Instant reaction: Seahawks lose opener in St. Louis

Seahawks fans longed for the next game. Moving on from the Super Bowl just isn’t going to happen — but a new game to occupy the mind would at least provide some respite.

Or so they thought.

Seattle didn’t deserve to win in St. Louis in week one — but the manner of the defeat was tortuous. Again. The Seahawks found a way to lose the game, return to win it — and then lose it one more time.

Agony.

The sheer importance of the loss in Superbowl 49 will never be matched — but this one put the fans through the ringer all over again. In the first three quarters the Seahawks were just being outplayed in every facet. Tyler Lockett’s early punt return score was a rare highlight.

— Russell Wilsons struggled all game with blitz pick-up. The Seahawks kept using an empty backfield signalling a pass play. Wilson never once found the hot-read or the pre-snap read to cover the free runner(s). Gregg Williams regularly sent one or even two defensive backs on a blitz. It was a consistent win for the Rams every time Seattle went empty backfield.

— There were several blown coverages with Jared Cook the main beneficiary. Time and time again he cleared out the zone or ran across the field unchallenged. When the Rams weren’t benefitting from easy downfield throws they were converting underneath. Their first touchdown drive came after a 3rd and 15 conversion on a dump down to their third string running back. Surprisingly they also struggled to set the edge against the run. The defensive performance overall was concerning.

— The Seahawks got themselves into good positions twice and a combination of sacks and penalties meant they came away empty handed. They particularly struggled in the red zone until the final quarter. If the addition of Jimmy Graham was supposed to be a lifesaver here — it might be worth trying to throw one up for him.

— The Rams faced genuine adversity in this game. Todd Gurley and Tre Mason — their top two running backs — were both out. E.J. Gaines their top corner was out. Trumaine Johnson their #2 corner left the game with a concussion. The Seahawks also faced a rather tepid homefield ‘advantage’. Seattle still never flexed its muscles and took control.

— Aaron Donald had his way with the Seahawks interior O-line. There’s not much you can do about that. He’s the best pass-rushing DT in the league. He’ll make plays. The Seahawks won’t face another player like him until the re-match later in the season.

All of this cumulated to make for one frustrating afternoon. Until the typical Seahawks roaring comeback.

Earl Thomas’ fumble, Cary Williams’ strip-sack-touchdown. In a matter of minutes Seattle had 18 more points and turned a 24-13 deficit into a 31-24 lead — needing a stop to win.

They also found a way to get Jimmy Graham the football. At one point I was preparing to write a lot more on this. Their inability to use Graham properly brought back memories of Zach Miller’s early years in Seattle — fresh off leading Oakland in receiving. When they started to force him the ball he made plays. If you’re going to have a receiver/tight end like this — you have to make it part of your identity to use him. And you have to trust him in 1v1 situations. They seemed to work it out late in the fourth.

So all was good. Despite a lot of issues, the Seahawks were going to find a way to win.

Then even more agony.

The Rams were meandering in their final drive needing a touchdown, chipping away with no real vigour. The Seahawks felt comfortable — almost poised and waiting for the play that would end the game.

It had to be the guy starting for Kam Chancellor. It just had to be.

Dion Bailey’s trip, Lance Kendricks’ easy score. You just don’t see plays like that with so much on the line. The Rams went from tense, toiling and struggling to an enormous momentum surge. Bailey’s trip had a staggering impact. Seattle’s chances of winning were probably around 85% at that point — they dropped below 50% with one downfield pass and one trip.

Bailey shouldn’t feel too badly about it — it’s one of those things. Nobody should use this to call for Chancellor to return at any cost. Yet it was a cruel gut-punch for Seahawks fans to see the man tasked with standing in for #31 be responsible for such a huge slice of misfortune.

Then overtime.

The the onside kick. A call to leave everyone scratching their heads. Including the Rams.

Was it an attempt by Pete Carroll, burned several times by Jeff Fisher on special teams, to try and get one back?

The commentators praised the move as a gutsy, calculated gamble. You’re trying to steal a possession.

That’s fine. If it works you look great. If it doesn’t — you leave the Rams with a short field, a cheap three points and you’re playing catch-up.

St. Louis didn’t really have to work for their field goal, rather than need to drive from their own 20 they took over in Seattle territory. It just seemed like an unnecessary gamble. Make the Rams earn their points here. Had the Seahawks forced an early punt — it also leaves Tyler Lockett with another opportunity to make a play with a large field to work with.

Still, they kept it to three rather than concede the game-ending score. They were even moving the ball somewhat — before a pass to the left, a bubble screen and a Wilson scramble yielded fourth down.

And then they lost by a yard. Again.

This time they did run Marshawn Lynch with a solitary yard required. But it wasn’t really a yard, was it? The Seahawks have a slightly bizarre penchant for running out of the shotgun. It opens up the read-option of course — and that was the call here. However, the game’s on the line. You need a yard. Why snap the ball back a few yards and give Lynch even more to do?

A sneak, a FB run, a plough up the middle in the I-formation. Even if you telegraph it — all are preferable than asking your back to do that extra bit more from the gun.

Another defeat with a yard needed based on a questionable call.

It leaves the Seahawks staring at a possible 0-2 hole. They’ll head to Lambeau Field next week as underdogs, facing a Green Bay team eager for revenge after the NFC Championship. Aaron Rodgers will salivate watching the tape of this defensive performance.

With three of the following four games at home — 0-2 wouldn’t be fatal in either the division or conference. However, the Seahawks know they’ll have to play a lot better than this moving forward. The defense looked disjointed and flaccid. The offense looked like it didn’t know how to use a newly acquired weapon for three quarters — and the decision making in overtime was questionable.

242 Comments

  1. JeffC

    You are right, a loss like this only makes the sting of the super bowl more emphatic. Two game losing streak, and both with similarities.

    I just can’t see right now how this team can pull it together in Lambeau, it has too many areas that need more experience working together. And I think the defense misses McDaniel as much as Kam. Too many missed tackles on the interior and it looked like the Rams rookie oline had the superior push.

    • MJ

      I’m bracing for Rodgers to absolutely abuse us. It could get ugly next week.

      Packers 38 Hawks 24

      • Forrest

        See, I think the defense gets motivated by their bad showing and cleans up a bit, burns Rodgers early, and leaves him overly conservative the rest of the game…

        Hawks 21 Packers 17

        • JeffC

          They sure didn’t look motivated against their key division rival. If you can’t get motivated for that, I don’t know what to tell ya.

    • Jeff M.

      The similarities in the decision making to my mind are that both games the coaching staff seemed to ignore the team’s strengths and weaknesses.

      On the Super Bowl play call, I never actually thought there was anything wrong with calling a pass–it was the particular pass they called. Throwing the quick slant from the pocket is one of the weakest areas of Wilson’s game (and obviously when the target is a special teamer, WR play wasn’t going to be a strength on it either), whereas if they got him on the move (maybe a bootleg off play action) with a run-pass option (and the ability to throw it away if there’s nothing there), that plays to the team’s strengths and is a good call.

      Same thing happened with getting cute on the OT kickoff (whether it’s a called onside or some other squib/whatever)–that’s an underdog strategy designed to increase the variance in the outcome, so why is the pre-season Super Bowl favorite employing it? Play to the strengths of our defense by making the Rams go the length of the field, and trust that they can get the stop (if you don’t start the opponent off already basically in field goal range) you need.

      A couple other notes: Wilson needs to get better at getting out of bad playcalls/protections pre-snap. If Bevell has him in a empty backfield with only slow-developing routes (leaving aside the question of why the hell you’d make that playcall against the Rams in the first place…) and there are 7-8 guys up on the line threatening an overload blitz to either side, audible to something where you can get the ball out of your hands right away (or at least motion someone in to pass block). They aren’t even disguising the blitz, but multiple times a game Russell seems to make zero pre-snap adjustment when every TV viewer can see before the snap that it’s going to end in a sack…

      Also, late 4Q and OT drives have always been when we took the training wheels off the read option before. Wilson starts to pull the ball out and run with it (which is otherwise a rarity) and goes right down the field. I didn’t see any of that in this game–I wonder if it’s because the Rams were really disciplined back-side and there was nothing there to run for, or because the team now has to much invested in Russell to risk him taking the hits?

      • AlaskaHawk

        In the last series Wilson did try to make a first down when he couldn’t find a reciever, and this time the pocket actually held for a few seconds. When he slipped through a gap in the pocket the defender threw (Sweezy?) aside and tackled him quickly.

        I agree that Russell Wilson should know he will be blitzed every time he goes bare backfield. The Rams do it. The Cardinals do it. He should know.

        I’ve been harping on pass play design. Where are those quick routes? We know the other team will blitz. He should have at least one quick option. Why the lack of blocking in the backfield? We know the line needed help, but that help wasn’t given to them. We have Jackson and the fullback waiting to help out.

        • Robert

          Bevell loves those empty backfield sets…because he is an idiot.

  2. MJ

    Good stuff. My thoughts/concerns:

    1) Defense look downright terrible. Kris Richard needs to be on notice. I’ve never seen so many blown coverages, missed assignments. We are not talking about a fluke play or 2. That to me, is directly on the DC. The Rams are legitimately a bad offense and they pretty much had their way outside of a series or 2.

    2) Why did we trade for Jimmy Graham? If you are not going to use him for what he was born to do (3rd down/RZ), then it was stupid to spend a 1st rounder to get him. Yes, they had a few possessions when they used him, but outside of that, it was like he was a forgotten man.

    3) Have we eliminated the deep passing game? For the last 2 years, we have seen RW’s YPA diminish greatly. Now, I know he needs to time to go deep, but we never even attempted that all day, outside of a ridiculous decision to throw a deep fade to Kearse on 3rd down. Similar to Jimmy in point 2; don’t pay your QB $20+M to dink and dunk. That’s not what he’s paid for.

    4) Absolutely horrendous play calls all day, none more obvious than the 4th and 1. Even if we executed it, I would have hated it. You either commit to the run and jam it forward OR, you let RW use his legs on a run/pass option. In essence, we gave the Rams the easiest 4th down play to defend.

    5) A positive, but Tyler Lockett is amazing. Quite honestly, he and Jimmy Graham should lead this team in targets by year’s end. Baldwin needs to be exclusively in the slot and despite Kearse’s stat line, he absolutely needs to be upgraded in the coming years.

    It’s just one game, against a tough team, but there are major concerns. At the very least, I can say the OL will improve going forward and I expected them to struggle. What really concerns me is the Defense. If it doesn’t improve in a hurry, we could legitimately be looking at a 7-9 win season. Why? Our passing game is simply not built to come from behind. The OL will get abused when DLs can tee-off, knowing the run game is not a threat.

    I really hope this doesn’t sound like an emotional rant. That was an ugly loss, with some glaring issues that NEED to be fixed, or this season will derail, and derail quickly because of such a tough schedule.

    • CHawk Talker Eric

      I think a lot of those missed assignments are on Dion Bailey.

      • John_s

        I disagree. The LB’s had a terrible game. Bobby Wagner had a handful of missed tackles. Irvin failed to stay in his gaps and failed to set the edge and KJ missed his assignment on Cooks first open catch.

        Did Bailey have some hiccups? Sure he did but he was around the ball.

        I would like to see Clark replace Irvin as the rush DE in passing situations. Irvin can’t get to the QB even with his added weight. I would really like to see how this defense is putting KPL in at WLB and KJ at SLB

        • CHawk Talker Eric

          Yes, the LBs were bad, particularly Wagner. I wonder if that’s an effect of not having Ken Norton Jr. coaching them.

          My criticism of Bailey isn’t so much about his coverage. It looked to me that he had trouble reading the play and adjust – failing to leave his coverage to help in run support (or vice-versa) or failing to abandon his man and help cover the actual target. On that last point, I remember a couple of specific plays where Bailey was sort of caught between covering his man and where the pass was actually going, and if he had read the play properly he would’ve been in a position to double the coverage and prevent the completion. I realize I’m criticizing him for what is, quite literally, a spit-second decision; in seasoned DBs like ET3 it’s basically a reaction. I’m not faulting Bailey for it. There’s only one way to get game experience.

          I agree that Irvin just isn’t the same. Your LB line up looks pretty interesting. Didn’t KJ start out at SAM?

          • AlaskaHawk

            Even when Bailey slipped, why was Earl Thomas so late getting over there? He could have broken that play up. What happened to a deep safety backing up the cornerback? Earl looked a bit slow.

            • CHawk Talker Eric

              I think they had ET3 cheating towards CWilliams all game. Usually that’s the right side, but on this play SEA was in nickel formation with Sherm at NB and CWilliams on the left side (I think). Still, it was a mistake to leave Bailey in man coverage with no help from ET or Wright.

    • JeffC

      #2 Why did we trade for Jimmy Graham.

      Watching the first half and those straight ahead halfback dive plays on almost all early downs, I wondered the same thing. I understand their desire to establish the run, but St Louis was taking that away. Keep your aging center and your first rounder, and let New Orleans use his talents. Draft another offensive lineman since again, the goal is clearly to run run run run and make even Chuck Knox envious with your conservative approach.

      And I was ecstatic over Jimmy graham. But will we use him?

  3. CHawk Talker Eric

    Couldn’t agree more. You have 1 yard to gain. Why start the play so far behind the LOS?

    Aside from his strip-n-six, CWilliams struggled in coverage whenever he was targeted, which wasn’t that much because STL kept exploiting Bailey’s poor reads. Hey, mistakes happen, a guy gets his feet caught up. I don’t necessarily fault Bailey on that one play. But his read-reaction is pretty distressing. Maybe that’s to be expected for his first game?

    How many times did SEA line up in shotgun with an empty backfield, especially on 3rd down? Isn’t that why Jackson is on the roster? Why not use him that way?

    Most of your (and my) questions center around really questionable play calling and use (or misuse) of key personnel.

  4. mwsmith1547

    I will probably be in the minority here, but Kam can sit at home for 3 years for all I care, even if he does come back I’m done with him.

    • MJ

      You’re not alone. He put himself over his brothers/team. Plain and simple. Take a hike, Kam.

      • Trevor

        Absolutely!

    • Jarhead

      Haha I said as much in my post. If we can get a first for him, get it

      • Jon

        thank you. I don’t care if we lost because he was not on the field. The fact is we could have won this game if he were on the field and he chose not to be. Get what we can for him, adjust, and move on.

    • Rob Staton

      He put himself before the team. Whatever the cause, he had to be back for week 1.

      • Trevor

        I agree 100% here is no going back now for him in my book. My Chancellor jersey went in the dumpster before the start of the game today. I am still in shock that out of all the guys to hold out it was Kam the guy who has preached loyalty and brotherhood. He sound like one of those tele evangelists that gets caught stealing and sleeping with the secretary.

    • JC

      I agree. It is what it is. If it costs this team playoff hopes, not much you can do. Kam is basically extorting the team, which apparently offered him a $3m 2016 raise, he wants $3.9m… I fail to see anything close to a “half way” argument, when half way for a guy 1 year into a 4 year deal seems ridiculous in the first place, and unprecedented. “Seahawks policy” is 32 NFL teams policy, but nobody will report it that way.

      • CHawk Talker Eric

        Can’t understand Kam’s logic either. He’s due $3.9mm, but wants $9mm. SEA supposedly offers him $8.1mm, and not only does he say they won’t they meet him halfway, but they’re being petty about the final $900k.

        I’m sure it’s more complicated than that, but does it really matter?

        The difference between Kam and Bennett? Bennett looked at his position group, weighed his relative worth to the team, and chose to play out his deal. Kam looked at his position group, weighed his relative worth to the team, and chose to take advantage of a decimated LOB to try and leverage a better deal for himself. It was, under the circumstances, a traitor’s move.

        • EranUngar

          I’m with you all regarding Kam. He picked the wrong fight at the wrong time, the wrong place and the wrong opponent. He is doing it on the backs of his brothers and he will never be back to the his position before it all. He is not about the blue anymore…he is all about the green.

          As for the numbers, i do not see it as you. He was scheduled to make 5.1M and wanted 9M in 2016. Hence the 3.9M he wanted transferred from his 2017 pay. He says he agreed to meet the seahawks half way (at around the &M for 2016). The FO probably offered to 1M making it 6.1M and he wants the 900K to be able to justify his holdout.

          • EranUngar

            arrrr…at around 7M for 2016…

    • JeffC

      I’m with you because lets suppose the defensive showing was because of Kam (I’m not saying that, there are a lot of factors, but suppose…) then this is a wakeup call to start finding a new SS because at his age and injury history, he’s unreliable. And if Mrob is right and he thinks he deserves 9 million/year because he’s a leader, what a punk ass bitch. Ship him off to Cleveland for cash for all I care. 9 million/year for leadership. Jesus H Christ. What’s next? I want 9 million a year because I help old ladies to cross streets?

      • sdcoug

        Already paid at the top for his position in the entire league. I mean, how can say you deserve even more? It’s ridiculous. He let down his teammates today; no other way to look at it

  5. mwsmith1547

    Also have watched Irvin and Lockete make stupid penalties costing us 15 yards for years, now we have some new guy Rubin Ahtyba come into the game and cost us a cheap 15, well Rubin your not worth 15!

    • JeffC

      I still wait to see these dominant performances from Bruce Irvin that everyone keeps expecting.

  6. CHawk Talker Eric

    Also, I’m calling bollux on PC’s claim they weren’t trying to onside kick in OT. That’s exactly what Hauschka was trying to do.

    Sneaky Pete being too smart for his own good.

    SEA got outcoached as badly as they got outplayed.

    • Forrest

      Coaching cost them the game…the players will be fine after a few games, but the coaching needs to be amended (primarily on defense). The Rams seem to be the Hawk’s kryptonite, they always look bad against them when they play in St. Louis (even when they win).

      • neil

        PC cost them two consecutive games with silly play calls. I guess we can call the defenseive backfield the “legion of bust”. The Hawks have the 4th toughest schedule in the league, they also are the only team this year that have to play 4 teams comming off of bys. 4 teams that get two weeks to prepare for the Hawks.Given all that it seems highly unlikely they return to the Super Bowl or even the playoff”s..

        • Rugby Lock

          I feel your frustration but it’s a bit early for this I think.

  7. Jarhead

    I see us getting run over by Green Bay, if we play even remotely as poorly as we did today. We lost a game in which we scored 31 points. That should be a very alarming sign. I hate Green Bay more than any other team, but unless an entirely different team shows up next week, it is going to be a national embarrassment. At least then all the trolls and NFL media dbags will get their Christmas wish fulfilled. As for Kam, at this point I couldn’t care less if he ever comes back. He has put his silly pride, greed, and selfishness above his teammates, the organization and the fans. All the reasons he is able to make the exorbitant amount of money that he does. I had hoped that we wouldn’t greatly feel his absence but it was painfully obvious today that he was missing. Business is business but get out there and do the job you are paid well to do. If he ever comes back, I as a fan, will not care. I’d rather see someone out there who can’t give half the performance but has the integrity to go slug it out every week.

    • Forrest

      Agree with you on Kam, but I really think the team will look different next week. The Packer’s defence is nowhere near as scary as the Ram’s, and the Hawk’s defense still made plays. Really the coaching/playbook needs revision, and the D needs to polish their play…

      • JeffC

        I thought they had this hidden playbook they were not revealing in the preseason and as soon as the regular season they were all going to punish everyone? WHat I saw was the playbook with Percy Harvin.

        • sdcoug

          The first drive I was encouraged. Hey…this looks new. THen…NOPE! same ol’ Bevel

          • Rugby Lock

            Yeah, they looked real good on the first drive and then… 😛

            • Rugby Lock

              That wasn’t supposed to be a smiley face…

  8. nichansen01

    That was depressing. Why give up big draft capital on both lockett and graham if we arent going to throw to them? Why sign Jackson when you dont let him run block or help in the passing game? Why have lynch run out of the shotgun on 4th and 1? Why attempt an onside kick in overtime?

    Run defense looked bad mainly becuase of missed tackles by wagner and poor support from bailey. Bailey and williams stunk up the secondary, but sherm didnt play well either. Earl looked a little rusty.

    Lets hope this team can get it together.

    • Forrest

      Yeah, what was up with Wagner, he looked lost. I think all the bad play on defense was all a mixture of play calling, first game jitters, and rusty engines. It’ll clean up.

      • Willyeye

        Mebane didn’t look so good against the run either. He only had 1 tackle but missed 1 tackle.

  9. Ed

    Tired of Bevell.
    Tired of Bevell.
    Tired of Bevell.
    We need to change our OL drafting philosophy.
    What happened to Clark. He basically stood straightup and hand slapped.

    We got outcoached in the SB and in this game. Why even leave Bailey on an island in that situation. Just like the Gronk TD last year with Wright. We have the talent, and we have the motivator in PC, but we need more from our gameplans and our ability to adjust.

  10. Barry

    I have run out of excuses for Bevell. No I formation like you said Rob, and hardly any use of the fullback(Coleman) after he picked up an early first down. I’m watching the play calling in the Titans V TB game. Its down right embarrassing to watch the rhythm and calls that are playing to Mariotas strengths.

    • Trevor

      Agreed!

    • bigDhawk

      This was definitely an example of Russell not playing in a game plan that optimizes his strengths.

  11. Harold Seattle

    Anybody here anything about Clark? Don’t think he played today.

    • Rob Staton

      He played. Had one good pressure to force a throw away.

      • Trevor

        Yeah on a key 3rd down in OT

        • CharlietheUnicorn

          if it was late in the game, that was Avril, not Clark. The telecast messed up.

  12. AlaskaHawk

    I guess I’m not surprised at the offensive performance. Three new positions filled on the line, even the vets getting thrown aside on some plays, they got manhandled. Wilson had a terrible first half, he started looking better when they opened up and passes more. Unlike the rest of the commentators I don’t mind when he is the only guy in the backfield but he holds onto the ball too long, throw it quick or throw it away. Overall they looked like an offense that hadn’t played together, and that is what they are. No stars playing in preseason.

    Defensively, they can do better. There is a little blame to go all around, I’ll just say that the defensive line was the better unit today. Too many wide open receivers, running backs able to get around the edge. I was surprised by how poorly the secondary played. Carey Williams and earl Thomas being the best of the secondary, Sheard was flying around but never could knock any passes down.

    Lots of stuff to work on. I would like to see better designed pass routes. And for Wilson to practice daily the lob to the corner.

  13. Trevor

    Guys no doubt that was an very poorly played game. The play calling and execution by the players was equally alarming. The execution, passion, toughness and sure tackling that defined this team the last 3 years were all missing.

    That being said if you remember after the Rams game last year we were all in panic mode as well and they were able to turn things around. So yest we will likely go 0-2 but lets no break out into full panic yet.

    -Agree with most Bevell really need to get his act together. I thought they had the perfect chance to get rid of him this off season and unless he figures thing out should be our first change this off season.

    -It was Richards first game as DC and he was missing the QB on the defense in Kam but there were more missed assignments and poot tackling from this unit than I have seen in a long time.

    -Bobby Wagner got a big deal and was named Defensive captain but I thought he had his worst game as a Seahawk, I hope it was he was tryign to do too much in the absence of Kam and gets back to normal next week.

    -Russel needs to wake up in the 1st half of games and go back to what made him special and keep sometimes on the read option. Just because he got $20 mil does not mean he should try to become a 300 yd per game pocket passer. Stick to what made him so great (read option runs, scrambles and the deep ball off play action). I saw hardly any of that today. Please eliminate the bubble screen from our playbook.

    -As Rob said if you have the 2nd best tight end in football then force feed him the ball.

    – I thought Lynch played with very little passion today and I am not sure if it is because he is so new but I thought Fred Jackson could have been used more. Also if we are going to keep 2 full back why not use them more.

    -Were were the 2 tight end sets with Willson and Graham and the Jumbo package with Matthews wre Russel just throws it up.

    Anyways bottom line it was one game. The two most alarming things were Wilson’s play and the lack of passion. Hopefully they get thie fire back because the trip to Lambeau could be a long one if not. I still think we have the best roster in Football just need to show it now.

    • bigDhawk

      Is it just me or is Lynch finally losing a step?

      • CharlietheUnicorn

        He carried multiple RAMS defenders for a ride on several occasions, I think he is ok.

        • bigDhawk

          He was also noticeably less crisp on his lateral cuts, at least to my eye.

          • Bjammin

            Like it was his first preseason game? It was. Chill.

            • bigDhawk

              I’m asking a very reasonable question. I don’t need to chill. He looked a step slow and at age 29 with his mileage it’s going to happen at some point. He’s never looked slow before to start his ‘preseason’.

              • JeffC

                It is a legit question. They all are. That’s why this is a football blog, so keep asking them. And my opinion is his power looked fine, the usual marshawn, but when he got into the open field he didn’t have the same breakaway speed that he exhibited, for example, against SF in the NFC championship. Hopefully, he’s still getting into game shape with so few carries in preseason. I’m not sure I like this idea of sitting your stars through preseason and then expecting 100% performance in real games.

  14. Trevor

    Is anyone else tired of Heath Evans. Every time the Rams made a play today all I heard was “that would not happen if Kam was there”. Is he working for Chancellors agent?

    No doubt they missed Kam today as they would have missed Bennett, Earl or Sherm etc. But those guys did not bail on their team and showed up. I truly hope to never see Kam in a Hawks uni again unless it is to be inactive till they can trade him in the off season. Even if he comes back and plays at an all pro level and leads them to the SB I will never forget that he bailed on his team and chose greed over this supposed brothers.

    • Rob Staton

      He’s banking on his prediction being right (SEA 3rd in NFC West without Chancellor). He’s invested in it now so Heath Evans will bring it up until he’s proven wrong.

      • Trevor

        True I forgot that.

    • Barry

      The thing I see the most is we have lost our identity. When we won I tall we were the most physical team in the NFL. Now we are spreading them out and getting tee’d off on. On the D side of things Kam almost always had a runing start from his safety position, with his size and power we got the Kam we all miss and love. We have lost a lot of the physical players No Red, no Kam, and now we have nothing to hang our hats on if Lynch is going to get 18 carries a game a Wilson has his limitations.

      That Being said its not over. This is a team that needs its swagger and if we can correct some things and find our ID again this will just be one loss to a very good Rams team.

    • mwsmith1547

      Health already came out and said Hawks would be 3rd in are division with out kam this year, I wanted to punch him in the face.

      • JeffC

        If they play/coach like they did today, Kam or no Kam, they will be third in the division.

        • Bjammin

          The sky is falling!

          • Rugby Lock

            Thanks, I needed a reason to smile Bjammin! 🙂

  15. Trevor

    Also for the millionth time Justin Britt is not starting OL Caliber in the NFL he just does not have it IMO. I would sooner see a guy like Glowinski who at least has potential.

    • nichansen01

      agreed

    • CHawk Talker Eric

      Why? Because Aaron Donald blew him up? Aaron Donald also blew up Gary Gilliam. Aaron Donald can blow up any given OL on any given play.

      Having said that, I think the bigger problem with Britt was his lack of chemistry with Okung. On at least 2 plays he tied up the same rusher as Okung, who then failed to slide out to block the edge rusher.

      • Trevor

        Eric please watch the tape and tell me what you liked about Britts game today?

        • CHawk Talker Eric

          He wasn’t any worse than Sweezy. I don’t hear anyone clamoring to replace Sweezy.

          • Trevor

            Agreed Sweezy stunk as well. But at least we have seen Sweezy play well at times in the past. The same cannot be said for Britt.

    • AlaskaHawk

      I saw Sweezy get thrown aside once. Okung let a guy by on his left. And Okung and Britt failed to pick up a stunt that caused another QB hurry or sack. Offensive line just wasn’t strong enough. Lucky none were injured, especially in overtime when they are tired.

  16. Kyle

    I’m as frustrated with the offensive play calls as much as anyone, but it has to be asked, if you fire Bevell, who do you replace him with?

    • Trevor

      Cant until the off season.

      • Trevor

        We are stuck with him this year unless everything falls apart.

        • bigDhawk

          Why? The Ravens replaced their OC late in their SB 47 winning season.

    • JeffC

      This message board is mostly pro Bevell. I will admit I am not a fan of him since I’ve been a Viking fan from childhood. The anger against him among hawk fans are the exact args the vike fans had against him.

      I have to admit I’m starting to feel sorry for him. Not the criticism. But he seems cursed by bad luck. The one yard plays in the past two games is classic unlucky “damned no matter what I do” Bevell. Whenever the offseason comes around and people around here get worried we may lose him to a HC job somewhere else I always laugh. He’s just never been that guy that stirs a lot of desire in GMs around the league. I think he stays here until one day he gets a pink slip.

      He almost seems a coaching image of Christine Michael. When Michael fumbled in the preseason game, I shook my head because it came in the one first rainy day in seattle in months, and a terribly blown Gary Gilliam block, and was the one thing he couldn’t do. Bevell just seems that unlucky. And I’m beginning to pity the guy.

  17. Trevor

    Lat comment for the night time for a drink!

    Did anyone else think Marshawn looked sluggish tonight? Or was it totally on the OL. Even that last run if he just takes it and keeps going left he has a chance but when he tries to cut back where the OL is getting blown up he is toast. Anyways I know it is sacrilege to question the Beast but I thought he lacked his normal fire today. Hope not trying to show support for Kam in the wrong way.

    • nichansen01

      I actually thought he looked decent, he looked great on his second run, the one that went for ten yards. I felt like there were some moments where he missed an oppurtunity for a big gain, but most of the struggling run game is on the o-line

    • Forrest

      He look fine…he probably won’t look like BeastMode until week 2-3.

    • AlaskaHawk

      I thought he looked great on power runs but didn’t have lateral agility. He wanted to cut but couldn’t.

    • Adog

      One guy who was sluggish was Wagner…he had a horrible game.

      • CHawk Talker Eric

        Wagner also looked off in the preseason opener. He sharpened up after that, so let’s hope he repeats the pattern.

    • Phil

      Speaking of sluggish — I remember the TV shot just before the opening kickoff. The one that showed Dion Bailey yawning. Someone needs to give these guys a couple of shots of 5-Hour Energy!

  18. nichansen01

    Lets not wave the white flag in lambeau field just yet

    Russel wilson has not started in a game yet where the seahawks didnt have a fair chance of winning by the end of it. Greenbay struggled earl against the bears, the team they absoultly demolished last year, twice. They are missing their nose tackle so the run defense is very shaky. Sure green bay is very good and seattle looks very bad but i still think seattle has a fair chance of winning if beast mode has a dominating Preformance

    • Forrest

      Yeah, I think they have a great chance against GB. I think the defense will motivate themselves to play better next week (specifically Earl, Sherman, Wagner and Bailey). The offense should excell vs GB.

    • Bjammin

      I haven’t seen this team get rolled by anybody in years. They’ll be in it even as they are gelling up front. Expect the tackling to improve next week.

      • Rugby Lock

        The Hawks haven’t lost by 10 or more points since November 2011.

    • Rob Staton

      They always have a chance. But they’ll be underdogs.

  19. mrpeapants

    couple things;
    bevell needs to stop with all the short crap
    the defense needs to watch petes video on how to tackle
    Richard better have a better game plan next week
    bevell and rw need to remember what made rw a star
    bevell also needs to put in more then 1 running play into the playbook
    other then that its been covered go hawks

    • Trevor

      Agree on all points!

    • AlaskaHawk

      Last year they tried the same short stuff to the edge with Harvin and it didn’t work. Despite his issues , I never thought the Seahawks used him right – as a receiver. Today Harvin made a 53 yard touchdown catch. Too bad we never ran him deep. His plays always started behind the line. Today they Seahawks tried the same old short stuff with limited success.

    • Phil

      Mrpea — I’ll add another item:
      get Tyler Lockett more touches

      • mrpeapants

        agreed!

  20. Trevor

    The SD Head coach is the best play caller in the NFL IMO. When he was with Den he was even able to win with Tebow. How do we get a guy like that who can adapt his offense for his personnel and who he is playing.

    Sorry to keep going on but I am re watching this game and the combination of the OL play, play calling and Russel’s inability to read the blitz is scary. We have a lot of work to do on offense. Locket and Clark both need to play more as well.

    • CHawk Talker Eric

      Good point about RW not reading blitzes well.

      • Rugby Lock

        He had trouble with protections last year when Unger was out. I think having three new starters, one of which is your center who’s supposed to call the protections, in positions they haven’t started at before has a LOT to do with the bad OL play. I think they’ll improve as the year goes on… or so I hope…

        • CHawk Talker Eric

          Another good point. It’s easy to forget RW is only in his 4th season. QBs like Romo, Rodgers, Rivers (hey, the 3 Rs!) have the experience to see everything at the line, including blitzes. Whereas a younger QB would have his hands full just reading the alignment/coverage and deciding whether or not to audible.

      • Phil

        I get the feeling that RW still has the mindset — particularly early in games — that he wants to err on the side of caution. He doesn’t want to lose the game for the team. He then holds the ball too long and takes sacks. I think this attitude was drilled into him when he was a rookie and he needs both PC and Bevell to tell him that they trust him and to let things fly a little bit. The first drive was actually pretty impressive to me.

        Once he gets into the flow of the game, he seems more confident. And, when the Seahawks are behind, he seems to play his best.

        • Kelly

          Thank You!
          Pete has Russell so gun shy , that he refuses to pull the trigger when he needs to.He waits until someone is totally open to throw. The problem with that is if the defense is playing press man, which they were, by the time the ball gets there, he is not open any longer. A franchise QB needs to be able to throw people open and anticipate openings. Russell has regressed because he is playing scared(Of turnovers) You can not play scared or you have lost half the battle and are only helping the defense. What happen to the first year Russell? Remember actual throws that actually went downfield? He would throw it up for Zach or throw downfield to Doug is stride, now nothing…Only one throw downfield and who does he throw to? The ONE person he shouldn’t , Kearse. I saw on serval occasions when Jimmy and Lockett were open but Russell would hold the ball and the opprotunity passed.You HAVE to pull the trigger, you can not wait or the opprotunity is gone. Russel is playing scared and they only open things up when we are down.That will bite you in the arse more time than not. How about just letting Russell play and not be so paralized with fear. Hasn’t he deserved that leeway?

  21. chris

    look at the brightside no teams will steal our coordinators this year.

    • Rugby Lock

      Too funny!! Sad… but funny!

  22. Demitrov

    They have to take the training wheels off this offence. They have the talent there, they should be pressing teams with it.

    • Forrest

      Give them a week or two and we’ll be calling them a top 5 offense! They are being too conservative in the red zone though.

  23. Barry

    For as hot as Bennett started he disappeared down the stretch when we needed him. No pressure at all. A lot of the preseason talk about how good this front seven seems to at this point be preseason talk.

    • JeffC

      I thought he did a good job lining up offsides multiple times. That kept his name being mentioned.

  24. Ely

    For all the flack Bevel is getting (which I think warranted don’t get me wrong) Carroll was flat out terrible today. The on-sides kick was one thing but will someone please explainto me calling timeout 2 seconds before the 2 minute warning? This gives the Rams a free timeout and takes one away from us when all we needed was field goal with almost a minute left. Just absolutely stunningly bad head coaching.

    • Barry

      Can’t disagree with you.

    • Forrest

      He seemed rattled after they took the lead. I think he was over thinking what the Rams would do.

    • AlaskaHawk

      It was a strange call, and gave the Rams time to think about their plays.

    • JeffC

      Pete always gets outcoached by Fisher. It’s written in stone and should be a chapter in his “win forever” book with a subtitle: Win Forever, unless you play against Jeff Fisher.

    • Ehurd1021

      He called the timeout because the defense (Bailey) couldn’t get lined up on a crucial down. You seen multiple times when this happened. The entire defense is pressing and unorganized because of Kam not being here.

      • Rob Staton

        Given the call for the timeout came with a second or two left — I think STL were willing to take it into the 2 minute warning.

        • CHawk Talker Eric

          Exactly. STL wasn’t even going to snap the ball before the warning.

    • Rob Staton

      The timeout just before the 2 minute warning was a shocker. Absolute shocker.

  25. Trevor

    How about Marriota today! He looked amazing for his 1st game.

    I got killed on here for suggesting jokingly that the Hawks trade Russ to Ten to take Marriota but after 1 game he definitely looks like the real deal and a whole lot cheaper.

    Still love Russ by the way but he needs to break the 1st half funk he has been in the last 5-6 games. Maybe start no huddle next week and keep the read option a couple of times.

    • Forrest

      Not to take anything away from Marriota, but he was playing the Bucs…

      • CHawk Talker Eric

        And they had a terrible day on D. Lovie Smith should be ashamed. They made it easy for Mariotta to shine

    • JeffC

      I’m not saying I want this but, in the midst of the difficult RW contract negatiations, if they offered you Mariota straight up for RW, would you have taken it?

      • Phil

        No way. An unproven rookie vs. a qb who has taken your team to the big game twice in a row?

  26. Daniel

    I understand that people are frustrated about the number of missed tackles and assignments on defense. But if you consider the fact that one td was allowed by st and our defense scored another, they really only gave up 20 points. Not bad considering the fact that we were missing the best strong safety in football. We also managed 3 turnovers. While I agree that Richard’s play calling was a little suspect, and Bailey and Bobby Wagner could have been better, the end result was pretty darn good. As for our offense, 17 points isn’t enough when ur defense has three takeaways. I agree that the under utilization of fullbacks and over use of empty backfields was stupid. I did like Bevel’s use of up tempo though.

  27. Colin

    Not surprised at all the freaking out, but I think it’s really not justified. It’s week 1. Bad things happen from time to time. Hell, New England got blown out last year in week 1 and we all know, entirely too well, how their season turned out.

    Darrell Bevell refuses to adapt until the last second. It’s obnoxious. There was little running room most of this game and yet we kept wasting 1st down plays running into a brick wall. The Rams conceding underneath throws all day and we REFUSED to attack it until well into the 3rd quarter. Not pleased.

    But, we still have a ton of talent and a great coaching staff. A week 1 loss doesn’t define the season.

    • Trevor

      I was just going to mention the NE loss last year and how they recovered. Hope we can do the same but that game was distressing today on a number of levels. That defense did not look like the unit we have grown to love.

    • JeffC

      It doesn’t but you still need to go 4-4 on the road just to get to 12 wins (assuming 8 wins at home) and despite how poorly they played, a road win was in their grasp. This was one of their most winnable road games.

      • peter

        Really because I see the rams at home now a near certain loss every year. It’s just to fluky. I Russ can throw 309 and run for 100 in a loss then scoring 31 isn’t going to do it either.

        That said I don’t think green bay is a,definite loss next . Rodgers looked good against a terrible bears defense and the green bay defense has not taken any steps forward.

  28. Tien

    Totally agree with you Rob about this very disheartening loss.

    Going into the game, I expected our OL to struggle against the Rams’ dangerous DL. The OL played as expected, in that they didn’t totally whiff on every block but Russell also didn’t have much time to throw and they didn’t open too many holes for Marshawn either. The more I see the Beast making 2 yards out of nothing the more I appreciate having him on the team and the more I dread life after Beastmode.

    One of the things that really puzzled me was with our widely acknowledged crappy OL, why were there so many empty backfield calls?! The OL is ineffective in pass pro so the solution to that is to provide NO help at all? How does that make any sense?

    Russell was under pressure most of the game but he made some bad throws today, especially that horrible telegraphed weak throw to Lynch while falling backwards that lead to an interception. He was late on other passes and there were times when he held onto the ball too long. Until he/the Seahawks figure out how to deal with the constant pressure AND burn the defenses with the occasional long completion, our offense won’t be going anywhere.

    I thought Marshawn ran well for the most part but it seemed that we had the offense spread out more often today and settled for short passes or screens that didn’t threaten the Rams’ D much. Lynch is so valuable because he can make yards out of nothing and his brutish running style eventually wears down defenses. We can’t wear down defenses if we go away from Beastmode and settle for short passes.

    Our D got some turnovers and scored a TD but overall, looked really shaky. Going against the Rams’ third string RB, for whatever reason, we couldn’t stop the run, even with what’s been considered one of our best and deepest DL in years. Like you, I don’t know how we lost Jared Cook on some of those deep passes. Bailey did give up the tying TD and that’s a tough mistake to make when you’re on an island with a receiver but that happens to the best. Other than this play, I didn’t see any other egregious mistake by him. As a whole, the secondary didn’t have a good game today. If the pressure didn’t get to Foles, he was able to find someone for a big gain or first down. We have so much talent on defense but they sure didn’t play like a dominant D today and if we don’t fix that, it’ll be a looong season.

    I was also really frustrated with the play calling. Besides those empty backfield calls, I still don’t understand why we called a timeout with one second before the two minute warning with the Rams having the ball! I don’t know what was said during the post-game interviews but that onside kick call at the beginning of OT was idiotic. Moose Johnson supported that call because supposedly, it showed confidence in our D and it was an opportunity to steal a possession. But I argue that it was incredibly reckless and unnecessarily added risk. The success rate for onside kicks is not high, which is why it’s usually tried as a desperate measure when a team is losing and is running out of time. Neither was the case today so why give the Rams a short field to at least score a FG and potentially win it outright on a TD. Reckless and just stupid!

    Despite all this, it seems like the last couple of times we’ve lost in St. Louis, I’ve felt like the Seahawks were totally incompetent and that there was no way we were making the playoffs.:) We are still so talented that if we make the necessary adjustments on defense (whether Kam reports or not), I believe we can go into Green Bay and contain that offense. Plus, Green Bay’s defense is not even close to the same level as the Rams so our offense should look much better next week. Go Hawks!!

    P.S. If Foles stays healthy and Gurley is as good as advertised, the Rams might actually be a legit good team this year!

    • Forrest

      Agree with you on all points…

    • Rob Staton

      The onside call, since described as a botched bloop kick, was a total head scratcher. Yes Tavon Austin scored on a punt return. This was a standard kick off. Just kick through the end zone. Trust your supposedly better coverage unit. If this wasn’t a genuine onside kick — why create the mayhem by taking a risk? Very poor decision making.

  29. Radman

    Donald owned Sweezy all game. Last play included. Donald shed his block and made the tackle, Sweezy on his butt. Elite run blocking right there Cable!

    • JeffC

      The whole idea that we can’t keep him because he somehow gets 7 mill/year in FA is absolutely laughable.

      • Radman

        well if some dumb team wants to pay him that, more than welcome to it. He might get it, he’s got a great hype man in Cable.

  30. nolyon

    I am shocked by all the negativity here. I mean yeah, we did not look great today, but I think this team can turn it around.

    1. Rams ALWAYS give us trouble. Even in a season where the Rams only win 4 games, they probably beat us for one of them, or at least fight us to the end. Jeff Fisher just owns Pete. It never fails.

    2. Did this team really look that much worse than the team that was 2-2 or 6-4 last year? Sputtering offense, bad special teams, frustrating penalties, infuriating conversions when playing D. I feel like we have been through all this before, and that team still had a pretty good season if I remember correctly.

    Definitely some things to work on, but as mentioned in comments above, GB struggled against Chicago today, so I mean, it’s not like they are ON FIRE!!!!!

    We got this, GO HAWKS!!!

    PS No way the rams are actually good this year, again they always look good against us, and then they play someone that’s not us (ANYONE that isn’t us) and all the sudden we remember they suck.

    PSS Kam can sit at home all year. The team can’t give in. And Heath Evans is a giant idiot if he thinks this team is finishing 3rd in the West with or without Kam

    • AlaskaHawk

      New QB Foles will improve their game. Granted Seahawks defense looked pretty bad in the secondary, but he showed poise in the pocket and got the ball out when he needed to. They were also missing their best two running backs and one cornerback. I see them as a rival for the division.

  31. Forrest

    Boy, everyone is so doom and gloom. It’s the first game of the season, and as per usual, “It looks like the end of the Hawk’s season…”

    The offense just needs time to warm up and solidify as a group. They also need to be a little more aggressive.

    The defense also needs to break in the new players and clean up a bit. They should be fine though…just rust.

    ST looked pretty good. Lockett for the win!!

    My main problem was with the coaching/play calling. I can think of at least 4-5 plays on offense and defense that if played differently might have changed the outcome of the game (onside kick for lulz apparently -_-).

    Just remember, they started off looking great against the Packers last year, but then looked terrible for the next few games, and didn’t even look great until after the KC game…I expect this year they will be similar. The Packers look beatable, as do the Bears and Lions. Expect a 2-2 start, but hope for a 3-1 start. So by the time they head to Cincinnati they should be more rounded and ready to play Seahawk football!!! Go Hawks!!!

  32. Cysco

    I don’t buy into the doom and gloom. I expected a loss today. This game is always the Ram’s super bowl. It’s a seriously tough game, but I saw some things that gave me hope.

    -The return game was really good and I thought Locket made an impact.
    -It took a while, but you could see the Wilson/graham connection starting to form.
    -The D played well I thought. There were a few hiccups, but give it another game or two and I think they’re going to start clicking.

    I’m not writing them off next week.

  33. Ed

    It’s not doom and gloom. It’s the same problems with no end in sight. We win because we have superior talent. We lose because we are outcoached, plain and simple. Other teams/coaches would put themselves in positive situations. Many times, we don’t.

    The zone read works sometimes, but that’s all we use now. Get a FB in there and blast away. Wilson should have kept one or two in the last quarter, but never did. He looked like he didn’t want the ball.

    Why would you leave a backup S in single coverage with no real help? It’s like the Gronk play in the SB. How many offsides can Bennett get this year.

    Too much deja vu. That’s my problem

  34. Adog

    Didn’t see a lot of passion out of the defense today. Never once saw earl Thomas get excited. Wagner looked lost…both mentally and physically. Bevell had enough sense to go to a hurry up offense to keep the Rams from blitzing. However I sat on the couch and easily predicted every play call for the most part. Is the lack of passion on defense a kris Richard thing?

    • nichansen01

      They looked tird out there, but the even weirder thing was that they looked… Bored? None of the defensive stars looked into it EXCEPT mike bennet, and i think we all know why

    • Rob Staton

      “Is the lack of passion on defense a kris Richard thing?”

      Richard is all passion so that’s not the issue. For me the issues were based around mistakes (blown coverages) and failing (for once) to adjust to what the Rams were doing until the 4th quarter. It doesn’t usually take that long.

  35. NVHawk

    As usual, great post. While there were a couple of highlights, the game was a trainwreck. We did not deserve to win. Last season we would have scraped it out in the end by the grace of Wilson’s legs.
    At this point Kam needs to go. He is a distraction and even if he comes back, brothers or not, he screwed the team. You can’t tell me when Bailey tripped, he didn’t highfive his agent. If one person is the “heart and soul” of this team, we have bigger issues than the O-line. This team of brothers needs to get together, let Kam go, and move on. While I am apprehensive about the next game, this team is capable of winning if they get out of thier own way and play Seahawk football.

    • Trevor

      I agree about having to let Kam go. I say trade him now and move on so it is not a distraction all year. If someone is stupid enough to give you a 1st rounder then do it and lets just move on with the year and let the group of players we have start to gel as a team without having to think about their supposed leader coming back to save them or something. I played pro hockey and if one of my team mates was one of the highest paid guys in the league and sat out while the rest of us battled I would not have wanted him back. It would be different if he was on a league min salary or something but the man is making $7 mil per. As Chris Carter would say “Come on Man”.

      Put him on the block, tak the best deal and move on. We still have a long year and this is still an incredibly talented roster. They just need to get the fire back, tackle better and Pete and Bevel need to wake up.

  36. CHawk Talker Eric

    Side note, Halu’oli Kikaha had a nice game for NO today.

    • bigDhawk

      Yup, a forced fumble even.

      • mwsmith1547

        seen a Brandon Coleman sighting (TD) in that game as well he was discussed in length by Rob before draft last year.

        • bigDhawk

          Yeah the Saints acquired him as a UDFA in the 2014 draft and I don’t think he played last year. Now he’s looking like he might be a great get. They also have (formerly) our Obum Gwachamm, who used to be a TE and has a frame reminiscent of Jimmy. I’ll bet they move him back to offense. The Saints like their receivers tall for their short QB, which is something I’ve been pounding the table for the last couple drafts.

  37. Chris

    Some positives from the Oline: Nowak and Gilliam (for the most part) looked solid with pass blocking and Sweezy wasn’t bad either. The right side looks like our strength.

    Unfortunately, Gilliam did not look aggressive and his run blocking was questionable, Britt looks clumsy, and Okung wasn’t himself at times.

    • Chris

      Russell was also holding the ball way too long at times when receivers were open. The receivers played quite well, but why the **** did Bevell have Jimmy pass blocking so much while Fred Jackson stood on the sideline? Perhaps Russell would appreciate a 6’6″ super athlete to throw to!

      I hope this can be explained by Fred’s lack of knowledge of the offense.

      • Trevor

        Yeah they need to let Graham chip and get out into a pattern. Leave a back into block. Both Lynch and Jackson are known as good blockers and receivers so I don’t understand why not.

        If the goal was to get the ball out quick to protect our O Line all Bevel needed to do was put in some Patriots tape. We have two TEs that are just as adept as catching the ball and a better group of WR. It comes down to poor play calling by Bevel and poor reads by Russ. Both are at fault. We give Russ a pass too often and he is getting paid to be elite now. He needs to show it.

        Also Russ never kept even one zone read today. If he is not going to keep it on occasion to keep the defense honest then just take it out of the play book.

        I though we played awful when I watched the game. Then when I re-watched it things looked even worse. That was our most poorly played and coached game in 3 years. The only players who I thought played well were Avril, Locket, Sherm, Earl and to my surprise Cary Williams was ok. Bennett had a good 1st half but was invisible in the 2nd. Frank Clark needs more snaps. Also Marsh looked ok given how few snaps.

        • CHawk Talker Eric

          Hmmm, I remember CWilliams differently – close coverage that looks ok, and keeps him close enough to make a quick tackle, but few passes actually defended. An extreme example of this kind of coverage is that catch by Stedman Bailey with Sherm draped all over him and ET flying in from the side. That’s not a great example because it was a perfect throw/catch that beat Sherm’s coverage, but it’s what I mean when I say Williams closely covered his man but didn’t really defend him.

  38. Dumbquestions

    Three mistakes in the late stages – all coaching issues, in my opinion:

    1. Calling timeout before the two-minute warning.
    – I get it. The formations as screwed up or something, and PC didn’t want to get burned. But it gave the Rams more time than necessary.

    2. The onside kick that wasn’t.
    PC and Hauschka both side it was just a miss, a failed attempt at a pooch kick. But the thing is, why bother with that at all? Why not just boom it through the back of the end zone, and force the Rams into a longer field. The quick FG forced Seattle into an all-or-nothing drive.

    3. Running Lynch the wrong way.
    Why line up a run from the shotgun without a fullback? The formation smacked of the cutes, of trying (again) to be too smart when it wasn’t necessary.

    I know other factors caused the loss, including Dion Bailey’s unfortunate slip and some other misses, as well as the annoyingly slow start – but the game was in hand.

    • CHawk Talker Eric

      FWIW, SEA wasn’t the only team to lose because of poor coaching decisions.

      All NYG had to do was run the ball on 2 consecutive downs – 3rd and goal and 4th and goal. Even if they didn’t score (either a TD or a FG), running twice in a row would’ve drained the clock to within a few tens of seconds and left DAL on their own 1 yard line. Game over.

      • AlaskaHawk

        Yes they will be kicking themselves on that one. Romo did make a good final drive happen in under 1:30.

  39. Trevor

    My goodness that Dallas OL is a thing of beauty even with a couple of injuries. Romo had so much time that whole game it was amazing particularly after witnessing our game in Stl.

    Can anyone explain to me why we never took a flyer on Lael Collins? He would look so nice at LG right now. We could have promised him a starting spot unlike the Cowboys.

    • peter

      Dallas also has one playoff win since 2009 so it helps to be picking in the teens for 5-6 years in a row to build your o line

      • Trevor

        Yes I understand that I was just saying how nice it was to see a QB with a clean pocket and not running for his life.

        Collins was an UDFA this year.

        • CHawk Talker Eric

          It’s also nice to see a QB who can read the defense and adjust accordingly. Not necessarily the play call either. Sometimes it’s enough to let your OL know so they can pick it up.

          Right about the time Collingsworth was commenting on Romo’s ability to see the blitz, I read your comment above about RW. I think that’s an underrated contributor to SEA’s QB pressure woes.

          • Cysco

            It’s also nice to be going up against a defense that is a joke and couldn’t put pressure on an opposing QB to save their lives. Seriously, that defense in many people’s eyes is the worst in the league.

            Dallas got incredibly lucky to win that game.

            The Colts Lost.
            The Cowboys should have lost
            The Broncos looked terrible and should have lost
            The Ravens didn’t look much better and had a serious blow to their defense

            Sure it would have been nice to win yesterday and if it weren’t for some bad luck and a couple stupid coaching decisions we would have. It’s a long season to get things right.

            • CHawk Talker Eric

              Thank you for reminding me of that. SEA doesn’t have any injuries from this game.

              BAL – Suggs out for the season
              DAL – Dez out for 6 weeks, Randy Gregory?
              SD – DJ Fluker out 4-6 weeks
              CAR – Kuechly?
              NYJ – Cromartie? Mauldin???
              IND – TY Hilton?
              STL – Sims?

    • JeffC

      I heard that Lael Collins agent sent out a memo to all teams not to draft him or he’d sit out the season and reenter next year after the legal issues would be cleared, and presumably he’d get drafted in a better position than a late rounder. They wanted an FA deal even if they knew that it wasn’t going to be for big tackle money and the choice of where to go.

    • mwsmith1547

      could not agree more that will go down as a painful loss, although the 12’s are partly to blame with all the outrage after the Clark pick, I’m sure the FO didn’t want to go for it. Although that’s why they get paid the big bucks to research and pull the trigger in day 3 of the draft and he’s are starter for 4 years on the cheap.

    • Ehurd1021

      Did you see the fall out from drafting Clark with the fans and media here in Seattle? That’s why they didn’t take a flyer on him.

      A elite first round talent that we needed bad. Should of, could of, would of smh.

  40. M

    I thought there were a lot of positives in this game and, frankly, it’s a game they should have won.

    Considering the pressure, Wilson was very good except for one badly forced INT. Marshawn was Marshawn…I’m trying to recall any other running back that can just make 10 yards with 3-4 defenders on him. Beast Mode. I was expecting the worse with the O-Line but I think they did a lot of good things (and bad) against one of the best D-Lines.

    Defense showed its elite potential but poor tackling and explosive plays really hurt. Several were improbable like Bailey’s trip and Foles perfect pass to beat Sherman and Thomas. In other words, all things that can be cleaned up and should improve.

    What sticks out for me though, is the Seahawks’ penchant for taking risks. In the NFC championship, the Seahawks took risks to win because they had to and there was literally no downside. In the Super Bowl, the Seahawks simply took a risk when they didn’t have to. It wasn’t that it was a pass, it was THAT pass…a high risk quick slant w/ no margin for error from Wilson and Lockette plus it depended on Kearse taking out Browner. In this game, it was the failed squib kick at the start of OT. I’m sure they saw something but

    • Cysco

      I agree M

      There were times when the offense looked really good. If they put an end to the stupid empty back filed sets on 3rd down and play an entire game like they did in the 4th qtr, the team can put up some serious points.

      On the defensive side, The poor tackling will get fixed. We’ve seen it before and it always gets fixed.

      Overall, I’d say the game was just sloppy. The coaching staff needs to get their stuff together and the defense needs to execute a little better. I expect a more polished team next sunday.

      • Volume12

        I agree. Everything is correctable. You learn a lot more about yourself after a loss than a win.

        I’ll keep saying it until I’m blue in the face. But, Seattle is the only team that will beat Seattle. It all comes down to execution and eliminating certain mistakes.

        A sloppy game was to be expected. It was the 1st game of the season after all. Taking a look around the league, every team played sloppy. You don’t win championships in September or October.

  41. M

    I’m sure they saw something but it’s almost like there was no consideration as to the downside. Yes, they have a great D but any D can give up a play or two which can lead to a TD or FG as it did in this case. Even if the Seahawks “steal” a possession, the Rams would still get a possession unless there was a TD.

    It seems to me that when you take a risk, the risk/reward should be pretty skewed in your favor and in the last two games, it seems like that hasn’t been the case in absolutely key moments.

  42. JeffC

    After all the post game presser comments, the team really didn’t execute in all phases. The onside kick, punt, the running game, the missed tackling, bad assignments, etc etc etc. Coaching was bad, decisions were bad, communications were missed…

    Makes me wonder what is the worth of sitting your starters for most of preseason if you can’t come in and execute?

    Unfortunately, it’s going to be a whole week of hearing about how this was from missing Kam and not paying him.

    • AlaskaHawk

      I agree that sitting your stars all preseason leads to a sloppy offense. Wilson played one series, three plays in the last preseason game, Are you kidding me? No Marshawn, no Wilson getting to know his receivers. Then we come out with that conservative I can’t pass beyond the line of scrimmage offense. It is crazy. Offense needs to play together before they face the Rams in a season opener.

      Unfortunately I have no excuses for the defense – since they did play together in the preseason. I thought the line did okay, but the secondary and linebackers were suspect. No real cure there. Even adding Kam won’t change an entire teams pass coverage issues. Plus they – once again – got burned around the edge.

  43. Rik

    I bit the bullet and rewatched the game. One thing that really stood out the 2nd time was how hesitant RW was to actually throw the ball down the field. Is that on him or is that part of the ultra low risk offensive scheme? I obviously couldn’t see the whole field, but there were numerous times I saw Jackson or one of the tight ends/receivers wide open. RW looked at them but pulled the ball down. Looks to me like RW’s lack of aggression/downfield game caused at least some of the sacks. He also looks bigger and slower to me this year. How is that possible given all the comments about him improving his speed in the off season?

    • JeffC

      Jacson Bevens writeup on field gulls basically said the Rams were relying on the four man rush, blitzing occasionally and sometimes giving RW seven defenders to look at. They were taking away the deep stuff and since the four man rush was applying pressure, they had lots of options.

      One thing we do seem to lack is great speed on the outside (I’m assuming Lockett typically lines up in the slot). The only deep shot I remember was the one throw to Kearse, and he’s not a fast guy. I think it was volume 12 who wrote that we really miss Prich in that role and he’s right.

      • Volume12

        Read my post below. We are begging for another deep threat. Add one more along with P-rich and this passing game becomes almost impossible to defend.

        • Ed

          We don’t have time to throw deep. We need a check down. Look at Romo, Brady etc…, they always seem to have a check down and where to go on a blitz. Bevell never seems to have that. If you want to keep Jimmy in to block, release him after he chips. Same with the RB. Or maybe have our WR and QB on read the D the same and do a quick route instead of a 7 step route. It’s maddening

          • Volume12

            There’s a reason he doesn’t throw deep. He checks down to Lynch all the time. Those throws and the screen game are high percentage stuff and really the same thing. This offense is missing explosive, chunk plays downfield.

            When a team blitzes it leaves them vulnerable over the top. If it has more to do with him not having time.

        • sdcoug

          the passing game, and offense in general, was also supposed to be impossible to defend after adding Jimmy Graham. I get that it’s only one game, but still….just saying.

  44. mwsmith1547

    Well the Oakland Ken Norton lead D didn’t look so hot either.

  45. Volume12

    I tend to stay away after a loss, but I’ll chime in.

    Bailey is good in run support, but is nowhere near ready in pass coverage. He trips on a ball that Seattle wants opposing QBs make, couldn’t handle Cook, got too deep in his zone drops.

    How many times did we shoot ourselves in the foot? Basically beat ourselved. Give them 3 points on RW INT, take 3 points off the board on our opening drive, Rubin’s 2 boneheaded penaltie lead to 7 rather than 3.

    Speaking of Rubin, he looked bad. This team need a another big body in there to stuff the run. A Tony McDaniel type.

    Need some more speed on offense. Ecspecially at the backup RB spot.

    Cary Williams actually had a very nice game.

    How great was it to see ET start to play fearless in the 2nd half? We’re missing his downhill, explosion on his run fits.

    STL matches up against Seattle possibly bettet than anyteam. I thought they’d become our biggest rivals again.

    Hawks have never lost a primetime game under PC.

    Thought the screens and throwing short and wide was effective. Seattle is screaming out for a deep/downfield threat.

    I’ll be worried mid-season, but until then, no. It’s a long, hard season. No reason to put all your cards on the table or stand over the cliff. This team shouldn’t have to put it’s foot on the gas pedal until the 4th quarter. Seattle will the only team that beats Seattle. The mistakes are what do us in, and lack of execution.

    • JeffC

      I know they gave up less than 3 yards per carry against the run…but it “felt” like the interior wasn’t playing the run as well as the stats showed. I actually thought the St Louis rb’s made some bad decisions when it looked like the Rams oline swallowed up Rubin several times and the rb chose the wrong lane.

      I’ve almost got the negativity out of my system, and looking at it, GB does look beatable as some posters like Forrest have written. 190 yards to Matt Forte, a nice player, who is not Marshawn, gives lots of hope. RW completing 78% against a fierce pass rush is promising. Gary Gilliam I thought outplayed Chris Long. The lbs will adjust, and I believe Dion Bailey that he won’t make that mistake again.

      And they know Tyler Lockett is money. Work him into the game plan even more.

      • Volume12

        Yeah Gilliam continues to impress me. I think they got their future RT nailed down.

        Agree about Lockett, but he did have a nice game receiving wise as is.

        Green Bay is absolutely beatable. Shut down Lacy and they become the type of one dimensional team this defense has feasted on.

        Seattle has a lot of new, moving parts on both sides of the ball. It’ll take a couple of games for everyone to get comfortable.

        • Trevor

          I agree Vol. Gilliam looked great in pass pro for his first start. He is definitely our RT of the future. Just need to get a lot stronger in the run block game.

          • Ed

            I think LT of the future. Okung is not who he was and does not deserve $9+. Move Gilliam to LT next year and draft a RT and hope Glowinski steps up next year.

            Gilliam/Britt/Nowak/Glow/rookie

            • Trevor

              I am Ok with that Ed but no Britt. There is no way he should be a starter on and NFL O-Line.

              I know I am in the minority but I still think they should have brought Evan Mathis in to play LG. We could have made him fit under the cap for what he signed in Den. I know most people think Britt will develop into a quality guard but I dont see it. I think he will be better there than RT where he was a disaster and had the worst grade in the NFL last year but I never see him as being a viable option.

            • Volume12

              I get the Gilliam over to LT stuff. But historically, has that ever worked out?

              Your right, Okung is not what he once was. Meaning he might come cheaper.

              That O-line looks like a downgrade.

              • JeffC

                Usually switching tackles only works going the other direction, from left to the right. I hate to say it, but the tackle position is so barren (Greg Robinson is supposed to be one of the best since Jones/Pace/Ogden), you may have to keep with the devil you know.

            • mwsmith1547

              my thoughts exactly Ed

  46. Ehurd1021

    900 thousand apart? Might be time for both sides to put their pride aside before we play Green Bay.

    • Trevor

      I hope they never really offered him that because if they cave to him now I will be pissed after he bailed on his team like this. They have enough stars and supposedly leaders on the D that just need to man up and move on.

      • Ed

        I agree. Don’t change whatever offer you made. If he continues to holdout, trade him to Jax or NY

        • Trevor

          Jax for a 3rd this year and 1st in 2017 would be a dream scenario but I doubt we will get that much for him.

    • JeffC

      I didn’t want a renegotiate because of the precedent, but wouldn’t have minded if they came to some reasonable conclusion where he got “something”. But after the Mrob comments about him wanting to be paid for leadership, and Mrob has to be as trustful a source as any, I want nothing to do with him.

      Getting paid for leadership is a crock of bull. THAT’S WHY THEY KEEP YOU AND SIGN YOU TO LONG TERM DEALS TO BEGIN WITH. Every person on that defense is a “leader”. That’s one of the factors that gets Curry shipped out in favor of a KJ Wright for example. That’s why Harvin gets shipped out.

      And he wants to get paid for it? What a puss-ass. He comes back I will not cheer when he makes a play. I will remain silent. I can’t stand him at this point.

  47. Trevor

    One thing that no one mentions about the Chancellor hold out that really makes it worse IMO opinion is that he showed to OTAs etc. and then only holdouts when they show to camp and the Seahawks off season is basically over. Irvin and Bennett were complaining but not a word from Kam.

    If the Hawks knew he was going to sit out then there is no way they let a high quality replacement in Jeron Johnson walk. He would have re-signed for sure and they likely would have drafted someone.

    To me that makes his holdout and the timing far worse from a supposed leader. If I hear one more media person like Heath Evans or Micheal Irvin go on about Kam I am going to throw up. Also what is Michael Robinson going to do when he doesn’t have anymore supposed inside scoops on the Seahawks? His broadcast days will be done.

    • Volume12

      This team needs Kam to a certain extent. They know it and he knows it. Which makes this scenario all the more difficult to deal with.

      So far, and it very well could change and probaby will (Dion Bailey), this defense is missing that presence over the middle of the field, underneath, whatever. IMO an injured Kam and lack of pass rush depth is why New England beat us in the fashion they did.

      • Trevor

        I agree Vol but if they had a veteran like Jeron Johnson instead of a rookie like Bailey they would be in much better shape. That is why Kam waited till he did in order to get max leverage.

        • Volume12

          I see what your saying. Something happened ‘behind the scenes’ that we’ll never know about.

          Wasn’t Johnson signed by Washington back in March though?

          • Trevor

            Yes but if Kam comes to the team after the season and says I want a new deal and I am holding out until I get one then there is no way they let Johnson walk.

            • Volume12

              Got cha.

              And I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m not sure Kam was intending on holding-out in March. I brought up how weird it was (as you just did too) he attended VOLUNTARY OTAs, but not TC. So something hapoened ‘backstage’ if you will between the end of June and the end of July. What it was, we’ll probably never know.

              • Trevor

                Yeah I agree Vol I just wonder what happened? He was even a big part of organizing the trip to Hawaii. That makes no sense either if you plan to hold out.

            • JeffC

              This is a huge point not mentioned. Everything he’s done is anti-team.

  48. Rob Staton

    Any questions for tonight’s podcast?

    • Trevor

      Yes please

      1)How did the Tackle Shon Collins from Auburn play this week? Any other tackle really shine?
      2)What are our options in the draft to replace Kam.

      • Trevor

        Oh and if there is one College team we should watch each week with regards to prospects for the 2016 draft, besides Ohio St, who it be?

      • Volume12

        Corey Coleman from Baylor.

        Karl Joseph from W.Virginia.

        Whose the most ‘Seahawky’ LG type?

        And to piggyback onto Trev’s question, how about some 2nd round O-lineman that could be available/attractive?

        • Madmark

          Joe Dahl LT WSU is a Seahawky player needs to move to LG or C and LT in a pinch.

          • Volume12

            He’s someone I have my eye on. Really like his versatility, well rounded skill-set, and the fact he calls out all the line protections and adjustments from the LT spot, lead me to believe he’d make a fantastic C as you pointed out.

    • bigDhawk

      I’m going off the premise that replaciing what Marshawn Lynch does will be impossible. He is a once in a football lifetime player, the likes of which we will never see again once he retires (and we may have just witnessed the beginning of the end for him yesterday). So my question is, how will the Seahawks need to modify their run game scheme to still be a run first team in a post-Lynch era, and what type of backs are out there in college right now that might fit our new system?

      • Volume12

        What did we witness yesterday? Seemed like another day at the office for Lynch. Had over 100 yards from scrimmage (I may be off on the numbers), and why wear him down too much in week 1?

        • Tien

          I agree. It will be a sad day when Beast Mode finally hangs it up but nothing I saw yesterday made me think it wasn’t the typical smash mouth Beast out there!

          • bigDhawk

            He looked noticably slower to me. And it wasn’t a rusty slow. I wouildn’t read too much into his usual heroics because a Beastmode that’s lost a step is still better than 98% of the backs in the league. Still though, I did notice a lost step.

    • Eric

      I know you addressed it recently, but after last week’s games what does the upcoming RB class look like?

    • Madmark

      My dream right now is for Seattle is that they somehow get Jake Conklin LT Michigan State. What do you think of him?

  49. neil

    I know this isn’t exactly on topic but I have to rant anyway. Does anybody but me see the league bias against the Seahawks once again? Facts… The Hawks lose the Super Bowl and get the 4th toughest schedule in the league. The Patriots win Super Bowl and get the 22nd toughest schedule, a cake walk back to the playoffs for them. The Hawks are the only nfc west team to open on the road in the place they have had the least success in the past few years. Last but most telling is that the Hawks are the ONLY team in the league that has to play 4 opponents comming off b ye weeks. 4 teams get two weeks to prepaare for the Seahawks. No way the league office wants to see the Seahawks back in the Super Bowl.

    • Trevor

      The 4 opponents coming off byes is huge and very odd.

    • Volume12

      The league wants parity. But, we all know Goodell favors his buddies in Boston and would bend over backwards for them.

      It does seem like the league or whoever isn’t partial to Seattle’s style of play. Everyone wants this Arena league NFL, but Seatle says, ‘naw, we’ll play old-school, tried and true football’ that isn’t overly exciting and the physicality/aggressiveness of it can lead to penalties, mistakes, and other teams getting beat up on.

      Ratings wise, most people probably prefer to watch a finesse team or a QB air it out 45-55 times.

    • AlaskaHawk

      I compared Seahawks schedule to Patriots schedule this morning. I don’t like our first two away games, having to open in St Louis is tough, and getting Green Bay so early in the season is an enormous problem with home field playoff implications. I also don’t like playing four teams after their bye week.

      What is the most marked difference is just the 6 games we play in our own conference, with only the 49ers being easy. The Patriots play the Jets, Bills and Dolphins twice. Who wouldn’t want those matchups? The Bills and Dolphins are showing some improvement, but neither team could beat the Cardinals or Rams.

      So I think that most of what I perceive to be unfair is really the difference between being in a strong conference vs weak.

      • cha

        The Patriots have always benefitted from playing in a weak division.

        But the Seahawks were 6-4 last year going into what was considered the toughest stretch of their schedule and ran off 6 straight wins, so I have every confidence this team can take on a tougher schedule.

  50. Madmark

    First off Kam Chancellor couldn’t have handle his whole situation any worse than he did. That little tweet about Seattle being petty over a million dollars completely did him in since Seattle made and effort on their part to offer 3 million but Kam wanted 4million. It makes no difference now. Our petty owner Paul Allen has stepped in and took any decision PC/JS might have made and effectively erased it. All offers on the table have been removed and negotiations have been called off. If Kam comes back to play it will be on his old contract and I seriously believe that the fines and game day checks are not going to be forgiven. If you think because Bailey falling down on that TD gives Kam any leverage your wrong. There’s a business aspect involved here that could spread across the NFL and I’m sure all the owners are watching this as it plays out. I think Kam needs to look into the mirror and see who the petty one really is. Well there’s nothing more to say on this matter as the owner has laid down the law.
    The Rams game. Hats off to Jeff Fisher for finally unloading cripple Bradford and finding himself a new QB. That’s pretty much been the Rams fault for a couple of years now. We know the defense was good but now they have that steady presence at QB and when Gurley gets on the field, lookout the Rams will be ready to push this year for the division. The Seahawks didn’t surprise me all that much. The offense started slow as always, to many stupid penalty but then I say that every year, and they we’re sloppy in every aspect of the game until the 4th quarter. My mind is telling me this team will end up like the 2006 Seahawks after the lose of Steve Hutchinson. We manage to make it to the NFC Championship some how and lose against Chicago. We have the talent but you can see a drop in Lynch’s running he looked slow, the OL needs time to play but next year the last 2 veterens we have in Okung and Sweezy will have to be replaced. There’s a reason Bevel is not a head coach and that is he’s really slow in adjusting his play calling to use his talent in the right places on offense. You give him a new toy and it will take him 8 game weeks to figure out how to use him correctly. Seattle had the grit to stay in a game that they clearly got beat but so did the 2006 team. It amazes me how success can change a team progress.

    • AlaskaHawk

      For all the Kam supporters, and I’m one of them. The guys we have on the field now have had five weeks of conditioning and game hits. If Kam showed up tomorrow he wouldn’t be ready to play for at least two weeks and that could easily stretch into four weeks.

      The other part is that there were a lot of issues with the defense yesterday. Kam would help, but not cure the problems.

      • Cysco

        Kam probably doesn’t trip on that pass play that essentially cost the game.

        • AlaskaHawk

          That is a lot of speculation. Perhaps they should put a corner on a receiver and let the safeties play deep where they are supposed to be. Since Kam isn’t in game shape, he probably wouldn’t have been able to keep up with the receiver.

          • Cysco

            I don’t think it’s a lot of speculation. I just think Kam is better and more adept at covering people than Baily is so I’m comfortable saying that on that play Kam probably doesn’t trip. It’s no more speculation than you saying Kam isn’t in game shape. I don’t see how any of us can say he is or isn’t. I have no insight into what kind of training Kam is doing.

            • AlaskaHawk

              I see Kams value more in the ability to hit receivers from the side or front as they are trying to make the catch. He might have shut down those runs around the edge to. Yes he is extremely valuable. I still feel like the entire defense (except the line) was a step slow and a dollar short.

        • CharlietheUnicorn

          Kam would not have been put in that position to cover the guy, the defense would have been called differently on that play. Perhaps Zone instead of man to man

    • bigDhawk

      I get what you’re saying about Paul Allen trumping the whole situation and if that’s the case then all further discussion is probably moot. But playing devil’s advocate, is it possible that Kam is actually right about all this? Is it possible that maybe he really is the brains of that defense on the field, as well as the braun? Is it possible that our entire secondary really will crumble without him? What we saw yesterday is a strong exhibit A for that argument. ET3, Sherm, and Wagz were all on the field and that was as chaotic a mess in the secondary as I’ve seen since before Kam Chancellor was “Kam Chancellor”. All three of them looked lost most of the time.

      It’s tempting to blame the new DC, but all of those guys have been with Richard since the beginning. There is nothing Richard is going to have them do as their DC that they are not thoroughly familiar with from their time with him as their position coach. Heck, even Bailey has spent years under this system. So it’s not a new scheme issue, even though there were some new wrinkles. The only thing that was significantly different yesterday was the lack of Kam, and that was the worst I’ve seen this secondary look since they all started getting paid.

      Yeah we are all mad at Kam. I’m just wondering, though, if it’s because deep down we know he is right, and to get him back means capitulation that will ultimately hurt the team in other areas.

      • sdcoug

        When Kam was on the field we’ve still lost to the Rams multiple times.

        I just don’t get how it can be said he’s right (not attacking you personally) when he’s already paid at the top of his position in the entire NFL, and has been for several years. He has been sufficiently rewarded for any tangible or intangible he brings to the table

        • bigDhawk

          True, we did lose to the Rams last year in their place with Kam on the field. Throw losses to San Diego and Dallas in there as well. But our secondary didn’t look near this bad losing.

          I’m not speaking to whether he is right about wanting more money. I’m speaknig to whether he is right about being the lynchpin of that secondary and ultimately the whole defense, therefore giving him the leverage to hold out. If our defense can function at a high level without him, then he has no leverage. But if he really is the one piece that makes that whole scheme work – which he appears to be banking on – then he is correct to think he has leverage to demand more better compensation terms. And after yesterday’s performance I’m willing to at least consider he may be correct abput that assessment – right or wrong, fair or unfair.

        • bigDhawk

          I guess what I’m trying to say is he may very well be wrong about wanting more money guaranteed upfront, but he may very well be right in thinking he has leverage to demand it. And the latter is really all that matters as far as the team’s immediate success is concerned.

          • AlaskaHawk

            Considering the coaching decisions and the general poor play on both the offense and defense, maybe the Seahawks need to clean that up before they worry about what Kam may or may not do!

            • bigDhawk

              And that’s really the question. Can they clean things up and succeed without Kam, or is he right that this scheme can’t work without him? All I’m saying is, after the game game yesterday I’m willing to entertain the thought Kam may be correct in assessing his own leverage.

              • CHawk Talker Eric

                1 game is too small of a sample size to say one way or another, but ultimately, Kam won’t be around – this year or next or the one beyond. At some point they’ll need to move on.

              • Tien

                Interesting point bigDhawk. Time will tell but if Kam really is the brains of the LOB, it could explain all the blown coverages by the secondary in that game vs the bad play caused by breaking in two new starters in the secondary. Plus, I read an article (can’t remember the source now) this morning where supposedly Earl said that Kam tells him which side of the field to line up that he (Earl) relied on instincts while Kam had the mental game. We’ll see…

  51. Volume12

    Speaking of explosive plays, Baylor WR Corey Coleman leads the country. And Zach Whitman says this kid is a SPARQ freak! I’ll take his word for it.

    Also. This HB Jordan Howard from Indiana is very interestig. Transfer from UAB, but 2 weeks in a row now he’s been killing it.

    2 receivers that currently have day 3 grades or value, are deep/down-field threats, built somewhat like P-Rich, but actually come with size and length are Tulsa’s Keyarris Garrett and Illinois’s Geronimo Allison. Both are up at the top for explosive catches.

  52. Donovan

    Rob,

    I’d be interested in your thoughts on this analysis of how the Rams approached the Hawks offense:

    http://www.fieldgulls.com/football-breakdowns/2015/9/14/9321961/seahawks-rams-russell-wilson-nfl-pete-carroll-jeff-fisher

    • AlaskaHawk

      I thought the article made sense. My question is, how can the Rams secondary be soft underneath, yet they snuffed most of the wide receiver bubble screens too? I thought they were speedier then the Seahawks.

    • CHawk Talker Eric

      I thought this is the crux of the article, and is a legitimate concern for the way other teams plan to defend SEA:

      “I think the Rams see Wilson disregard the short passing game.

      I think they see him check down a little too late, skip open receivers and scramble instead. And above all I think they see him hesitate, or not process fast enough, and not take what’s there, so they felt there was no threat to Seattle killing them underneath, the way New England or Denver might. And the aversion to turnovers keeps the deeper stuff from being too much of a threat.

      I think the Rams figured, the one place on the field they really needed to concern themselves was intermediate. And they figured they could do it without regard for what super star athlete might line up where.”

    • sdcoug

      You mean, another team actually alters what they do to be more successful against their opponent?

      I will take grief for this, but I sure wish the Hawks would do this on occasion (or at least before the 4th qtr). I swear every time with play StL it’s like we’ve never watched previous game film on what their D might do.

      • bigDhawk

        I completely agree. This is absolutely my biggest peeve as well. There is much to be thankful for about the the PC era, but if I were to indulge in one glaring criticism, this would be it.

      • Ed

        Exactly. I made the point earlier as well. But it’s been out there that we do what we do and make teams adjust. At some point, you have to adjust. You have to make changes. You have to see what isn’t working and do something different. Whether it’s on O or D. Under PC, we don’t seem to do that very well, or if we do it’s too late. We expect everyone to bow down to our talent and they don’t. We have the talent to win every game. Problem is, offensively and defensively we don’t make adjustments and it’s aggravating. We kept 2 FB on the team, we have some maulers on the line and we want to run the ball. Let’s only do the read option 10 times per game. Let’s do some I back, near back, far back and lead with Coleman and really grind it out.

        Let’s go PC, time to start demanding more from your coordinators (and yourself, onside not great choice).

        Circle the wagons, could be 0-2 to start and then hope for 4-4 (wins Chi/Det/Car/SF losses Stl/GB/Cin/Dal) at the bye

  53. AlaskaHawk

    I would like the Seahawks to do what Joe Montana’s world champion 49ers did. First 20 plays are set, see how the defense reacts, then adjust the game playing accordingly.

    • Steele

      If they already do the first part (I think they do script the first drive), Bevell’s adjustments after that have been horrible. Sometimes non-existent.

  54. Steele

    In addition to all of the problems discussed here on both sides of the ball yesterday, I was very concerned with Richard Sherman, from whom I expected swagger, leadership, and reliability. He should be a glue that holds the LOB together. He was burned on key plays (by…Steadman Bailey!?) and was guilty of a PI that was not called. Everything looked wrong, timing, not turning his head.

    They shoehorned him into the slot, where he does not belong, at a disadvantage against quicker WRs. Which I believe is the domino effect of no Kam and Bailey playing poorly, in addition to them having no reliable nickelback. How much of Sherm’s problems were being in the wrong position versus something wrong with him physically, still not 100% healed?

    • neil

      I agree, the defense played uninspired football. Not what we expect to see from them. I wonder if the lose of Dan Quinn is going to be a bigger problem than first thought. I watched the Falcons play, and although they don.t have the defensive talant the Seahawks do, he had them fired up and playing SEAHAWK STYLE DEFENSE.

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