Nothing to get a 3rd and 4 conversion. Nothing to get the quarterback into a rhythm. Nothing easy or simple. No answers.

    It felt like they ran out of offensive plays practically straight away. Where were the ideas? Where were the adjustments?”

    Picking out the parts of your story Rob, that I agree with the most wholeheartedly.

    We have no easy plays, and we have seemingly no imagination or creativity either – – that’s how you end up 2/13 on 3rd downs. Run some read-option, run some screen passes, hell, this was the game to run a trick play if you have one – but no, our running game is vanilla, and our passing game? I don’t even know what to say. Clearly, our O-line was absolutely dominated today, and that’s part of it – but figure out some options. Every game in the 2nd half of the season, when we struggled early, we struggled all game.

    Our defense actually played well enough in my book. But what a bloodless, sad performance by the offense, and a subpar game by our QB, who ain’t earning his salary cap hit right now.

    • Malc from PO

      I agree fully. I lost interest in this game when it became clear that the Seahaks had no plan to actually score any points (ie after the first drive). The Rams will get destroyed next week because they are not very good, but here we are setting them up for success and making no effort to challenge them on either side of the ball. Everything should be on the table as Rob says, because this team has no route to success. The offensive philosophy is so poor that you might as well trade every player away for picks and save salary. At the end of the day you have to try to score points, and Pete has lost all interest in trying to do that. The same happened to the great Spain soccer team of the mid-2010s. Passing the ball around and maintaining possession is no substitute for sticking the ball in the back of the net. It was obvious from the first drive today that the Seahawks had no plan for scoring points and hoped just to hang in there until the final quarter. The Rams saw this and were even able to get turnovers on the Seahawks ultra consrvative game plan. It would be funny if people weren;t getting paid millions of dollars to come up with these plans. If this is the plan, there is no sense in keeping Wilson, Carson, etc etc. Just hire the cheapest offensive talent you can and hope they can run down enough clock to give you a shot at a game winning field goal,.Dreadful stuff.

  15. Scouse Nathan

    I’ve tried to be optimistic but this broke me, it just feels like we have no chance to move forward, I’ll always love everyone that was involved in that Super Bowl win, but if we’re going to win another one any time soon, we need change and lots of it. Got to see if there is anyone we can trade for draft capital or swap to improve certain areas.

    For positives: the defence has improved, 30 points with a pick 6 and a relatively short field after a fumble, don’t think today was on them, it was on the offence. Sad to see the O-Line play so poorly again and we need to find someone to fix Russell Wilson, think Austin Davis at QB coach has to go and someone with experience needs to come in. I’d like a complete change on offence but probably unlikely.

    Just don’t know how we fix this team going forward without some sort of huge change, we might need to take a knock for a season or two to build back again but does Russell Wilson have the time for that?

    I love this team and will support them through thick or thin but this was a tough one, change is needed. Thanks for all your work this season, at times I wanted to be in denial and disagree but think you’ve hit the nail on the head! Let’s hope for better on the future even tho right now that seems so far away! But always… Go Hawks!

  16. BoiseSeahawk

    That screen pass to DK where Russ was staring him down from before the snap… that alone was enough to warrant a new OC and to put a lot of blame on Russ today. There HAS to be a better way to keep DK involved, the guy jets past everyone on the field. Russ can’t seem to time it right to match his speed unless he modifies his route.

    I’d be fine with a reset in as many facets of the coaching staff/roster as possible. Some younger minds would be nice on offense and defense.

  17. cha

    Thanks for a fantastic year of coverage, Rob

    • pdway

      + 1

      Sad to see the season end earlier than I’d hoped…it’s been a great distraction during these house-bound days.

    • Elmer

      Yes!

    • spartacus

      Absolutely. Thank you for your contributions as well cha. SDB is the first thing I check every time I boot up for good reason.

    • Rob Staton

      Thanks Cha.

  18. Travuw

    The coaching decisions and indecisions today were so glaringly bad that it’s exactly as your described, embarassing. This is an organization with personnel who have been to the mountaintop and shown that they used to be capable of greatness. I think, sadly, that glorious window of time has passed.

    I believe it’s true of Wilson also, and that is hard to say. His brand of football served him so well for the first 6 years of his career – he had the athleticism and instincts to do the unbelievable consistently. The past few years, it’s been shakier, and the second half of this season saw him look like a mortal 5′-10″ 30 year old in the NFL at the one position that requires vision, poise, and decisiveness. He’s capable of making plays, but just as likely to overtrust his ability to get out of anything. The throw into the dirt today on 2nd and 24 was the first time I’ve ever, ever seen him give up mentally.

    Sad day…not too many answers to be had.

    • Mark Guy

      Totally agree, when he just tossed the ball in the ground I knew we were done. They showed his face later – he looked completely perplexed. I really think a disconnect has taken place, exactly where and who I don’t know. I would be shocked if Schotty isn’t canned within days.

  19. BMP

    Exact same thoughts on the inevitable excuses. The truth is this team was not built for a long postseason run. Or maybe the personnel was there, but the game planning and coaching were abysmal. As soon as we drew the Rams, I figured this would be a shit show, but good god I wasn’t ready for this big of a shit show.

  20. Tony

    This team will do nothing noteworthy. They will show up basically the same team and win 10 games. And nothing else. Either this franchise is happy with regular season wins or they are upset over bad playoff losses.

  21. Mike

    Yes the offensive line was horrific, especially the interior line.

    But Russell Wilson just got outplayed by Jared Goff with a broken thumb. I’m tired of fans making excuses for him. He was able to win and go to the Super Bowl with a great supporting cast and he was making $500,000/year. When he’s making 35 mill a year he will still win lots of games but like rob pointed out they continue to lose in either the wild card or divisional round. If they are going to make a run for super bowls in the future they need to seriously consider what to do with RW.

    • pdway

      You’re not wrong. But I think we’re kind of ride-or-die w RW, right? Great QB’s don’t just appear out of nowhere, and he’s been so good, so recently.

      It’s so strange to me what’s happened to his game. I’ve never seen a QB (or any athlete really) fall off a cliff in the middle of the season, so I’m hoping he can get back to the form we’ve all seen from his for so many years.

      • Mike

        I totally agree with you. It is very very hard to find a quarterback as good as Russell Wilson.

        I don’t understand the fall off either. I just hate making excuses for quarterbacks making 35 mill a year. If you’re paying a quarterback that much they need to carry a franchise to make a Super Bowl. I mean Russell Wilson just got outplayed by Jared Goff with a broken thumb LOL and I can’t believe I just wrote that statement.

        • Alex H

          Sad, but true. Wilson didn’t carry his weight in this game. The O Line has been decent this year, but they were up against the best D Line and #1 passing defense this year. Not sure what we can do. You already have Pocic and Lewis in the interior. The only glaring upgrade is maybe Iupati who is well past his prime.

        • Malc from PO

          The issue I have is that Pete has no intention of letiting a QB play to his full potential, so why spend 35m a year on the position? Russell has been okay with what they have asked him to do, but the play calling is so poor and conservative that you could stick anyone in there with the same results. If Pete is the future, they are better to cut ties with Wilson, put in a QB at veteran minimum and try to win the game with defense and field goals, I guess.

      • Michael Wood

        Seattle has seen this before, Shaun Alexander. The RB destroyed defenses for six years and then got paid…a lot of money for time. The stink from his game after that is still remembered. That wasn’t the middle of the season, but it is a reoccurring theme for a great many players.

  22. Uncle Bob

    There is no single defining issue, or “problem” if you prefer, with this team. There are quite a few. But the single largest of the issues is the sh%# show that Russ has produced the past half season. The fan boys will want to blame Schotty, who isn’t above criticism, but also isn’t the one that throws the ball erratically, throws into a streaking db for a pick six, and hangs onto the ball too long looking for a glory play. And it’s far more than that. In the pre-game talking headfest on NFL network Kurt Warner had a pretty damning compilation of video shots showing how Russ just isn’t seeing his open receivers. The Russ fan boys might learn something if they look for a rebroadcast of that stuff.

    Russ has a lot of accomplishments, and has racked up some impressive performances…………..but he’s lost something, or several somethings. Can he get back the magic? Nobody really knows. Even a washed up Philip Rivers looked more competent today. I’m glad this pathetic season is over for we Seahawk fans, I’m tired of it.

    • 12th chuck

      I will politely disagree. an aging o line, lackluster d line, overrated secondary and highest payed players not living up to their contracts and a draft philosophy that is broken at best

      • Mike

        The Russell hacks have entered the chat.

        RW has played the worst of his career. He has better o line than he has had in years past and the defense was good the last half of the year. Your trying to make excuses for him.

        • Alex H

          This. Duane Brown, Shell, Pocic, Lewis is as good as Wilson had in his career.

          • GerryG

            Yes that’s true but they were abysmal today. Couldn’t block on third and short, couldn’t protect.

            I’ve been quite critical of Russ second half of year, but the OL was so bad today

    • sgtPeppy

      Here’s the link to the Kurt Warner piece that Uncle Bob is talking about.

      Russ is absolutely seeing ghosts and panicking. One more hop when he hits the back of his drop, and he’s got some big chunk plays there for the taking. We just haven’t seen him let it rip – he scrambles right into a waiting defense and tries to do something desperate. If he can’t get outside the pocket (and he’s not as fast as he used to be), then he’s just not comfortable

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5J0N-CB41g

      • Uncle Bob

        Thanks for the link sarge. All the armchair experts on here who think Russ is a victim of the coaching staff should learn from both Warner and Mooch……………….those guys probably know just a bit more about the game than the typical fan.

    • Jimbo

      “throws into a streaking db for a pick six”
      This guy out here bashing “Russ fanboys” when he doesn’t even understand how a screen works. SMH.

      Russell Wilson is 32, and we always knew his game would need to evolve as his athleticism waned. He can’t carry the team the same way he could almost a decade ago, with his Houdini escapes and miraculous scramble drills – but that doesn’t mean he can’t still carry this team.

      Wilson needs to evolve, but the Seahawks are doing a horrible job helping him through that transition. The team’s shitty offensive philosophy puts him in this awkward position of needing to play hero ball to save bad plays while simultaneously not taking any risks. It’s an impossible situation, and the result is what we’ve seen from Russell these past few weeks.

      This offense gives Wilson no easy completions. Our OC can’t even scheme a screen pass. The offense is simple and predictable. Wilson can’t carry nediocre offensive coordinators on his back any more, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be phenomenal if he was somewhere like Kansas City, or Tampa Bay.

      • SeattleLifer

        Well put-

      • Michael Wood

        So wrong, go watch the games and take off fan boy glasses off. Russ constantly is trying to doing the hail mary throw downfield instead of the short game to TE/RB. Russ is about stats, he needs stat to prop up his poor play. And please people stop calling him a HOF QB, he will not get into the HOF. Russ Wilson is barely a top 10 QB, I would argue top 15 at most. This game was a perfect example, out played by a guy from the AAF and another with a broken thumb on his throwing hand. That screams HOF.

        • Jimbo

          This is a laughably bad take – Wilson is not playing poorly because he’s chasing stats.

          Great offenses are the product of philosophy, scheme, and talent. You need all three to be aligned in order to be successful.

          When a team pays their QB 32M, they can’t afford the talent required at other positions to play “balanced” football anymore. The team needs to disproportionately feature their quarterback because the quarterback takes up a disproportionate amount of resources.

          The Seahawks need to live and die by Wilson, or they need to trade him and try to find a cheap QB that lets them stack the roster elsewhere.

    • Malc from PO

      Russ has been fine, given that his job has been to run down clock and not turn the ball over, and the Rams even found ways to get the better of that today, The issue is a philosophy that de-emphasises actually scoring points in favour of not turning the ball over, with the result that the offense can’t actually score points when they really need to. If we are committed to Pete ball going forward, then it is vital that we reduce salaries on offense to minimum so that we can bring in enough defensive talent to have a chance of winning some games. Why pay a QB 35m a year to do what they ask Russ to do? Fair play to Tyler and DK for the tough catches and hard blocking work, but if you want to enjoy being a WR and win some championships, this really isn;t what we are about in Seattle.

  23. steele

    Going into this game, I sincerely believed, or hoped, that they could struggle their way through the handful of games left in front of them, by hook and crook despite what we all know, make it to the SB, and with a final burst of inspiration, possibly win it. In a stupid COVID season in which no team in any sport has a clear advantage, and any crazy possibility is possible. Instead, they couldn’t even hold it together for a few games.

    This team is in trouble,from Pete and every coordinator to every position. Wilson has regressed, removing the final piece of superficial gloss.

    What we don’t want is to hear the same old Pete rah-rah, how proud they are of the 12-4, etc. Spend the next couple of seasons blowing it up and starting over.

  24. Ian

    Great article — and keep them coming. We need more pressure on the organization to make real change. I’m tired of this same result every year.

  25. Paul Cook

    This game was a flashpoint to the fan who knows enough to know what’s going on, more or less. The whole first half I thought to myself…we have no plan for this game, and if we did at the onset, then we had no Plan B when it failed to work. We were embarrassingly out prepared, out coached, out played on our offensive side of the ball almost the entire game. Our only TD was on a broken play where DK got wide open for a pass RW barely got off.

    More than anyone else, this one was on PC. When you;re the head coach it’s your responsibility to have the team ready to play a playoff game, and we weren’t anywhere near so.

    I have a lot more to say, but that’s enough for now. Major changes are needed if we are to become a contender again. That much is certain.

    Great job this year Rob on your narrative thread. In most cases, it echoed my own.

  26. HawkFan907

    Honest question: Is there a trade market for Pete Carroll?

    Saw a report earlier about teams looking to trade for a HC. If we trade Pete to NYJ for our Jamal picks back this year, and then get a young offensive minded HC like Joe Brady I’d be all for it. Truth is though that I have no idea what we could get for Pete in a trade.

    • Tony

      Coaches have been traded in past. Wasnt it gruden in 2000???

      But no chance it happens here.

    • Gary

      I would trade Positive Pete for two rolls of tape. Addition by subtraction.

    • Rob Staton

      Honest question: Is there a trade market for Pete Carroll?

      Nope.

  27. Justyn

    I have been saying all season Metcalf is overrated – he can’t catch. The plays he makes do not make up for his glaring weakness, he’s not a natural catcher and will always be a liability. today however, he was truly awful. Forget his garbage time touchdown. Two drops and largely at fault for a pick-six. His paddy on the touchdown (following his drop) led to the team forcing plays to him which led to that telegraphed interception. I was laughed at when I said earlier this season that I hoped he had 1000+ yards and then we could sell him at the end of the season for draft capital. He got the yards, and having watched him during each game I’m even more convinced that the best thing he could ever do for this team, is to net them a high draft pick.

    • Leonardo

      DK didn’t have a good game, but you should be laughed if you’re seriously suggesting we trade him. Yes, he doesn’t have the best hands, but neither did TO. He’s a physical beast with all-pro potential who hasn’t even entered his prime yet.

      Ramsey got into his head today, but there’s no shame in getting outplayed by the best CB in the league. Just two weeks ago you could argue he outplayed Ramsay. There is no hint that he’s a malcontent or he’s lazy, he just had a bad moment on the sideline. There are many more people responsible for today’s debacle than him. And moving forward, he’s much more part of the solution than the problem.

      • Justyn

        Yes there were other factors involved and I definitely don’t think he’s lazy. I just think he’ll always drop important passes. The fact that people, like yourself, rate him so highly is exactly why we should trade him right now. I don’t think he is a bad player, he’s just a highly overrated player who will always end up costing us in big games as he has never been a reliable pass catcher. When something is overpriced, that’s exactly when you should sell.

        • Alex H

          You don’t trade young, cheap All Pros. If the team can’t work with him, then the OC needs to get fired. Players like him are normally draftable only in the top 10 picks if you’re lucky.

      • Malc from PO

        DK is a great player, and we will trade him before his contract is up because why pay someone top pass catcher money when we really aren’t all that interested in passing the ball in order to score points?

    • Ryan

      Disagree with almost everything except that DK has a tendency to drop the ball. But I remember hearing about some study that drops are WAY less important than everybody thinks, kinda like a strong arm on a right fielder. His catches far outvalue a few drops here and there. Caveat: when you run the kind of crap offense that we do that seems to purposely put you in 3rd & 4+ situations all the time, the cost of drops is increased bc there’s no margin for error. On the Chiefs he could have 5 drops a game and it probably wouldn’t dent the scoring number.

      He was not at all at fault for the pick six. That’s on Schotty for calling that BS and Swain for not getting off his a** and blocking like he meant it until it was too late. We only forced that play to him after basically ignoring him at the start of the game.

      I believe we should have been forcing the ball to him all game, but not this “manufacturing touches” nonsense like that screen, but the stuff he does well, like run straight past people. We gave him one shot at a contested deep ball. Ok, fair play to Ramsey for shoving him by the hips and beating him on that play. But there were at least two more when DK ran by him and we didn’t get him the ball. We hit those two shots we are walking away with the W. Now try it six more times and see if we can win a few.

    • Matt

      He was not awful today. He had a bad drop at the end of the game that would have made no difference. The screen pass pick 6 is not on him in any way. “Largely at fault” for the pick 6 is just a delusional take. Sorry.

      • Justyn

        Why is it delusional? That’s a silly choice of words.
        DK was complaining, reacting and throwing his helmet on the floor. Directly after his drop and subsequent tantrum a seemingly easy play in the flat is manufactured to get him in the game. It’s not delusional to think that DK’s reaction had an impact on the play call. Not delusional at all. It was a direct response to his actions. Both to his drop, because they needed to give him a seemingly easy catch, and his paddy.

        • Troy

          The player at fault was swain (the blocking WR). He completely whiffed on his block, and allowed the DB to make a great play. Swain shoulders 100% of the responsibility for that play due to his shitty block attempt.

          • GerryG

            This.

    • SeattleLifer

      I too tend to think he’s over rated. Outside of his drops and nigh complete inability to catch balls while jumping in the air, most all of the knocks on him coming out college(that dropped him in the draft) seemed to rear up after defenders/defenses learned how to cover him. Poor ability to stop or cut quickly/change of direction, mental awareness/laziness. Add it all up and decent corners along with good defensive schemes can really put a dent in his ability to get open during regularly run playbook plays – it’s often the Russ scrambling scenarios where DK makes a lot of his hay. I’m not saying he’s trash or anything, just that he certainly has real limitations and I believe they showed out significantly in the last third of the season when he got figured out and we played teams with decent secondaries.

    • Jace

      Our QB just played the worst football of his career these last few weeks and now you want to trade his favorite WR? That same WR that just broke the franchise receiving yards record, and oh mind you is playing on a rookie contract these next few years. Come on

  28. HENRY KINYANJUI

    Rob..2 years ago I suggested trading wilson and u bit my head clean off. Ui wonder how u feel .

    • Rob Staton

      What do you want, a medal?

      • HENRY KINYANJUI

        Nope…just ur humbleness will do

        • ABCinco

          Quit being an A-hole. 2 years ago is a completely different situation. Still on the way out of a rebuild. You don’t trade Russ in that situation.

        • Rob Staton

          The suggestion to trade Wilson was still dumb two years ago

      • Michael Wood

        How about a little honesty. I’ve also been “attack” for my positions on players, namely Earl Thomas. If a person going to fanboy a player or players, admit the screw up later.

        • Rob Staton

          When have I ever fan boyed for a player?

          You listed Earl Thomas. Do you realise ET’s agent called me once to complain about my articles on his holdout?

  29. Shadrey Sands

    First thank you Rob and this community for being the best online seahawks community available. I’ve learned and challenged myself so much just by reading all of the awesome content and comments.

    My only question to the blog after this game is: what the hell happened to Russell Wilson??? It felt like a flip switched at some point this season and he wouldn’t/couldn’t make normal throws. He either throws 1000mph at a poor TE 4 yards down the field or lofts down the field for an amazing play for Locket or Metcalf. I could be wrong, but I really thought Russ’ success came from his accuracy, but it’s like he doesn’t even try for it anymore.

    Is it simply play calling? Or that defenses are now taking away the deep Metcalf throw? Or is he hurt?

    This has honesty been one of the most baffling changes in performances I can remember.

  30. Inza Gulag

    I think you’re right on your prediction that minimal changes will occur this offseason, but I think that’s kind of because of some of what you said.

    The offense has looked amazing at times and so has the defense, but the #1 problem has been the lack of consistency across the board. A lot of the times it seemed like when the offense was “on” the defense was “off” and vice versa.

    But even that is too simple because the players themselves were inconsistent: Russ would have amazing games and horrible games. Same for DK, same for the defense, same for everyone.

    Maybe that’s a coaching problem, maybe it’s a personnel one; but with so many changing and inconsistent variables it’s hard to identify any changes to be made with 100% surety.

    • Inza Gulag

      Also: I wouldn’t be surprised if COVID played a huge role as well, in so far as the family/friends of players possibly getting sick (at different times) or even players just not being able to see them as usual.

      I’ve also been wondering: prior to this season, when do you think was the last time most of these guys played without fans?

      And hell, maybe after the first few weeks when they realized that things weren’t going back to normal (and this was going to be the rest of the season) players started to lose focus?

      • John

        I hope you realized every playoff team faced this issue. So that’s not an excused solely for the Seahawks and the Seahawks had no one test positive for Covid so if anything they were facing less adversity.

  31. cha

    Post game PC

    “I have no place in my brain for this outcome. Defense really effective today. Two turnovers, really hard to overcome it. Extraordinary year, really proud of guys for being so strict and regimented through this. Learned a lot and grown a lot. Football season was supposed to keep going for us. Unfortunately not able to get it done today. Congrats to the rams. Frustrating to be done. Suddenness nothing like it. But that’s what you’ve got to. really disappointed.”

    [bob condotta] What happened on 4th down delay call? “Talking it over, discussing plays, got late, screwed it up. Wasn’t clear enough. Really like to have made that. Didn’t function cleanly like we needed to.”

    [michael shawn] Rams coached better today? “Defensed played well. Hard to find time, ran the ball some. That didn’t change, they’ve been like that all year long. They did a really good job.”

    [brady] Comments on the way RW played? “Really hard. I thought it was really hard. They make a fantastic INT for a TD. Big play loomed for 7 points. No mistake by Russ, great play by him. Sacked 5 times, it’s tough. No surprise, this is how they’ve played vs others. Wanted to play like we did last time. Really hard on Russ. Couldn’t function clean enough. Penalties backed us up. Up against it all day.”
    [brady] Why no Timeout on 4th? “Thought we’d get it off. I could see it going, but I didn’t mind we had to kick the football.”

    [tim booth] Rams run game better than Week 16? “Akers did a nice job. Really consistent, they found out where they wanted to go, we didn’t stop it. They kept pecking away. They were in control of game score wise, after that TD, they stayed real close to the vest and kept hammering away. Difference probably two 44 yard plays, fortunate plays by them. Two really big plays, 80-90 yards of offense changed hte field position.”

    [gregg] Answers looking for in pass game? “Somethings don’t want to speak to. But couldn’t find chunk opps. Seemed like during season, after halfway point, hit so much early, people found a way to stay back. Maybe we were going for it more than we needed to, didn’t switch gears. As I look back, I got a lot to figure out. Second part of year, good D’s we played, kept us out of that mode. Wish we would’ve adapted better under those circumstances.”

    [curtis crab] Sacks and Turnovers vs Rams? “Stars up from with their rush, nice job scheme wise, 5 man rush difficult. That’s how you stop the passing game, rush the passer. Can’t find ways to stop it, bad things happen, turnovers, sacks. Did it last game.”

    [john boyle] Message to team heading into offseason? “Find a better place to put it tomorrow. No answers today, frustrated. Didn’t plan on getting knocked out. Weren’t able to, they had their game. Eventually get back to mentality of next go round. Guys will have to adapt once they get out of here – very controlled setting. World’s going crazy about COVID, I’m concerned for our guys.”

    [art thiel] Original OL – difficult to protect and penalties? “Surprised, yes. Wish we’d have found a way to run more to slow them down. Attempting. Donald went out, we wanted to try and throw the ball, weren’t able to get enough out of it.”

    [joe fann] Troublesome year after year, slow starts, clock mgmt, things like that? “Uh, that’s a way you can look at it Joe. So many clock opps you don’t mention because they work out fine. We want to do all of them perfectly. Has been part of our makeup has been sacks, not being able to keep russ clean. Causes issues for us. Causes issues for opponents too, getting out and around. Do get sacked a lot and reoccurred.”
    [joe] They are familiar with you, how come not the other way around? “There’s one factor playing these guys – #99. Hans’t just torn us up, tore everybody up. Significant factor, tilts it. When he got banged up, hoped take adv. That’s the factor. Wish we could find a way to stop him. When you pay as much attn to him as you have to, other guys factor in. Fantastic pass rushes. Huge part of being a good FB team. Good nucleus, coaches done a great job, factor hasn’t gone away.”

    [larry stone] even though accomplished much this year, loss Leave a sour taste? “Today it does. Watching other teams going on, sick to your stomach. Very difficult. Not the day to talk about what we accomplished. Feel like crap today. Have to live with it. There’ll be time. Hard to get to 12. Hard to get a playoff game at home. Tough to give away.”

    [bob] Rashaad Penny injury? “Stumbled in practice Thursday, hit ground hard rocked his knee a bit. The OTHER knee. Couldn’t get back. Alex ready to go.”

    • spartacus

      same old

    • Tony

      Pete sounded like he just put his dog down. He has no answers. Cause he knows this might be his last best shot.

      • Chris

        At least Joe Fann called him out on some of the consistent issues with the team. I remember when we used to be able to make halftime adjustments, and outscore the other team by a huge amount. Did that just go away when Bevell left?

        • Tony

          The offense has been so broken that adjustments havent worked. Defense has had adjustments.

    • Ben

      Thank you cha.

      This answer frustrates me to no end:
      “Comments on the way RW played? “Really hard. I thought it was really hard. They make a fantastic INT for a TD. Big play loomed for 7 points. No mistake by Russ, great play by him. Sacked 5 times, it’s tough. No surprise, this is how they’ve played vs others. Wanted to play like we did last time. Really hard on Russ. Couldn’t function clean enough. Penalties backed us up. Up against it all day.”
      [brady] Why no Timeout on 4th? “Thought we’d get it off. I could see it going, but I didn’t mind we had to kick the football.”

      Plenty of mistakes by Russ this game. I get it, PC is t going to throw him under the bus…..but still.

      • James Z

        Pete dissembled his way down the rabbit-hole on that answer. He must take anybody with even a basic understanding of football for idiots. And this one: ‘Thought we’d get it off…’ Thinking about something and actually accomplishing it are two different things. Listening to Pete sometimes is like listening to a glad-handing politician on cannabis edibles.

      • Pran

        It’s simple. He pampers star players.

      • GerryG

        Pretty sure that was in reference to the int not the whole game

    • OlyHawkfan

      “As I look back, I got a lot to figure out. Second part of year, good D’s we played, kept us out of that mode (pass happy). Wish we would’ve adapted better under those circumstances”

      Me too.

  32. Rory

    Bummer. But thank you Rob, for A. keeping us going during a rough year and B. saying it how is. PC and RW both need to be held accountable. I wonder how much of this is their incompatibility, vs. either one being particularly in the wrong. Honestly, it just doesn’t seem like a good match because neither let’s the other shine with their given strengths.

    • Inza Gulag

      Really? I’ve always thought the match was great with regards to Pete loving: running, PA, and big/explosive plays.

      Russ can run, he’s great with PA, and idk if there’s another QB I’d rather have when it comes to throwing the deepball.

      I think the problem is they’re both pretty stubborn: Pete just wants to grind the run to set up PA for a big play, meanwhile Russ seems to want more of a KC/GB QB-oriented offense.

      Biggest thing we need is a creative offensive-minded coach that can blend those two styles to make both parties happy. Or at least the very least finally figure out how to use the RBs in the passing game.

      • Rory

        Yeah, really. And you specifically mentioned why.

        I think the problem is they’re both pretty stubborn: Pete just wants to grind the run to set up PA for a big play, meanwhile Russ seems to want more of a KC/GB QB-oriented offense.

  33. bk matty

    Rob has been quite critical of the team for much of the year for this exact reason and I wrote most of it off, but he nails it here, they 100% must be judged on their playoff performance with the talent on this roster.

    Its a very tough spot because its their identity that needs to change but I don’t know if PC can do it. Shotty is more than a fine OC and firing him is just window dressing, he was forced by PC to reign the early season offense in and he did. Replace him with another OC who does the same thing and the results will be the same.

    Let RW cook and live with more turnovers but higher point totals and shootouts?! That just isn’t the PC way, I dont know that he can handle that, its outside his DNA.

    So they seem stuck in a negative feedback loop, their current identity just doesnt work in the NFL anymore, let alone with the players they have on D with a league geared toward O.

    • James Z

      I can agree with everything you say except your assessment of the O.C. He’s stuck in the same era that his father coached in. He never seems to have a plan B, never. His schemes are vanilla at best. He cannot adapt in-game. You’ll see the same thing next year if he’s retained, and he probably will be.

  34. hobro

    You’ve been skeptical about this team from the get-go, Rob, and unfortunately you’ve been right.

    Maybe the coordinators aren’t the source of the problem, but, as you’ve said many times, there needs to be some accountability and they’re only one step below the top of the org chart. They both need to go.

    But I fear the issue is bigger than that. The two people most have has have seen as the team’s biggest assets – Pete Carroll and Russ Wilson – have both been objectively awful through the second half of this season. I can’t see Russ being traded because I don’t think the Seahawks can afford the cap hit, which would be $39 million over three seasons, and in any event there’s no Plan B.

    That leaves Pete. In 2011 his views about team building were cutting edge and he’s been hugely influential, but the difference between being an expert and a doddering old fool is shorter than most people realize. (Source: I’m almost exactly the same age as Pete.) In my opinion, he should do the right thing for the team and resign before he does any more harm.

    • hobro

      * The two people most us have seen … FFS

  35. Paul Cook

    I’m with Rob in that if PC is going to remain HC of this team for a few more years, he’s got to hire a bright, perhaps younger OC and turn the offense over to him. PC needs to become less stubborn about having his fingers in every pot on this team and take the role of being more of the figurehead/soul/emotional leader of the team and leave the X’s and O’s to some new blooded talent.

    This was a very frustrating year to watch for many different reasons.

  36. Utah Gross MaToast

    Pete’s not going anywhere for a long time, unless he chooses to do so. I fear that the coordinators aren’t going anywhere, either, and that’s a built-in disaster for the 2021 season.

    Ideally, there are major changes.

    Alaska Airlines’ Russell Wilson, brought to you by Bose with special considerations to Nike and Microsoft and introducing R&C The Fragrance Duo, Smell Like A Champion, through the courtesy of Eat The Ball, Braun, and Luvo has been terrible for weeks – jittery, indecisive, lost. He looks like a 3rd round rookie. I’d shop him and gauge interest. Pete Ball doesn’t require a $35 million qb.

    Adams? He’s going to ask for $20+ mil. I don’t see the value. I’d bet Miami might swap one of those first round picks and a little more for him.

    Do anything to shake up the status quo.

    But it’s likely that Pete will stand firm with a 12 win team. You really can’t blame him – no oversight to answer to and he has the confirmation of a division title in pocket plus a new contract. Why change?

    Are the past five years and the next five too high a price to pay for 2013? Probably not. That was awesome.

    But it’s close.

    • Tony

      1 more yard in 2014 sb and hands down id trade that. I think with that bitter taste, the cost doesnt cover.

      • Utah Gross MaToast

        100%

      • Ben

        Agree.

        One. Damn. Yard.

        • Alex H

          With the #1 rushing attack in the NFL by a large margin that year. 3 chances to get it.

      • Uncle Bob

        You guys realize that the pick six play today was very, very close to exactly the same set of circumstances without being at the goal line in the biggest game of the year. The common denominator? The guy throwing the ball. Russ has a lot of very good traits, skills, and life contributions, particularly to the community. But he has some serious flaws that should be recognized as well.

    • IHeartTacoma

      I hate all the RW self-marketing too. Part of the deal though, so we have to live with it. But I love your snark.

      I’m not sure what the trade market is for an old, short QB with the yips. Same for a young injury-prone safety that doesn’t play the pass well and misses downfield tackles.

      It is easy to be hard on high paid players after a lousy playoff exit. However, I think the elephant in the room is ownership. The hard decisions around coach and GM, or rebuild/no rebuild, are not going to be made. So I fear a long run of .500 purgatory or worse. Ugh.

      • CD

        My guess is if you look at his stats, RW pays worse at home and that is because of detractions on game day.

        He seems to play better on the road, not as much as a slow starter.

  37. Feindt

    Many thanks for the piece, Rob. At least we can now fully enjoy your pre-draft coverage being significantly more optimistic than the current state of the Seahawks.

    From my point of view the Jamal Adams addition has not worked out. But I think that the Front Office has become too stubborn to admit that and just move on. I think they will just pay up. Also not having a first rounder next year will hurt more than most of us can imagine right now. Duane Brown will not play forever.

    I do not think RW3 will leave this offseason. If he does his legacy is tarnished. A legacy he is obviously valuing after often talking about on his podcast
    Grim outlook but a positive example would be the Rams. They have also been in a similiar situation last offseason facing slim resources, declining defense and having missed the playoffs. They have been able to improve their play after putting off large contracts (Todd Gurley, Cooks etc.) and changes in coaching staff.
    Ofc the Seahawks do not have the best defensive player and a lockdown corner but we also know that RW3 is a top tier QB who can win games and in the right setting can win SuperBowls for this franchise.

    Although having been disappointed this season I am still glad that I found this gem in the internet and look forward to experience the next season with you all and hopefully more positive news sorrounding the Hawks!

  38. Jordan E

    Pete already blaming the Turnovers as predicted. The coaching staff needs to be fixed and changed.

    The #1 Priority has to be FIXING RUSSELL. He is paid way too much and has the ability. We will not be a SB contender unless Russ is playing at a top 5 QB level. Pete FAILED Russ this offseason by making the offense anemic and blaming Russ and getting the game away from him. We need Russ to play well to go anywhere.

    Fire Schotty. Fire fcking Jake Heaps. Why the heck is the 3rd string QB the QB Coach? Do you honestly think Jake Heaps is CORRECTING and COACHING Russell Wilson!??

    • Daniel

      Well, turnovers did leave their mark on the game. One resulted in 7 points for the Rams. Who knows, maybe we drive the ball for our own score. Could have been a 10-14 point swing. The other turnover left the Rams with a short field for another touchdown. That being said, our offense was garbage yet again. Our defense didn’t do enough to shut down the run in the first half.

      It is time to move on from Wilson. Once the dynamics of his speed and ability to escape are gone, he is going to look worse and certainly won’t be worth $35 million per year. He isn’t worth it now. You could probably get three #1 picks for him. Sign someone like a Marcus Mariota for $12 million and spend the savings on other areas of need.

      Bobby Wagner should probably be traded as well. He is a still pretty good, but his numbers are a bit exaggerated because Seattle’s defense couldn’t get off of the field for most of the year and he accumulated tackles because of it. It would save $20 million and we already have his replacement in Brooks. You could probably get a #2 and a #4 or #5 pick for him.

      Norton needs to go. I’m okay with keeping Shotty, but want them to quit running so much play action without actually establishing the run. It isn’t fooling anyone.

      • jWILL253

        You know… I’ve always said that while sports fans in general are dumb, football fans are among the dumbest.

        With that being said… the idea of trading Russell Wilson away and replacing him with Marcus Mariota is some Bill O’brien level bullshit.

        I’m honestly starting to hate this fucking fanbase. You all would rather keep the old ass coach with no ideas and an outdated vision of the game, rather than the QB who’s been great and still has years of great play in him. Imagine Packers fans wanting to keep McCarthy over Rogers.

        What a joke.

        • Jordan E

          100% Agreed. If Wilson was traded could easily see him going to the Patriots since Bill loves him.

          Pete did not do anything in NFL until Wilson. If anyone has to go it has to be coaches not the players. Pete is most responsible for this loss.

          Another extremely important part to coaching is putting your players in positions to succeed. Pete and Schotty failed doing that and somehow let and encouraged Russ to regress and become a worse player than he is capable of.

    • Uncle Bob

      If you’re going to run your mouth about firing people and throwing them under the bus you probably ought to get your facts straight first. I don’t have anything invested in Heaps, but he’s not an employee of the team. He’s an employee of Russell Wilson for one of his personal outside activities, so your condemnation is entirely foolish on that point.

      • Jordan E

        Okay that is fair. I apologize for that. Austin Davis the 3rd string QB for Russ is the QB coach for the team. The fact that Russell has gone from MVP favorite to equivalent and/or possibly worse than Baker Mayfield is a very big problem.

        The main point I am trying to convey is that: the coaching around Russell Wilson is clearly not enough and has potentially failed him. The team will only be good as long as Russell Wilson is playing at a top 3 QB level. He has the ability to do it. Players do fall into slumps but I believe great coaches are able to get their players out of those slumps and get them back to peak performance.

        Perhaps Russell Wilson is just surrounding himself with people who he enjoys the company of and are fun to work with. Sometimes the best teacher are those that you may not like but who are experts in what they are doing. I believe Russell Wilson is still a MVP caliber player.

        • Michael Wood

          You can put every expert in the world around a person, if they don’t want to listen or place greater value in other life choices it will always be a losing battle. Russ is done as a top 10 QB and the only personto blame is Russell Wilson.

  39. Forrest

    I’m going to try and take a break from football for awhile. Watching games and following news in Japan is a b*tch, and after this season I don’t think I could stomach another one like it, so I’m gonna wait on a big change such as owner change, or QB/HC change. I still love this team (and Rob and this community), but the combination of time-zone issues, utter mediocrity, and poor management make it a hard sell to pour so much time into.

    I think a change is needed first at the top. A new “visionary” owner would be a much needed change that may trickle down just enough to avoid other “gutting” measures. I know PC just got an extension, but I would stand and applaud if he stated that he’s bringing in new innovative personnel to coach the team while he takes more of a backseat in terms of decisions…or if he just stepped down all together. There are obviously player changes that need to be made, but one that I don’t want to see is Russ leaving. I see a lot of people here suggest it, but I think that option only occurs if there is ever a true dismantling of the team. I don’t think a new owner will happen, but I think PC will make coaching changes of some sort (probably not enough to be meaningful though).

    Player wise they botched the 2020 offseason (FA at least), but I think guys like Jamal and Dunlap will stick around for better or worse. However, the next few drafts for this team will probably be pretty boring; especially is JS leaves town (unlikely).

    This season was a sh*tshow from the start. Not having a full offseason and preseason really showed, and I think the combination of that plus fans would have at least shifted a game or two this season. That being said, this team still has holes, and the coaching ideology needs to go ASAP. The offense flashes, but only ever when the game is on the line. The defense also flashes, but also makes some of the most boneheaded mistakes I have ever seen. ST is great as is, and that’s interesting because the ST coach isn’t Pete’s hand picked guy because Brian Schneider left before the season (hope everything is ok with him), but I do find it funny how the ST went from being meh the last few seasons to nearly perfect this season…really makes you think about Pete’s personal coaching choices.

    This game today was pathetic. Unprepared, outcoached, outplayed, and lost. I pray to the football gods that some big positive things happen this offseason, but even if they do happen I need a break. Anyway, Go Hawks!!

  40. Fresno fan

    Thanks Rob for all the effort you put into this blog. I agree that a major change is necessary I think that Russel’s beat days are behind him though you probably don’t He has always had a problem with accurate short passes. His Oline today was terrible and has been that way for most of the season which may account for his problems Anyway thanks again

  41. bk matty

    I do think they should move on from Norton as DC. If they can demote him and keep him that would be great but not sure he would accept that, he is great to have around and not a horrific DC, but I think the team needs to go in a different direction coaching D and get more creative, get a younger lad with different ideas, more complicated scheme, etc….

  42. Jordan E

    AB Having a great game already!!! Wish we signed him!!

  43. Big Mike

    I have one thing to say about the Seattle Seahawks, go Zags!

    • IHeartTacoma

      Now THAT’S a successful program!

      • Big Mike

        🙂

  44. Robert

    This loss sucks. We put all our resources into this season and we do worse than last year when we had to bring back Marshawn. We don’t have anything to build off either due to lack of picks. And we don’t have any rising stars (except DK) like we did in 2012 with Russ, bobby, and the LOB. The future is not bright for this franchise.

    • James Kupihea

      Seahawks 2020 playoff wins: 0
      Seahawks 2021 1st round picks: 0
      Seahawks 2022 1st round picks: 0

      Well, at least we gave the Jets a future.

      • Uncle Bob

        You want something fun to think about? The team that kicked their butts today hasn’t had a first round pick the last three years since they traded them away to get Goff.

  45. dza990

    Predictable loss unfortunately. I don’t know what to say, but ugh. Can we even watch if they don’t make major off-season changes, that aren’t yes men to Carrol ie: Norton and Schottenheimer.

  46. Big Mike

    Would also like to say something about SDB. Rob I really appreciate being able to come here and interact with people who don’t sugar coat, make excuses or otherwise pretend like this season was good because it wasn’t. It was a failure, pure and simple. I appreciate that you are willing to come straight out and say it and I agree 100% with you and Bobby and cha and the rest of the folks here that are willing to speak the truth.

    • Ukhawk

      Seconded. Painful but perfect. Thx Rob and community

    • Rob Staton

      Thanks Mike

  47. TheOtherJordan

    This feels different. For me, this game signified the end of an era of Seahawks football. As someone who has watched this franchise long enough to remember when Seahawk fans had to get excited about Rick Mirer level players, it has been a golden age. But it is over nonetheless.

    This team isn’t good enough to win the Super Bowl. It wasn’t even good enough to win a playoff game. The fact that is our expectations speaks to what Pete and John have done for this franchise. But their time is over. I’m sorry if this offends people but the game has passed Pete Carroll and his style and philosophy by. The league has solved a Pete Carroll defense. The league isn’t threatened by a Pete Carroll offense. The Seahawks will not win a Super Bowl again with Pete Carroll as coach. It doesn’t diminish what Pete has done. It doesn’t diminish what he has meant to the franchise. But this is watching Muhammad Ali fighting Larry Holmes at the end. It just isn’t there anymore.

    We have limited draft capital and cap room. We have expensive, declining veterans on contract and expensive contract extension decisions coming up. This is not a matter of being a player or two away. We traded two first round picks and a third for a player that doesn’t match our defensive philosophy. We’ll have plenty of time to discuss what trades or moves should be made. What players should be drafted or signed. But if drastic moves aren’t made, it will simply delay the slow inevitable decline that is obvious to anyone paying attention. And the question is do you take the bandaid off quick or slow?

    • 12th chuck

      I absolutely agree with you. Its going to suck for a few years. I just hope we dont go thru 2-3 years for pete to try and fix things, and then hire someone else to come in and try to do the same thing. could be a while

    • Big Mike

      “But this is watching Muhammed Ali fighting Larry Holmes at the end.”

      What a fantastic and spot on analogy.

    • Rob Staton

      For me, this game signified the end of an era of Seahawks football.

      I kind of feel that way too.

      I just think the era might’ve ended but we’re now going to have to suffer through it hanging around longer than it should.

      • Charles

        My thoughts exactly! Change is needed. Unfortunately, the team will do nothing and lean on winning the nfc west….it will be a very upsetting feeling when that banner is raised.

      • Hughz

        It may be just the way Russ played today, but I’m thinking it’s the end of the era too. For the first time I think it might be time to move Russ while we can get a reasonable return. It’s the only way I can see us building a team around our younger defenseman like Adams reed and brooks. The alternative is for Pete to move on and give Russ an offense that can move the ball. But I don’t think that’s happening given the extension Pete just got.

    • James Kupihea

      I share your worry. This feels the same way it felt when we all realized the Matt Hasselbeck Seahawks weren’t going anywhere. Then we muddled around for seven years. That’s the painful thing about team sports isn’t it? One year your team is on the precipice of dominance, then you spend the next 50 years without a title. However, this year, Buffalo might do something special 🙂

  48. Daniel

    I agree that it is time to move on from Wilson. He’s been so good because he is dynamic, has always been a threat to scramble, and improvises as well as anyone. As he ages, his scrambling ability will (and is starting) to decline. He use to run off of the zone-read, but rarely does it anymore. It kind of defeats the purpose of that play, since other teams can pretty much expect it will be given to the running back. I’m not even sure why we have a full-back.

    Teams are committing to taking away the deep ball. Russ doesn’t throw the intermediate pass very much (and I don’t care what anyone says…it’s because he’s short). Russ is so determined to hit the deep ball or extend plays that he holds the ball too long and takes sacks. We are paying $35 million for what a $5-10 million QB could give us. If Russ wants to win, he needs to do what Brady did and play for less.

    My one rant is the play calling. I don’t hate Shotty as some. He’s 5x better than our last OC. However, we run way too much play-action without actually establishing the run to set up the play action pass. Teams just aren’t fooled by it very much. Compare that to the late TD the Rams scored, where our D completely bit on the run and their receiver was open by 12 yards.

  49. Submanjoe

    Metcalf misses too many catches he should make. The play calling on offense is obvious and too simplistic. Did any Seahawks running back reach 20 carries in any game this year? Did any Seahawks running back break 100 yds this year in a single game? Why on 3rd and 1 is Hyde running and not Carson? Does anyone believe the Seahawks would run the ball on 3rd and 3? They never do, I’m not sure why. Maybe if they did on even a rare occasion the opposing defense wouldn’t always be expecting them to pass. I would love to believe Pete will bring in an injection of thoughts and outside opinions, I will be extremely surprised if they do. And for the sake of controversy, although I am not saying it should or will happen, DK screws with Wilson’s mind and is too tempting for Wilson and so could bring in a haul in a trade…

    • Thisthat

      That was a great question on carries in a game. From what I could tell Carson game high was 17 – only once, 2 others at 16 and lower than that every other game – and looks like Hyde had 15 once. That’s not gonna cut it, I don’t care what style of offense you’re trying to play. Glad you mentioned that.

  50. pdway

    about to put this proverb to use –

    remember, technically alcohol is a solution

  51. Hebegbs

    Neither line is very good. We saw today what happens when the other team dominates the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. What a sinking feeling that is. It didn’t even matter that they had a back-up, who got knocked out and Goff who was injured with shaky confidence. It also didn’t matter they telegraphed most running plays and our line got gashed for 6 yards a lot of times even knowing that it was coming.

    They have to fix the lines. I don’t know how they can do that with their lack of resources and cap room.

    I appreciate the players who lay their lives and hearts on the line. Wagner had what 25 tackles today albeit 6-7 yards down field? What a warrior. But this team was a fraud and anybody paying any attention should have seen it. Rob did. I did. Bummer way to end the season but we all had to see this coming. Even if we somehow got past the Rams today this team had very little chance to beat GB or NO. They would have had to play flawless and get some luck.

  52. Tony

    Awaiting russ to speak. Nothing yet. I bet hes dreading it. Cause he sucked. Now he has to speak on it. I want him to show hes pissed. Even if it means nothing. Dont give me that next year crap.

  53. Eric Weber

    This is one of the worse games I’ve seen played in 8 years. All on Russ. He was terrible. The D was fine but they got worn out.

  54. SeattleLifer

    They are who we thought they were.

    Maybe now people will admit that our o-line has been bad this year especially in pass pro – any game we faced a team with a defense higher than the low twenties ranking our o-line looked bad. I’m sick of old slow beat up vets, tired of drafting big thumper guys who sucked at pass pro in college but had a bit of athleticism so we drafted to ‘try’ and coach them up in pass pro. If it weren’t for a legendary lob defense this team would have never made it past the divisional round of the playoffs.

    Like you said Rob Metcalf’s tantrums on the sideline cost us that pick six – the Rams knew we were going to try to force feed him the ball at that point and after a telegraphed we’ll known play was called the result was an easy pick 6.

    I have a hard time putting much of any blame on Wilson – the o-line was absolutely handled and even when he was throwing from 1 to 3 three Rams were about to hit him near every time. If he has done the safe thing and ‘just thrown the ball away’ like people always want him to then we would have been lucky to score anything in this game given the unrelenting pressure and/or lack of open receivers.

    Pass rush again couldn’t do much in its base 4 rushers.

    Drops, poor tackling sprinkled throughout, some Rams players left wide open in the second half(see LB Brooks in coverage…), turnovers, just mistakes all over.

    Coaching, looks like they just wanted to run the same offense and defense as 2 weeks ago and especially on offense no clue, no creativity.

    Refereeing seemed overtly one-sided.

    TE group I’m just done with. Not one player has been even average this year and none of them are dynamic in any one area. I’d be fine if all of them were gone next year.

    All I can really say is I saw it all coming and I’m frankly kind of glad it went how it did if we were going to lose anyways. Just maybe there will be enough backlash to induce some real change in coaches and players in the off season. In a perfect world Pete and John would be on the way out, sorry but Pete’s old school way of football just isn’t cutting in the NFL and now that his lob defense is gone, his all world QB is showing some age/mileage and poor drafting philosophies have all come together this team is in real trouble.

    They are who we thought they were.

  55. Chris

    Watched the first half, then started cooking dinner knowing the second half was going to be just as bad. Sure enough, we got the ball and didn’t do anything. This team has no soul. No id. A lot of individuals who fight hard, but this isn’t a team; just a collection of players. So many questions.

    1) Why do we push the ball to Hollister so much? He’s a marginal, replacement level TE. Same with David Moore? If we can’t scheme Metcalf and Lockett open, then we have an OC issue. You can’t tell me that the Rams had a better WR duo on the field today.

    2) We got gashed/exposed today when it came to the running game. Absolutely exposed. This was not a top level defense we put on the field. It was one that had done poorly against good teams, and terrible against good teams. Imagine if we had been playing against the Packers or the Saints? Blowout. And I think that every remaining AFC team would beat us handily in a SB.

    3) Where was the energy? This team was flat through all four quarters. No wonder DK was pissed off.

    4) We knew the Rams were going to run the ball; yet we gave up 160+ yards. The Rams controlled the game from the opening snap. For someone who has a reputation as a defensive guru, this is yet another failure by PC.

    5) We knew how the Rams were going to defend us; yet we never made much of a change to what we’ve done the last 6 weeks. Like a flat soda that was left out on a hot day.

    PC of course dodges all the substantial questions and gives the same treacle, and has the nerve to give Joe Fann shit for asking a real question. The buck stops with you, Pete. On both game prep, in game adjustments, motivation, player eval, you name it. You know why players love to come up to Seattle, then leave as soon as they can? Cuz Pete holds no one, not even himself accountable.

    • Pran

      DK acting like a diva (almost there) even before becoming a complete receiver.

      • Chris

        Yeah, seems like a few players have been reading their press clippings too much. There will be a lot of turnover this off season.

        1) Carson – love him when he’s healthy, but he misses too many games. Plus, I’ve never seen a player take himself out of games as much as Carson does.

        2) The Shaq twins. Quill is going to get paid by someone else to be an average CB. Quem just is too small, and though I’m always impressed at how well he’s overcome his disability, it is a liability in his game.

        We’ll also have to sign a lot of players on the cheap since we’re so constrained by the cap, and we only have 4 picks in the draft. With so little cap room we’ll have to cut some players. We need to sign 20+ players, and with the league minimum of $600k, that’s over $20M. We only have $17m according to OTC.

  56. Adog

    Dangeruss turned into Uncle Rico

    • Rory

      This is funny. And sad.

      • Daniel

        The mountains he’s trying to throw over would probably intercept him, or bat down his passes.

        • Adog

          However since his shit show has.been prevalent for two months…. it’s fair to inquire if the system…schotty… Carrol is wrong for him. Not like this shit is new. Truth is Russ is our best bet at another bowl. I don’t get the offense at all…four play off losses maybe a couple more of offensive ineptitude. It makes russ look bad, but for the consistency I have to think or believe that problem is greater than russ. Do we a have Flacco? A Brees? Who fucking knows. Going forth I want not really for the hawks to focus on making Metcalf happy…yet it don’t matter…unless your a pathetic jets fan cause this team was not beating anyone next week. Wierd to have started calling for Norton’s head and end whispering about schotty. He needs to be replaced. Hey I like Lynne…but whatever. This is how I see it…it is not a player problem…but a system. If you keep banging you hear against the wall…at some point they call you crazy. If I’m drafting …I like a gaurd with the first pick.

  57. Paul Cook

    Let’s get one thing straight. Aaron Donald and the Rams front have sacked RW more than any other team in the NFL. We knew that. Guess what? We had to adjust to that. We had to design a game plan where we ran the ball as effectively as we could, and we had to develop a passing game that got the ball out of RW’s hands in three seconds.

    We didn’t. We knew what was coming, and didn’t game plan for it.

  58. James Kupihea

    It was a long road to wind up back in the same place. I guess at least this time, I um…well…at least…at least we have a place to vent the frustration. Thanks Rob 🙂

  59. Tony

    WTF! Just watched the seahawk gameday and no Russ! Is rw ducking the podium!? When you play like crap, you gotta come out and fake it.

    • Matt

      The marriage is over. I think Rob has been spot on.

      • Tony

        Russ is usually out there right after pete. Nothing for the whole hour. Dissly, lockwtt, shaq, adams…tons of players spoke. No qb. Im legit pissed.

    • James Kupihea

      Honestly does it matter. Do you really want to see Russ parrot some bull, and end with Go Hawks? Honestly, I’d rather not see him it at all. 60 Million…my god.

      • Tony

        I know it doesnt change anything. But him sitting in locker room and not coming out is bs. Face of the franchise, mr. Unlimited. Man up, come out and do your coach speak. Or is he so mad he might show emotion or frustration??? He should!

        Its just a bad look. We would say the same if it was rodgers or mahomes. You want to be the guy. This is part of it.

        • James Kupihea

          Well he finally came on and said nothing of merit.

    • downtownjewelrybryan

      let the bidding begin

      • Pran

        Jets pick #2 and Darnold for Russ.

        Let’s close the deal

        • Adog

          It would be the worst move since letting hutch walk…to let russ go. Let him ay out his contract…then see what happens. To me it’s the system…not russ that is below average.

  60. John_s

    Pat McAfee is hilarious

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ2Hau7ASD_/?igshid=13m085irpvj6j

    • Chris

      That is so cringe (as my daughters would say).

      • Troy

        This, to me, is the biggest takeaway. He was terrible today and the last 6 weeks of the season. I’m concerned and for the first time I’m for the first time I am thinking about a replacement.

  61. neil

    Wilson played the second half of the season like football is no longer his #1 priority. Plain and simple.

  62. Mark

    I’ll probably get crucified for this, but I want to push the reset button. As much as I love the hawks and Russ, I think it’s time to trade him. My thoughts are Russ to the dolphins or colts for a 1st and 2nd. Both of these teams have the cap space to absorb his contract and are qb needy.

    • Matt

      I’m fully on board with trading him. The milk is spoiled here – both sides need to move on.

    • James Kupihea

      You won’t get crucified here. Moreover, Russ is speaking live right now. More of the same BS, not taking accountability for sucking, nor did he give any insight other than..darn, we didn’t play as good as we could, they made more plays.

      If you’re not going to build a team around helping Russell Wilson be the best version of himself, then what are you doing with him?

      • lil’stink

        I mean, maybe this is the best version of Wilson?

  63. Paul Cook

    RW is one mixed up QB now. This is the worst stretch of games he’s played as a Seahawk. There’s shyt going on in his own head and between the coaching staff and him that are way off now. This has to be solved. Without question.

  64. Rob Staton

    https://twitter.com/dickfain/status/1348100500336435201

    Thoughts?

    • Matt

      Dick Fain is a clown. Hugh actually knows football but I think this is out of line. I’ve been critical of Jamal…but he’s literally going to have 2 surgeries. Not going to question his toughness.

    • cha

      Agree 100%

      That was a silly play. What’s the point of saying you’re gonna play no matter what through a shoulder injury, only to pull that?

    • Chris b

      Jamal played with a torn labrum.

      • McZ

        So, the plan was to play the banged up SS, the only means of pressure this team is consistently able to invoke!?

        What does that tell us about planning, preparation, team building?

    • Leonardo

      I just feel like so much of Jamal’s “toughness” is performative. He’s always crowing when he makes a tackle, but there have been several instances this year of him making business decisions and missing tackles. I don’t doubt his desire, and I respect him playing through injuries, but it’s a different kind of toughness to stick yourself in at the goal line and not concede an inch.

      Kam and Sherm had that kind of toughness in spades; I can’t remember either of them ever making a business decision on a tackle. For that matter, I don’t think Earl had that kind of toughness; you can still be a great player without it.

      In a way, I feel like DJ Reed does have that kind of mentality. He’s obviously not anywhere near Jamal’s talent and made a boneheaded fumble today, but he has the scrappy toughness of a guy who is fighting for his spot on every play. It’s not an act, he’s really fighting.

      We used to have a bunch of guys with real, bad-ass toughness; Kam, Sherm, Browner, Big Red, Marshawn, Doug, even Golden Tate administered some punishing blocks. When all those guys left, I feel like they took what made us special.

      • Paul Cook

        Jamal’s got a bit of the “diva” in him. He’s not quite like Kam or Troy P or Sherm, etc…but he is a badass.

      • Chris

        I don’t think Reed’s fumble was boneheaded. He had the ball wrapped up with both hands, and the other player make a great play. That happens…

    • John_s

      Hugh’s a dipstick who never showed toughness as a backup QB.

      • Paul Cook

        Hugh’s great. He knows ten times more about football than any of us. He’s log-winded as hell, but he knows his shyt.

        • lil’stink

          I haven’t been able to take Hugh Millen seriously since he criticized the Frank Clark draft pick. He said Clark wasn’t explosive and that he had short arms. I couldn’t believe someone in his position could be so ill informed.

    • OP_Chillin

      Meh, Adams was playing with a torn labrum. Don’t think that play decided the game at that point either.

      A worse play was when they needed to hold the Rams to a FG after the ST turnover by Reed and Woods got wide ass open for the TD. That wasn’t on adams either it was just crippling though.

      • John_s

        Or the effort by Shaq on the Woods TD

    • Jimbo

      Hugh is absolutely right here.

      That is Adams’ gap. Period. Full stop.

      Every other Seahawk played their assignment correctly, and all Adams had to do was stuff the cutback lane. He wasn’t there, and he made a piss-poor effort to recover.

      If your strong safety can’t even fill a cutback lane, then what are we even doing here? Trade him and recoup what you can.

      • Thisthat

        Just to point out that that same guy you’re criticizing made a hell of a play to save a TD in the last Rams game, winning us at least a home playoff game and while disappointing now, at the time a celebrated NFCW banner.

        • Rob Staton

          I guess that makes up for the two times he whiffed on tackles to give the Rams an easy TD

    • Thisthat

      I’m more inclined to watch Adam’s 3/5 tackles on the goal line stand the last Rams game than this one. Funny he didn’t mention Bobby and Brooks both getting washed more than Tide soap by the o-line to get completely taken out of the play. I think Jamal struggled today minus a few plays here and there but I’m not gonna cherry pick that play to show his toughness or ability.

      • Rob Staton

        But you are willing to cherry pick to defend him.

  65. Pran

    Cosmetic changes should not be accepted by fans. Major shake up is needed and full and honest assessment of why Offense is anemic, botched off season, draft failures, blowing of picks to cover up failed drafts.

  66. James Z

    From Condotta twitter: Carroll says he wishes team “would have adapted better” to the way defenses started to play them differently in second half of the season.

    Well, Pete, you just threw your entire offensive squad and your O.C. under the bus… embarrassing!

    • Pran

      With Pete’s style, if they have not figured out by bye-week they are incapable of adjusting after that. Pete will stick to conservative play and hope the coin flip works in his favor.

  67. cha

    What an effort on that dive by Heinickie.

    Seahawks could’ve used some of that today.

    • Elmer

      By contrast, it’s a pleasure to watch Brady and Heinicke work. If a backup QB can play like this we need to ask what we really need from the QB position.

  68. Tree

    What a terrible performance. Offense never added that third weapon in draft and the ones that signed in the off-season didn’t work out. TE play was beyond awful today. Jamal hurt but tough to see him give up 2 44 yard plays which he could have stopped or shortened.

  69. OP_Chillin

    They have to run it back for another year with Russ. As bad as he’s been for 10 weeks there’s no way you get rid of the most important guy in the building unless you’re absolutely sure he’s toast. That said, I’d do Russ + multiple high picks for Watson in a heartbeat, but that’s because Watson is 7 years younger, played better this year, and has shown improvement every year.

    As for PC, I think we’re entering the McCarthy years for the Hawks. Russ isn’t as good as Rodgers, I think this year proved that, but if the latter can have a resurgence his second year in a new system, I believe Russ can as well. The way things are going it ain’t happening until 2026 when Russ is 36 or whatever and that’s if PC is actually gone at that point.

    I also want to run it back for a year to see if this defensive improvement is legit. They’re playing Rodgers, Minnesota, NO, Shanny w/healthy team, Murray, etc. next year so they will be tested. If it’s not, then see ya Pete.

    As for the O, they need a new guard and a center. Right now I’d take a center who is actually good. Pocic has been getting his ass kicked in one-on-one situations in both the run and pass game all year and it’s really limiting the offense. They also need a legit 3rd WR. Sign Robinson, Juju, or Godwin. With what money, I have no idea.

    • Matt

      The lack of a 3rd legit receiving option really killed this team. They have to get a more dynamic TE or 3rd WR.

      • Paul Cook

        I was hoping this to be Dissley coming off injury. He really impressed me before the 2nd injury.

      • Elmer

        Or both, and a legitimate complement to Carson at RB. Big job considering defense needs help too.

    • Jason

      Yeah, in my mind this is exactly the situation of Rodgers with McCarthy… poor coaching is keeping a team with a fantastic quarterback from being as good as they can be. I think Russell needs someone at OC who has some ability to adapt and be creative.

  70. dcd2

    Towards the end of the 3rd quarter, I said to myself: “No matter who wins, they won’t even get to the SB.”

    The Rams D is really great. I’ll offer that up. McVay was the better coach tonight and certainly seems to be the better coach in general.

    I’m worried about this next phase of Seahawk football. We were healthy at the end, our defense wasn’t awful. All we needed was the offense to be pretty good. Instead, it looked awful. Our ‘superstars’ looked petulant (DK) and bewildered (RW).

    This is going to be a tough off-season and, if we’re honest with ourselves, likely a step back next year.

    Thanks Rob, for all of your great work. I hope you find some time to step back and enjoy some QT with your family.

    • McZ

      The defense played a second-game QB and an injured Goff, who played rubbish for weeks and was undergoing surgery days before. They faced a one-man-show run game and a banged up OLs.

      This translates to the Rams being constrained to running and short passes, and the D didn’t get anything done to take away either.

  71. Paul Cook

    I like, I am envious of QB’s that can get the ball out of their hands fast.

  72. RugbyLock

    Except for the Jets game the offense has been complete trash since the Buffalo game. What a joke!

  73. Big Mike

    Did Greg Olsen suit up today? Must’ve missed him on the inactive list.

    • John_s

      He was active played one, maybe two snaps

      • Big Mike

        Thanks tho it was meant as sarcasm. 9 million, or was it “only” 8?

        • John_s

          The QB lobbied for him even though he showed he was injury prone the previous two years

  74. marc tardif

    Man, I’m just over this team. This was the first year in probably the last 15-years that Seahawks game were an afterthought on Sunday for me. I’d record them and watch them on fast forward or just not at all. It’s simply a brand of football that has no entertainment value for me.

    I stopped watching the game today in the 3rd quarter. Figured if they magically won, (which I knew they wouldn’t) that I’d go back and watch the end.

    The future is bleak. There is just nothing to get excited about. Unless things really get shaken up in the offseason. (I’m talk’n changes in coaches, major personnel, maybe even quarterback) I will likely not get Sunday ticket for the first time in forever. I just can’t get excited about this team.

    Something needs to change.

  75. Zxvo3

    I truly want to believe we can come back next season and compete for another SB. But it’s just getting harder and harder after every season. Did you guys see Russell Wilson in his press conference? He looks absolutely exhausted with himself and this team. I just want to know what he’s thinking about this team. With no money to sign the “superstars” Wilson wanted, an OC with atrocious ideas, a head coach who wants to play his brand of football and not Wilson’s. It’s a lose situation for Wilson to be in right now. Especially in his prime. Rob, I give you major credit for giving us fans the “heads-up” that we needed about the future of Wilson with this team.

    • Jordan E

      Hopefully it pushes Wilson to demand changes for this team. That would be needed. No way in heck can we keep Schotty and much of the offensive staff. Pete could stay since he did turn the defense around- but this offense needs to be revolutionized as it is too anemic and predictable.

      Hopefully we can get real superstars this season. The offense needs a lot of help. #1 Priority must be fixing Russ and getting him back to top 5 QB territory.

  76. Nate

    Rob,

    If we do not see significant coordinator changes heading during the offseason (I would love to see Carroll get the boot, but not holding my breadth), is there any reasonable point in watching next season? Maybe it’s just the anger/salt in me speaking right now, but as far as I can tell, this is what the Seahawks have:

    – A 35 million QB who does not prioritize football at best (see all of Wilson’s business ventures, the dude has basically a corporate portfolio at this point), or one that is either completely broken/just wants out of Seattle at worst.
    – A head coach who needs an overwhelming amount of talent on the roster to go far in the playoff, and stubbornly sticks to a rope-a-dope until the 4th quarter mantra.
    – Coordinators are hot & cold at best (if we are being charitable) and have a complete inability to adapt (see offense after defense switched to 2-high safeties) or improve key weaknesses (3rd downs) in the scheme.
    – No first round draft picks for the next 2 years, and only 3-4 in the upcoming draft.
    – Limited amount of cap space, and most of it will go towards re-signing our own players (Carson, KJ, Poona, among others that Rob listed).
    – A safety you will likely pay $18-20M APY to play as a glorified linebacker since he’s a liability in coverage.

    Given all this, what exactly is there to hope for in the 2021-2022 season? Unless we get an offensive wunderkind that gets full control and no interference from Pete Carroll, we can basically pencil us in for a record between 9-7 and 12-4 (keep in mind 2 of our wins this year came against a Niners team missing half their starting lineup) and a loss in the wildcard round. Or maybe a shellacking in the divisional round if we somehow barely sneak past a team that the Seahawks should have easily beaten.

    One could argue that even the freaking Jags have more “hope” than us in this upcoming season – at least Trevor Lawrence has theoretical upside. Meanwhile the Seahawks have almost no chance to be better from a talent perspective, and given the nepotistic nature of the Carroll regime, a significant and much needed coordinator change feels unlikely at best given the 12-4 regular season record.

    Again this could be overly hyperbolic given that horrid game all of us just watched, but I haven’t had this amount of serious doubt about this team’s future going forward since the Jim Mora days (and he got fired after a single year).

  77. JLemere

    Just finished watching the game.

    1. Jamal Adams had 4 opportunities to get INTs and he was 0/4. A “defensive weapon” should have gotten at least 1 or 2.
    2. Schotty’s offense is easy to study and is easy to stop. That Darius Williams INT was the perfect example. When the offense struggles to get the ball to DK they do one of two things: 1. give DK a slant route or 2. set up a WR screen. McVay, Stanley (Rams DC), and the defense were ready for that.
    3. I’m just… disappointed. Haven’t been that disappointed since when Holgrem left and we had Mora for that one season.
    4. If PC wants to solidify his legacy as one of the best HC in the NFL, we will need to relinquish his control of the organization. There is no way around it. Give JS more power in personal control. Have a new offense and new OC that compliments RW. If PC wants to keep the cover 3 defense, fine but spend the $$$ needed on the D-line, which is the key to the cover 3, and trade away Jamal Adams and maybe even trade away Bobby Wagner if you could get a decent price for him.
    5. Let’s get the O-line fixed. Sign a veteran C, and draft the starter for LG, and let Solari continue development on Lewis, especially in pass pro.

  78. Spencer

    I think there are a lot of questions to be had about Wilson and what took place this year.

    But I wonder if the answer is a bit more simple than we think.

    2020 was not a normal year for humans. Especially black humans in America.

    I am not trying to make this political but I can only imagine how this may have impacted him over the long haul. The events of the summer in Seattle especially, COVID, the election, the weeks following it. Us all the regular pressures.

    Wilson will be the best judge to know if that impacted him or if he was just not doing well or what. But it what am exhausting year for me. It probably was for him too.

    • Daniel

      It didn’t seem to be an issue for the first six weeks of the season.

      • Matt

        I know your heart is in the right place and are being sincere – but RW wouldn’t be an NFL QB if an election and social justice protest derailed his “work.”

        I do have no doubt that RW does spread himself too thin with everything. Not saying “football isn’t important;” but he is absolutely consumed with his celebrity, these days.

        • Jordan E

          This is such a BS answer. Was Patty Mahomes not affected? Deshaun Watson? Kyler Murray? Russ has to perform. There are no excuses about that. Frankly, I would be much more concerned on his resilience and grit as a QB if the events going on are why hes been worse than Baker Mayfield. QB position is hard. The person needs to be a leader and mentally tough.

          • Spencer

            Eh… Pretending that all of these QBs are the same with different stages of life going on its pretty dumb. 2020 and so far this year are pretty weird and abnormal years.

            I am not saying its an excuse, or a good one. I am just saying it could be having an impact on him and others and they may not even be aware of it. Pretending that is not a possibility that it contributed to the year and just writing it off to “he should be mentally tough” is just kinda weak.

            If we see it again this next season there is a lot more to be concerned about. But for the time being, I think it would be naive to just pretend it should be a nonfactor.

  79. downtownjewelrybryan

    i cant stomach listening to the postgame stuff yet but here are some questions im asking myself…

    has pete kept up with the coaching/assistant pool to find us a new OC? i cant see him giving up control of the D so we’ll probably have KNJ again or someone from the hawk/trojan past.

    i’ve seen trade hauls projected for russ that look too hard to say no too. after his 2nd half of season + today’s performance, will JS see offers for three 1’s and more?

    if there was a desire from the front office to trade russ, is it from both pc and js or one or the other? JS drafted him and pete seems to want more of a game manager so i feel like it would be more insistent from pc

    what did ramsey say to DK after the last rams game? i wonder if that got into DK’s head which caused the blow up today

    who is giving pete the bad info on challenges? i thought tater was let go after 2017

    pete’s extension will probably prevent a real rebuild from happening which im not really for…BUT my pessimism is telling me they only want him to keep the value of the team up until Jodi sells. (that wasn’t really a question)

    has bobby come up on the injury report for anything lately? looks like hes been playing hurt for a while

  80. Rob Staton

    Podcast now live at the top of the article.

    It’s a biggie.

  81. OP_Chillin

    https://twitter.com/MikeDugar/status/1348115094786297859/photo/1

    My interpretation. Tyler Lockett “We tried to pass a lot and were totally unprepared for what defenses would do to counter that”

  82. Mario

    I keep saying. Blow it up. Give Russ a chance with a new team and get picks back that you gambled when you probably shouldn’t have. The team needs a new GM and picks.

  83. Paul Cook

    PC is just not a good offensive coach. Period. He should stay clear of the offense. When we were mostly awesome, he had the best defense in the NFL and Marshawn Lynch. RW and his receiving corp could rely on play action/the big play with Marshawn, and RW was younger and as elusive as any QB in NFL history at extending plays and finding free-lancing, open receivers down field.

    You have to adjust when you have a different kind of team. PC can’t. It’s frustrating to watch. Even RW the 2nd half of the season was stuck in the 2012-2015 rut.

    I feel like I’m banging my head against the wall about something that should be patently obvious to PC.

    • Daniel

      As I’ve said in a post above, we run a lot of play action pass without really establishing the run first. That is a big difference compared to our Super Bowl runs. Back then, we actually ran and softened up the secondary. This year? Not so much.

      • Paul Cook

        PC doesn’t have Derrick Henry or Marshawn Lynch. He hasn’t had something like that for years now. Maybe he hoped for something like that with Carson and Penney, but it never happened for reasons of lack of talent, consistency, and health.

        So you adjust.

        The lack of the quick strike passing game has been mind-boggling to me the last few years. You can use the short pass to set up the run, It doesn’t always have to be the other way around. When it works the other way, fine, but if it doesn’t, you have to adjust.

        There was just no ability to adjust RW and the offense to best utilize the weapons they had to the opponents they were playing. PC is just not an offensively innovative coach much at all.

        I’ve been watching and frustrated too much of late. They had some real talent on offense but could never seem to scheme them properly to fit the particular circumstance.

        I’m not optimistic going forward unless PC has the kind of weapons that fit the winning scheme that seems hardened in his mind.

      • Chris

        According to the analytics guys, “establishing the run” has no impact on the success with running play action passes.

        • Daniel

          I’m not an anti-analytics guy. Analytics don’t lie, but unfortunately they also don’t tell the whole story. They point to trends and focus on averages. Not all things are constant though. A good play action fake, in my mind, is no different than playing poker. You allow an opponent to see some of your behavioral trends. You fool them into a sense of complacency. Then you change up your play and your opponents make a misstep wrongly anticipating your intentions. If you don’t convince your opponent that you are prone to run, they will be ready to defend the pass.

  84. Michael Hasslinger

    I know this will get blocked. But I wonder if John Schneider wants out. If I’m Schneider, I want full control before we extend Carroll. I want to trade Wilson. I probably wanted to give up three #1’s for Mahomes. I probably did not want to trade for Adams. I may quit if I’m not allowed to package Wilson and DK to the Jets for #2. Hell, Give them Brooks as well. We need to start over completely. No way Pete lets that happen.

    Now, I’ve made mistakes… Bitonio, TJ, Budda. But hell, I’m doing much better than the head man.

    Scheider knows it will take the Rams D in Seattle for Carroll’s offense to work.

    You were right. That really pisses me off. But kudos.

  85. Pran

    Pete=Tom coughlin ?

  86. Erik

    Rough result for my team today #seahawks. We got out coached and outplayed with the Rams having a compromised QB situation and Donald out half the game.

    There’s a lot of blame to go around.

    But I’m just gonna say it.

    Russel Wilson is a top 10 quarterback.

    However, he needs to stop trying to prove he’s the top QB in the league.

    He’s not.

    It pains me to say that but it’s true.

    I hope there’s some hard questions asked in Renton this off-season.

    Go Hawks!

  87. Ashish

    Rob thank you for all the hardwork through out difficult season. Appreciate giving honest opinion.

    • Rob Staton

      Thanks.

      To be honest, I’ve never felt less like writing.

      I’m worried about the discourse over the coming weeks.

      I wonder how much joy any of us will get out of this place going forward.

      This season has taken a lot out of me.

      • Submanjoe

        Are you a “blow it up and start over” thinking? Listen to offers for Russ, trade Jamal, bring in outsiders, Pete as a figurehead, etc?

        You asked months back about the Jamal situation, trade etc. I said it was too early to tell. I still think to let things calm down for a month or two. But today, I’d listen to offers. I’d listen to offers for DK too, clearly his sideline eruption influenced the decision to call the fateful screen to him, as clear as his eruption was reminiscent of Sherman’s eruptions.

        Three years ago I thought Schotteheimer! What!? Why!? And I still think that. He’s not the answer. I pray he becomes a head coach and leaves, but after today cannot see that happening. Unless Pete can utterly revolutionize his way of operating and thinking, the changes will be mere semantics.
        As I alluded to in the merry Christmas post, I am self employed, small biz, the boss. Sometimes I long for someone who would give it to me straight, I won’t be offended, I want to think, to be challenged, stimulated. As you’ve mentioned (I have had the same thoughts), Pete has no one to hold him accountable. Subtle proddings, quick interactions, direct points made, etc. The lack of ownership and Pete’s status as Seattle’s only living Championship winning coach surely makes for a dangerous situation. I have this thought that, what if it’s Pete who doesn’t want Schneider back. Horrifying to think Pete would hire John’s replacement. Pete needs instead to blow up his old school thinking and maybe say something like, “ I’m getting older and am going to lessen my responsibility and let John have control of the roster building” etc. I don’t see that happening, but no one is firing Pete, and his way is too stubborn and predictable.

  88. Matt

    Well…this is kind of what we were all expecting, wasn’t it?

    This has been mentioned several times, but this feels like the end of an era. I think the Seahawks need to choose RW or PC. There’s no coexisting anymore. Doesn’t mean there’s internal dysfunction, but we are at a crossroads where you either build around your QB (meaning players and coaches) or you trade him and let PC truly build the team he wants to play with.

    Until that happens, which won’t be easy, this is what this team will look like. No identity. Schizophrenic performances. Frustration.

    Nobody should be surprised by this. Absolutely no one with an honest bone in their body should have been shocked by this result. And what’s frustrating is that PC and RW just rested on their laurels. There was no honest assessment of what’s been going on with this team. It’s just been the “trust me, it’ll get better.” Well…I don’t trust either of those two.

    This was the first year that I can remember where I just had ZERO fun watching this team. It was just brutal. This team has become the HR poster at work – just a bunch of bromides that nobody buys into. The culture and philosophy that had previously defined this team is just a throw away punch line.

    This franchise is really getting into that unenviable territory of being good enough to have the lottery ticket hope, but not an actual contender. Conversely, they are not bad enough to be forced to make changes and take chances. They are in franchise purgatory.

    • Paul Cook

      I agree and empathize with most of this post. There is definitely a rift between RW and PC now. I’ve been trying to sort out and proportion my personal emphasis on where I place the most difficulty. This is the first year I’m officially okay with some major structural changes in the hierarchy. RW looks like an average QB now, and I still think he’s an elite QB at this best. But I’m getting a little more than doubtful that will happen under the offensive tutelage of PC now. It’s not working now. That’s clear.

      Without Paul Allen, we’re kind of effed because Paul’s sister seems to have put PC in charge of the franchise for at least the coming seasons. That doesn’t seems like a good thing now because PC, IMO, has to make some changes in his own perspective to remain effectively relevant, and I’m not sure he’s capable of that. Basically speaking, the top of the owner/GM/HC/QB totem pole has been lopped off and to a large degree the chain of accountability has been broken. PC has filled up the power vacuum.

      I don’t trust PC now. I wonder if JS sees the writing on the wall and perhaps thinks this is the best time to move on to different pastures. He sees what we do. I think so, at least. Timing is everything, they say.

      The luster is just wearing off of this particular Seahawk era. Yeah, we seem to be in that purgatory you mention, neither good enough to hope for more, nor bad enough to seriously rebuild.

      Oh well.

    • McZ

      My fear is, that this decision has already been fallen. And it is Pete. We are damned to five – five! – consecutive seasons of hollow, uninspired, ancient, Pete ball.

      Count me out. There was a time when this team was trying, even 2017. And it was kinda exciting, because there was a rebuild going on. The last two seasons are gokng knto the books as lost years. PCJS have basically built PNWs iteration of the Rivers Chargers. A long, frustrating slide into nowhere territory, until the inevitable happens.

      Jody Allen should ask herself, if selling the team on the height of bandwagonism is the way to go. She will lose half a billion, if she waits for the inevitable.

      So, if the Jets are dumb enough to drop #2 and a second rounder on a limited smallish franchise QB behind his apogee, we should take it. The problem is, I don’t trust PC to administer a complete rebuild.

      Finally…
      I wish John Schneider all the best, giving the Lions the dose of inspiration they lack to go to the top. Give Detroit a SB appearance, and they rename the city. Stay behind Pete, and you will continue to fail. It’s a no brainer.

  89. Paul Cook

    Okay, I’m dumping now. I’m listening to the talk about the Hawks penalties. Yes, they were brutal. But at least the last two holding penalties were just as much on RW and a lack of getting the ball out of his hands quicker as they were on the OLmen.

    I’m trying to let this season go. LOL

  90. Rohan Raman

    I truly believe that this season will be a defining moment in Russ’s career. Either he loses himself and deteriorates as a QB, continuing right where he ended this season. Missing open guys. Not trusting himself. Taking bad sacks. Or, he has an honest conversation with his QB coach and trainer. Works with DK, Tyler and the other WRs outside of training camp to truly right the errors of their communication. Figure out how to adapt to a league that has cottoned on to your tricks. This is what great QBs do and I am hoping that Russ can do it.

    Every QB has hit their wall, but it just so happens that Russ’s is a bit more drastic. For example, there was reason to think Rodgers was washed after years of McCarthy and a consistent lack of trust in everything around him. But Rodgers clearly figured something out since I refuse to believe Jordan Love alone motivated him to MVP levels.

    I love RW. Always will love him for the magic of the early 2010s and for dragging this team to the playoffs year in and year out. But this is an off-season that calls for some serious self-reflection on the part of the Seahawks – and Russ NEEDS to be a part of that journey. Otherwise, I shudder to think of the waste of 35 million dollars.

  91. Vin

    First off, thanks Rob for the continued coverage. Been a fan since Courtney Upshaw, lol. Wish we had more local guys with your spot-on analysis. To this day, I agree with 99/100 things that you post. Not at all surprised by today’s results. The 12-4 record was always misleading in my opinion. The fact that we have to play GB, NO, WFT next year doesn’t bode well for our prospects of NFCW repeat. This team, IMHO, is a mess, and has been since 2015. Obviously easy to say now, but I’ve just never been a believer in the Hawks O under PC. For instance, trade for Graham, and then turn him into a blocker….really? For the last 5 or so years, I’ve thought of the hawks as a team that wanted to be good at everything, but not great at anything. Like Rob keeps saying, Where’s the identity? You can talk about it all you want, but the moves of PC/JS don’t reflect it. Anyway, I’m sad that season is done, sad at the state of the team, and also sad that a lot of Robs analysis for picks won’t necessarily benefit the hawks, given the dearth of picks we have. Was never a fan of JA trade, and still am not. We were never a JA trade away from NFCC, let alone SB. Thank you Rob, again, for all you do, all you articles, YouTube, etc. Go Hawks.

  92. ElroyNumbers

    Rob
    You were right to be negative throughout season after todays performance.

    It doesnt make sense how russell could look so good first six weeks then so bad rest of season.

    • Chase

      Rob wasn’t being negative, he was expressing concerns he had that were ultimately true and derailed the season.

  93. Malc from PO

    Thanks for all your work, Rob. What a thankless task after a performance like this. I was watching with my friends and by the fourth quarter it was just a laugh-fest. What a dreadful Performance! I agree that nothing should be off the table. The defence is okay, but no better, and the offense is a laughing stock. If that’s how we are going to use Russ, DK, Tyler, Carson, there is no sense in paying them. Bring in a bunch of rubes at minimum to execute a plan that puts no emphasis on scoring. Waste of money otherwise. This team, with this staff is going nowhere. Tear it up. If Pete doesn’t want an offense, get rid of the salaries. Any bunch of losers can go 3 and out and run a bit of clock. I am glad DK was mad. I’ll be pissed in 4 years when he is catching TDs against us for another team but he needs to get the hell out of this offense for his own sanity and career progression. We were so badly outcoached and outplayed today that I would have no problem with an entire dismantling of this team. Disgraceful.

  94. OP_Chillin

    https://twitter.com/BestGuyAround/status/1348144877117317122

    Excellent thread.

    And we’re left, chasing dreams of the end of 2015. Probably for the rest of his career.

  95. Noah Parker

    Thanks for everything this year, Rob! I really appreciate your consistency and thoughtful perspective on the Hawks that truly make this site the best out there for Hawks intel. Today’s game was truly awful but your instant reaction helped in processing it. For that I am greatly thankful.

    • Noah Parker

      Oh and my two cents on the off-season…. sell the farm but whatever you do for the love of god KEEP POONA FORD! Gotta have the poon!

    • Rob Staton

      Thanks Noah

  96. Hawk_is_Law

    Unfortunately, Rob’s season long analysis was spot on. This team carried major question marks heading into the season with at-best questionable personnel moves. It culminated in a truly unacceptable and humiliating loss at home to a hated division rival that Pete Carroll has utterly failed to adapt to. This will be a long and painful off season with a lot more questions than usual. I found myself thinking that this team was reminiscent of the final two seasons of Harbaughs 49ers. Talented but worn down defenders, a QB who never looked fully engaged, and a coaching staff that could never rise to the occasion against the true kings of the West (Seattle 2013-2015.) There is nothing to look forward to unfortunately as a full-scale rebuild seems necessary but is not happening anytime soon. Perhaps Pete will strike lightening in the bottle again. I won’t count him out. But us as a fan base deserve a long break from this joyless season. Thanks again for another year in the books Rob. Your blog has helped keep me engaged for many years now and this is a special community.

    • Rob Staton

      Thank you

  97. Matty

    “What a way for a season to finish.

    Out-played. Out-coached. Out-executed.

    Humiliated.” – that’s exactly how I felt after the game.

    Rudderless organisation at the very top with no active owner.
    Big changes are needed in coaching, and I’ll go as far as to say Russ did not look good or even play with ‘i luv this team’ – felt off from him and after your article about Russ, maybe HE is done in PNW

    Always next season but a lot of cooking to be done in the off-season

  98. Martin

    My two cents worth…

    I realise that given our schedule we had limited opportunities to do otherwise, but we only beat two teams with winning records (the Dolphins and Rams) all season. Were we the weakest 12-4 team of all time?

    I don’t see how Schottenheimer and Wilson can BOTH be back next year, it’s just too obvious that it’s not a combination that is likely to consistently maximise our offensive production. However exciting as the prospect may sound I just can’t imagine the team trading Wilson. Not on this site maybe – where I think the thinking tends to go a bit deeper…… but among many fans and across the football world people would say the Seahawks had lost the plot. Unless Wilson demand a trade I just can’t see it.

    I’m no expert but I struggle to see the point in running playaction passes when Wilson then takes forever to throw the ball. Isn’t the idea that you briefly get the linebackers to start responding in the wrong way and then take advantage. If you wait all day by the time you throw they are back sitting in their zones anyway….

  99. Jordan E

    Pete needs to seriously revamp the coaching staff and fire Schotty or I will not be able to support him anymore. This game was garbage. He knew the offense was bad for 6 weeks and chose to ignore it and focus only on the positive versus the lowly Jets.

    Pete should be ashamed. His players have worked so hard for him and to produce a product like that yesterday is humiliating. The #1 priority should have been to fix and build around Russell the franchise quarterback. Even when he was struggling the solution shouldn’t have been to demote him and work on defense only and let Russell Wilson lose confidence in his ability amd become

  100. Jordan E

    Pete needs to seriously revamp the coaching staff and fire Schotty or I will not be able to support him anymore. This game was garbage. He knew the offense was bad for 6 weeks and chose to ignore it and focus only on the positive versus the lowly Jets.

    Pete should be ashamed. His players have worked so hard for him and to produce a product like that yesterday is humiliating. The #1 priority should have been to fix and build around Russell the franchise quarterback. Even when he was struggling the solution shouldn’t have been to demote him and work on defense only and let Russell Wilson lose confidence in his ability and become worse than Baker Mayfield.

    Schotty is a downgrade to Darrell Bevell. He needs to go ASAP. Were stuck with Pete for next 5 years so unfortunately we cant fire him. This team has next 2 years at best for a SB shot. #1 Priority needs to be fixing Russell. Hes been consistent for many years. Hes not a terrible player.

  101. millhouse-serbia

    We started season with “John and Pete are waisting one more of Russell season with awfull D and pass rush”. And we finished it with “they need to fix Russ”.

    I really dont know what to say or think after this second half of the season with this finale yesterday. But i am sure D was much better part of this team and they werent the reason we loose yesterday.

    I am really optimistic about our defense… A lot of good players… A lot of young players… Few players that can be there for few more years (Bobby, , Jarran, Diggs)…and KJ and Dunlap who can play on high level at least for one more season… (i think KJ will take a big pay cut to, stay here and play some more)…

    The only question mark for next season is LCB… I would re sign Griffin but not for more than 5m APY. If not, then Dunbar or Sherm or…

    On offense i dont know what to say or think… Russ and Schotty were awfull together in this second half of the season… For me its not important who was guiltier… Its that they were bad togheter and Pete must change something… And with 39mil dead cap he cant change his QB so…

    On offense FA’s are starting RB, LG, C and TE (but we have Disley there)…

    And we have aging LT…

    So much more question mark than on defense…

    I wouldnt give Carson more than 5mil on short term contract… Think he is not worth it because of 2 reason… Durability and lack of explosive plays..

    2,3 years ago Pete said something like you cant have hard hitting mentality on D if you play soft O (something like this)…said the whole team has to play same way etc…

    Maybe its because i like much more great D run first O team, maybe its because i think its the only champioship football Petes teams can play, but i really hope next year we will watch different type of offense (more run less Russ cook)…

  102. Whit21

    This is the result of all the explosive downfield shots that russell makes.. people cheer when they’re completed but.. when you see incomplete passes. this is what you get.. Even that shot a few weeks ago to moore.. great catch.. but russ had lots of running room.. its the difference of “boom or bust” ..

    so many seahawks highlights are deep balls on 3rd or 4th n short… when you live and die by that kind of football.. you’re gonna die more often or not..

    Play for possessions and no turnovers.. take lots of shots downfield. you need to play offense to pick apart their defense. like Mcvay does.. its the biggest downfall of Petes offense.. execution killed them this time.. dropped passes by tight ends.. even DK had big dropped pass.. although it didnt matter because they scored garbage points on that drive.. but ultimately execution on Oline killed em in this game..

    Thats Petes achilles heal.. playing against a great D line.. The rams have always had a good dline.. even without donald.. you cant cook unless you dismantle a good dline.. its funny.. petes brand of old school football. but cant win at the line of scrimmage.. he goes allout for run blocking or for pass pro.. cant run an offense to compete at the line of scrimmage..

    but maybe thats the problem with schotty…

  103. Ishmael

    Just a depressing and frustrating and totally predictable loss. The writing has been on the wall all season. I’ve got a lot of things I’m angry about, the Adams trade for one, the years of terrible early drafting for another, but most of all I’m angry about Carroll stacking the coaching staff with his family and friends. It goes against everything he professes to believe in, and it’s left the Seahawks with a wildly mediocre staff across the board. The team is playing with one hand tied behind its back every week.

  104. David Ashton

    Rob, a brilliant piece. Yesterday stunk.

    They need to be surgical in their appraisal of what went wrong but worried it gets passed off and not addressed. Organisation wide systemic mediocrity. Sad to see.

    • Rob Staton

      Thanks

  105. Adog

    Here’s the pie…rob has been writing the same
    line for a good decade…playoff loss… pathetic offense. The d always gets better, but the offense always gets worse. No running game to butter the bread…a pick six…and predictable plays. If the Rams d respects the play action… this game would be a blowout. Sad to say that we need not just a marshawn lynch.. but a belief that he summoned.

  106. GoHawksDani

    I can see 3 potential scenarios for the future (obviously it won’t be black or white, probably somewhere in between but it would be hard to list all the possibilities). I think the likelihood of happening will be in this order:

    1, Nothing changes really (some minor changes on the surface only)
    What would it mean:
    Pete Carroll: Best scenario for him. He’s a control freak and usually risk-averse. He might appoint new figurehead OC who’ll be his puppet, but he can keep control over the O and D. He can finish his HC carrier with wins between 9 and 12 for the rest of the years, get to POs and while being one and done most of the time, he won’t lose face. He can ride into the sunset as the winningest coach in franchise history and keep telling himself that playoffs are that matter and they just didn’t deliver at the end.

    Russell Wilson: If he’s a nodding choir-boy like sometimes it seems, he’ll gut it out, be happy with the wins, and keep close to papa-Pete. Probably tension would form over the years either way, but if he’s not that into Carroll, he might rebel sooner and wants to force his way out. Depending how much he’s willing to risk losing his “good guy” image, he might be successful, or maybe needs to wait until PC retires

    Schneider: It would suck for him. He won’t have almost any resources, and people will hate on him. But how do you build a roster without picks and cash? I have no idea how much responsibility does he have with moves for Jamal or Collier or McDowell or Penny for example. If those were on him, then he might stay and be loyal to Pete. If Carroll messed with his legacy and forced trades/picks on him that blow into their faces he might force his way out.

    Offense in general: Tension will likely rise. Be ready for mostly Pete-ball with some Russ-cooking sprinkled on it. DK might turn into a diva because limited opportunities and bad press (let DK cook). It might get ugly and soon too.

    Defense in general: Probably some good and some bad. No idea (apart from Dunlap) how the defense turned from worst to mediocre/OK/even good at the end of the season. If it was on Pete, then firing KNJ or micromanaging it in the future might be good for them. If it was on KNJ then Pete being in the helm won’t help. Tensions will grow here also because of some proud, vocal leaders (Bobby, Adams)

    For their record in the future: the usual. Wins between 8 and 12, mostly getting into the POs, maybe miss it once, and probably early exits after 1-2 games.

    How I would grade this scenario: D. It won’t mean SB appearance or win and will just push the inevitable rebuild for 4-6 years. It would mean the Hawks likely won’t be in the superbowl in the next 8-10 years

    2, Pete will loosen up and give control to new coordinators (not much change in the roster but bigger changes in philosophy and FO personel)
    What would it mean:
    Pete Carroll: If he’s good at PR it might be good for him. He can keep his face, while hopefully generate better results for the team. But it’s hard to teach new tricks to an old dog, and he might revert to his controlling nature. If he can do it although it would mean all positives for him and likely for the team (smooth transition in the future to a new HC)

    Russell Wilson: If he could have a say in who to hire as a new OC, it’d be a dream come true to him. He’d be very happy as he can play chef-Russ, get more control and also keep playing in a similar environment.

    Schneider: Same for Schneider. But if Pete lets him decide roster moves he’d have more freedom and while resources are scarce, it might be good enough for him to stay and be happy.

    Offense in general: Changing to a new OC might be difficult at first. But current situation is also difficult so if they get a good OC it’d be great for them. If not, major struggles might come.

    Defense in general: Same as the offense

    For their record in the future: I don’t see major changes here. They might have some rougher period first while they’re adjusting, like an 8-8 or 7-9 season, but if the coordinators are good they can get to the SB and even win it.

    How I would grade this scenario: A. It’s the change this team might need and the least risky one. It can also happen with the new HC transition if one of the coordinators is great and could rise to the HC position. Team stays intact which can be either good or bad, but certainly not too risky.

    3, Rebuild for the roster (and maybe some coordinator changes too)
    What would it mean:
    Pete Carroll: Bad for him. Unlikely that a rebuild can be done in 1-2 years so he’d likely finish his carrier with bad seasons. Without serious push from above I doubt Carroll would want this.

    Russell Wilson: It’d mean a trade for him. He might be content with it though. Hawks should get at least an early 1st, and 1 or 2 more R1 for him and some mid picks (2 R3 for example). If he’d be traded with DK to a team that wants to pass and have a decent HC-OC and not bad roster in a good city for publicity I think he’d gladly move.

    Schneider: Risky but good for him. He’d have ton of resources to play with. If they’d trade Russ, Bobby, Reed, Adams, maybe even DK, they should get for next year 3 R1 (with a high one), 1-2 R2 and 1-2 R3 for these guys. And clear a ton of CAP.

    Offense in general: They should play Pete-ball, so if Schneider does good and they get lucky, it’s a low risk football that is easy for most QBs (game managing), so I don’t think offensive change would be that bad/hard although they need to get solid pieces for it.

    Defense in general: It might be harder for the defense and they have bigger holes in it (especially after the trades). It’d depend on JS also. They’d need a DT, a DE probably 1-2 LB, 1-2 CB, maybe an S (although I think we’d be fine with Blair and Neal, but in the future they’d need a better guy for it)

    For their record in the future: Likely bad at first. 5-11 or 4-12 or 6-10 at best. But as PeteBall offense is really about ball control, good RBs, smart game manager QB, decent OL I think it wouldn’t be that awful for the O. For the defense it’d depend entirely on Schneider. But if they build the roster smartly, it could mean better games in the future as for now, and likely won’t have to blow up the roster 4-5 years from now.

    How I would grade this scenario: B. I’d like it, it’d be hella fun and interesting for the draft, FA and overall the offseason. And I love those aspects. It’d also reduce the turbulence of a new HC/FO (they don’t need to figure out what they wanna do with big money players like Russ or Adams). I don’t think this will happen, but some part of me really wants it (the part that gets totally obsessed with the draft :D)

    • bv eburg

      Well thought out Dani,
      Scenario 3 is the one I’ve thought for a couple years now. Yesterday was just same old same old.
      To me the Dolphins would make some sense. maybe a strong veteran QB to get them over the top, plenty of draft capitol.

  107. Henry Taylor

    I’m just listening to the pod, I don’t really have anything to see about yeserday’s game. This coaching staff failed the team this year, their offence got figured out in their 6th game, they had 10 games to adjust to that, if this happened week 16 or 17 I’d understand, but if you figure out how to adjust in 10 weeks you aren’t good enough at your job. We need to make some changes in the coaching staff at an absolute minimum, but I’m fearful they’ll just hide behind the 12-4 record.

    Thanks for all your hard work this year Rob, I know it’s been tougher for you this year, so I really appreciate it. This place remains my favourite website for the Seahawks or anything else, I don’t know what a Seahawks season would be for me without your thoughts and the discussion in the comments.

    So thanks again to you and the community, maybe one day we’ll get to enjoy a super bowl together again.

    • Rob Staton

      Thanks Henry

  108. UkAlex6674

    I just don’t know why we didn’t ride Carson more. He needs 20-25 carries a game. Maybe still a bit rusty but probably not. He was having some success. I’d make sure we sign him for the right price.

    Is last night worse than the 2017 humiliation at home v Rams in 2017? We were out coached in both and woefully underperformed in both to say the least.

    • Rob Staton

      In fairness Alex, I don’t know why you spent multiple weeks referring to ‘certain blogs’ on the Seahawkers UK Facebook group, complaining about us merely raising concerns that came to fruition.

      So I guess there’s a fair bit for us all to be confused about right now.

    • millhouse-serbia

      I think he cant handke that type of load without having problem with injuries. Thats one of big reason why he doesnt deserve big money.

  109. millhouse-serbia

    First thing Seahawks need to do is to re sign Schneider.

    Then see what to do with OC and DC.

    Than make a decision on Carson and Griffin.

    See what are KJs demands.

    Extend Dunlap with lowering his cap hit for 2021.

    Sign multi year contract with Adams.

    Jarran Reed, Poona Ford, Carlos Dunlap, Bobby Wagner, KJ Wright, DJ Reed, Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs.

    I really think this defense has chance to be trully elite next year with big room to grow in Taylor, Blair and Brooks.

    Mone, Green and LJ are ok rotational peaces on cheap contracts.

    All we need is LCB.

    On offense we need to fix Russ. We dont need him to be first half 2020 Russ, we just need him at his normal play.

    • Pugs1

      I like your thinking on the defensive side of the ball. They also have to figure out who’s coming and going in the backfield.

      • millhouse-serbia

        Yes. I would let Chris leave, and use 2nd round pick on RB.

        So rookie, Pennie, DJ Dalas and Hommer.

        • Pugs1

          Losing Homer and his pass blocking in the Buffalo game may have been a low key reason for some of the passing game woes. I don’t want people jumping on this, so let me emphasize “low Key” again.

        • Rob Staton

          So rookie, Pennie, DJ Dalas and Hommer.

          The only part of that I like is the unnamed rookie.

  110. Pugs1

    A few thoughts: Teams in this division have been built to beat the Seahawks since 2012. It’s past time to build a better mouse trap. I blame Pete but IMO Schottenheimer will be forced to take the fall. If things are to be fixed. Norton could go also, but this is Pete’s D, so I agree a retread is likely, but I would view Quinn or Bradley as a upgrade from KNJ. The Seahawks and Pete need to marry Pete’s culture with a innovative offense that suits Wilson.

    I think Russ focused too much on the “cooking” and MVP chase, and it cost him in the end. He played so uncharacteristically after his MVP chances died. I believe he focused too much on that this year, and his season died along with it.

    Rob, I’m asking this because I don’t know. Are pro coaches across the pond more open in press conferences? Because in my experience in interviewing coaches for 23 years. Especially football coaches they spew nothing, but coach speak and 99% of what they say is worthless. IMO they never tell the truth.

    I know it’s been a frustrating year due to they way the Seahawks have played, and COVID, but I just want to say thanks Rob for all your hard work and helping to make my year a little brighter. Not to get personal but I lost my job and almost lost my wife to a illness in 2020. Thanks again to you, and everyone for making SDB a nice escape from real world stuff.

    Hopefully this game will serve as a wake up call, coupled with the lack of offseason capital will force the change to Pete’s system that is long overdue.

    • millhouse-serbia

      Aleksandar Stanojevic, who is currently HC of FC Partizan Belgrade is so open to media that he almost tell them everything. I think its from coach to coach.

      • Pugs1

        I’ve dealt with two that were open, and they both were college basketball coaches. I don’t think the local Seattle media is particularly tough on coaches. I just think it’s easy to become apathetic when almost all football coaches gaslight the media to give as little info as possible. It’s really frustrating to get the same stock answers. So there is this dance where the media member asks the question that needs to asked. The coach gives his stock answer and nobody follows up because it will just produce another stock answer. I guarantee the Seahawks beat writers can tell you what Pete is gonna say before he says it.

    • Rob Staton

      “Rob, I’m asking this because I don’t know. Are pro coaches across the pond more open in press conferences? Because in my experience in interviewing coaches for 23 years. Especially football coaches they spew nothing, but coach speak and 99% of what they say is worthless. IMO they never tell the truth.”

      It’s different case by case. Some talk openly about anything off the record. Some are ‘honest’ on air. Others talk in riddles.

  111. Denver Hawker

    A head needs to roll here and it’s probably Schotty.

    Unfortunately, I believe the issues are more systemic. Bringing in a new OC during COVID isn’t necessarily a plus if the offense doesn’t have time to work on a new scheme together. Also, it’s still built on a Carroll philosophy. Hopefully Russ is intelligent enough to look in the mirror as well. He looked too comfortable with his own mediocrity. That needs to change and bring back the fire.

    At least ST and Defense appear to be okay for next season with core pieces still on roster. Some may need extensions to bring down cap hit for 2021, but nonetheless remain in place from a good 2020 showing.

    I’ll remain cautiously optimistic about next season in believing Carroll and Russ can have an honest conversation in the mirror. We’ll see.

    • Frank

      Josh Allen 26/35 2 TD 324y 0 int
      Phillip River 27/46 2td 309y 0 int
      Tom Brady 22/40 2td 381y 0 int
      Tyler Hienicke 26/44 1 Td 306y 1 int 46 yards rushing
      Rams QB 12/25 1td 184y 0 picks
      Russell Wilson 11/27 2td 174y 1 int, 50 yards rushing
      This simple isn’t good enough from RW, who ranked as the 19th best qb in the league for the second half of the season; the first half of the season means nothing as defense had no offseason to prepare. An average or even good QB and this team would be collecting a Lombardi trophy. Is it Wilson, or Shotty, or Metcalf or to get bizarre about it Carroll’s fault the offense is such an utter failure this year?
      To be fair I’ve always argued that RW limitations in not being able to run a short timing attack are something that can be schemed around for most games. You can argue it’s his height, but Drew Brees and Mayfield don’t have the same limitations. Is it a lack of receiving weapons? Possibly, Metcalf is a one trick pony who is being forced the ball to the detriment of the offense as a whole all season, but there are other options open that just aren’t getting the ball. Was a Shotty? Maybe, he’s had some but ultimately limited success coaching bad QBs to not be too big of detriment to the team, but hasn’t shown the ability to elevate good QBs beyond doing okay with Brees and Luck early in there careers, Bridge water and Newton as well.

      So who’s head should role? I’d have taken a loss and not felt like something had to change, but the way they lost, a bell to bell handling where are no point did it feel like the offense had any ability to challenge a very small lead. The Rams are custom built to take RW strengths away, with excellent deep ball coverage and the ability to pressure the QB from the inside out. RW can’t run a west coast offense, and you can see the results when they try to use him as a dink and dunk QB. You have to play to your teams talents, and while it’s on the Shotty to not come up with a better game plan it’s just a match up problem. Personally I think they’ll get a new OC, but unless you get one of the top 5 guys how much of a difference can they really make? Maybe Gordon and Penny would have opened up some things, but why aren’t the TE being involved? The offensive balance is off, to much trying to force the ball to DK and not enough threatening every part of the field equally. Too many individual agendas, would a new OC be able to change that dynamic? Why the he’ll wasn’t the run game used more?
      Most importantly, is it time to start thinking about life after Wilson? He’s just good enough to get you past the bad teams, making sure you never get a pick high enough to get a QB but not an elite difference maker in big games. I think of it as QB per purgatory, strapped with a massive contract without the resources to build a championship team around. It’s the normal now for there to be starting caliber QBs in free agency, and multiple rookies every year playing QB at a high level. At least take a shot in the draft every year with a development prospect, or trade some peanuts for a Minshew. I don’t know if the collapse with Wilson is permanent, he’s never been this off for this long. If the 49ers manage to get Watson in a trade the NFC west is screwed. Serious consideration should be asked if Wilson + any coordinator could beat Shanahan and Watson?

  112. Bertelli

    Can someone explain why trading Russ would cost us $39m in dead-cap? I’d thought that when you trade a player, his contract goes with him. I’m guessing it’s all the money they’ve deferred in paying him to keep the cap-hit lower until the later years, but I’d appreciate clarification…..I’d be up for trading him if it’s even possible, would it be two 1st rounders? People have always said he wants to be in New York, maybe the Jets would give us the #2 and our old #27 that we gave up for Adams? Or maybe even go all in and see if JAX would give up the #1 for him? Trevor Lawrence would be a nice addition. Maybe Russ is not even worth that….just some random thoughts. Thanks for everything Rob!

  113. L80

    I moved to Washington state in 1976, so I immediately became a fan after having grown up in L.A. as of all things a Rams fan…….I do the same thing as a lot here do, I follow every move, scrutinize players and even plays……That being said, after this loss I have to take several steps back……..I ended up the day breaking our bedroom window without even remembering it happen !!

    As embarrasing as that is, adding that loss and the way it was lost on top of it along with an epic hangover is too much. I MUST not get this involved anymore, and quite frankly the future of the Hawks at thus moment is not so rosy as so eloquently pointed out in the article.

    I don’t even watch any other games, just the Seahawks, maybe that magnifies it, maybe not, but I can’t allow this to be such a large part of my life. I feel like Austin Powers without his mojo, it’s a sad day, but I’m still sucking air so it’s not the end of the world.

    If there is one thing I would say about the season and the game it is that I’m in the Schotty must go camp. When you cannot simply alter a designed play to disguise it, and it turns into easy pick 6’s it becomes obvious. Blame Russ, Meh, he fell off but he got NO help from his OC down the stretch and we saw the results……/Rant

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