This wasn’t a football game. It was an early Christmas present. A gift-wrapped, morale boosting victory at a crucial time in the season.
The 49ers were a shambles. Anyone wondering if this rivalry was dead — well there’s your answer. San Fran’s fight, passion, energy — it all disappeared to Michigan.
The retirements haven’t helped either — but this was a 49er team without a plan. What was their aim for the night? To keep Colin Kaepernick in the pocket and have him dissect Seattle’s defense behind a woeful O-line?
He didn’t have a single rushing attempt in the game — a contemptible statistic given it’s his greatest strength and Cam Newton had relative success on the move last Sunday.
On defense the 49ers lacked any kind of potency. They got five sacks — but right now I’d fancy my own chances of collecting a QB hurry against Seattle’s pass protection. Russell Wilson telegraphed a couple of easy, undeserved interceptions.
In the fourth quarter — Seattle’s nemesis — San Francisco got out the white flag and waved with pride.
The Seahawks barely had to work for this much needed win. It should’ve been a 30-40 point pasting. Instead they chose a steady stroll over a five-mile jog.
Hopefully they got just enough out of it to get back on track. The talk in the week detailed how they could be 1-5. It ignored the fact they could easily be 5-1 too. They blew the games against St. Louis, Cincinnati and Carolina. Not even San Francisco playing against their own shoddy selves would’ve blown this one.
Wilson played free and it led to a couple of picks. It also led to a big score for Tyler Lockett. It’s perhaps not a bad thing to let the reigns lose for one week to get a spark. Especially when they were never likely to be punished. Having lost so many games with a positive turnover differential — it was bizarre to see a -2 game and a big win.
Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett were sensational — albeit against an O-line as bad as Seattle’s. Bennett’s up to 6.5 sacks for the season already. Frank Clark had an impact too and is quietly having a good rookie campaign — he just isn’t getting the sacks.
Marshawn Lynch ran with authority and the offense re-established some identity again. Unfortunately they still seem unable to work both a heavy dose of Lynch and a lot of Jimmy Graham into the same game plan.
The O-line gave up five more sacks. It’s a shame they can’t do anything about it until the post-season. Major surgery is required with a grizzled veteran presence. If anything is going to cost Seattle this year — it’s the pass protection.
The Seahawks get a chance to rest up before a game against injury-ravaged Dallas to try and get to 4-4. Then it’s three home games against Arizona, the 49ers again and Pittsburgh.
Tonight’s win breathes new life into the season. However, they probably won’t play a worse opponent the rest of the way — aside from the re-match at Century Link.
Tonight, we saw why you’ll take the boneheaded penalties from Michael Bennett. Dominant performance. Best player on the field tonight other than Lynch.
Avril looked great as usual. Completely agree about Frank Clark. Hasn’t played much, but he’s made an impact play or two every time out. DL David King looks like he might be a nice find.
Lynch looks like he found his groove. Which is what this team is missing to close out games. Tonight they found it.
The RW picks were un-necessary, but IF ain’t mad at those. On the first one at least he’s taking a shot in the end zone trying to put points on the board. The other was essentially a punt. I know they took away points, I’m just sayin.’
Okung and Britt look like the only competent O-lineman tonigt. Britt looks like he’s progressing in the run game. No coincidence they ran behind the left side all night.
The entire right side of this O-line needs to trashed IMO. Nowak and Gilliam/Bailey aren’t good at all. Sweezy is so damn inconsistent.
Glad this was a short week. They just needed to kerp playing. I know it’s one win, but this is how we’ve playing all year. Difference is, tonight we remembered how to close out games. Combine that with our running game, I see no reason they won’t keep laying this way, O-line WOES and all.
What I liked…. Rawls getting some touches early in the game. I thought he provided a nice change of pace and had a few tough runs. Lynch was “ill”, but I would like to see a bit more of this from now on this season.
Lynch, Rawls and Jackson look great in the backfield. The gamble might just pay off, they look like they have three guys that can contribute in their own ways this season, unlike the prior two years.
As for the first RW pick, the CB made an outstanding play. The second one, Kearse gave up on the route… so he gets as much blame as RW throwing it up for grabs.
Good point on the Kearse pick.
Agree about the running back group/room. This is what having 3 solid, albeit, not too different running backs does for this offense. Well, we know Lynch is more than ‘solid.’
Haven’t seen the replay, but I’m pretty sure they ran the same play on the end zone pick that CAR ran against them to win the game – only it was ADB in the seam not Olsen, and Tramaine Brock recognized the play and made the INT where Sherm didn’t.
Great play by the corner, and even if he doesn’t make, stil like the fact Russ tried do what he’s best at.
Yeah Charlie for once they are using all of the backs, I like it myself the way it’s working. If Lynch retires after the year which he’s not going to leave all that scrilla on the table I would feel really good about Rawls and Booker next year. I see in Rawls a first and second down back and then Booker on the 3rd down plays where it might be a more obvious screen play. I’m pretty stoked on Rawls guys! Let the O Line be reconstructed next year, it has to be top priority oven anything else.
Good Game
Go Hawks
Lynch is one of those guys who throws up (pukes) before every game. Guess he got a late start tonight, but some athletes like to do it because it gets their endorphins going
I don’t know, the Browns and Ravens look like easy pickings, but yeah the 49ers are probably the worst (outright) team they face the rest of the season. If they pull away from Dallas with a win, then my hopes for another deep playoff run are renewed.
The Offense looked great despite the interceptions and sacks. I think the rest of the season we’ll see a lot of on and off weeks with Graham, but all that “wasted trade” talk should go away at least…next year he’ll click right into place. OL is the draft and FA priority at this point. Overall grade tonight: B-
Defense looked good as well in all three parts (LBs, Secondary, DL), but the 49ers offense was garbage, so…I guess good job practicing for the future games. Overall game grade: A
ST has just been in stasis since the Bears game. Some good plays, some bad plays. Overall game grade: Meh
Good showing tonight, but next week will be challenging. Dallas has a pretty scary DL, and a beastly TE (this Defense’s biggest weakness)…but still winnable none the less. This was a “rest” week, from here on out they need to dominate in all phases…Go Hawks!!!
Matt Cassell and that run game are not intimidating at all.
Dez will be most likely be back, so you have to be careful in the secondary. They also have a solid TE who can hurt Seattle. Witten is tough and dependable. He has tremendous savy and can read defenses better than most TE Seattle have faced so far this year…… dangerous game.
It’s not going to easy, no doubt. But what we did against Cincy and Carolina,ecspecially the Bengals, can more than be done against Dallas. Plus, no morning game or 10 AM start. I’m excluding the 4th quarter collapses of course.
Agreed that the Dallas offense is not as dangerous now but I am concerned about the Dallas pass rush. Greg Hardy is a beast and this pass rush got 5 sacks on Brady in the first half of their game. Here’s hoping we get lots of Beastmode and quick passes from Russell!
Yeah, but if their defense can create turnovers, and give the offense a shorter field we could see an offensive spark from them…plus Dez could be back.
Cleveland play tough — and they have a TE making plays (kryptonite). Baltimore are banged up — I’m not sure they’ll be as ripe for picking when Seattle goes there.
The Ravens could turn around, but the Hawks should be playing at their best buy that point, and it’s a prime time game…definitely not a gimme, but probably easier than it normally would be.
The Browns could surprise, but come on, they’re the Browns…
Honestly I think the Steelers look scarier at home than the Ravens away…
The Steelers are my pick to rep the AFC for the SB. They have been able to hold it together, despite numerous injuries. Truly dangerous team when Big Ben gets back in the saddle soon. The offense is LOADED with weapons. Seattle will have to be playing 3x better than they have on offense to get a win.
I do think crowd noise could play a role in that game. Also they face the Cardinals the week before, so they should get some good practice against an explosive offense. None the less, scary game…
Don’t we get P-Rich, Burley, and Hill back starting next week?
Man, the speed on the outside with ‘no E’ and P-Rich is aboyt to be crazy fun. Can’t wait for P-Rich to get going. We could end up with college/Baylor like speed at wideout.
The speed will be great. The separation created by the WRs and windows for RW to throw into…. it is going to be awesome.
Hopefully RW will have the time to throw the ball…
That’s why having speed on the outside is important. He can get rid of it quicker. RW had time last night on at least 5 dopbacks, but no one open deep down the field.
According to local KIRO 710 talking heads.. Sherman lined up against Torrey Smith all 42 times he was on the field tonight….. Smith only had 1 target and 0 catches.
Impressive, considering that Smith is a great deep threat. The LOB looked like they were back, playing full throttle, communicating, getting each going, havng fun. It was great to see.
I like that stat.
Sherman did a good job. LOB looked better. Best news of all, Cary Williams did not get toasted.
He got hurt and they had to play Shead and others more late in the game.
Combination of a great CB and a beleaguered QB. Works every time.
No need to stress over the INTs. We’ve been waiting for RW to unleash the long ball all season. He’s going to miss some of those, and as long as there’s no return, it’s no worse than a terrific punt pinning them deep. Also, the second INT was as much on Kearse for quitting on the pass.
RW showed some nice touch on his intermediate passes, but it looked like his deep ball was hanging just a little.
The second inteception was cuased by Kearse completely dogging his route. Wow I’m sorry but how is this guy veiwed as a deep option. Lockett had a great game though.
I disagree both those picks were awful. he was late with the Baldwin throw which took away points and kearse was doubled. plus on the kearse throw it was 2 & 6. don’t get me wrong RW played pretty good tonight but I hate those poor decisions. he needs to improve.
The first pick was not a good play because you never want to give points away in the red zone but he was under pressure and thought he saw an opening. He threw the ball late and the CB intercepted…bad play on Russell’s part but bearable. The 2nd INT was really unacceptable. Kearse might have quit on the ball and should have fought harder to break up the INT but really, there was no logical reason for Russell to throw it into double coverage like that. He knows better and to Pete’s credit, during the post-game conference, he was positive about everyone, including Russell, but he did say that the 2nd INT was bad and that we couldn’t have that and that the last time he remembered Russell throwing the ball up like that was against AZ, during his rookie year. Message delivered.:) But overall, Russell still played really well and still had to run for his life on multiple occasions so all good!
Why don’t they send Jimmy F’n Graham out there on a rout like Kearse ran? Kearse is only slightly faster than Graham. IMHO if that was JFG he would have come down with the ball.
Jimmy might have gotten to it but I don’t think Russell should have thrown it at all. We had a good drive going and the running game was effective. We also had the lead. It was not a desperate situation where we needed to throw into double coverage. No need to take on unnecessary risk. Russell needs to be smarter than that.
Yeah, both picks were very bad decisions on Wilson’s part. They took away from an otherwise nice game for him. But decisions like that are going to lead to losses for us when he makes them against teams that aren’t as awful as the 49ers.
The official transcript: (Halftime interview on sideline)
TRACY WOLFSON: On offense, how do you find a rhythm in the second half?
JIM TOMSULA: We gotta find a rhythm. That’s just what we have to do.
TRACY WOLFSON: Alright. Thanks a lot.
EVERYONE AT HOME: Did he answer the question?
~Thanks CBS Sports
Tomsula is embarrassing. But the fact that Balke and York ousted Harbaugh and replaced him with this guy is by far the dumbest move I have seen in pro sports in a long time. Tomsula will get blamed for this mess and he will get fired this off season but York and Balke and thier egos are to blame. Harbaugh is a jack ass but a great coach. To force him out was the best thing that could have happened as a Seahawks fan. The players who all retired must have thought so as well.
If you follow the Mariners….. they have plenty of examples where they messed up even worse. I could crank out 10000 words on them from the last 20 years. That is not even counting the “good” ol’ days just after they enter MLB.
I agree however, the whole JH / JY = 49er mess was avoidable for them and fortunate for the rest of the NFCW.
Great win but 49ers are pathetic and the O Line going to get Russ killed before the end of the season. They are bad. Going to cost the team a real run.
This was a strong team showing, even if there where a few boneheaded offensive things (interceptions mainly), very easily could have been a blow out if russel doesnt throw the first interception and Kearse doesnt stop on his route in the second. David King and Clark have shown that we have depth on the d-line even with our best pass rushing tackle and our second string three-tech out. I honestly expect a defensive rennaissance once Dobbs, Hill, Burley and Lane all get back healthy. Right now I hope that Richardson can give our offense (which is unfotunatly still struggling at times) a boost. We really need to draft two tackles early after seeing the pass protection tonight, I understand why Bailey isnt a starter now. Lynch back, healthy and passionate again is huge. Lockett is becoming a legit threat. Graham didnt do much. It was nice seeing Rawls getting carries. Michael Bennet was a beast, so was Avril. Sherman shut down Torrey Smith. Unfortunatly we forgot how to cover tight ends again, thats what led to their field goal.
All in all this season seems very pathetic for Niners fans. Hopefully this road win jump starts the season, and everyone can get healthy after we beat the Matt Cassel led Dallas team.
I saw the same thing in Bailey also…uugh!
I’m not saying the O-line is good but I thought Russell was the cause of at least 2 of the sacks tonight by trying to leave the pocket instead of throwing the ball away. I do believe the line is playing better though, there were some really nice holes on a few of Marshawn’s runs.
Everyone wants to throw the OL under the bus, but a lot of the sacks we give up could be avoided by Wilson making better reads. It’s an area of his game that isn’t where it needs to be and it’s one of the reasons our offense stalls at times.
Let’s not kid ourselves, that line’s pass-blocking is flat-out horrendous. For every good pocket, there were 2-3 absolute “jailbreaks”–where 2 or 3 or even 4 of our OL had gotten beat within a second of the snap. Sweezy still cannot anchor against a bull rush, Britt can, but has bad feet, Nowak and Gilliam are just not ready to start in this league and potential doesn’t block, and Okung is a shadow of the player he was when he was good. It’s a meh run-blocking line, but a truly horrible pass blocking one. Wilson can only compensate for so much, and it is hurting his development.
For a ‘meh’ running run blocking line their the no. 1 ranked rushing offense in the league.
I agree — there are times when RW could throw the ball away but he just kind of bends over and takes the sack. I know this sounds silly, but it’s almost like he doesn’t want his completion % stats to suffer so he takes the sack instead of dumping the ball.
I agree with you guys that Russell does need to make better reads and sometimes he holds on to the ball too long or scrambles into the sacks. But man, our line is really really terrible at pass protection so I’m willing to cut him a little slack for some of his poor decisions. Seriously, go back and watch Bailey trying to block against Aaron Lynch. It was basically one move and Lynch was by him and on to Russell. I definitely think think Russell needs to play better, especially after getting the big contract, but I do wonder how much his development is being impacted by such a lousy OL.
I thought RW was responsible for three sacks tonight. Unfortunately, I think we will have to live with it. It’s becoming clear it’s how he plays.
I liked seeing a bit more aggressiveness on O, so I didn’t mind the Ints as much, altho it’s unfortunate the pick in the endzone took points off the board (as well as having a wide open receiver standing near the 10 yd line that Russ missed).
I’ve been very critical of our conservative offensive tendencies but I felt we tried to push it just a little more tonight aside from a few run, run, pass (or sack) series late. And even though Graham didn’t have big numbers, we had some nice lobs over the middle to him that will benefit us down the road.
Getting a healthy P-rich back should only benefit as he’s another receiver who can get a little space.
Kearse is great as long as he can run a straight line against busted coverage. Go up for the dang ball man! That’s two weeks in a row you could have helped your QB
D played disciplined which was great to see. Niners might not be the best measuring stick, but we kept Kap in the pocket and had someone spying on the few times he tried to step up and run. Good to see the containment.
Yeah, I thought the play calling by Bevell was pretty good tonight also and Lockett is impressing me more and more each game as a receiver. The D finally showed up tonight!! Let’s hope this is the turning point for our season!
As one who has criticized Bevell in the past, I’ve got to say that I liked his play-calling in this game. I’m still waiting for him to call for RW to throw deep on a third and one, or a fourth and one situation, but I’ll have to be content for now.
Overall, I thought this was the first game of the season that we played our brand of/Seahawks football! The run blocking was solid for the most part and Beast Mode was able to dominate and get chunks of yards for first downs. Russell played pretty well except for a couple of times when he stayed in the pocket too long rather than scramble to avoid the sack and of course, the two bad interceptions. DLine was AWESOME!! Bennett was a beast with the 3.5 sacks but Avril was in there almost as often. I’ve always thought that Irvin was a good player but not anything special but I saw him in pass coverage deep down the field on at least two occasions, once blanketing Boldin and another time, having really tight coverage on another receiver whose name I can’t remember…this from a guy who also regularly plays on the Dline…very impressive! Clark & Marsh looked great in their limited playing time. Except for giving up a few passes to the Niners’ TEs, the secondary also played the type of tight coverage that we’ve expected to see over the years. Special teams was meh but also didn’t make any terrible mistakes. The OL did a good job run blocking but the pass pro is still really pathetic. I’m not sure if it was just me but Alvin Bailey just didn’t look good out there. I saw two or three separate times where Aaron Lynch made one quick move on Bailey and then he was on Russell. We dominated a team that we should have but wow, I guess this is a rebuilding year for the Niners. I saw a lot of good things tonight that hopefully we continue to improve on. We’ll need to do a much better job of pass protection against Dallas If we expect to play well and win down there. Go Hawks!!
All good stuff but two things jumped out to me that I didn’t mention earlier.
1) As you said, the Special Teams was just meh…and it’s been this way for several weeks. Of course I don’t expect Lockett to return a punt/kick for 50 yds or a score every time, but man…our blockers need to give the kid a chance! Seems like we’ve been struggling to even make the 20 on kickoffs, and he’s had zero creases to exploit on punts. Would really like to see some improvement here, as even a 15-20 yd swing can be so critical in regards to field position.
2) Dominated a team that we should have. Nice to see. You have to beat the teams you are supposed to beat, and I guess that was just nice to see after our early struggles.
Agreed. What we did tonight was what I hoped (but didn’t see) to see when we played the Bears. Yeah, we shut them out but IMO that was more due to the Bears being really bad rather than us playing well and dominating them. I think Pete also mentioned during the post game interview that we needed to do something to get better blocking for Lockett on his returns…or it could have been Steve Raible when he interviewed Lockett.
Marsh and Clark need to play a lot more in our DL rotation to keep Avril and Bennett fresh for 4th Q IMO. THat has been one of the biggest problems in our 4Q collapses. Bennett and Avril run out of gas and our pass rush disappears. Get Clark and Marsh more snaps in early and let Avril and Bennett in the 2nd half.
That is exactly why Bennett and Avril were so dominate in 2013, they both played under 50% of Defensive snaps. they were fresh when it mattered, the 4th qtr.
Defensive Line balled out and did what they were supposed to do against a bad offensive line. Great having Frank Clark back, which allowed Mike B to tear it up inside. David King flashed. Will be great to get Jordan Hill back. Depth at DT still scares me there, though.
The O line is still a hot mess. I would to shocked to see Lem play center against the Cowboys. They need experience there, and while he doesn’t have the athletic upside, he’s a smart player. They need someone who can make the calls and adjust and take the burden off Russ. RT remains a disaster. Would love to see this team lock up Okung, and get a legit tackle on the other side.
With 10 days off until the next game, could this be a time where perhaps we could see a mid season trade to acquire a vet? Just don’t think the Gilliam experience is working out the way it needs to be.
Indeed this game was a relief. First one that felt somewhat like a classics Seahawks game, with the D finally more like its old self. The o-line remains problematic, some of Russell’s decisions were very unfortunate, but at least they got the job done.
This could have been a demoralizing season ender.
The only thing holding back this team from again being serious title contenders is the pass protection. Either the FO believes strongly enough that the current group is going to make a leap soon in quality of play or they don’t and possibly make a mid season move. The trade deadline is Nov. 3 at 1pm PT. This team and group of players are as ripe as you get in a title window. It’s NOW time!
Happy Day today! Winning is good medicine.
Was I mistaken or after the game did it look like Alex Boone said to Okung ‘…you and me?’ Looked real comfortable with him, RW, and PC. Maybe I’m reading too much into this.
I saw Boone join Russ & Okung at the end there in a player prayer circle & yes they looked comfortable together.
Niners are a fire sale candidate.
If SEA want Boone, they’ll have to wait until the offseason. I can’t see SF trading anyone to SEA in the middle of a season, even if they’re not in playoff contention.
I just thought it was very telling that we ran behind the left side of the O-line ALL night.
And while I’m in agreement that DT probably won’t be addressed before the 3rd round, playing your FB inside means they need another guy. I know Hill is out, and the rookie will be 3rd on the depth chart, maybe 4th, but if they could another Jordan Hill, Clint McD, or Tony McD, man would tht complete the line and just add to the rotation.
CHAWK, heads up my man. UCLA RB Paul Perkins was hurt tonight. Didn’t look good. Hope he isn’t out an extended amount of time.
No official word other than Mora saying it’s “not good”
The Eric Reid hit on Jimmy Graham did not dispel the still lingering knock that Jimmy is soft, a finesse player. I would have liked to see Bevell dial up Jimmy again to make a play on Reid, to boost confidence. But Jimmy got not much the rest of the night. Jimmy may be a tall, talented pass catcher, but he is not a Gronk type of physical presence. Reid would have bounced off of Gronk, who would have bulled into the end zone with the ball secured.
Agreed. Jimmy had to make that play. Yes, it is difficult but we are paying him to make those types of plays, and with consistency.
Not to mention, while the hit was big; there was a clear space between catch then hit.
I am catching loads of flak on FieldGulls for even suggesting that Jimmy Graham would have benefitted greatly by holding on to the ball and showing his toughness. Just because Jimmy is a Seahawk, all of the “Jimmy Who” knocks against him, which were chanted on a regular basis by Hawks fans, are now dismissed? Eric Reid laid out Jimmy the way Kam laid out Vernon Davis, but Jimmy gets a free pass because now he is a Seahawk?
When I saw that play, I saw a catch and a fumble, but they didn’t call it. When I look at tape of that play, I still see that.
I want to see Jimmy succeed. I want to see him be the most feared component of this offense, and prove that he was worth the investment. That he was a better choice than Julius Thomas or Charles Clay.
line had a nice push tonight it seemed
lynch was awesome tonight
rw played well except for those stupid picks
Bennett was on fire just looked unstoppable
Gilliam got owned again, bailey almost as bad
overall I thought they played pretty well, nice to see the deep ball, nice to see a pass rush and nice to see a w! maybe a turning point go hawks
Great description of the game Rob. I am not sure to be happy and think we are starting to sort things out or just feel sympathy for 49ers fans. That team is a mess and they went from one of the best coaching staffs in the league to IMO the worst.
Whenever we are disappointed with the play of Wilson and his big new deal. Think about the 49ers and Kapernik has anyone regressed more? I see no hope for that situation.
If we can’t figure out how to improve the pass pro at least to become a functioning unit. We have no shot at an SB run. IN the past our Pass Pro was not a strength but alot of sacks were on Russ and they were so dominant in the run game they wore teams down and got stronger in pass protection as the game went on. This unit is a disgrace and Bailey was no improvement over Gilliam.
Not sure how you fix an OL mid season but in the off season it can easily be fixed doing the following.
-Sign Evan Mathis at Guard (should have been a priority sign this off season)
-Sign Wisnewski at Center (should have been priority #2)
-Draft a tackle in Rd #1 (hopefully Coleman out of Auburn) start at RT
-Resign Okung to play LT (This is a must IMO)
-Let Glowinski, Britt and the others battle for RG spot unless they can re-sign Sweezy for under $2 million per year.
They could have done several of these moves this off season and chose not to. I hope they learned their lesson.
The cap was tight this year but i bet we might have been able to get Mathis. Next year we have more cap flexabilty. I was trying to figure out a way to spend 18mil on Oline next year without hurting depth to much on other parts of team. Say we sign Okung 10mil Sweazy for 4mil and one of three mentioned above for 4mil. We have 24 mil in cap space next year so that leaves us at about 6 re due Bennett Contract reducing next year cap hit by 2 mill and back load him 10mil a year sign Baldwin to extention reducing his cap by a mil next year so that would get us to 27 then cut Williams that gets us to 30 mil. Budget 5Mil for Dline that gets us to 23 mil Lane and TJack 3mil that gets you to 26mil pick up Shead tender and you are at 28mil more or less budget the other 2 mil for IR andP Squad. Draft RT,CB,DT, Lb with first four picks in no paticular order.
Oh one last move they should make. Bring in an OL assistant to coach to teach Cable how to teach his lineman to pass protect and not just run block. All Cables lines suck at pass pro go back to anywhere he has been and the pass pro stinks.
How does Bevell get so much heat (I am not a fan by the way) but Cable gets no heat. It amazes me. He makes the OL draft picks and is responsible for this unit. Year after year I hear what a guru he is but I just don’t see it. Alex Gibbs he is not.
Maybe so, but 83 of Lynch’s 122 yards came BEFORE contact. That’s run blocking domination.
Also a really, really bad 49ers defense.
Did anyone else notice how well Irvin covered TE Davis a couple of times in deep routes. Irvin is a bonehead but his truly a special athlete who I think we are going to miss next year.
I honestly think he’s back next year. I think he is one of the most underrated players in the league. He really can do things that no other LBer in the NFL can dream of doing.
Not to mention, I think Bruce loves it here and loves the staff. That’s a big thing IMO, especially considering what Bruce grew up around and the adversity he faced.
The reason I say that is because Okung and Sweezy are going to be retained for a significantly lower price than we all anticipated heading into the season. They are not bad, but they are wildly average and I don’t see anybody tossing a bunch of $ their way, especially considering the heinous reputation of the Seahawks OL.
I really want to see Irvin back. KPL does not really replace him.
Agreed Trevor. Irvin opened my eyes tonight when I saw him stride for stride with Boldin down the sidelines (a DE/LB on a starting WR!?) and while covering Davis, amazing! I would love for him to return but not sure if the Hawks can afford his price.
Pretty sure Avril was covering Vernon Davis along the near sideline early in the game.
Really? In that case, just as impressive! I just remember being impressed at how well Irvin was covering receivers down the field, was pretty sure it was Boldin down the sidelines one time and then a couple of other plays on other receivers but I couldn’t remember those players and thought it might have been Davis.
That was Avril. It wasn’t Bruce.
Why do players need to get dressed up in a nice suit for the press conference?
Seems like a big waste of energy to me.
It’s not coming from the team, because the coaches don’t do it.
Same reason the NBA does it. Branding/image. In the NBA’s case it’s actually mandated by the league. I don’t think it’s mandated by the NFL or NFLPA, but the players are smart enough to know that their image is important.
Great win. Loved the intensity. Felt like the first time the real Seahawks showed up to play.
Here’s a weird comment; I absolutely loved RW’s INTs and I loved (even more) that he didn’t get scared after those. I think this is a very important step for him and the team.
This team is nigh unbeatable when they play loose, without fear, and hungry. It’s the one thing that really bothered me about the first 6 games. I saw a team who was playing not to lose. I think that changed last night.
One complaint; can’t wait to move on from Kearse. He gets washed out of plays and him flat out giving up on the long INT was unacceptable. I have seen him do this way too many times and I will be excited when he’s no longer on the team, despite my appreciation for his big moments. The lack of consistency is a killer.
Great win…I think we are seeing something special in the making.
I loved the first INT. Thought it was the right call – 40 seconds left in the half, why not go for the kill to go in 24-0? Situationally it was low risk/high reward. The second one I was less impressed with, not sure why Wilson was throwing into double coverage without a wide open man. But overall I agree, I think Wilson plays better when he’s prepared to take a few chances. The combo of a chunk play passing game and Lynch running the ball is so hard to defend.
As I posted earlier, Kearse is exceptional…as long as he gets to run on a straight line against busted coverage. Two games in a row he could have gone after a ball to at least TRY and help his QB
Okung had his first strong performance of the season. If he’s able to improve maybe we are
Seeing an end to his regression and resigning him would be a good option.
Okung is a legitimate starting caliber NFL left tackle and those don’t grow on trees so I hope we keep him. Besides, the other parts of the OL are in severely desperate need of upgrade.
I don’t understand why Clark and Marsh get so little playing time, especially when Both Bennet and Avril tend to lose steam at the ends of games. Clark had a big TFL, Marsh had nice tackle. I hope that they can both contribute more down the line this season.
I agree completely. Both need to play alot more snaps to keep Bennett and Avril fresh.
Shon Coleman isn’t on many of the other big boards. I think that people are thinking that is cancer will scare teams away. I hope it doesn’t scare the Hawks. If we can pick him up in the first, I finally submit to a new oline plan.
-Resign Russel Okung- he has regressed but showed signs of returning to his older form in last night. Too me, that was the most encouraging thing in the game outside of Lynch (Bailey and Sweezy were Awful in pass protection). Resign him, let Sweezy walk but we need this guys leadership in a big way for the line.
– Sign Alex Boone- After the game he seemed friendly with the other Hawks players. He’s a GOOD starting NFL guard, something we haven’t seen on our team in a long while. This community sees vets as better options than rookies for next year.
– Sign Wisniewski – He’s an average player, but he will play a heck of a lot better for us than Lewis or Nowak if we start him at center. Plus he can fill in at guard. He’ll probably be more effective and valuable than a rookie center for at least 1 season.
– Draft a star college Left Tackle in the first round and convert him Right Tackle. Hopefully Shon Colemam falls into our lap. He can be a dominating right tackle in the NFL.
– As for the left guard position, I say let Sokoli and Glowinski compete for the spot.
How about a lineup of:
Russel Wilson, Mark Glowinski, Steven Wisniewski, Alex Booke, Shon Coleman
Wilson? I meant Okung.
Love the OL Plan! I would take Mathis over Boone as he is more of a Zone Run Blocker but either was fine. Love the other ideas and feel the exact same way.
Not being argumentative…but I haven’t followed the cap close enough to know if we have the money to do this. Where does the $ come from…cutting a Bane? An increase in cap space?
Slightly off-topic, but it’s a shame Simon goes down once again. I have a suspicion the forward-thinking plan was for Simon to get another years experience with him taking over for Williams next year. Cutting Williams would save a bunch of $ (with no dead money hit if I remember correctly). That money would have come in handy. Now, I’m not so sure there’s a ready-made alternative.
Williams is not $7M better than either Lane or Shead starting at outside CB at this point. Williams is cuttable regardless of Simon’s ability to play next year. And don’t forget about Tye Smith.
Williams dead money for 2016 is 2.3 mil cap savings of 3.8mil. Also 1.2 mil dead money in 2017. I dont think Williams is horrible but if you need to find cap space he is probably your guy. Looking at CB Eli Apple is interesting but rSO does he come out? If Ramsey fall to late first I am sure he would fit measurables and Canady should fit profile as well in maybe round 3. Tye Smith/Lane/Shead/early draft pick battle for starting CB also would be nice depth as well.
As much as I would like to see it, I don’t see Cary going anywhere at this point. Kris Richards loves him. Against SF, he did better. My gut feeling is that the trade deadline will pass, Cary will prove to be a liability too late for them to act on it this season.
Here’s a tidbit from Wikipedia about Alex Boone:
“On September 13th, 2013 Boone expressed displeasure with an illegal and fine-inducing hit performed by Clay Matthews III on Colin Kaepernick, stating that if he was in charge of punitive actions he would not fine Matthews, but instead “probably punch Matthews in the face”.”
I think this guys attitude fits our ideal oline. The knock on him is his height, at 6-8 he’s taller than what we traditionally look for in a linemen.
I am happy to see them have a good defensive game. Of course the niners are really not that formable this year. I thought the offense was again very predictable. Run run pass, run run pass, seems to be the order of the day. The pick in the end zone was a good play by the defender, Baldwin was open for a moment but the defender closed quickly. The second one should not have been thrown, it was into double coverage. Wilson has to stop doing that. He also threw a sideline pass into tight coverage that was cought but passed up the underneath receiver that was more open. I hope they will start passing mpre on first down.
I want Wilson to throw some INT. It means he is pushing the ball and I think he needs a little of that and PC needs to realize as long as the Hawks get the win, who cares. How many games did they win the turnover battle just to lose the game. With a riskier Wilson, maybe we put more points on the board and the D starts to play like they can.
Fully agree. I didn’t really mind the Ints…even though they were unfortunate. I think the benefit of an attacking O would far out-weigh an occasional hiccup
It certainly didn’t hurt Cam Newton last week.
All around great effort and dominant performance. The intensity (especially on D) and consistency were definitely there…and for all four quarters.
Lynch is still the cornerstone of this offense and he looks to be rounding into top form. The run blocking keeps improving which is key for the offense. The pass pro…..well, I’ll pass on that but there’s upside that they should be able to tap into deeper into the season.
There’s no question that this team can make a deep playoff run (although they’ve left themselves only a small margin for error). I feel better about this team being 3-4 with blown opportunities than I would being 4-3 but being blown out a couple of times.
Glad RW didn’t get injured in this game. That field is an abomination.
Memories of FedEx Field and Clemons going down.
That slide where his feet ripped into the grass was frightening… What a horrible field
Against running teams the DL will need some help. It would be wise to have a little insurance down the stretch. Last year was a good reminder of that with Bane & Hill going down.
A waiver pick up for the Vet minimum for outside help would be a good move. I realize Ratliff has some baggage, suspended for violating NFL’s D&A policy and a hatred for the FO/Owners, but this may be move to get that DL over the hump down the stretch. In his 1st game he was listed as their starting NT. He can play 1,3 and 5tech but primarily 1 & 3. He’s 6-4 300 34yrs old. (Same measurables as those of Adolphus, interesting.)
They need to spare Bennett and Avil from a beating on run downs. They’ll be fresher come 4th qtr when needed the most. Bane, Rubin and the whole DL will be fresh. Fresh DE rushers can stop comebacks. This may be a remedy to the Big Plays made by a QB having too much time to pick the secondary apart in the 4th qtr.
If it does not work, he could be released. A chance to chase a ring on a leading defense, that will alleviate a lot of his frustration. With such a strong leadership and locker room, he would be a nice addition and a true professional.
There are only 3 legit DTs, (Bane,Rubin and Hill). The rest of the 9 DL are either DE or DE/DT. Having (4) DTs is a good balance when Tutuafa can play that DE/DT role that Dobbs & King would play. Dobbs had injuries last yr as well. It’s hard to see future for all 3 @ that role. Either Dobbs or king could be released for Ratliff. Perhaps IR Dobbs.
A Jeremiah Ratliff addition could be similar to Kevin Williams last year. I hope they take a look.
FYI
As a veteran respected for his tenacity, passion and work ethic, Ratliff was often a tone-setter for the Bears over the last two years.
An eight-season stint with the Cowboys came to a similarly unfriendly end.
Ratliff was involved in a heated locker room altercation with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones that reportedly required teammates to intervene. Jones, reports said, had been urging Ratliff to come back from his injury and he took exception.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-bears-jeremiah-ratliff-cut-spt-20151022-story.html
I remember Ratliff from his time here in Dallas. He’s a head case. No thanks.
He’ll blend well with Mic’B. (lol) At D for a long time (4time all pro). Jerry Jones would drive anybody crazy. Dez got that same edge to him. But they produced. What set Jay off was Jerry telling him he should play when he body wasn’t right. They were losing. They were losing in Chicago as well.
On a winning organization that allows varied personalities, he would be fine in the locker room. He was a tone setter for Chicago’s DL. He’ll have a greater tenacity chasing that ring knowing it can be had with the Hawks. If he’s not hungry, just release him. It could be a great get for the stretch run. Why not give it a shot!
One has to wonder where Kaepernick ends up. I believe the guarantees in his contract vest something like spring of next year. Just no way the niners will keep him at that cost. They don’t even use his legs anymore which was the best part of his game and the one that terrorized the packers. Philly? Can’t see much else for him.
If he rolls out a few more clunkers, they will cut him and move on. The deal was very cap friendly for the team. The downside for the 49ers.. there may only be a few truly NFL ready QBs in CFB… and they might not even come out this year. What will they do, if they cut bait.. but have no replacement.
Cleveland.
Only a jr., but absolutely love this cat. Maryland OLB/DE Yannick Ngakoue-6’2, 255. Pronounced N-gah-kway
I know it’s a highlight tape, but dude is relentless with a Seahawk vibe.
Watch this guy just manhandle top 5 pick Brandon Scherff.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&rct=j&q=highlights%20of%20yannivk%20ngakoue%20on%20youtube&ved=0CB4QtwIwAGoVChMIgcq5rabZyAIVSzOICh1dOA0u&url=http%3A%2F%2Fm.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DXlXMAmomiDI&usg=AFQjCNHFySZtieHyMSmoh50n9KVrqOGlGA
Good Catch! Perfect Leo. Great inside moves, sidesteps and swim moves. Conklin didn’t have a chance either. I like him too! I hope he declares.
Hey, me and you are finally on the same page. I’m kidding of course. He’s got an Avril look to him with those stubby legs doesn’t he?
Glad ya liked him.
We’re good. I just didn’t see Striker as a Sam/DE. He couldn’t hold the edge over time. They’d run down his throat. He’s best @ Will blitzing.
Also, the idea of OL FA as a solution to their woes. Cable will go down with ship. The waters are rough presently, Cable will right it through. History has proven this.
I agree that Striker isn’t a DE, but I do think he can play SAM. And with Bruce, he plays the OTTO position more than he is a true SAM.
We also got this LEO Ryan Robinson on IR. He’s getting the red-shirt treatment. Dude was the star of OTAs. He’s someone worth monitoing next pre-season.
And yes Cable will get things going. Having 3-4 rookies starting on the O-line solves nothing. 1-2 and another veteran could/should fix the issue.
IMO by season’s end Britt will have locked down the LG spot. His run blocking is coming along nicely. LGs aren’t pass protectors. We also got Terry Poole behind him, who I see as a more mature version of Michael Bowie.
As for that RG spot, we got Glo and Soko. Let those 2 battle it out next off-season, and the loser, if you will, of the competition, gives us fantastic depth at a couple spots.
Sokoli is still a mystery to me. If the guy is as athletic as all the reports say he is why don’t they make him a left tackle?
Why bulk him up to play guard? Let him stay lean and use his athletic talent at tackle.
Sok likes to D & D forwards and maul. He can do better inside that booth rather than on the edge in space. It’s going to take some time to hone in PPro skills.
Thanks for the clip, V12, that number 7 looks like the real deal. Think he will come out?
Hard to say. I hope so. Joey Galloway says this kid is an amazing athlete. He was also heavily recruited by Miami.
I kind of think he will.
Know what this guy does in his spare time? He mentors under-privleged kids and feeds the homeless at homeless shelters. Speaks volumes about his character.
Love Brock Huard man. Telling PC to go check out Baylor TE LaQuan McGowan. LOL. Kid’s a 400 lb. freak athlete.
I’m game!!!
He’s living the Vince Wilfork dream.Wonder if he could outrun Zach Miller down the seam.
According to PFF:
Pass Protection-
1. Le’Raven Clark, Texas Tech +18.0 and +6.4 in the run game
2. Joe Dahl, Wazzu +12.2 and +2.6 in the run game
Run blocking-
1. Josh Garnett, OG, Stanford +21.1 (this is who Seattle was probably scouing at that Stanford game, also from Tacoma)
Tight End-
1. David Morgan, UTSA hello there gorgeous. +15.0 run blocking grade, has 30 rec, 361 yds., 4 TDs. There’s some tape on this guy. He’s a good one. Keep an eye on him.
Watching Memphis v Tulsa right now. The big attraction is obviously Paxton Lynch, and he’s having a solid game so far. But Tulsa Sr WR Keyarris Garrett has caught my eye…6-4, 220 with a couple pretty catches in the game, one a magnificent deep bomb TD catch. Any thoughts on this guy?
Good eye and thanks for the heads up. I forgot this game was on. Turning the channel as we speak.
I really like WR Keyarris Garrett. He’s actually one of my favorite mid-late round big bodied receivers. He’s very exciting and intriguing.
I’ve heard he has some off the field red flags, but I haven’t uncovered what they are. Might just be a guy that grew up in a rough area and made some mistakes.
He’s definetly someone on my radar.
Has nice swag to his game and those arms are long! What a catch radius.
Yeah, he passes the eye test – tall, long, lean, athletic looking. I fell asleep in my recliner and missed the second half, but got to see his hail mary TD catch to end the first half (epic) as well as his 40-ish yard TD bomb earlier. He jumps off the screen compared to the competition around him. I’ll be looking for Tulsa games to keep an eye on this guy.
Here’s a good article on him from Tulsa University. No indication of off-field trouble. In fact the article suggests the opposite, speaking glowingly of his work ethic. Of course it’s a homer source, so maybe it’s not the whole truth. His only problems appear to be a couple leg injuries, the most recent being a compound fracture last year, from which he has recovered.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/tusportsextra/bigger-and-stronger-tu-s-keyarris-garrett-looks-to-bounce/article_0820b185-4530-5ba4-9ef5-497a13bf5454.html
His gate reminds me of Browner. At 23yrs old he could be a good FA pickup. Check out another WR with similar injury issues @ similar slot 7/FA, Marquez North 6-4 221 4.5 40. I was thinking of him perhaps @ 7(250) or 7(256 comp) pick.
Here’s a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNfFuohwaKI
He’s 20yrs old. 21yrs @ Draft time.
2016 main FA:
Okung
Irvin
Mebane
Kearse
Rubin
Sweezy
Lewis
Bailey
Lane
Lockette
Dobbs
King
Tukuafu
Shead
Matthews
Coleman
Burley
Top 5 to keep for me would be:
Irvin
Tukuafu
Shead
Matthews
King
That’s why they won’t take on a high cap, outside FA. Because they have to try to take care of their own. There are a lot of role players among this group that will be sorely missed if not retained. It also sends a strong message in the locker room how the FO takes care of their players. Players work harder knowing that they are appreciated by being re-upped.
Those would be my choices, too. Some of the others, however, have become habits. Never seem to lose Kearse or Lockette, no matter what. Kearse, to his credit, is better this season. If RW can’t afford to lose his security blanket, he won’t be let go.
Okung
‘Bane or Rubin
Lane or Burley
Kearse
Shead
And I think we’ll see one of Dobbs or King re-signed, one of Coleman or Tukuafu, and like Steele said, probably Ricardo Lockette
A handful of these guys are RFA’s which will obviously help. They should have enough money to add a FA on the O-line. Probably not a big name guy, but then again, I can’t imagine too many premier O-lineman hitting the open market.
That looks about right to me.
Okung is definitely tops on that list.
Bane or Rubin at #2, check.
Then you do what you can do. So far we have $124,992,682 committed to 33 players signed thru the 2016 season. So realistically we expect a cap rise but based on this year’s cap of $148,257,738 we can guess at a minimum of $23,265,056 to spread between 20 players. Okung at about $8M-ish and Bane or Rubin at $4M-ish leaves say $11,000,000 + any cap rise to sign the next 18 players.
If that’s not enough then we have to get “New England” on some of these guys and look at the cut/trade candidates…
Kam Chancellor, $6,100,000 cap hit minus $2,000,000 dead = $4,100,000 freed. (holdout)
Cary Williams, $6,166,667 – $2,333,334 = $3,833,333 freed. (age/value)
K.J. Wright, $6,250,000 – $3,000,000 = $3,250,000 freed. (greater need)
Cliff Avril, $6,500,000 – $1,500,000 = $5,000,000 freed. (desperate for cap space)
With so many of our stars signed to big money deals the next generation of youth has to come in and step up.
Oh yeah, almost forgot the Big Dog.
Marshawn Lynch, $11,500,000 – $5,000,000 = $6,500,000 freed. (retirement?)
Okung will get more than 8mil unless he gets hurt. Lesser LT have been extended for 10-11mil this year plus he is the best LT in FA this year unless somebody gets cut before free agency period. Williams is the only to consider cutting. Seahawks can free up some cap space for 2016 by extending Baldwin and Bennett.
Half of these guys are RFA and ERFA which makes tenders cheap. I think Burley is ERFA Matthews is ERFA
king I think is EFRA Terrell . EFRA is 660K as of 2015 a tad over league min. All these guys will be back for one year. Coleman RFA Lewis RFA Baily is RFA Helfer RA. Shead might be RA or might UFA.
I have been thinking the Seahawks need another TE via draft in 2016… however, maybe they could go ahead and move Gilliam back to the 3rd TE spot. I’m not pleased by the3rd TE situation for a few season.
Move Gilliam back, frees up Seattle to look for a RT. There are plenty of guys who could fit the bill long term. Then, you have a 3rd TE that is a legit blocker and has good athleticism. At the end of the day, you strengthen 2 positions with 1 draft pick.
Looking through the all questionable character team and injury team. Anybody take some late round flyers on these guys
Duke Williams WR Brawl at the club
Leonte Carroo WR Alleged Domestic Violence
Jonathan Williams RB Arkansas torn liagament in foot
Drew Ott DE ACL
Thoughts on the Cowboys (1-0 right guys?)
This defense has to get it together, in there three wins they have allowed a total of 6 points. In there four losses, they allowed 108 points. There’s a pattern here, and it’s not a good one. Either we completely dominate to opposing offense or we loose.
Their*
3 of the 4 losses are vs teams that are unbeaten still. The 4th loss, was due to the defense not being right due to a change in scheme, lack of Bam Bam playing or overly aggressive playcalling (ie blitz too much)…. that would be the STL Rams game #1.
Carl Nassib, DE, Penn State; at 6’7″ 272 lbs seems like an incredibly intriguing guy if he is available at the end of round #1. One scouting report credits him with an excellent work ethic and he has been diligent about building his body into a specimen, reportedly adding almost 60 lbs since entering college. He was a walk on and has become a force. These are attributes that could be very attractive to the Seahawks.
We have DE’s. I’d be interested in him at TE. We like our defense to offense conversion projects, you know.