Just when you think you’ve seen it all.
The Pete Carroll era has delivered some incredible moments. Improbable games with ridiculous endings.
This was another.
On a night when Russell Wilson somehow elevated to yet another level, the hero at the end was a crashing Lano Hill, blowing up a run by Cam Newton (tidied up violently by L.J. Collier) to save the day.
The Seahawks have found every way to win a game over the last 10 years. This was simply the latest example.
And while the win was great, it should never have been this close. Had Seattle lost in the end, it would’ve been a disgrace. To lead 35-23 in the fourth quarter and nearly lose is unacceptable.
Everything we’ve talked about for months is playing out in front of us.
This defensive line and pass rush is going to cost the Seahawks. It nearly did tonight. It will do in the future. They’re 2-0 but how long until they drop a game because of this massive glaring issue?
They started the off-season stating it was a priority. Somehow they’ve made the pass rush even worse.
Nobody pushed the pocket from the interior. There was no speed off the edge. Nobody got into the backfield. The four man rush is absolutely abysmal.
It seems the defense is totally reliant on Jamal Adams for any semblance of pressure. Either he blitzes and gets home, or you face the consequences.
Third down after third down was converted. The Patriots passed for 22 first downs compared to only five running. They totalled 464 yards of offense. They were 7/12 on third down and 1/1 on fourth down.
Everyone blamed ‘garbage time’ for Matt Ryan’s 450 yards last week. This time, Cam Newton had 397.
In two games they’ve conceded 55 points and given up 970 yards.
970 yards!
It’s stunning, even after months of talking about it, that this is the situation. How did they handle their top priority this badly?
For all the hand-wringing about how often we’ve talked about this — don’t you see why? You need something from your pass rush. They are getting nothing.
Russell Wilson is playing his heart out and looks like a legit MVP candidate. The offense is rocking and rolling.
They are getting nothing from the defense.
Everything we said — that this pass rush will seriously risk wasting another season of prime Wilson — is coming true.
They have to do something. Even if it’s just Cam Wake and/or Clay Matthews. This can’t continue. Whether it’s Dak Prescott next week, one (or all) of the NFC West quarterbacks or someone else down the line, this will cost them. It will undermine the major positives on this team.
This offense can win a Super Bowl.
This defense will stop them doing so.
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I almost wet myself
The cardiac kids…
QB hit count: after 9 drives
Jamal Adams: 2 (1 sack)
Bruce Irvin: 1
Bobby Wagner: 1
Damontre Moore might had one, but the camera cut away before i could confirm it.
If Bruce is out for a while, FO might need to talk to Matthews again.
The goal line stand was totally revenge for Super Bowl 49. Amazing.
They gave Wagner a hit as well
Holy Sh*te
Collier, Hill and the gang made a play to seal the game.
Is Clay Matthews still available!?!
Am I crazy to think Jamal Adams is now the most important player on our defense? I know he missed a couple takedowns on Cam, but this guy is unreal. It’s like the laws of inertia and gravity don’t apply to him.
Also time to bring on Matthew’s. Yikes.
Is it just me or has Collier not been bad so far? He doesn’t look like a first rounder but he definitely looks like he could be a part of the rotation.
Saw a great rush from him on one of the first plays of the game, got a nice hurry and almost brought it home forcing Cam into a throw.
Great win, Adams dominated again. This pass rush is going to lose them games. Outside of Poona Ford, nobody is doing anything on this line
What the hell was RW doing throwing that ball on 3rd and 1 like that.
Cooking
wrong word. Burning.. I understand some calls but that one stops the clock and we are built to run. It is so much like not giving it to Marshawn…
Don’t care how hot Russ was. That was a dumb, dumb call. Don’t know if it came from Schotty, Pete or a Russ check. But that was just bad football.
I don’t recall you say this the last 6 times it has worked. Can’t go your way all the time.
4 and 2-3-4 is not the same as 4th and a short 1. Especially while you also need to milk the clock. No reason to pass on that down. If you’re willing to go for it on 4th down then OK, a pass might be a neat unexpected play, but otherwise it’s a maximum 65% chance play that gives you +10-15-20 yards and demoralize somewhat the opponent. But their passrush started to work better and you play with a new and mediocre OL so the probability is more like 50%. The clock stoppage is huge there. And Carson and Hyde run well, so always run in that situation
I didn’t hate the call (didn’t love it either).
Lockett had a half-step. If Pocic had delivered the ball a bit better–allowing Russ to set his feet–then I like the chances of Russ completing that pass.
I would’ve definitely liked a higher probability play though.
I think the bad snap messed up the timing and opportunities on that play
Seemed like it.
I basically saw that play as “taking what the Patriots were giving them” and a hand off wasn’t going to get the first down. The only thing Seattle “risked” was stopping the clock – which obviously happened – and they would have put the knife into the Patriots with a completion. Like many, I would have preferred a higher-percentage play and, personally, I would have really LOVED to see DK get a key 1st down against the reigning DPOY, but … it is what it is. In this case, it didn’t work out. C’est la vie.
The problem with that is arguments focused solely on results are often not very helpful. Process matters, and a ow percentage 40+ yd bomb was a poor decision in that situation. Carson’s poor situational awareness on 1st down didn’t help either.
Through two games, Russ has 9 TDs and 11 incompletions.
Its really unfortunate how they score statistics as that interception should in no way belong on his record.
Wow. What a stat. Had it not been for that “int” of Olsens hands… sometimes those needs to go on the receivers.
Like 3 WR drops too the first game. Should be 9TDS and 8 incompletions
2 drops by DK last week + the pass off Olsen’s hands today (that led to the pick-6). And three of the remaining 8 were throw-aways so only 5 actual “misses” in terms of Russ’s passes. Dude has been otherworldly the first 2 weeks.
Seth Walder
ESPN Analytics
Russell Wilson’s 38-yard touchdown pass to David Moore had a completion probability of 6.3%, per NFL Next Gen Stats. That’s the lowest completion probability on a completed pass this season and the third-lowest in the history of the metric (since 2017).
I bet the other one was the Lockett one from last year!
Bet you’re right
I can see why they kept Moore on the team now.. I confess, I tried to ride him out on the rail earlier this season….. scratch that. He keeps making big plays in big situations.
The report that I read had the Moore catch #2, Lockett’s catch #3, and an AB catch from Big Ben a couple years ago at #1.
Gsus, our D is so bad
How can we almost lose when our QB throws for 5 TDs and have almost a perfect game? If we didn`t have adams, we would be totally F**** and that`s just sad….
I don’t think it’s the D overall. The pass rush, yeah. It magnifies everything and obviously leaves guys out on an island. Newton went through everyol one if his progressions almost every time he dropped back. Guys can’t cover that long. It’s impossible.
Completely agree
Yeahh, you`re totally right. I was a bit nervous after the game. The D overall has the potential to be good, even great, the pass rush is just inexistent, and that`s just maddening
D-line did good against the run but the pass rush was non-existent – especially once they were forced to have Adams actually COVER receivers (i.e. at the end of the game) rather than “creatively” rushing Cam. And, frankly, no matter how good our secondary is, if you can’t get pressure on the QB then it doesn’t freakin’ matter – as we see from the nearly 850 yards we gave up passing the last 2 weeks.
On the other hand, Wilson doesn’t throw a pick, and instead of opting for a high percentage throw on 3 and 3 (a first down wins the game) he throws it deep to Lockett.
It’s that last play call in particular that is problematic. Don’t give the ball back at less than two minutes will leading by 5.
Has a team ever had an offensive player win MVP and also have the Defensive Player of the Year? Because Russ and Adams are making a strong case for it so far.
Also please John Schneider sign a pass rusher this week.
bring in anyone and everyone this week . . . the D-line was terrible, it’s not prevent defense when they’re biting off 15-20 yard chunks each play.
What’s the word on Irvin? suddenly, even his loss seems devastating.
what a heartstopper. And it is going to be maddening b/c Wilson is playing better than ever.
when I digest a bit, I guess I’ll feel like 2-0 is still pretty good, but jesus, I miss the days of having a good defense.
Per Pete, Irvin was walking around in the locker room after the game and appears to have a sprained knee. The word on Blair is less encouraging (MRI tomorrow; likely out “a while”).
I think Cam Wake still has some juice left. More than Matthews, but that’s just me
At this point bring them both in. Especially if Bruce is hurt.
Amen to that!
At this point we need to sign both Cam Wake and Matthews. That Irvin injury hurts… We need to even possibly trade for a pass rusher (even at a premium) or this season will be a waste. We have the talent it looks like to go far (assuming we can get some semblance) of a pass rush.
With what resources? We traded the house for Adams.
Sadly, you’re both right.
Anything we got. That was bad at the end. It looked like they even had Jordyn Brooks playing Leo. We need a pass rush to unlock the potential of this team.
Cam Wake, Matthews, even Ziggy again… But we need some pass rushers. We still got some second round picks that could be traded.
If we gave up our 2021 R2 pick for a pass rusher that would essentially bankrupt our future. We would be left with a massive hole concerning talent infusion for 2021. We would have our R4, R5, and two R7 picks. On top of that, who could we convince to trade a premier pass rusher to us for just a R2 pick, unless you want to get rid of our R2 2022 pick as well…….
Doing so would be pretty much inconceivable. I can’t imagine Schneider would go for that.
Time for the people criticizing rob’s analysis this offseason to eat MAJOR crow after watching this defense for two games. We have 10 duds and a superhero.
In NO WAY is Bobby a dud…but ya pretty much seems we have two elite players on D and everyone else is a JAG at best. Not good at all…
That’s grossly unfair. Adams is a stud. Wagner is still the best linebacker in the league. Wright is doing fine (when he’s not injuring his own guys – i.e. Blair). Dunbar played better today than last week and should get better as he gets more comfortable within Seattle’s system. The issue is – as Rob has pointed out repeatedly – that the D-line cannot get any pressure. They did good against the run today but Cam had all day to pass when the game was on the line (and before that too, except when they were creatively bringing pressure with Adams and/or Wagner).
I love Wagner, but he is not in fact still the best linebacker in the league. In these first two games he has been horribly late and out of position in coverage.
That was great fun, this would be a Super Bowl team if only it had a mediocre pass rush, a quick look on Seahawks.net and Twitter its being realised, you said it before, during and since the draft. JS & Pete must do something about it this week surely.
On the upside, Russell Wilson can score 5 TDs on the best passing defense in the league.
So that’s how 2013 Broncos’ fans felt.
It’s not even that the defense fully sucks because their back seven is pretty good. It’s the one singular unit on the team who is going to make sure potential of this team isn’t met. So much fun to watch Adams and the offense though!
Agree 100%. Run D stepped up tonight too. Not saying much, I know.
Verses RBs they were fine, Cam killed them for yards however, but that is expected.
Exactly. They ain’t gonna see anyone like him again. Kyler can scramble, but he’s not Cams size.
Agree. Cam had 47 yards on 11 carries this week (versus 75 on 15 carries last week). He had 2 touchdowns – and could have had a 3rd if he hadn’t dumped it to the fullback in the end zone instead … and a 4th if Seattle hadn’t gotten the stop at the end. But dude is HUGE … and crazy selfish (IMO). When New England puts in 7 linemen, 2 tight ends, and their fullback, there aren’t many teams that are going to stop Cam from scoring.
Not too worried about the D-line where Cam was concerned. As was mentioned, they did “fine” against the running backs: Michel had 7 carries for 19 yards with a long of 5; Burkhead had 6 carries for 2 yards with a long of 3 (which basically means he went backwards on the rest of his carries, netting a total of -1 on them); and J.J. Taylor had 1 carry for minus 1 yard. Sans Cam, the Patriots had a total of 20 yards on 14 carries.
Blair and Diggs missed some or most of the game, so the secondary/safety play can improve.
However, the Blair injury looked bad. Amadi and Hill played solid in relief, which was encouraging.
I thought Mayowa got nicked up early and now likely major injury of Irvin late in the game…..
yikes
Wilson better have yet another level because the cowboys will drop 50 on this D.
The Cowboys D is no great shakes… they got lit up 2 weeks in a row.
The play calling has been really good. Favorite play was the Swain TD where they put Lockett in the backfield in a traditional RB slot…screwing up the Patriots D… making for an “easy” catch and score.
IDK about that. I mean, they’re capable of it, but I don’t trust McCarthy to identify weaknesses and hone in on it like Belichick.
I wasn’t that impressed with Dallas today. Yeah, they won, but it was much more that Atlanta flat-out shit the bed than that Dallas played well. Just looking at the box score doesn’t tell the whole story and Dak’s 450 yards passing aren’t as impressive as they seem. If Dallas gives up the ball 3 times in the early going against Seattle, like they did today against Atlanta, they’ll lose by 30 points.
So Pete, what are you gonna do? THIS IS ON YOU!!! The d-line is shit, freaking do SOMETHING!!
Astonishing play from Wilson. Genuinely taken his game to new heights.
Adams looks like he’ll be worth the trade, unfortunate that he’s going to have to be. Keeps this up and defensive player of the year will be in the bag.
Quite surreal just how bad the defensive line is. I’d been thinking they were going back to building back to front, like New England have had so much success doing, but it’s hard to imagine gross incompetence was part of the plan.
Big Green Bay energy with this team. How far can a quarterback take you? Looks like we’re going to find out.
let’s get super practical. we’ve criticized – it is totally proven valid.
What are the options right now?
– got to give Alton Robinson a shot, wtf not?
– bring in Matthews, better than nothing, maybe he’s got a play in him here and there, even if he only plays 15-20 snaps
– is there any hope of trading for an unhappy player in a bad situation, or on a bad team? at this point, I’d put our 2nd round pick next year on the table.
what else?
From a practical perspective, given who’s available, the limited cap space Seattle has, etc., the direction they’re probably locked into is:
1) Kick the tires on cheap talent (example, bringing in Breeland Speaks last week).
2) Hope to keep winning while they youngsters on the line develop with the sincere (?) hope that they form even a league-average line by the trade deadline.
3) Steal someone from another team for the stretch run (like they did when they got Diggs for a 5th round pick last season).
To be clear, I am NOT advocating for this approach; I just don’t see Seattle legitimately or actually doing anything else.
I guess they trust on the return of Rasheem Green -come on, guy, this is your year, wake up!-, the opportunities that Alton Robinson and Darrell Taylor may find in most comfortable games and, obviously, that the attack scores +35 points per game. If you can stop the run and perhaps one or two 3&out per game, they are happy with that
There is no way they are settling on that or banking on that.
They just fudged the situation. Messed up. Waited too long for Clowney and he went elsewhere.
Now they need to do something about it.
Due to the lack of draft capital, I think we are left with trading players for players. The most likely candidate is KJ Wright. Our line backer depth is crazy. It helps with Brooks and the two linebackers from the 2019 draft looking capable. I would have also said safety is another place we could trade players from, but due to injuries last night, that may not happen. We also have depth at running back. This would be dependant on how penny’s rehab is going. It’s a minimal gamble, it maybe worth it to gain better pass rush. I am curious about the cap ramifications, because Pete and John will not mortgage the future just to save this season. They will take into consideration the ramifications for this season, as well as future seasons. With next seasons cap expected to go down, it will be interesting to see what they do. Unfortunately, I can see them expecting to see opportunities to get value this next off season and giving up that opportunity due to a current pressing issue like pass rush is going to be hard. Also don’t forget that Like Billicheck, Pete and John don’t value pass rush as much as the rest of the league. If the patriots and the hawks see pass rush as over valued, then there has to be a reason. No one is explore it this idea though. We can’t have our cake and eat it too. We have to accept weakness somewhere on the team, just need to make sure it is acceptable. Right now I agree the pass rush is not acceptable. Free agents are no longer gaurunteed contracts. “Snacks” Marcel Darious, and Mathews should be brought in for a look. As well as possible trade partners that don’t have good leverage!
The ONLY way hawks are going to improve pass rush this year is trading player for player plus some picks. We have depth at LB and WR. Do you trade Tyler Lockett? Packaged with a 3rd rd pick, does he offer enough value to get a decent edge rusher?
You can’t trade Lockett.
But they need to do something.
Agreed. Carson? Hollister? We also got some 2nd round picks to trade. I doubt we trade for anyone but we need to sign some people. Cam Wake, Clay Matthews or dare I say, Ziggy Ansah… may need to be signed. We can’t have Jordyn Brooks rushing as leo.
They are not going to trade away any key players.
Big no to Ziggy Ansah.
Listening to Pete’s post gamer. 3rd question about pass rush. “We gotta try to be more creative to get those guys going. They’re trying really hard out there”.
You giving them a participation medal Pete?
He’s ticked. He’s not happy.
The other question about “where would this defense be without Jamal Adams?” touched a real nerve too.
So maybe just maybe it’s time to freaking DO SOMETHING about it.
(and yeah I could tell he was unhappy with the connotation of that question)
Now that all the preseason optimism has worn off and the media has seen what we’ve been saying all along, they’re finally willing to ask Pete the tough questions.
Gonna throw this out here. Trade KJ for a Dlineman? Let Brooks take over?
It won’t happen.
They do need to give Brooks a shot as a pass rushing LB. He showed potential in his limited action during the final series. He moves well.
I don’t disagree with the larger point. But the offense couldn’t get 1 yard to win the game… and the defense ended up winning it when the game was on the line.
Counterpoint: The offense shouldn’t have needed to get a yard to win the game as they had already DONE THEIR JOB by scoring their 5th touchdown and giving the Hawks a 12-point lead with 4:36 to play. Had Seattle’s D then done THEIR job and not let the Patriots score a touchdown of their own a mere 2:15 later ….
Holy Cow
Seahawks only gave up 67 yards rushing in the game. 2.7 yards a carry average.
That is pretty good. Much better than I thought they had performed.
It’s a deceptive stat.
They only ran the running backs 14 times because they didn’t need to.
All Cam had to do was drop back and he had all day.
Seattle didn’t stop the run. The Pats stopped running because they didn’t need to.
Belichick is no dummy. He knew.
Walter Jones said after the game, the whole league is going to attack the Seahawks this way now.
Yep.
The defense is abysmal. They’ll drop winnable games unless they do something NOW. This will stop them going deep in the playoffs. The offense is good enough. The defense is one of the worst in the league.
Yeah for real…that defense is awful to watch, especially the D-line as predicted. Cam Newton had like 6 seconds to throw the ball every other play and it’s clearly affecting coverage. According to FieldGulls, they have “given up the second most passing yards of any defense in NFL history through the first two weeks of a season.”
That is a bit of an overstatement. They stopped running because they were ineffective and because they were chasing the scoreboard in the second half and because they were having success passing. They were trying to establish a run early but they couldn’t.
It’s not an overstatement in the slightest.
The Patriots had no need for a traditional running attack and only ran it 14 times with their RB’s as a consequence. It was a complete afterthought.
Cam Newton could do whatever the hell he wanted in the pocket.
And when they wanted to run they used him to the tune of nearly five yards per carry.
Nobody can polish this turd and say a silver lining is they played the run well.
970 yards in two games.
55 points.
Nearly blew this game despite perfection from RW and 154 yards on the ground.
It is what it is.
Agree. But will also point out that if you take Cam’s stats out of the equation the Patriots RUNNING backs had a whopping total of 20 yards on 14 carries with Sony Michel having 19 of the yards on 7 of the carries (leaving the other 2 ball carriers to account for a total of 1 yard on 7 carries). So, yes, the Patriots stopped running because they were having success throwing (given Seattle’s utter lack of pass rush) but they weren’t exactly having SUCCESS when they were running so ….
But they didn’t need to run their RB’s.
It doesn’t matter if they had success or not. They had 14 runs!
All that matters is if you don’t need to run then it’s an irrelevance.
When your QB had all day to throw the ball… why run ?
at least the offense is better.
It’s Russell, b/c of course it all starts w him. But DK is better, you can tell he’s going to have bigger numbers this year. Shell is an upgrade over Ifedi, esp in passblocking, which looks to be the most important thing he’ll do this season. Pocic had a solid game today.
Carson is still Carson, and Hyde is a solid #2, not as likely to make a flash play, but steadier than Penny was (until he found his groove just before the injury).
And . . I think Schottenheimer has gotten better in his role too. After two games – the offense’s success doesn’t feel flukey at all.
The offense is really, really good.
We obviously need to sign some guys like Wake or Matthews, but their price might have gone up due to so many significant injuries this weekend. Hopefully being 2-0 will work to our advantage.
Wanna compete for a Super Bowl, pay up.
Anyone talk about how DK punked the league’s defensive MVP? He was the star of that 1 v 1.
He took it to him.
I kept saying, keep hitting them in the defensive secondary mouth.
They looked like they were not playing tight coverage for 1/2 the game, then tried to tighten it up in the second half. DK definitely made me a believer after seeing how he used and abused Gilmore on some of the plays. Definitely looked like he took Gilmore out of his game. Bully the bully if you will. Loved it.
PC said they instructed the DB’s to play the WR’s physical in practice to prep them for this game. it showed.
The Seattle Seahawks‘ linebacker was rushing the quarterback while engaged with a blocker and suffered a right knee injury. By video, there is significant worry for an ACL tear, given how his foot stuck in the ground and the knee shifted. It appears to be the ACL, he was helped off the field and obviously will not return. The four other ACL calls I made today have been confirmed. I hope this one is not part of that, but I fear it may be the end of his season due to pending surgery.
Are you referring to Bruce Irvin or Marquis Blair? I assume Blair (who btw is a DB not a LB).
Irvin…
Chao said Blair is MCL and no ACl tear…
That’d be great!
Pete said Irvin had a sprained knee and was walking around in the locker room after the game. Hoping that your TV analysis of an ACL tear is inaccurate and that Pete wasn’t just being optimistic.
A sprain is a tear.
Correct. And Chao isn’t just some random guy. He’s an expert.
Annnnnd it was just confirmed on the John Clayton Show that he tore his ACL.
I am going to have a hard time getting to sleep tonight. What an exciting win!
The run defense played well. It was great seeing Lano fill in well for Diggs and Blair. LJ came up big on a couple plays including the game-winner so there is a little to build on. But not much. The inability to generate pass rush without blitzing is a glaring problem.
On offense, RW and Schottenheimer were brilliant (with the exception of that 3rd down call). Carson and the RB rotation did their job. The O-line seemed better – it will be interesting to see if the PFF grades bear that out.
I don’t know about Matthews. They may want to give Jordan Brooks a chance to fill the Bruce Irvin role rather than pay for Clay. There were so many injuries around the league this week that I think some of the FAs may see their price met. Give LJ the plays he needs to develop.
Dallas next week will be a real challenge. Both teams might score 40. But, Miami and Minnesota both look very winnable after that.
Brooks looked lost rushing the passer. I don’t think that’s a legitimate option. If they have to use him as a pass rusher then I think they would have start to use a 3-4 look…and blitz heavily while playing a lot of man coverage. Does not seem likely.
Using Brooks as a pass rusher instead of just having Alton active is a head scratcher
Great win. Still a lot of room for improvement for both sides. Some thing’s:
– Deflection pick six was bad for Olsen. Never really made up for it either.
– Dissly looked good blocking and was open in the seam. They will come back to it.
– Russ was a beast again. Got a little greedy on the deep ball
– Carson looked powerful and elusive. Still a threat in the pass game. Slid too early on the final drive?
– Freddie Swain not just a throwaway returner pick? His QB situation was not great at Florida, so maybe?
– Man we have some great rotational pass rushers…. But still a bad group.
– Collier and Green look like they have a disconnect. They can only move either their arms or feet, but not both while
Oops. Didn’t mean to hit send.
-54 and 33 are animals. 16 and 14 too
– Dunbar, a pretty nice bounce back game.
– It’s gonna hurt to lose Blair if he’s gone too long. Amadi played tough though. Was tight on some Amendola contested balls.
– Good to see Hill and Collier play hero. 2 good guys that need the boost.
– Ahem… Excuse me, I was told this new RT was supposed to come without penalties… The rest of them too.
Pete says Blair likely out for awhile. Not great.
Yah it looked at the very least like a very bad ACL or MCL sprain, hard to tell by the camera angle. It’s sad because he seemed to be playing very well these last two games.
Honestly I thought his play was all over the place but this really hurts because he needs to develop.
“Gregg Bell
@gbellseattle
·
17m
Bruce Irvin has a sprained knee, but was walking around the locker room postgame, Pete Carroll says. #Seahawks”
small good news. we need Irvin. All hands on deck.
https://twitter.com/CharlesRobinson/status/1307854617942929410?s=19
I mean wtf…
We have enough trouble generating a pass rush. The other team’s o-line don’t need no damned help from refs looking the other way.
They were holding the DT for Seattle multiple times, no yellow hankies
Yep. Reed a few times.
Reed was getting mugged.
It appears the refs have no respect to Seattle’s D-line either.
I seen that as well. seems like the hawks get the bitter end of officiating way more often than not.
For sure the pass rush was a disgrace today. If we lost this game you could also blame that horrendous 3rd and 1 play at the end. No need to go for it all when one yard probably wins it. I agree Clay Matthews could be coming, especially if Irvin is hurt. You might have to fight the 49ers for Matthews service
If you are looking for rebuilding teams as possible trade partners for DL, right now the NYG (Leonard Williams) and Carolina (Kawan Short) are possibilities. It is probably too soon for any other team to count themselves out yet.
Short’s $20M cap hit this year and next had him on all the possible surprise cap casualty lists. He would start in place of Poona and is a run stuffer too.
You’ve got to remember though — the salary you’re inheriting, the length of the contract and the likely price.
And they need speed off the edge more than anything.
They basically need Frank Clark.
I agree they need speed off the edge more than interior rush. But there doesn’t seem to be any of those types available now. Poona is useless as a pass rusher. Short’s contract has no dead money implications so he would probably be a one-year rental. But Carolina would have to pick up some of the 2020 salary to make it work.
I don’t think they make a trade before the bye week.
I mean, they need a frank clark. They also need a calais. Id take whatever we could get.
It would have been interesting to see how this game would have gone if we didnt give them 7 right from the start.
PC said in his raves about Alton Robinson in camp something to the effect of he’s great, but we won’t know until we see him in a real game.
So how about we put him in a real game? What is there to lose at this point?
Yes. That was a real surprise inactive for me after last week. We need to have some fresh bodies for the rotation at the very least.
This is a head scratcher. How can a player develop especially at that position if they don’t play?….Also it’s a position of need on this team. When I read about Green I thought it would be a no brainer.
Tells me he’s a 5th round JAG.
Sherman was a 5th rounder who didn’t get good until he actually played.
Podcast is now live and at the top of the article.
The podcast keeps getting better. I think Robbie’s positivity complements Rob’s “this is how we show excitement in Britain.” 🙂 Honestly, Rob I don’t know how you bring energy at 5 a.m.
You still need to work on your lighting.
Can you include a link to the YouTube in comments? I have gone out to like the past ones and it is hard to find you guys among all the other podcasts.
Would you prefer Dan Quinn or Greg Williams? Both should be available in a couple weeks.
On defense I still think Ken Norton is a problem. We have enough talent on D to be middle of the pack. Not sure if they would ever make a switch mid season but his days could be numbered. Would be intetesting to follow the situation if Atlanta ever let Quinn go.
You can’t blame Norton.
Blame the people who gave him the worst DL in the league to work with.
It’s a compound effect.. Ken is bad, unless you give a DL like 9ers for Saleh.
Re-watched the last play a couple times now – what a great play by Collier – fire off the ball, overpower the olineman, shed and make the play. Encouraging start to the season.
The Diggs ejection clearly forced some adjustments on the fly which hurt the D, but still, holding an opposing offense to 23 should be enough for the Seahawks to win most games.
Lano Hill made that play for me.
No doubt. Great job taking on the FB.
Lano isn’t very fast but he’s a powerful tackler.
Agree 100%. More than 100% if that’s possible. Hill submarined the lead blocker (the fullback) and made Cam go high before he wanted to leaving Collier to “clean up”. Without Hill’s work on that play, I think Cam woulda carried Collier (or someone else) into the end zone with him.
Lano was great at turning it inside – but not giving Collier a ton of credit for shedding the block is crazy.
Wagner called out the play call prior to the play going off.. whole DL/defense reacted to that. Everyone did their jobs and made the play… knowing what was coming… and which gap they would hit.
Cody Barton could not shed his block and was a spectator despite the play coming right towards him.
Waste of a 2nd..
I noticed the exact same thing as well. The good news is he was a third round pick not second. Still, waste of a third for a guy who’s only good for special teams.
Don’t forget that Pete spent the timeout before the play talking to Bobby on the sideline.
Post Game Press Conf w PC
“First off, heard about James White, recognize that it’s a horrible situation. Hate to hear that kind of news. Hope he’s handling it ok.”
“This was really an amazing game. Fans out there, we miss you so much, I can’t tell you. So used to the incredible energy and juice. Wish you’d been there for the last play of the game. Hope you went nuts. A really really tough defense, pass defense excellent all night long. Really big for us. RW threw 5 TD passes, really in command of what we’re doing. DK’s bomb, David Moore, Moore’s 3rd down catch off the grass, throwing game alive. Rushed for 150 yards too. So balanced. Chris and Carlos and Homer ran their tails off.”
“Defensively, first turnover for the TD, bounced back, responded and executed well, but those 7 points hung all night long. Edelman spectacular. Great FB player. Cam too. But Edelman unreal.”
“But guys to hang all the way to the last second. Extraordinary thing for FB players. Come through or you don’t. LJ got clean through and got to the QB. Everyone fired up about LJ. Great to see him. Dunbar had a pick, almost 2. You can see we missed Diggs back there. Really disappointed about Blair getting banged up. Ugo came in and did a really good job. Really good game for us. Going to ask him to step up and be a factor for us. Lano did a good job. Gotta see the mistakes back there.”
“ST spectacular job. Cody Barton hit of the night. Energy and juice for hte stadium. Miss the fans.”
[john boyle] DK’s game vs Gilmour? “really fun matchup to watch, battling from get go. Both hyped up. DK great game, Td pass with RW fantastic. DK really competed. Significant for him moving forward.”
[art thiel] Decision to go on 3rd and 1 to Lockett? “Other routes covered. RW knows concept and knew he had 1 on 1 but got jammed up. That was his 3rd choice. Ask Russ, that’s how I saw it.”
[joe fann] Pass rush especially down the stretch? “(shaking head) We struggled. They did a nice job, they’re a historically good team with pass pro. Just gotta keep – gotta be creative, more stuff to help those guys out. They’re trying like crazy. Let me look at the game film and evaluate it.”
[joe] Bruce? “Sprained knee what I was told. Was walking around in locker room after.”
[tim booth] Penalty by Diggs? What missing in back end? “Everybody saw the play they went to NY and made decision. I’m sure they made the right decision. He knows he needs gotta keep head out of hits. He’s such a steadying force and he’s so good on the back end, so good on the deep ball, we got out of whack a few times. We have to clean that up. Fortunately he’ll be back next week so off we go.”
[brady henderson] Blair injury? [irritated] “yeah, what do you mean? It’s a knee injury. He’s got a knee injury and we’ll find out about it. Probably fairly serious.”
[curtis crab] DK/Gilmour battle into bench, jawing and physicality? “Illustration of two real frickin warriors that went at it. Knew about it all week. Pushing and shoving. Didn’t want to get DK out of whack. Wanted to play the game we planned. Two great FB players going at it.”
[gregg bell] Jamal saved 5 points, where would you be on D without Jamal? “We don’t even have to consider that. He needs to clean things up. Incredible FB player. Fantastic player and we love him. Igniter with energy on this team. Complete competitor.”
[gregg] Brown OK? “Yeah, rolled up. Pissed him off, got back out there and finished game and did well.”
[bob condotta] Last play anticipate Newton run? “Took a shot at that play, had been successful for them earlier. Guys did a fantastic job on the fly, and we got it done. Amazing moment.”
[michael shawn] Prepare WRs for physicality of NE DB’s? “Oh yeah, played man and called on matchup to be physical. Concerted effort to get ready for mentality of it. Our guys did.”
Good stuff, Cha
That push rush answer…
Pete handing out participation medals today to the dline/
I’d love a follow up this week on it.
“So now that you’ve watched the game film, what do you think about the pass rush?”
YES
We all understand he can’t give a completely honest answer to such a question, right? It is like someone interviewing you about your child’s capability in school right in front of them. You want to child to perform to the best of their ability so you’re not going to do anything to discourage them.
Understood. But it’s a process to get information. Each time you ask it, you peel back a layer and get more information about what he’s thinking and what the process is/was and what his expectations were and are.
Each time you ask, you can glean some insight, even if he doesn’t completely throw his guys under the bus.
And we’re saying, that since this could sink the ship, we need insight on what the leadership is thinking.
For example, look at the line of questioning on Taylor.
Friday press conf, he was asked and spouted some PC ‘compete/running hard’ tropes without a real answer.
Same press conf, he was asked a follow up on Taylor and gave a bit more detail, based on workout tape they thought he’d be farther along.
Today’s press conf he was asked again, and briefly outlined what happened this summer with his training and the serious speed bumps he hit.
Each time he revealed more information, how they came to the decision they did, what they were thinking, and what actually came about.
Jarran Reed was a one year wonder wasn’t he? Dude is invisible out there.
With a cast like this..yeah he is invisible. He needs to be the #2 interior guy. Saw him double teamed out of existence. We need a guy that must be double teamed to really get the value of him. I dont see him beating doubles.
Dude was getting mugged on half the plays and doubled on the rest. All the attention Clowney got last season is going to Reed now (which makes sense since he’s the “star” of the (current) D-line.
(scroll up and look at the tweet that was shared; how the refs didn’t call penalties on the Patriots for plays like the one shown is mindboggling)
Yeah, I saw that too. It’s the pats though, so you always gotta beat the refs. Either way, its too easy to scheme an o line to take away our only legit pass rushing threat.
The Atlanta Hands Team surrounding the ball and looking at it and not jumping on it, and losing the game, is the perfect metaphor for the Hawks FO handling of the off-season priority of pass rush.
Good intentions, no execution, no understanding of the implications.
Atlanta:
Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it…
Aw crap. I guess that didn’t work out very well did it?
Sea FO:
Wait for him, wait for him, wait for him.
Crap, I guess we should’ve paid just a little bit more instead of doing nothing.
(Yep, fairly similar. . .)
Next time, and every time, we do the 4th and 1.
I dont care if the defense would back them up with 99 yards and 30 seconds..we do the 4th and 1
I dont care if we are on our own 20. We do the 4th and 1.
The odds of our offense getting it on one more play, versus our defense getting a stop.. let the O handle it.
Thanks for the podcast. You guys hit all the key points. Russell and the offense had a spectacular night (minus Olsen who caused the INT and a false start and was not a factor after that). Russel had almost 300 yards and 5 TDS, running game tacked on 150 yards at 5.1 yard a clip and we scored 35 points and had a better time of possession and still barely won the game. We couldn’t apply any pressure on Cam all night (I have to admit he looked better than I thought). To add one more stat to your point, Adams’ 10 tackles were the same number as the entire D line of Reed (3), Poona (1), Collier (1), Mone (1), Mayowa (2), Moore(0) and Rush (2). And he had more sacks (1) than the entire D line (0).
I looked up and Cameron Wake had an 83 score last year Per PFF (78 against the pass and 65 against the run). We need to sign both him and Clay after the injury to Irvin who didn’t do much tonight anyways.
BTW, SF had a horrible day. In addition to bunch of previous injuries to Kittle, Sherman, Ford and Debo, they lost Mostert and Coleman and may have lost both Bosa and Solomon Thomas to ACL tears and out for the year. You knew with the shortened camps and no preseasons we would have more injuries. But this is horrible.
High ankle sprain for Garrapolo today too. They were beat up before the season started and had a number of additional injuries in a rough week 1 upset loss to a division foe.
They have what would normally be considered an easier game against the Giants next week and are in the “soft” part of their schedule. Can they hold their season together until some of these guys get back? The Rams, Cardinals and Seattle are all off to hot starts and Arizona’s schedule is also pretty friendly until they face Seattle in Week 7. The Rams and Seattle have challenging week 3 matchups but some more winnable games after that. The NFC West is a hard division to win and SF has gone from preseason favorite to win the division to possible 4th place team.
Yeah … the schedule for the NFC West the next few weeks looks like this:
WEEK 3:
Seattle hosts Dallas
Arizona plays AT Detroit
San Francisco plays AT the Giants
The Rams play AT Buffalo
WEEK 4:
Seattle plays AT Miami
Arizona plays AT Carolina
San Francisco hosts the Eagles
The Rams host the Giants
WEEK 5:
Seattle hosts Minnesota
Arizona is AT the Jets
San Francisco hosts Miami
The Rams play AT Washington
Heading into the Week 6 bye, Seattle could be looking at Arizona being 5-0, the Niners being 4-1, and the Rams being either 5-0 or 4-1 (depending on how they fare against Buffalo). Of the 4 NFC West teams, Seattle arguably has the hardest schedule the next 3 weeks.
Should be interesting.
Note: Arizona faces Dallas during our bye (Week 6) and the Rams play AT San Francisco so there’s a definite possibility that Seattle could be looking at three 5-1 teams after the bye (and hopefully looking DOWN at them with a 5-0 record of their own).
The second half of the season is pretty brutal though – especially for San Francisco (after facing us in Week 8, they have games vs. Green Bay, AT New Orleans, vs. Buffalo, and AT Dallas, plus 3 division games and only Washington as an “easy” win).
Boy that’s a murderer’s row for AZ the next 3 weeks isn’t it?
Detroit
Carolina
Jets
eyeroll
Loss of Bosa and Thomas is tough. Their ferocious DL was their biggest advantage over the Hawks. Mostert has a MCL sprain so his loss is impactful and they have been decimated at WR Position. Overall, they are in worse shape than we were at the end of last season and this is after two games. Their upcoming soft schedule is their only blessing.
Per Seth Walder of ESPN Analytics:
When Jamal Adams was the nearest defender to the targeted receiver tonight, the Patriots went 6-6 for 157 yards, per NFL Next Gen Stats. One, *maybe* two, of those catches might not have been Adams’ responsibility. But the point remains.
(thought this was interesting, not trying to “say” anything by posting it)
The loss of Diggs at FS was huge. He calms the defense down and the unit plays better when he is in the game. I suspect Adams was trying to overplay to make up for his absence. If he was, I can completely understand. He hasn’t gotten used to having quality players around him, unlike in NYJ, so hasn’t built the trust up yet to “do his job” and let others handle what they are supposed to be doing.
The “quality players” are all on the other side of the ball…
C’mon now…Bobby is elit.
KJ is OK, Griffin was OK too, Dunbar is up-and-down but Blair is/was OK. We have quality players on the defense too. Star players? Only Adams and BWagz but most teams can’t stack like 4-6 stars on both side of the ball
In the 2nd half they played a lot of cover 2 and on a lot of those I saw that Adams “gave up” it wasn’t from a blown assignment or anything. Edelman made a few great catches from great throws, others it was from everyone playing soft zones.
Adams isn’t a backend safety. He needs a true FS behind him to let him do his best work.
I suspect that no safety will have good coverage stats when the quarterback has all day to throw.
In one of the pregame shows I heard Adams is such a dynamic player playing near the line may be teams should get him in space and test him out. And they mentioned having only 2 interceptions may be a clue. I didn’t think he was badly out of place in some of those completions and they were great throw and catches by Cam and Edelman.
Good News. 😀
Another gritty win. Russell was spectacular. It was fascinating to watch Metcalf outpower the smaller Gilmore all night.
Is there any hope they will can sign a pass rusher before it’s too late?
What about Sheard? Is he still available or opted out? Just read at the beginning of the off-season he was on their radar but haven’t heard anything since.
I can’t help but feel.. Jamal Adams is elite near the line of scrimmage and mediocre playing deep in coverage.
Yep I think the same he’s not a deep cover safety. He’s solid for slants and shorter TE/RB routes but he won’t take a WR to a deep route.
He should be just lined up anywhere between the LoS and 10 yards from it and either take a TE/RB man to man or blitz or spy or be accountable for the short side/middle
He always seems a hair late diagnosing the route of the receiver he’s supposed to cover.
He’s fast. We know that, but he hesitates just a bit before acting upon his decision on how and when to attack the receiver. If he just responded quicker he’d be great in coverage.
.
Thank you, #63 Anthony Rush for keeping D.K. Metcalf from get eject from the game for fight. Also, save the Seahawks from getting a 15 yard personal foul penalty. D.K. definitely wanted to punch Gilmore but, #90 help “Rush” D.K. out of there.
DK Metcalf and Stephon Gilmore Fight on the Sideline.
https://youtu.be/kc1-rmKnUEY
Missed the game last night but managed to catch the highlights. Whole lot of Cam Newton standing in the pocket sipping some tea and then comfortably throwing the ball. Our offence looks electric though thankfully.
* Wasn’t meant as a reply
“Interesting” that the refs failed to see Gilmore grab and sling DK on that wasn’t it?
I would just like to big up the team, everyone contributed.
2 n Zero against 2 MVP QBs, I’m enjoying the viewing and how pumped the defence were after stopping Cam at the end.
Motivation, continuing belief and momentum coupled with star players performing highly looking forward to the next game.
Our pass rush really isn’t good…but I don’t get one thing…
Our D is not so bad until the end of the game…but last quarter, last drive or two, our defense isn’t bad but there isn’t defense at all…
It looks like we cant stop anything nor anyone in laste few drives…
They gave up “only” 16 points for first 55 minutes…and then they would give easy 14p in last 5 min if there were few seconds more for NEP…
Just like against ATL…just like few times last year…
D line can hardly apply much pressure. Last night they were also gassed at the end after NE having so many long drives in the game.
What no one really talked about:
How good Carson moved recently in the backfield? We need to pay him now I think. He seems wiser, more patient. Wait for a hole then hit it and finish with a bang. And pretty good at catching the ball too. Hyde also seems like a really good back, nice cuts, reading blocks can pop too.
And…
Wth was that with Pats’ WRs crazy wide open? Ton of times Edelman or Byrd was so open that no one was around him for 5-6 yards. I understand that having the time WRs can shake coverage and have more success finding holes in the zone but this much open? Was the zones this soft? Did the DBs afraid to step up and let someone run deeper? Was that on Ken Norton? Or the DBs? Or it’d happen in every defense on every team with so little pressure?
Still early but unless major changes on the DL (which likely won’t come as we don’t have much money nor trade ammo):
W3 – vs Dallas: I think this will be really close. Heartbreak lose or nailbiting win. I expect a ton of point, probably at least 70 between the two teams. I hope this can be a W for us
W4 – vs Dolphins: This should be a fairly simple W.
W5 – vs Vikings: I think the Vikes were overrated the beginning of the season. But our matches are always close. Depend a ton of our and their injury situation and if the passrush can be a bit better by then. As I give us the Cowboys game, I think we’ll lose one of these two so this is an L for me.
W6 – Bye
W7 – vs Cardinals – I think we’ll split with Arizona. They always play hard against us and they are an up-and-coming team. I’ll give the first to the Hawks after the by, so a W.
W8 – vs SF – I think the injuries will be too much for them. Might get back some guys by then but I think at least we’ll win the first. So a W again
W9 – vs Bills. Dunno much about them. I’d hope for a win but this might be a surprise loose. But now I’m gonna give the Hawks a W.
W10 – vs Rams – Yeah…I doubt Lewis-Pocic-Shell will be able to handle Donald. And McVay is too smart not to handle our defense. A L will be
W11 – vs Cards. After the Rams L we might bounce back but I think the Cardinals will give us an L and since I give us the previous game this is also an L.
W12 – vs Eagles. Eagles are not doing so well…But I think Wentz is only mediocre and Russ can handle their defense, so thought about “losing” this game but just cannot do, it’s a W
W13 – vs Giants. Yeah I just have to put a W in here also. Their QB is just not a vet and savvy one that could really dissect our defense because lack of pressure.
W14 – vs Jets. Simple W, Adams might totally ruin the Jets’ gameplan.
W15 – Washington. A mildly surprise losing game. Their front 7 is really good. And while Russ is amazing 99% of the time when he’s constantly harrassed he can make rush decisions. And while Haskins is not the greatest I think they’ll handle us because of their defense. So a L for me.
W16 – Rams. While thought about splitting with them I think they’ll re-emerge this year. Their offense is not amazing but just good enough that with McVay they’ll be able to take advantage of our sorry DL. And their defense is pretty good so Russ might not put up that many points against them. Another L
W17 – vs 49ers. This could go either way. But even losing some starters for the season and some for a couple of games I think the niners D will be pretty solid. And while Jimmy is a mediocre QB Shannahan is a good coach, I have to give the second game to them. So another L
Uncharacteristic ending but it can happen. 10-6 at the end and I think probably Rams will win division, Hawks will be the first or second wildcard team. Likely lose in the first or second playoff game
Holy crap!! (just watched the whole replay this morning)
Wilson has evolved. Absolutely incredible.
DK taking it to Gilmore and the boss TD catch was my favorite part of the game.
Shoutout to David Moore for quietly making one of the key plays of the game on that low 3rd down catch, not to mention the outstanding spatial awareness on that deep bomb.
Adams’ closing ability in the 2nd half was a thing to behold.
Why even send “rushers” at this point…? I can’t recall a single time they even managed to move Cam off his spot without blitzers. Might as well just contain and drop into prevent D. So frustrating.
Injuries suck. What a terrible week across the whole league on that front. Let’s hope it was just a fluke and not a consequence of no preseason. (ps. wtf was KJ thinking?)
ps. wtf was KJ thinking
Just unreal…one of the most experience, one of the brightest…after play ended, he seriously injured his team mate…I watched it over and over againg and just couldn’t believe…
Adams gave 156 yards on 6 targets (all 6 comletitions)…
If Cam had put a little less mustard on that throw, or two inches lower, or just led him to the post… Cam had time as he was under no pressure at all.
Or heck, if Edelman hadn’t been completely gassed, he probably catches that ball 7 times out of 10.
https://twitter.com/CharlesRobinson/status/1307885973691404288
As always, some things gotta bounce your way.
Well, now Russ knows the bar to aim for on RZ jump balls…
https://twitter.com/PFF/status/1307848304701603840
Wow, what a come down? An entire article about our lousy pass rush after one of the more exciting games we’ve seen in recent memory. This supposed championship calibre offense netted 28 points against a team missing half of its starting defence due to opt outs, whilst the defence only conceded 23, whilst playing back up safety’s for three quarters. When the game was on the line, the offence failed to gain 1 yard. When the game was on the line the defence stepped up and made an almost impossible stop.
Really appreciate everything you do here Rob but nobody is arguing with you that our pass rush sucks.
Whenever I read a message like this, I bury my head in my hands.
Do you not realise that this is THE defining issue with this team?
Do you want to win a Super Bowl? Or do you just want to bask in one solitary win that they nearly chucked down the toilet? Are you content not winning the NFC West again, getting dumped out early in the playoffs just like the last five years?
Because if you want to bask in the win and not think about Super Bowls or where this team is heading, fine. But don’t you dare come on here and complain about those of us who actually want to discuss the most important thing regarding this team.
If you want fluff — you can find it. This week I’m sure there will be a nice fat long read on D.K. Metcalf being ‘really good’ or Russell Wilson ‘being a MVP candidate’ somewhere else. Me writing that is a total and utter waste of my time.
It’s ALL about the pass rush. It’s the ONLY thing that matters. Because it WILL cost this team a chance to win a title. It WILL waste another season of prime Wilson.
And if that doesn’t piss you off, it bloody well should do.
As for ‘nobody is arguing with you’ about this — are you having a laugh??? I’ve been sent abuse for months telling me how wrong I am. That Jamal Adams will make up for no pass rush. That Mayowa’s sacks and Irvin’s sacks = more than the impact of Clowney. That ‘fixing the pass rush’ really meant trusting Green and Collier.
But now the reality is hitting home those people are now complaining about me talking about it.
Pull your socks up and get real people. This is the only serious topic in town. This MUST be fixed or they WILL waste another season.
To each his own I suppose.
To me, failing to enjoy a spectacularly entertaining win because I believe aspects of the game foretell difficulty in winning the championship somewhere down the line is suspect. You have to enjoy what you’re watching or else there is no point in watching it. I’ve spent years rooting from that all-or-nothing boat and it never satisfies, even when you do win.
Tell me, imagine what happens if they do manage to scratch and claw their way to the title with this subpar pass rush, manufacturing pressure at key moments just enough to get by (like, say, the 16 Patriots, with a so-so 34 sacks on the year). Will you be happy? Will you go back and re-watch this Patriots game and enjoy it this time? Will you write off the win as a fluky outcome of bad process?
Is there any way you’re going to enjoy watching the Seahawks this year?
I’m sorry — but again — I find comments like this so frustrating.
Do you HONESTLY think if this team makes the Super Bowl in its current guise that I WON’T enjoy it? For crying out loud. That’s one of the silliest things I ever read. I stayed up until 6am last night, had two hours sleep and went to work. You think I do all that because I want the team to lose so I can come on and harp about the pass rush?
Ridiculous.
Let me turn the question back on YOU.
Imagine they DON’T scratch and claw their way to the title. Imagine the pass rush costs them a serious shot at it. Imagine it prevents them from winning the NFC West and they crash out on the road in the playoffs again without making even the NFCCG?
Are you going to sit there with a warm and fuzzy feeling because they won this game?
Because guess which is more likely? My scenario. Not yours.
I see a quarterback and offense capable of winning Super Bowls and I see a defense capable of preventing it from happening. And I want to actually win Super Bowls. Not random games in week two.
So feel free to enjoy this win.
But stop accusing me or anyone else of any lesser fandom because we want to talk about legitimate problems with the roster while you just want to bury your head in the sand like a giant ostrich.
Honestly Rob, yeah, I do feel like you wouldn’t really enjoy it. I feel like you’d be relieved more than elated. But that’s not a judgment on you, it’s my impression of the words you’re putting out there.
And for your question to me? Well yeah, I would still enjoy having this win. The Hawks have only won that lone Super Bowl, as we all know…so the vast, vast, vast majority of my pleasant Seahawks memories are non-Super-Bowl-wins. The last three regular season victories against the Patriots (the Kam-Gronk game, the CJ Prosise full realization, and this one) are indelible pleasures that will never be taken from me. Even if this doesn’t become a title year, I will still find a lot of value and pleasure from the time I spend on this team. If that makes me a giant ostrich, well, so be it I guess.
I don’t want this to be contentious Rob, I’ve been reading here for years and really do generally enjoy your writing and insight, and you’ve got great draft and scouting chops. I do notice a distinct shift in tone over the years though. There is no joy in this write up, nothing positive to bask in – only the negatives.
Four-five years ago, we still had this QB in his prime capable of winning it all, and we were wasting several his prime years with poor OL performance, much like what you see happening with the DL today. Your approach at that time was not to relentlessly beat the drum that the team’s OL strategy was fundamentally flawed (though it was) and that they should’ve been taking a radically different approach to stocking it (though they should have). Instead, you posited that these are professionals who know what they’re doing in the front office, so instead of pretending we could do better, let’s try to unpack, explain, and predict what their logic is. That led you to TEF and a run of great insight into how PCJS were trying to create a good OL on the cheap. Anyone could’ve written blogs about how they should’ve signed Free Agent OL X or drafted Alabama OL Y but you took a different approach.
I really, really liked that approach.
I agree with JustaGuy.
Honestely, Rob, what do you expect they are going to do about the pass rush right now? Signing Clay Matthews is not going to solve it, we know that. You have most of us convinced that the pass rush is a serious problem. I agree with you. They fucked up the offseason, we get it.
Now what? We’re just going to give up the season? This is the team we have to root for. Let’s enjoy the part of the team that is playing out of its mind.
I know you are sensitive to criticism ins this topic, Rob. But try to see from part of your readership point of view. Reading the same article again and agian after every win/loss is not fun or constructive.
Would you both rather he just ignore it and pretend it isn’t a problem? Russell is brilliant. The offense is the best in years. But the dline and pass rush will define the season. Therefore, it’s difficult to argue that on a Seahawks blog it shouldn’t be the dominant topic. Especially on a blog with “draft” in the title which to me is a blog all about how the team improves.
Thank you
When have I said anything about giving up?
I’ve quite clearly said they need to act. You say Clay Matthews is not going to solve anything. Is he better than Mayowa? Green? Collier? To me yes he is. So sign him.
Consider Cameron Wake
Go and sign Snacks or Dareus.
Do something to avoid a wasted season.
“I know you are sensitive to criticism ins this topic, Rob. But try to see from part of your readership point of view. Reading the same article again and agian after every win/loss is not fun or constructive.”
Here we go again.
People like you just try to undermine me to avoid answering the legit points I raise.
It’s easier to call me ‘sensitive to criticism’ and complain that I’m not writing the articles YOU want to read than it is to actually counter any of my points.
It’s pathetic and I see right through it.
“Honestly Rob, yeah, I do feel like you wouldn’t really enjoy it. I feel like you’d be relieved more than elated. But that’s not a judgment on you, it’s my impression of the words you’re putting out there.”
Then you are so wrong it’s unreal.
Total abject nonsense designed to undermine rather than address the points raised.
A consistent feature these days unfortunately.
I do agree with the stuff your saying here about being able to enjoy wins without the stress of what’s to come later in the season, with the caveat that talking about the persistent issues is still extremely important. Perhaps this article focuses too much on the performance of the dline for your tastes but that is Rob’s prerogative to write about what he sees as important.
But this thing about how he has dealt with writing about this issue vs writing about the OL, is trying to build an Oline on the cheap was the Seahawks’ plan. A bad plan in hindsight, but a plan you can make sense of nonetheless. Whereas this season it was abundantly clear that resigning Clowney was the plan. A plan they failed at so comprehensively that what they have left is a complete disaster, its impossible to look at this position group in any way other than a failure in roster management and to write about it in any other way would be a disservice to the honest reporting we expect.
So yeah, I completely agree that I will happily enjoy this win and look fondly back at it as I do all Seahawks wins, but let’s also appreciate why this is a topic of discussion in addition to celebrating a win.
I really like the comparison to the o-line issues of years past. Rob is entitled to write whatever he wants and I support that. I do think that SDB is starting to feel like Field Gulls did in the midst of our o-line issues. I am not saying that one cannot criticize the Seahawks but when every article is written from the same perspective every time, it begins to get old.
This site is nothing like Field Gulls.
And it never will be.
It’s just another way to undermine to avoid discussing the subjects.
I am not trying to insult you and I obviously touched a nerve. For that, I sincerely apologize.
The culture of Field Gulls (esp during the 2015-2019 stretch) was one where it seemed as though every article was written from the paradigm of the struggling o-line. No one could argue that our o-line wasn’t bad (it was indeed) but when post game articles after exciting victories couldn’t be spared from same repeated talking points, it became stale and ultimately drove me to SDB.
I hope that you can see that I have no problem discussing the subject of our bad pass rush, but every article from July until now (it seems) has not only mentioned the subject, but hammered it home. The pass rush is bad but last night was exciting game and I felt disappointed by the tone of your writing. I acknowledge that I am probably not your target audience so this means very little… just my personal feelings.
Ultimately, this is your blog and you are entitled to run it however you see fit and I enjoy your work. My perception of the culture here (for now) remains as I stated above.
I’m just tired John of people telling me what I should or shouldn’t write about.
I’m not bothered what Field Gulls did in the past. I’m going to talk about important issues regarding this team. This is the only important topic right now. It’s the difference between possible success and more failure.
I don’t know if you know the meaning of the word “subpar” or you’re giving the pass rush way more credit than they deserve to bolster your argument.
Subpar means “below average.” The pass rush isn’t below average. It’s atrocious. I’d LOVE to have subpar at this point.
Chris Collinsworth said ‘Jamal Adams is their best pass rusher’ on the broadcast. Consider that. There isn’t a single DT, DE or LB worth considering for that title.
RW threw 5 TDs and the only pick was delivered perfectly into the TE’s hands. The offense ran for 150 yards without a fumble. Special Teams was spot on rock solid. And they nearly lost the game.
The argument that we should just sit back and enjoy these games are akin to someone who has gone on a massive shopping spree and bought all kinds of toys. The credit card bill is coming in the mail. But hey, don’t think about that. Stop being so negative trying to find a way to dig ourselves out the massive debt we’ve accumulated, let’s just enjoy the toys.
So what’s the alternative? Not enjoy the good part at all and complain about the pass rush, with the same arguments, for the rest of the season?
It’s done. The pass rush is bad and, save for a miracle, will continue to be bad for the rest of the season.
Should we give up now?
No. Like any problem, you’re best to work on correcting it.
1-Watch for any signs of improvement
2-Discuss alternatives
3-Demand accountability for those who have refused to address it when they had the chance
Bingo
I absolutely believe it is worth discussing whatever limited options there might be to fix it.
i didn’t find it as a come down article and video at all. Highlighted all the positives. I know I can enjoy a win, and still critique what needs to be fixed to get this team to the next level. I think Rob is giving a fair quick game summary. I myself see a Superbowl contending offense; but this D-Line & Pass Rush is so bad it could actually cost you a playoff spot completely if not addressed.
I get tired of the articles and videos that only focus on what’s good.
There’s no excuse to waste this seasons offense with Russell Wilson possibilities of getting to a Superbowl.
Yes enjoy the possitives and wins; but we can’t ignore what we need to get where Seahawks fans should want us to be.
That’s a Superbowl.
Thank you for getting it Scot04.
For me it starts with a glass half empty sort of Headline.
It could just as easily have been “Seahawks win a close game”
I can’t control what anyone else talks about – but I’m going to enjoy this win!
I don’t care what anyone thinks about the headline or the article.
I owe nothing to anyone. I wrote that at 4:30am in the morning.
If some people don’t like what I want to write about, it is what it is.
I honestly don’t know what to think with some of these people. They seem aware of the issue, yet don’t think its important enough to write about?? The issue, unaddressed as it is, is so impossibly glaring that it can and probably will cost the Seahawks their season. Can we really depend on RW for 18 games to produce 3-5 TD, no INT, 9 yards / attempt + 70-80% completion rate? It doesn’t mean a lick if the opposing offenses can drink mimosas while passing and running on our D at will….
Unreal. Rob, I’ve been reading your blog since I was in high school. I’ve never thought you to be overly negative nor overly positive. You call it how you see it.
As fans, this issue SHOULD be important. You can still enjoy wins while being rightly worried for the teams ability to sustain this success that is so reliant on the ability of RWs magical arm. Its not super hard to accept. The offense seems like its humming right along and the D is out taking a piss. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thank you 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
We have known about this issue since the Clowney saga started in April/May. We are all aware of the issue. We all know it won’t be fixed this year, unless there is some incredible surprise. By my estimation it will take not one, but two more good defensive linemen to fix the pass rush.
I also understand that the offense will have to score a lot of points every game this year. And when they don’t get a critical third down late in the game, they are throwing the burden of winning on a defense that we all agree is subpar.
I will continue to read this blog. Rob = you are an incredible fountain of knowledge and I thank you for your efforts. I also like your podcasts with Robbie. Thanks again.
Then go find those pass rushers.
I don’t want to give up on the season.
Any chance the difference was those teams actually knew how to fall on an onside kick?
Seattle was one yard from being in the same category as Atlanta yesterday, as far as blown leads.
I agree with Robbie, let Alton Robinson and Deandre Walker have a shot. This defense is bottom of the league in yards and points, and have zero ability to affect the passer with their DL. How much worse could the D be with those two playing? They have to sign somebody, and will have to hope that someone becomes available via trade within a few weeks. In the meantime, get Clay Mathews, or Wake, or Suggs they can be cut with no guarantees if you acquire someone else. The level of dumpster fire this defense is facing is jawdropping. Especially since 1) the offense is so good, 2) the talent in the back 7 of this defense is there to be good, but they get zero help from up front.
Look at all the positives that risk being lost.
The Special Teams looks pretty good this year too (aside from Meyers, who we basically have not seen yet). They have made some big hits, cover well, return game has been a positive, Michael Dickson is booming the ball again he looks like his rookie year.
The OL has been pretty ok. We didnt notice Pocic all game until a bad snap on that 3rd and 1 at the end. We lost our NB and Ugo comes in and plays well. Lano Hill looks like a good contributor. David Moore has been very reliable, with the spectacular TD catch added. Freddie Swain has made two great catches to start. Schotty is calling great games, with some very creative plays.
Dunbar has made 3 plays on a ball that all could have been picked. We havent seen that in years.
This is a huge list of positives, that have the look of a really good team. Despite all of that, the defense might be the worst in the NFL. And that all falls on one position group.
Speaking of ST and Moore, he’s done a very nice job returning punts so far. Definitely an improvement in that area.
NFL Team Opponent Passing Yards per Game
More Team Stats…
Season:
2020
Date:
09/21/2020
Rank Team 2020 Last 3 Last 1 Home Away 2019
1 Indianapolis 122.5 122.5 95.0 95.0 150.0 248.9
2 NY Giants 188.5 188.5 169.0 208.0 169.0 264.1
3 Houston 190.0 190.0 177.0 177.0 203.0 269.2
4 San Francisco 198.5 198.5 173.0 224.0 173.0 178.8
5 Philadelphia 208.5 208.5 258.0 258.0 159.0 246.1
6 Baltimore 210.5 210.5 253.0 168.0 253.0 199.9
7 Cincinnati 213.0 213.0 219.0 207.0 219.0 244.8
8 Arizona 221.0 221.0 199.0 199.0 243.0 281.9
9 Detroit 221.5 221.5 229.0 214.0 229.0 284.4
10 New Orleans 224.0 224.0 224.0 224.0 — 240.8
11 Carolina 228.0 228.0 217.0 239.0 217.0 231.0
12 New England 228.5 228.5 275.0 182.0 275.0 173.9
13 LA Chargers 231.0 231.0 289.0 289.0 173.0 200.2
14 Green Bay 233.0 233.0 218.0 218.0 248.0 225.3
15 Pittsburgh 238.5 238.5 215.0 215.0 262.0 194.6
16 NY Jets 241.5 241.5 177.0 177.0 306.0 236.2
17 LA Rams 243.0 243.0 242.0 244.0 242.0 226.6
18 Washington 243.0 243.0 278.0 208.0 278.0 238.9
19 Chicago 254.0 254.0 220.0 220.0 288.0 222.1
20 Buffalo 256.5 256.5 311.0 202.0 311.0 196.6
21 Las Vegas 259.0 259.0 259.0 — 259.0 256.7
22 Tampa Bay 264.5 264.5 340.0 340.0 189.0 270.1
23 Tennessee 265.5 265.5 315.0 315.0 216.0 259.3
24 Dallas 268.0 268.0 267.0 267.0 269.0 223.5
25 Kansas City 269.0 269.0 296.0 242.0 296.0 226.9
26 Denver 274.0 274.0 301.0 247.0 301.0 225.6
27 Miami 276.5 276.5 413.0 413.0 140.0 262.4
28 Cleveland 277.5 277.5 285.0 285.0 270.0 216.9
29 Minnesota 283.5 283.5 203.0 364.0 203.0 227.0
30 Jacksonville 294.0 294.0 231.0 357.0 231.0 236.1
31 Atlanta 372.0 372.0 445.0 299.0 445.0 244.9
32 Seattle 415.5 415.5 397.0 397.0 434.0 256.7
one thing i’ll say re the above – – if you have an explosive offense (esp an explosive passing offense), you nearly always end up giving up a lot of yards on defense too.
the other team is often behind (as has been the case the first 2 weeks), and looking to throw from the start. They also know they have to keep scoring b/c they can’t stop you.
Every once in a while, you get an explosive offense and a really good defense at the same time – and those teams win the SB, or catch a bad break and don’t. I suppose Baltimore is the team that comes closest to this category right now.
That should not make you last in the NFL.
So much to digest from the game last night. I hate being on the East coast and having games like that. My heart rate takes hours to return to earth after endings like that and it makes Monday morning suck so much worse. Kudos to you Rob for getting up/staying up for the game. Dedication my friend!
1. DK can have my babies any time he wants. I think its only a matter of time before he is in the discussion as the best WR in the league. He made Gilmore look silly.
2. David Moore, holy cow what a catch and toe tap. Top to bottom Id say the Hawks have one of the deepest if not the best WR room in the NFL. May not have the absolute monster at the top (yet) but 1-3 is solid, and #4 has speed to burn. Lockett has an otherworldly chemistry with Russ that Im not even sure Doug had. So incredible to watch.
3. Pass rush…what pass rush? more like Pass hush…
4. Amadi wasthisclose to stopping the end of game drive. Man I really wanted him to get a finger on that ball. Cam has REALLY elevated his passing game this year, so kudos to him.
5. How bout Dickson? 2 HUGE punts to pin them deep. a 65 yarder, then stopped one on the 2. Granted, Defense gave up 35 yd passes like they were halloween candy at 10 pm and the grumpy old man next door was done with all these stupid kids and their tricks and treats…but its nice to see him placing the ball and booming the everlasting poop out of it again.
6. Return game looked really strong last night both on punts and KO. Not sure if it is a one time thing or we should expect more of it, but it was promising to see.
here’s one question.
We held the pats to 7 pts in the first half. What changed so dramatically in our effectiveness in the 2nd?
Did they just play better? Did they go for it more?
Injuries/ejection didn’t help obviously. I glossed over the Atlanta 4th quarter last week, b/c that game was never really in question, and i’ve seen many games go down that way. Yesterday was not at all the same thing. It just underscored what we all know, that you have to be able to make a play on the QB in the 4th quarter.
The difference was the same reason why everyone wants to let Russ cook. The Pats offense completely abandoned any attempt to run and began to pass every down which severely exposed the Seahawks pass rush and nearly won them the game. Same as ATL last week. This was the exact genesis of the Let Russ Cook movement. Trying to maintain a balanced attack even when the running game isn’t working and the D is daring you to throw, falling behind and then letting the QB loose.
As I have watched the last two games, I’ve alternated between delight at the wins and the outstanding play of individuals, on the one hand, and frustration with the foreseeable weaknesses that will rob the Hawks of championships, on the other. Leadership has been responsible for both the good and the bad. The good is glaringly good, and the bad is glaringly bad.
I’m not sure there is precedent for this situation in Hawk history. We’ve had shitty OLs before, to be sure, but I can’t think of any time at which an OL has been as bad at its job as this DL is at generating pressure, at least so far this season. And to rub salt in that wound, that inability was utterly predictable.
So I’m presented with a choice–take it game by game, reveling in what we do well, or shaking my head at what could have been if we’d just done ANYTHING on the damn DL in the offseason that made a lick of difference on the field.
And I choose both, in as equal measure as I can muster. Joy and frustration is a typical blend for an NFL fan, but this season just may take the cake.
NFCW is 7-0 outside of the division. There be talent here matey.
LOVES
-RW another level.
The only other thing I have to add, 2 or 3x he actually threw the ball away when under pressure instead of taking the sack. I’m cautiously optimistic he made the Atlanta game note about the sack being on him and applied it.
The throws. OMG
Collinsworth pointed out RW saw the change in the D and called the exact right play to counter it and got 5 yards without breaking a sweat. Yeah long balls. Yeah scrambling. But this right here, we’re seeing the coalescence of his physical and mental skills.
-DK taking on and beating the best. This is a big, big step for him. Gilmore erases WRs and Metcalf brought his game to a whole new level.
-The level of improvement in the OL is extremely encouraging. RW had time to make decisions, the running game was nearly an automatic 5 yards every time.
LIKES
-David Moore. All offseason he was the easy cut to get other players by Hawks fans. And yes, the Hawks should have just resigned him to a veteran contract instead of tendering him. But Moore was making the team. He showed why tonight. The catch off the grass on 3rd down was special. And that TD catch with the spatial awareness. Unreal. Also he seemingly has the punt return duties locked for now and that’s important to PC. RW’s trust + versatility in the passing game + special teams reliability.
-Brian Schottenheimer. Another fantastic game plan. The routes to vacate the crossing routes all night was brilliant. Lockett seemed to be roaming free about 6 yards deep all night. And that Swain TD play was genius. Lining Lockett up at RB (?? LOL) and emptying out the middle left Swain with the easiest first TD a guy could ever ask for. Points off for the strange 3rd & 1 call and the white flag on the series after the NE missed FG.
-Dickson is having a rebound year. That 64 yard bomb was insane, and when the Hawks really needed it.
DISLIKES
-Olsen had a bad game. The tip pick, a penalty and not much else.
-Defensive game personnel choices were a miss. The defense brought up Rush in anticipation of the same game run-heavy offensive gameplan from the Pats as they ran last week. Instead McDaniels & BB carpet bombed this defense with passes. At this point, shouldn’t the plan with BB be, whatever they ran last week, you should plan for the opposite this week? Where is Alton Robinson with Green hurt? Why did it take until Bruce got hurt to get Damontre Moore into the game?
-What was KJ doing/thinking on the Blair injury?
HATES
-Pass rush.
Not using Robinson? Blitzing KJ?
Again, the desperation of the Jamal trade shows. PC needing to fork over a massive haul, and then altering his entire defensive strategy to utilize his talents. He’s not their best pass rusher, he’s their ONLY pass rusher at this point. If Adams doesn’t get home, the defense is in serious trouble.
It’s actually worse than I imagined it would be. Even RW said post-game “We needed to score a bunch of points tonight.” No kidding.
For the second week, #99 Damontre Moore flashed to me as someone who had some nice rushes on limited snaps.
“Shouldn’t the plan with BB be whatever they ran last week, you should plan for the opposite this week.”
Yes, yes it should be.
“-What was KJ doing/thinking on the Blair injury?”
Seriously. That was basically a late hit on a downed runner that likely cost Blair his season. Really stupid move.
How much cap room do we have? Seems like we should have a significant sum, given that we were holding money to sign Clowney and didn’t do it.
About 9M of real cap room last I heard (which was right before season started). Pretty sure you can still restructure deals for savings during season, so convert BWagz remaining salary to bonus, and then that total gets prorated across the life of the contract. So they can easily sign a vet DT (Dareus, Snacks) and whatever pass rusher (Mathews, Wake) is laying on the scrap heaps for 5-6M each. Not saying the guys that are out there are worth that much, but if it makes bad to ok, instead of completely terrible worst in the NFL, then you need to do it.
Dion Jordon is on the 49rs PS. The rotting corpse of Ziggy Ansah we saw last year is better than what we are marching out there right now.
9ers lost Bosa and Solomon Thomas. They are likely promoting Jordan and signing Ziggy.
They need to do something though. However, they’ve needed to do something for months and haven’t, so who knows.
I truly believe this team would be a legit SB contender if they had addressed the DL. The whole defense looks so much better when the QB is pressured and you can stop the run on early downs. It leads to more turnovers and better coverage in the secondary. Everything on the defensive side of the ball starts with giving the QB less time to make decisions and get the ball out.
The sad part is I think it will be virtually impossible to fix the problem now for this season. I tried to think of all possible options and the best I could come up with was.
Realistic : sign Matthews and Wake to try and at least have a rotation. Keep them all fresh and hope for the best.
Best and possible: Contact the Redskins about Ryan Kerrigan. He will be a free agent. They have DL depth and this is a rebuild in Washington. Maybe you can pick him up as a rental down the stretch.
Also can someone explain to me WTF the Hawks were thinking trading up for Darrel Taylor without having a good handle on his injury and if he would be ready for this season. It is inexcusable IMO. It would be different if he got hurt in camp or something but this was pre-existing injury with a player who had injury issues his whole career.
I think he has had setbacks and/or something else happen.
Someone showed a Twitter or IG clip of him from July before camp, he was training and doing pass rush drills full speed. Now he is not even running yet.
Like Bellichick with WRs, Pete has an obvious weakness when it comes to drafting Dline. If I had a guess, some of his obvious annoyance with the situation and the questions being asked about it are at least in part frustration with the Taylor situation. I think he was part of their off-season plan, if you could call it that.
Or like Bill Polian with short QBs from Wisconsin 🙂
There are twitter rumors floating around that the niners are also communicating with Cameron Wake.
Could just be rumors but either way, it’s time for the front office to make a move on anyone who can help the pass rush.
After two games (early days).
Defense
1. The pass rush is a liability. Could derail the season. Effort is great, talent lacking. Scheming?
2. The run defense is getting better. Could become good.
3. L.J. is getting better.
4. Diggs is a vital player for us. Everything works better with him.
5. Adams is already great around the line of scrimmage. He will become better in coverage.
6. Dunbar and Griffin were better in game two. Dunbar will have a lot of interceptions.
7. Blair would be a loss. Amadi played good enough though. Hill looks better then last year.
8. Wagner and KJ are playing at a high level. Irvin would be a loss.
9. The prevent defense at the end of games is very bad. That is coachable.
9. Mentality of the defense is good. Want to work for each other. Want to become better. Juice.
10. The defense is fast and hits.
11. Plays like the goal line stop will give confidence.
The secondary could become very good. Run defense could become good. Pass rush….as Pete said…good enough with creative scheming? If that taken together brings us to an above average defense … that would be good enough for a superbowl run. If pass rush brings the whole defense down to a level like last year, or worse….we could miss the playoffs, or lose rather quickly in the postseason.
Offense.
1. Russel plays at an unbelievable level. Best in a league with great QB’s.
2. Connection with Locket and Metcalf phenomenal.
3. Locket gets open.
4. Metcalf is getting even better then last year. He beat the best corner in the league.
5. Moore looks like a good third receiver. Better then last year. Gordon still to come.
6. Olsen had one good, one bad game. Tight end group looks good nevertheless. Blocking and catching.
7. Carson looks very good running and catching.
8. Running back group is deep. Will keep carson fresh till the playoffs?
9. Offensive line is getting better. It looks as if the emergency surgery has worked. Could be a good enough line. Russel has time in the pocket.
This is an unbelievably balanced offense. Very difficult to defend. The seahawks can beat you running, with short throws, with deep throws, with combinations of those. This offense can become even better then it already is, going forward. They can beat anybody.
Tom Pelissero
@TomPelissero
·18m
#Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs won’t face a suspension for the hit that got him ejected from last night’s win over the #Patriots, I’m told. The play will be reviewed for a possible fine.
Quandre, the FedEx guy is here with an envelope for you…………
Not sure we can afford Matthews, since he is already owed 2 mil and we’d have to significantly exceed that to get him to sign. Wake probably is more realistic from that standpoint.
Would Dion Jordan be an upgrade? At least he knows the defense.
No need to worry about Ansah resigning. He’s reportedly joining the 49ers with Bosa hurt.
Ryan Kerrigan makes sense as suggested by Trevor. Maybe we could trade a linebacker?
They are not getting value anywhere. They have to pay $ to get someone. More $ than they think is fair. The alternative is winding up 1 yard from losing a game, and actually losing a few too, where you score 35 points and play flawless special teams.
People hardly mention Jabaal Sheard. He is old too but at this point all options on the table
PC on KJR this morning
[q] Unbelievable last play
“Just regret fans not there. Game could’ve been easier, but we couldn’t quite get it done. LJ Collins (LOL) and Lano Hill, what a great play. Why not make a memory? Maybe I’m a little sick but I enjoyed the heck out of it.”
[q] Goal line stand?
“GL defense, Bobby made a great call. LJ got free. So aggressive in that moment, guys jacked. Made it happen just exactly the way we wanted. Spectacular hit.”
[q] Cam in shotgun puts pressure, learned over the course of the game?
“Suffered enough yes. QB takes ball from C, Wildcat, QB gets another blocker from RB, you have an advantage. Cam been using that concept for a long time. Credit to them, terrific GL package, took us a few times to figure out and get it stopped.”
[q] Sideline awesome, typical Seahawks sideline?
“Wanted it to be. Guys feel it, guys on other side feel it. Knowing there’s no one else there. We all we got. Exactly what I wanted. Counting on next week.”
[q] DK impressive performance, physicality vs Gilmore?
“Class DK brought to matchup. Didn’t back off for one second from start to finish. Commented on it respectfully. Physical, tough, just as much pride in blocking. Emergence of a great player. Mentality will take him. Has all the physical skills. Proud of him. Not gonna get too full of himself.”
[q] DK true competitor? Matchup brings it out?
“Good as it gets, early in year, early in career. He knows what just happened. Legitimate 1on1 going at it all night. What I like best was way he maintained. Officials looking to call a penalty, DK just did exactly way we wanted.”
[q] Cam rushed for bunch last week? This week?
“They don’t want to throw, they want to run and we didn’t let them do it. They had to throw the FB. There’s been some convo about pass rush, we missed 4 sacks! LJ had one, Benson had one, just had to get the guy down. Rush allowed us to be there. We make those sacks, extraordinary night of defense. Great night of football.”
[q] Pass rush, only time JA was blitzing? Better effort?
“if we’d sacked him 4 more times wouldn’t you have been more fired up? We’d have had 5 sacks and 3rd down stops. I didn’t make a big enough deal of how you had to sack him. Emphasize that more. I didn’t do enough there.”
[q] Schotty performance?
“Great, hope he continues to get recognition. RW and his connection. Upstairs in box helped too. Really in command of the game. Good rhythm, good mix. Running game consistently made first downs. RW beneficiary of that, confidence so high. Hard throwing the FB. Whistled that ball a few times. Obvious working well together.”
[q] TD throw to Moore?
“Actually felt the pylon, fantastic demonstration of poise & athleticism. RW on the ground on a couple TD passes, dropped perfect pass. Throw really extraordinary.”
[q] Carson catcher?
“Really good basketball player, great hands.”
[q] Ugo?
“Great job coming in. Expectations for position very high. Experience from last year, very aggressive, went at it. Really fired up for him. Beautiful play on reverse. Don’t know on Blair yet, no results from MRI. Ugo gonna have to take over for a bit. Don’t know how long.”
[q] Irvin?
“Attitude strong, don’t know about extent yet. He was hurt for sure. Have to wait and see.”
[q] Brown?
“Really mad got rolled up on. Shake it off. Wait and see how he is this week. Mostly mad.”
[q] 3rd and 1 to Lockett, Cover Zero?
“precisely what happened. Zero coverage, had 2 easy routes underneath, both got jammed, snap not great on the play. He knows he has Tyler on that route. Decision tells you who RW is. Great choice he made. Just like choice on 4th down last week.”
[q] Carson slid on first down clock run?
“Really mindful of that, situation did well.”
[q] Game feel like in locker room?
“Blast in locker room. Celebrate with guys. Lot of individual performances. Great lessons. About finishing, make yourself available for the win. A lot of emotion, respect for NE. Banged up guys, emotion for them. Feel bad we can’t share it with the fans.”
[q] Noise complaint in Seattle from last play, fans yelling and screaming LOL united together
“Dunbar said felt like crowd went wild on that play. Explosion of emotion at that moment, felt like crowd there. Never felt that before.”
[q] Extra emotion beating team you used to coach?
“laughs…what else you got?”
[q] Swain catch? More?
“Really a good player in our system. Amazing how fast he’s learned. Coaches trust him. ST coaches too. Really good competitor. Gets it. With the guys we have Freddie can have a big impact. Great example of that on the TD play. Really looking forward to his contribution.”
[q] Diggs hit – what’s the coaching point on safety?
“Intent doesn’t’ matter, what happened does. Way we used to play ball. But not any longer. In that moment, instinctive thing to get there ASAP. have to overcome instincts in training. Don’t want anyone hurt or lose top player back there.”
[q] RW best?
“Best so far. Sense of protection. Just ripping the FB. Never thrown with more authority. Conviction clearest it’s been. He’s on it. Gotta keep him from getting hit. Only blemish mishandled pass. He’s jacked up.”
This is a concerning answer today:
https://twitter.com/JessamynMcIntyr/status/1308084877758099462
Not because it means Pete thinks things are OK. Clearly he doesn’t.
The issue for me is it sounds like forced positivity and optimism because they have no alternative (presumably because Matthews/Wake want too much and there’s nothing else out there).
Scary.
They didn’t have a problem over paying for Adams. I’m glad they did, i cant imagine where we get pressure without him.
They have 10M and can create more cap space. No sense saving it for next year. I’m worried we are waiting until teams are out of it and a tade to fall in our laps. This Pass Rush could give you a few undeserved losses in a hurry. They need to do something sooner than later. I hope it doesn’t come down to so and so wanted 1M moore than we wanted to give.
I’m worried about the same, kinda like Pete waited for Clowney to sign. It’s time to be proactive, NOW!
Agree Rob, this quote is kinda BS
“There’s been some convo about pass rush, we missed 4 sacks! LJ had one, Benson had one, just had to get the guy down.”
This happens every game against a mobile QB, they get away a decent amount of the time, but you get enough other opportunities that do pay off. Or you have another guy right there that can make the play. Those 4 were practically the only pressures of the game. I’d love to see what the pressure % was.
“…we missed 4 sacks.” Not to be too critical but if PC believes that is a compliment rather than an indictment of a terrible pass rush then this team will indeed be going home early in the playoffs if they make it.
Pete’s optimism is simply habitual. It’s also strategic. If there is a negotiation with Clay or Wake or with a team for a trade, why would he show any anxiety? That only gives confidence to the other side to wait you out. Pete can see what all of us can see. He also has Ken Norton, John S., and a bunch of football players in the locker room who can see it. They have to do something or the season will be a complete waste. But they also don’t have to rush because they can probably finish 10-6 by outscoring people.
Yes they got very close to sacking Cam a few more times, but if I recall correctly, every single one of those times was when they brought Adams on a blitz. The issue being that when they get ahead and start playing pseudo-prevent with 4 rushers, they can’t even get the QB to move without him getting through all his reads, which is the real reason why teams are able to move up and down the field so easily when behind.
It’s pretty exciting to think this offense will get more talented as the year goes on. Dorsett was close to playing this week, Gordon is bound to get reinstated eventually… then Penny coming back will also be a boost. Parkinson could come in and contribute also.
cant forget about Gordon!
He didn’t- reread.
I like the offense too. They have a surplus of receivers now. I’m not sure I even want to play Dorsett or Gordon unless there are injuries to starters. Maybe I would Keep them in reserve for late season and playoffs.
What ever receiver they play – they need to practice catching those rainbow passes that drop from heaven.
49ers are signing Ziggy Ansah. What a great day.
Even after their injuries their pass rush is much better than ours. Yet they waste no time bringing in players.
That will actually help us. As we learned, he is no threat in the pass rush. Hope you gets a lot of money for his one year deal too.
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1308104993665409029?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1308104993665409029%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redditmedia.com%2Fmediaembed%2Fix5oty%3Fresponsive%3Dtrueis_nightmode%3Dtrue
Irvin may have torn his ACL. Pass rush gets even weaker
Millhouse-Serbia said last night it was torn. Seems he was spot on. You a doc man?
I was shocked when Irvin tweeted he was ok, and Carrol said sprain. Seems whenever they collapse on a play like that it is a tear. Some guys just don’t feel it as much, and can still walk. I used to Mtn bike with a buddy who had a torn ACL, he biked on it for years, couldn’t believe it
Not true. It could not get any weaker.
With Irvin having a likely season ending ACL tear, and with the pass rush (if you can even call it that) at abysmal levels of ineptitude, the Hawks should just set up pass rush auditions outside the VMac. Any warm body old enough to play…come on down. This pass rush is so terrible that it’s going to require new words added to the dictionary to adequately express it.
This is really sad news. Irvin was valuable as much more than a pass rusher.
Bring in Jabaal Sheard, Cameron Wake, and, Mathews. Those are about it for what seems to be left out there.
Maybe just go to a 2-man rush on obvious passing downs. They aren’t going to get there anyway and more guys will be in coverage. Or if they rush four – it can be from DBs and/or LBs and they won’t know where they’re coming from. Yes. It’s gotten to this.
Yes, this may be what they do. Move Jamal Adams into the Bruce Irvin role. Start Diggs and Ugo at safety, so our best rusher is rushing the passer consistently on passing downs.
Jamal Adams is a safety not a linebacker.
He succeeds as a rusher only as a blitzing safety.
I don’t feel the same animosity towards Clay Matthews a lot of fans do. I see him as a warrior who was counted out coming into college football and worked his butt off to be an nfl draft pick. Then really made the most of his opportunities throughout his career. Physically he’s JAG in a lot of ways but he plays with a warrior mindset. Yes, sometimes that results in coming across as a dirty player. But when he puts on that helmet he’s angry. He has teeth. Something this pass rush completely lacks.
Well he’s probably less likely to cheap shot Wilson if he’s on our squad, so I wouldn’t have to deal with that.
I also think he’d barely moves the needle at all for this defence, the bed has been made tbh. Play the young guys, I don’t understand what the difference between getting no pass rush from a veteran and getting no pass rush from a young player, except you get to find out what the young guys have got.
Hoping it’s only an MCL for Blair.
If true and we are giving Carroll 11M per year extension; can we please address the Pass Rush 1st.
I wonder if we start to look at practice squad poaching’s for DL help?
Guys like –
Margus Hunt (NO) – EDGE. Best days are behind him, but maybe a David Justice/Moneyball situation.
Daniel McCullers (PIT) DT – 6 year vet: 6’7, 350lbs
Caraun Reid (JAX) DT
Datone Jones (LV) DT – Pete loves a former first rounder
Nate Orchard (WAS) EDGE – Former Ute second round pick. Buried on one of the best DL in the NFL.
Dion Jordan (SF) DE – If the 9ers don’t promote him
Austin Larkin (CAR) – EDGE. Good athlete who has been in Dallas and ATL. Would be a similar role as Bruce.
Certainly not a great list, but they’d be cheap and we currently are going to have two guys out to IR and the roster space to make a move like this. I don’t know, I’m trying to find an angle. Scraping the bottom of the barrel really.
The 2 players that won this game was Russel Wilson and Bobby Wagner. Russel had us the win and it was Bobby Wagner’s call that stuff the run. This team took a major hit with the interception for a TD. It happened and yet Russel Wilson took the next offense done and scored. That interception was a game killer and it never affected Russel Wilson. Russel Wilson is going to cook this year because Seattle needs him to do it. This Russel Wilson’s team and this is Russel Wilson’s backyard football.
Every year he brings TE, WR, and RB to his house, which has a football fiend in his backyard. The is a QB that has taken the mantle of being the best QB Seattle has ever had. This is our Dree Brees and from what I’ve seen D.K. Metcalf is Seattle’s Julio Jones.
I really thought that the first 3 games this season would be tough. I gave the first 2 games to us having the better QB and the cowboys would win with there talent. I think its even odds with the injuries That Dallas suffered this year. I think we will definitely get a better start this time. The schedule is great for us this year and we are in the win now. Go get Clay Matthews.
I mean, it is what it is… What do you guys want from Pete Carroll? To go crying to the press because his offseason plan fo DL failed hard? To tell media that his DL sucks hard?
Geez, can we talk about upside for a minute? Damien Lewis? Ugo Amadi? Dunbar and Griffin improving from week one? The fact that Russell Wilson played like 2013 Peyton Manning vs the best pass defense in the league? That would take an earthquake on VMAC to kill our depth for letting RussCook?
BTW brilliant choice for opening song. Black dog <3
You were all more tolerant when we had great names on D and the likes of Nowak, J’Marcus Webb, Tom Cable, etc. Handling O-Lines.
I want him to be held accountable, to answer questions in whichever way he sees fit and then find solutions to fix the problem.
Which is perfectly reasonable.
He is, my friend.
It’s been seven years that I have followed you and I feel you. Pete Carroll is accountable for those mistakes. John Schneider is accountable for this forgettable offseason.
But it is what it is. And we deserve to get over this failure and enjoy the offensive experience. I get what they did. Made sure we’ll not be devastated by injuries on offense. Made sure we get some excitement on defense.
Let’s enjoy a different kind of defeat.
We will lose some very high scoring games this year.
This is basically what being an Oklahoma fan feels like (not that I’m really a fan I just imagine it’s something like this)
If you are never asked serious questions about your decisions, you are not being held to account.
I also deleted one of your messages. You’ll know which one. No more of that. One warning only.
I don’t want tears. I want solutions. They don’t have to be perfect solutions, but there has to be some kind of action.
Rob, correct me if I’m wrong.
But I think the subtext of Rob’s criticism of the local media is this: when the media is tough on a coach, it hypothetically motivates/forces the coach to take action. IE playing Alton Robinson/Deandre Walker, going out and signing Clay Matthews or Cameron Wake, giving Damontre Moore new snaps. At least trying something. Perhaps a coach with a less vocal media will feel more comfortable going forward without change.
It’s not that.
I just think some serious questions need to be asked. I want to hear the answers to those questions. I’m curious.
Geez, him too? Relevant for us in a couple weeks.
Hey, it could always be worse:
And not only Mostert:
Trying to come up with names that might be adds to our run this year.
I came accross David irving in the memory bank.
Dt for the cowboys -retired for marijuana.
But according to https://www.rotoworld.com/football/nfl/player/2082/david-irving
on jul 8th he was seeking re instatement.
he was an emerging stud outside of his suspensions.
maybe Pete could talk to him