Well, what is there left to say about this defense?
The Seahawks have scored 103 points in their last three games and won only once.
The unit is a shambles. It’s woeful, tragic, embarrassing.
The biggest concern today was supposed to be how the offense would handle New Orleans’ pass rush. Instead, they moved the ball well. Geno Smith had another strong outing. They had explosive plays in the passing and running game. The offense did its job.
All the defense had to do was hold up their end of the bargain against a Saints team missing two key receivers. Then, they lost a third key receiver. They were starting their backup quarterback.
Instead they gave up 438 total yards. They gave up 8/14 on third downs. They conceded another 235 rushing yards.
They allowed Taysom Hill to run all over them.
The ugliest moment came when they were defending a one point lead and New Orleans lined up a formation that included zero receivers. Everyone knew what was coming. And it’s Taysom Hill not Saquon Barkley. Watch your gaps, contain, get the job done.
Nope. A 60-yard scoring run.
Hopeless.
There’s no pass rush. They are virtually playing without one at this point.
The linebackers are playing so badly it beggars belief.
Quandre Diggs appears lost.
And before anyone plays the youth card — this is a unit that has expensive, experienced players and high draft picks at every level. There’s no excuse to be this bad.
We’re not talking about growing pains here. We are talking about a mess.
It’s not good enough. This is the fourth year in a row that the defense has started the season performing abysmally. Growing pains for young players you can live with. An entire unit consistently playing this poorly?
We’re overdue an improvement.
It’s time for serious questions to be asked.
Ultimately, a bit of a replay of last week – except even more impressive for our offense, b/c they put up 32 (should have been 38 probably) against a legit defense.
But the defense looked even worse this week than last. They can’t stop anything. Their inability to stop the run is particularly galling. Really hard to watch them flail around – i’ve never been this annoyed at a LB unit since I’ve been a football fan.
Really sad to see Penny go down but at least Walker got a nice TD. I find it hard to watch this team when the defence is so bad. Why aren’t NFL writers giving Carroll a harder time for his atrocious defence, when it’s what he’s meant to be a specialist at?!
I just don’t think the Seahawks and Pete are relevant enough for anyone in national media to spend the time formulating an opinion about Pete’s coaching. We’ve been bad for a while, so it’s not a fresh story. We’re lucky that the talented sports writer host of this blog also loves this team (thank you as always, Rob). Moreover, the Seattle media has been a spineless bunch as long as I’ve had eyes and ears.
to be honest, he has one good play in 5 games, he needs to step it up now
“Why aren’t NFL writers giving Carroll a harder time for his atrocious defence, when it’s what he’s meant to be a specialist at?!”
I think it would be a good time for a change for the Hawks, but I think we need to keep things in perspective regarding Pete and the coaching staff.
Carroll has been in charge for 12 years. The Hawks made the playoff nine times in those years, won the division five times, and won their first Superbowl (and narrowly missed back-to-back championship seasons). I know that this season is frustrating, but the national media aren’t calling him out because he’s had a great deal of success over his career.
Again, I think a change is probably necessary. But I think we need to keep things in perspective. Pete Carroll is the best coach in franchise history, and its not particularly close. I would also like to see some new ideas, but coaching is at best only part of their current defensive issues. The biggest issue with the defense is talent. Pete is obviously responsible for that, but they are in the midst of a rebuild. The NFL punditry are going to call out questionable decisions and disappointing results. The Seahawks have one of the worst rosters in football, particularly on the defense. This team is bad, but they are actually outperforming expectations right now.
Balderdash.
If the Hawks have been so competitive in the past, and with the storied LOB as a sure HoF topic going forward, the media should be noting that the defensive performance is subpar. That’s the storyline. “Legion of Boom no more, Legion of Fizzle is here.”
But the national media still thinks of Seattle as Southern Alaska. And the local media is just terrible.
Imagine if Pete had to answer to the NY media? Or Philly media. Think they’d accept his treacle?
This defense has made these QBs look really good:
Jimmy G lood good who had no preseason and San Francisco wanted off their team
Mariota who is nothing more than a backup level QB
Goff with most of his best offensive players out of that game
Hill who is nothing more than a gadget QB
I shudder to think what Murray is going to do next week.
Rob cut and paste last weeks article on the Seahawks dee …
Clint Hurtt knows how to tank I’ll give him that. Positives: Geno looks good (again), Walker shows some burst, and Woolen is turning into a star. Negatives: We need to spend lots of picks in the front 7 on defense. Spend one on a QB, and the rest fixing that.
My take: It’s time for Pete to go but the new coach needs to keep Waldron, which would be tough. Their offense looks great. They have young talent on offense finally. The defense needs a massive makeover. Next year could be out “2011” season if we hit on some young defensive studs and a QB.
The trick is to make Waldron the head coach.
All these last several years have proven to me; is our Defensive HC doesn’t know how to build a Defense to fit any of his schemes.
His personnel decisions & use of players has not improved at all.
It’s a total embarrassment on that side of the ball.
This year continues to be the same & showing 0 signs of improving.
He needs to be asked some serious questions & held accountable.
please add in the squandering of 100 million of free agent money into nothing over the last 3 years
Clint Hurtt tried to play that this week.
I so, so wish someone would’ve followed up with “Oh? So you’re saying Jefferson, Poona and Diggs are all playing great, and Mafe, Woolen and Bryant are the ones holding this defense back?”
Minus Woods our interior DL, LBs, & Safties have all been horrendous.
Definitely has 0 to to with youth & inexperience. This should all fall on Pete.
This right here! The rookies are the only ones who are making any plays right now, outside of al woods and Nwosu. Yes they’re making mistakes but they will be better for them. At some point Woolen will stop getting called for horseshit ticky tack fouls. The veterans on D have been absolutely terrible. It’s madness!
Pretty much just the opposite, which is your point I’m sure. It’s frustrating trying to pinpoint why this defense is crap.
Really disappointed in Diggs, myself. Not playing up to his new contract, or close. Poona seems to have disappeared. Woods and Mone seem to be doing ok, but yet we are getting gashed up the middle constantly. It can’t all be Barton and Brooks. But neither of them can cover crossing routes, apparently…
Woolen was a freaking steal, at least. Glad Walker popped his big run cherry. He’s going to come on now.
You just can’t complain overall about Geno. Hitting way above his prior weight. Took a bad sack at the exact wrong time, but no TO, 3 TDs with a fourth that Cross took away, and some absolute dimes.
I can’t believe they paid him to begin with; let alone at that price. The decisions they made investing all that draft capital & money should definitely be another thing added to the stack of reasons to let Pete go.
Too much for the Safety position
Personally, I think that Diggs sees the poop show in front of him and is trying to hard to make plays to cover up for them which is why he looks bad sometimes. I only see Woods and Nwosu (extend him please) being the only two worth a doodie in the front seven.
Geno had a couple of bad moments today but I need to start a weekly apology tour with as much as I’ve dragged him here. He is far from what’s wrong with this team and organization. (I can’t believe I just typed that).
Geno looking better than a game manager question will be is he Ryan Fitzpatrick or Rich Gannon
I love his story dont believe he is the long term answer
Totally agree, but has he shown enough that you could wait another year to get your QBOTF?
It’s starting to feel like this could be a possibility with geno.
You really have to respect where the guy is now. We asked him to do a job, and he’s doing it. He’s been coached by some of the worst to ever do it the NFL, and has somehow made a respectable career for himself.
Remember that Mornhinweg, his first OC, decided leaving him in shotgun 85% of snaps for the first two years and called like 200 screens in that time. He thought the best way to develop Geno was to ignore the flaws and double down on the strengths…crazy. Then Geno got in a fight and fractured his jaw, became a backup, and the rest is moot. He’s grown a ton. I’m happy for the guy. Over his last three teams, he has demonstrated at his age, that he’s still coachable.
Geno is definitely not the problem. In fact, he seems to be playing so well that if we can’t get one of the top-tier talents next year we could take someone who might need a red-shirt year. Before the season I thought that the defense would be good but that Geno and the offense might hold us back. Boy, did I miss that one big time!
MLB umps > NFL refs > Denver’s coach > Seattle’s defense
All you missed here at the end was Seahawks defense > Pac12 refs as crazy as that sounds.
Complete failures on all 3 levels of the defense.
Consistent breakdowns in communication. They’re unable to cover in man or zone. No pass rush. Physically weak across the board. Too much bend on running plays.
Lack of in game adjustments. Last week Hockenson, this week Taysom Hill.
Changes to need to come from the top down. Philosophically, they’re outdated and need to adjust.
My disdain for Clint Hurtt began once he got the job. The way he gave a bunch of lip service to the media about how different his defense will look while simultaneously throwing Ken Norton Jr under the bus was classless and unprofessional. And now he shows us this product.
Pete needs to get his hands out the cookie jar. It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if he tries to rein in Geno and the offense and blame them for the defensive failures.
And lastly, hiring Aaron Curry as linebacker coach was a dumb decision then, and looks worse now.
There was and is absolutely nothing from Curry’s past that suggests he’d be a good linebacker coach, and quite a bit that suggests the opposite.
In last week’s press conference after the 48-45 win over the Lions, I believe Pete was asked one question about the state of the defense and he basically wanted to change the subject as fast as possible. He could not have spent less time talking about it.
I suppose you can get away with that after a victory, but not after a loss. Meanwhile, we allow 45 points to the Lions, who turn around and score exactly zero against the Patriots. The offense is faring far better than I had hoped for, which is encouraging, but this defense…sheesh.
Well we know Pete is no Belichick. Pete has 0 clue how to build a roster around what he wants to do. Which is why we’ve seen several years of painful defense.
sad and pathetic to be a defensive coach, for the last several years cant come up with a mid-level defense. historically bad, 3 years running…
Postgame Press Conf PC
“This game hurts because we had a chance to win. We had our chances and opps. There was too many things that went wrong that gave them opps and made it easy on them. Too hard. Fighting against them the whole time.
The punt was not a fake. It was a roll out punt. All in all, Taysom had a great FB game. Did not stop the Wildcat. Difference in crucial situations. Wasn’t new.”
[q] penny? “Hurt ankle seriously. Bad. In trouble.”
[q] punt? “Got really cloudy upfield, like we don’t expect it to. Hesitant to kick the ball and took off.”
[q] fake previous snap? “No, same thing.”
[q] Taysom defending him? “Heavy guys took WRs off field. They did it a number of time. Just, gotta make the tackles. Didn’t finish the plays. Took adv.”
Knew he would be used a lot? “No surprise. Surprise was we didn’t get him down.”
[q] Offense bad on 3rd downs? “Only place we struggled. Geno phenomenal. Thought DK’s elbow on ground. Huge turnover. Defense had that situation and punt situation shouldn’t be in. Gave them.”
[q] Deep balls to Tyler? “Exquisite.”
[q] Holding call on Woolen? “Difficult on officials. They saw something, I can’t tell you. I don’t know. Huge, huge call.”
[q] Lineman’s hand inside frame not called? “Can’t tell you. Gave us a presentation on that. Didn’t buy into it. If they pull away we gotta release. Hope we all get on same page on it. Trying to release the guy.”
[q] Woolen ? “Picked up a fumble too. Fantastic start. Big time pick.”
[q] Al Woods? “Knee flared up.”
[q]. Gabe Jackson? “resting him, rotating him. Didn’t hear about injury.”
[q] Ryan Neal at safety good? “Look at film. Deserved a chance. Josh played too.”
[q] Ken Walker primary RB, ready for it? “He’s ready. Can see explosive. Very fortunate to have him. Ready to roll. More to learn. Showed everybody explosion he has.”
[q]. Defensively haven’t done yet? “Let me look at the film. Too obvious is Wilcat plays. Glaring. Rest of it factored.”
[q] Kamara screen? “Full blitz didn’t see it. Missed a chance to pick him up. Easy for them.”
[q] Penny serious injury sad thing? “Thanks for bringing that back up. Journey for him. Emerged, showed great player. Another setback. He’ll be back. Breaks my heart. Having so much fun. He knows he belongs, he can do it. Impact in this league. Similar to when Jamal goes out. Cares so much, taken away, unfortunate.”
“Similar to when Jamal goes out”
Pete, seriously just stop. Penny has actually played well at times. Adams had one good game as a Seahawk, his first. You are fooling absolutely no one anymore. Cut him and move on*
he won’t
I’ve labored at times on penny but exactly right Big Mike.
Classic- gotta look at the film
Gutted for Penny.
Hoping it’s not season ending.
As for Pete, I wouldn’t even know where to start with this defense.
To my untrained eye it seems scheme and personal are equally to blame.
On the positive, Geno looked great.
If he keeps this up, I don’t know how we don’t sign him longer term.
Rappaport says broken tibia, surgery likely. That’s sounds very much like a season-ender.
Woods… A 35 year old (who may not even be around next season) is anchoring this team. Woolen/Bryant are rookies trying (and taking some lumps), but who else is doing much of anything. Nwosu has looked good at times and then disappears. I don’t know what the hell Darrell Taylor is doing, Diggs has both his legs back, but playing with no initiative.
This defense is putrid. The only thing I can think of right now is this defense better look different really soon. Sucking bad enough to get a Will Levis with a Top-5 pick isn’t going to cover up the stink of this current defensive lineup. Over the past few days, I’ve seen a lot of mock drafts with the Seahawks picking in the top three and majority of them have us taking Will Anderson at number three. I think he can help, but I don’t expect to put the weight of the entire defense on an incoming rookie.
When they get around to drafting more defensive players lets not forget that the middle linebacker and safeties get the most tackles on a team. None of the current players at linebacker and safety are playing well. Maybe Brooks is useable, but not the rest.
You can achieve a makeover without a massive expenditure of picks, and the team should likely balance its next offseason rather than “load up” on one side. I think they make their first pick and trade down their other (in-round). You just can’t stop the front office from doing that shit, and since the middle of this draft is where the value is, they’ll get all thirsty there.
The offense needs a 3rd WR (badly). Dissly, at 100 yards, was the 3rd best receiver coming into the game, and they’ve yet to start and finish a season with the same RB in several years. We will need help for KW-III after we finally get rid of Rashaad ‘five-games-a-season’ Penny.
What even is this hybrid 3-4 where everyone feels so damn lost. I think spending more resources will only result in the same thing. You need to figure out what’s broken, fix that, and show the only remaining factor is a lack of talent before you commit your draft picks to that. Even if we draft studs, I have no faith we can develop them. Asking for a 21-year-old to come into the NFL and play THIS defense, I think I would slow anyone’s growth.
Right now, between the shift from 4-3 to 3-4 hybrid, to the new personnel, new staff, lack of edge, lack of blue-chip talent, and young CBs still growing, there are too many moving pieces to say which is the driving/dominant problem. Clearly, we all feel it’s the front 7, but we’re not privy to exactly wtf the staff is doing here. Picks need to be spent here, but we want a logical decision-making sequence to get there.
ahh yikes, my comment didn’t attach as a reply as intended, likely weird out of context.
If Diggs doesn’t improve his play he can’t play on that contract next year.
Unfortunately he will incur an $8.2 million dead cap hit if traded before 6/1/23. Post 6/1 they can spread that evenly between 2023 and 24.
They would save almost $10 million by getting rid of him, so who knows? With Carroll, it’s a total unknown.
If you can’t sign good free-agents with the saved salary, it doesn’t do you much good. We keep rewarding bad trades with new contracts. Pete needs to look up “sunk cost fallacy” and get smart.
The analysis this season seems very simple. Rob is keeping it that way. The offense is surprisingly good. Re-signing Geno appears to be the right move in the offseason. A rookie QB is unlikely to be ready next year.
Second, it’s time for Pete to go. This is utterly embarrassing for him. I only hope that Jody Allen has the courage to do that.
The only interesting question is whether John S should be trusted to re-build. If this past year’s draft is an indication, then “hell yes.” But if the previous 4-5 seasons are looked at, then “hell no.” How much is Pete responsible for the bad drafting by the team from 2015-2021? Because it was mostly awful.
Rob?
Apparently Penny’s leg is broken. I feel for him, he seemed to finally get going.
Otherwise, it’s a pity we took an L, but as long as the young guys look like they’re developing, I can’t be upset. I’m afraid Pete will want to run his D and this will mess everyone up completely.
Damn.
I feel like I’m one of only a few Penny fans around here and this really sucks for him.
You can definitely see the talent when he plays – few guys his size can move like he can – and he’s got some wiggle/vision too. Injury-prone yes, but also unlucky, in what looked like happened today. Significant hit to our offense, even w Walker coming in.
After eating up space over the years, it was nice to see him contribute something, but let’s be real, he’s never contributed meaningful snaps, and it was just a matter of time. KW3 will get rolling a season earlier, and there should be no more flirtation with keeping Penny next season. Thanks for the carries, wish you the best. 5 mil for 5 games, not a half bad work-year. lol.
No way Tom. I was coming around to him. This sucks for him and for the team.
Aw crap
Sad for him.
I know.
I actually have a Penny jersey that I got his rookie year and will wear it for each game for the rest of the season. Really like that kid.
Yes, keep hoping for the best with Penny, but it’s just not working.
We had 6 rookies play good meaningful snaps today. Six! That’s crazy for any team, but incredible for this team that has drafted so poorly for years. That’s a positive.
The defense? L O L. I have nothing to say about that BS.
Good Lord. Coopper Kupp is ridiculous
At least we made the right call staying away from Baker Mayfield.
That was right out of left field! But so darned true.
Geno is the least of our problems and a lot of fun to watch. Those TD dimes to Lockett were amazing throws (same for the one DK dropped). I hope we can keep him at this point.
I had just watched him throw a pick when I posted.
Haha, You mean Baker did. When I first read this i was like “Geno didn’t throw any ints today.”
That double pump throw was so bad it became comical.
I saw them on replay and thought, “Christ, almighty. How is he always surrounded by 3 defenders and catches it cleanly?”
Geno put those passes in a 12-inch square box, perfectly. They, quite literally, could not have been thrown better.
Pretty amazing actually. Geno is ballin’! Now if our D would start helping … but I digress.
You should watch some clips from his rookie and year 2, and just watch his feet. He’s put in the work to throw from a better base. Doesn’t always do it, after all, its hard to correct habits you formed well into your 20s, but still. Night and day.
Welp at least there’s a new episode of HOTD tonight
Yes there is!
Can’t wait to watch it tomorrow
Hopefully the lighting is better so we can actually see people’s faces this week.
To give you some idea how bad the defense is. An average Patriots defense shut out Detroit today.
I remember when the Seahawks searched high and low with over 100+ transactions searching for players
JS needs to find practice players to replace the Dee line LB and Safeties this team needs so much help it’s so awful to see. I have zero confidence this dee can hold on to leads it’s very disturbing how they are playing
it was almost 250 transactions, too content and arrogant at this point
I remember one of the very first transactions was the cutting of TJ Houshmandzadeh. He had just signed a five or six year deal the year before and had a bunch of dead cap and we just cut them loose. It’s the moves like that that helped us turn this team around.
Jamal Adams and Gabe Jackson need to go and if Quandrae Diggs doesn’t figure things out, he can go too…
But who will shout nonsense at the other team after whiffing on a tackle????!
I am available to fill that role on a much more team friendly deal
With 2 picks in top 12, With Geno’s play, I am starting to think we should grab Will Anderson and then the best QB remaining
I’m sure Pete would find a way to waste Anderson if we did draft him.
My wife and I were headed out the door at 9:30 to a family get together. She noticed the TV listings showing the Hawks game starting at 10 and asked, “Do you want to stay home and I will cover for you?”
I walked right to the front door, opened it and said, “Nope. Let’s go.”
In hindsight, I should have said, “Let’s ride” since she finds that canned crap from Russ giggle worthy.
This is the first time in franchise history the Seahawks have allowed two 100-yard rushers in the same game.
Taysom Hill 112 yards
Alvin Kamara 103 yards
WOW!
what’s worse, the madden curse, or the pc/js picking a running back in the draft curse?
Pete’s defense costing Geno what should be top 3-5 MVP candidate consideration to this point.
We’ve argued a bit here Jordan but it’s time for the conversation about how Pete Carrol’s defense has held Seattle back each year since 2018 and trending worse every year.
Today I got to watch Geno Smith have another very good stat line. Good accuracy. Very nice production. Two running backs with great numbers prior to a devastating injury lose *YET* again for who knows what number time this is in half a decade a winnable game.
#firepetecarrol
If pete can’t get “his side,” of the ball right through multiple coordinators over multiple years…..then Pete’s the problem with the team.
We need to be prepared for the possibility that this isn’t Pete’s defense. We don’t know what chaos and dysfunction may be going on. If the organization is fine and the players are just baaad, we may be screwed without a kiss this year. Rob has warned us.
I don’t mean to play the Pete Carroll apologist, but I find it odd that many are placing all the blame directly on the coaching staff for this team’s issues.
They just traded a franchise QB, changed to a 3-4 defense, brought in a bunch of new coaches, and gutted the roster. The team’s biggest issue is talent. I’d be open to a new GM and head coach, but I’m really surprised that so many people seem surprised and angry at the team’s performance. Thus, I find it funny that people are arguing that Pete is ruining Geno’s opportunity to shine. A few short weeks ago, everyone was blasting Pete for his trust in Geno.
The team is rebuilding. If anything, their outcomes through the first 1/3 of the season are better than could reasonably be expected.
Counter.
Every year as the Wilson debacle was brewing this defense has gotten worse starting in 2018 through now. For much of last year the run game was abysmal.
These two things are supposedly a Carrol hallmark.
Of course we are rebuilding because of a lack of talent. Who created that talent gap? Pete and John.
I’m not on the it’s geno’s time to shine train. But somehow someway Waldron a guy most of us knew nothing about has taken a former bust qb with some rough starts to the season and gotten better. To a point where they did in Detroit and could have today, win the game.
Meanwhile question marks and hope for Mafe and Bryant. Tariq Woolen is maybe awesome. After that Pete and John spent through drafts and trades around 25-27 other picks on defense since 2027 and recieved nothing of note for all that outlay. The players are in other teams or busted out of the league.
I’m sorry. For me I have a hard time getting behind a rebuild from the sane minds who got us to a rebuild in the first place.
Even a defense needing more talent can be organised and functioning
The Seahawks are a total shambles
It’s not good enough whoever’s starting
Completely agree. If this is a remedial group of players then structure a defense that they can execute, and execute well. Coach to the players that you have. Not to some theory about what the best defense should look like.
Remember that great athletes don’t always become instinctive football players. Great athletes don’t always become smart football players. Really understand the strengths and limitations of your players and coach to make them successful.
Someone is going to be smart enough to give Dan Quinn his 2nd head coaching opportunity. Just as someone was once smart enough to give Belichick, Carroll and Reid their 2nd shot.
I wouldn’t be mad if it were the Hawks. The man knows how to coach solid to great defense and how to identify players in the draft and free agency.
I’d settle for a fence post at this point. Pete can still coach dbs but that’s about all he’s bringing to the table currently.
Maybe the next coach is Waldron. As a big time Waldron and smith doubters he’s got something going on right now with the offense.
Get the defense presentable not even good or great just average and this team is 4-1 right now.
Instead we’re getting the broncos falling off a cliff and our own defense battling for worst and the guy who broke the defense starting in 2017 is going to get yet another crack at fixing his mess.
It’ll be 2 more cracks Peter, until his contract is finished.
Again folks, she will NOT fire Carroll because she does NOT want to pay him to not coach. The only way he’s gone is if he steps away.
Prove me wrong Jody and I’ll take my crow deep fried please.
Oh I know. Unless there’s a loss of revenue via lack of local interest greater than the cost of retaining Carrol.
The extension through 2024 (2025?) Signal that the trust knew full well they couldn’t sell until then anyways.
Well, they’re paying Wilson dead money to play somewhere else this year
I don’t expect it to happen but I won’t talk in absolutes about Carroll’s future either
Honestly Mike, I’ve always felt that she just doesn’t want to have to find someone else, or to have to focus on the team. She’d rather pay him to run the team and and her only focus is not have have to worry about it.
Youth card cannot be played as on D# Woolen is one of our better players. Mafe is not worse than other players on this D and the only brighter spots are Woods and sometimes Nwosu (but he made some big mistakes also)
Positives:
Geno is not perfect, he can’t really handle pressure but apart from that he plays really good.
I generally like the offensive playcall
Woolen 3 picks, had an FR too if I remember well
OTs weren’t awful
Walker second big run and 1st TD, he could develop into something special (on his big run his cut resembled a bit to Kamara)
There were some big throws and ball was spread around well
Negatives:
Penny is injured again
Drops by receivers
Penalties (I’d put that on PC)
Whole defense sucks bad…they had 2 or 3 jobs: 1, know if Hill enters the game and defend the QB keeper 2, know where Kamara is, stop his runs and watch out for him in the passing game +1, know where their rookie WR is and double team him. They failed in pretty much all.
Drops by receivers not named Lockett
Our tackles are playing incredibly well.
It was really cool to see 3 of our top picks in on Walkers first TD for just under 70 yards.
Who knew we would be praising the offense and dogging the defense this season?
The rookie class is awesome indeed.
Maybe JS was given full autonomy over the draft coming out of the meeting with ownership this offseason.
Fully support that.
Maybe we try to get Dan Quinn back as a DC?
For some weird reason, I actually am not that gutted by the loss. Maybe it’s because I only caught part of it. Honestly though, I want to add an optimists view of this team, because I still their is room for hope.
Operating under the assumption that the goal for the team is to win a SB in 2024 or 25 with a young QB, the table is set on offense. Id like more depth at RB, and walker needs to keep playing that way (I think he will, but im biased), but with a few interior lineman this is a strong unit. Add in a top notch young QB, it could be a juggernaut.
The defense is a problem. It’s also not a prerequisite for our 2024 SB that we have a top 5 D. With.a few picks this year and maybe a rookie contributor or two in 24, we could be middle of the league with upside. That could be enough.
This year should be a tryout for Hurtt and several vets. Hurtts has to prove he deserves another shot. If the D keeps playing this way, I can’t imagine Carroll wouldn’t do something. H
Didn’t mean to post yet, lol.
You could toss in another coordinator and achieve a D that is viable enough to make a run. It has happened. I’m unhappy with the D too, but again, it doesn’t have to be perfect for us to win a championship in our timeline
I think you do make an important silver lining point about the offense. We hoped we would have an offense with an established OL and group of weapons to give our next QB the best chance to succeed and it appears we’re getting that. As much credit as Geno deserves, I doubt he would be having this resurgence on a crap offense, and that bodes very well for a young QBs prospects.
The whole thing makes me think Anthony Richardson is the play to make. He is the guy in this draft that has the qualities to be a Pat Mahomes or Josh Allen, and what both those guys had, as flawed prospects with immense upside, was a fantastic infrastructure around them with the teams that drafted them.
Maybe, in regards to Richardson. I haven’t been particularly high on these “toolsy” prospects in the past, so I’m trying to keep an open mind. He at least has different speeds to put on the ball, which is more than I can say about Trey Lance so far. The bet is just whether the kid will develop. I always think it’s unlikely that they do, but I’m trying hard not to write these guys off so early.
Really unlikely this team has a shot at SB in ’24 and not likely in ’25 either in my opinion. Even most of the better young QBs need 1-2-3 years of exp and coaching before they start to roar.
The team has big and many holes. When a young QB will likely be able to pick up the pace, we’ll need a WR2 (Lockett likely be done around that time or lose some of his abilities). We’d need at least 2 iOL player. Inside run game is really up and down and it’s not on the RBs. If they have a small crease, they can break a big one, but most of the times it’s 1-2-3 yards. We might need another TE as it works really well with 3 actives, but doubt we’ll keep both Fant and Dissly – and e could also use an upgrade on that department. All 3 are decent but none of them are good/great.
This defense might be historically bad. We don’t need a top5 offense and top5 defense, but to be able to win SB probably a top10 defense wouldn’t hurt.
For the defense we need like 8 players to reach that (1-2 DT, 1-2 DE, 2 OLB, 1 ILB, 1 CB, 1 S). Not elite guys but guys who are better than the avg mixed with a couple of really good players. With great decisions in FA and the draft, it could be done in 2 years without a problem. But doing all the right things can be really hard, so I think 3-4 offseason is more likely.
So if they make OK/good decisions but not getting exceptional lucky, I think we could reach SB in ’25, but in ’26 or ’27 it’s more likely to get a FO and roster that can contend at the highest level
Firstly, nicely reasoned argument. My counter:
The really good young QBs can be electric as soon as year two. I’m not talking about Trevor Lawrence good, I’m talking Mahomes or Burrow good. Both of those players were in their second year when they went to the SB. Again, I’m speaking through an optimist’s lens, so I’m arguing that if you nail the QB pick, you absolutely can have elite QB play early.
You’re very right on the holes in the roster. Finding another productive receiver is a key. Fortunately, I see a few receivers that could be had with our second 1st rounder or our 2nd rd picks. Snagging, say, Stroud with pick 8 or so and Jaxon Smith-Njigba with pick 16? That is a viable strategy for filling Locket’s inevitable hole. The OL needs some TLC for sure. As Rob said, committing more to the Rams’ style of guard development could pay dividends. Yet you have 2 years to fix it starting this offseason. And that is the key here: you have time to make a good team. You can turn around a franchise in 2 years.
Defensively, I think you’re right at how bad they are and how few personnel they have. But again, you have 2 years. I also contend that with the offensive production outlined above, a league average defense could be good enough. It worked for the Chiefs a few years ago.
Ultimately, you’re right that everything I’ve outlined is difficult to execute. If it was easy, every NFL team would be good, and I’d be an executive. It’s really freaking hard. I’m just saying that we aren’t beyond the point of no return in regards to the stated goal: championship in 24.
Just remembered that Mahomes didn’t go to the SB in his second year. He lost to Brady in the AFC Championship. Still a viable point though.
Honestly this is how I prefer to lose. Abe and Cross were tested and responded for the most part. Walker was explosive and now has a chance to be the man. Woolen 3 picks in 3 games. Bryant another forces fumble and gaining experience. DK and Lock still making plays. I don’t mind shootouts this season.
I really don’t think anyone can do anything about the D. That are horribly out of position and caught between philosophies as has been discussed. I don’t see PC giving in. I think he’ll try to do just enough to keep Hurt and Desai pacified. This unit needs a strip down in the off-season. This may be the flip of 2011. Young pieces on offense to build on O. Maybe D gets filled with FA signings and draft picks next offseason
This! To go forward we need to take a step back, standings-wise.
Getting really tired of people making excuses for PC/JC.
100%. Pete is the common denominator for four straight years of bad defense. Blame the players? Who built this roster?
Yep
Weirdest NFL season in a long time. The Eagles are the only undefeated team. The Rams are 2-3. The Packers lost to the Giants, who are 4-1. Geno Smith is good. Didn’t see any of this coming.
Exactly right on the season.
I barely care about my fantasy roster because it’s a shambles but I’m putting Rodgers on time out….for Geno Smith! Unbelievable.
Hurtt is making KNJr look like Buddy Ryan. At some point, it’s not the coordinators, but the guy who hires the coordinators. I think we’re well past that point.
Can’t believe Lockett blaming the Refs for this loss. Evidently he hasn’t been watching our defense.
https://twitter.com/gbellseattle/status/1579219157354094592?t=okVfkHd7dVpB7xF0bO1CZw&s=19
I’ll be interested to see how much time is spent on the following on the Pete Carroll show tomorrow:
— Refs
— Mariners
— Defense
Go M’s!!! Aww dammit Pete got me already….
And 10 minutes ‘eulogizing’ Rashaad Penny
You gotta feel for the kid
How hard will he work to rehab
Does the team love him?
How good was he in four plus games?
If recent contracts serve as precedent, we should be seeing a huge Penny extension.
Pete loves paying injured guys big money.
Honestly I would not mind if every game the rest of of the year was similar to this. The offense looking good and creative while the youngsters on defense continue to play well despite the unit being weak and most importantly a loss.
As long as the young players continue to play well and develop that is the best case scenario it is the ideal scenario IMO. As a defensive coach if the D continues to play like this I don’t see how Pete survives another off season.
The 3 priorities the balance of the year should be developing young players snd determine which players will make up the core going forward, getting the highest draft picks possible and finally getting a new HC and defensive coordinator this off season.
The Lions put up 45 on the Hawks last week and got shut out by the 1-3 Patriots today. That is how bad the Hawks D is.
Per Tankathon, we’re currently at 10 & 11. Long way for the season to unfurl, but that’s not nearly good enough to secure the talents we’ll need to improve. Yes, we could trade up from there but why hope to lose a 1st in moving up when we obviously could utilize BOTH high picks?
Rob, apologies if it was discussed in the post-game stream but given how above average Geno has been playing, any merits to the idea that we keep him as starter for the next season and draft someone like Richardson, Thompson-Robinson or Hall in the early 2nd to groom behind him? Might allow us to spend our first rounders on defensive players that can offer the gleam of hope that’s currently missing? *wishes on a star that Anderson falls to us*
If Richardson declares, he won’t last to R2. The upside is too high.
Hall has spoilt any day two talk with his last two performances
I’m a huge fan of DTR but not that early
I’m convinced of this now as well. If Anderson declares we would probably have to pick in the top 5 or move up into that range to get him.
If Allen and Lance went in that range, so would Anderson.
But..I think it’s as likely he will return to Florida because the core that team is young and on the rise. I think he’ll want to chase an NCAA Championship.
Richardson. Not Anderson. Need coffee now.
Also wrt DTR, I like his value in the 90-120 range
Not sure if you’ve looked at Tankathon’s mock draft? Way too early to say who to take but I do like what positions and the pick of QB Hall in the 2nd would work for me.
Like most of us, I see this loss as bittersweet. We were competitive in that we weren’t blown out. But truthfully I’m not unhappy that we lost. We simply need some L’s—preferably accompanied by some Bronco losses—if we’re going to have a top ten draft pick. Naturally it hurts whenever we lose… like I say, bittersweet.
Browns just traded a late-rd pick to ATL for Deion Jones. I didn’t know a player on IR could be traded…
https://bleacherreport.com/post/nfl-rumors/4b34690b-d1cc-420b-a23e-6d047d48aa61
I’m afraid of pc trading away draft capital away. Not a very good track record. One new player isn’t going to change the scheme of the defense
I wasn’t saying I wanted us to trade anything away. I was just shocked that a player on the IR could be traded. I don’t think an injured Deion Jones was going to help us with our atrocious defense this year.
wasn’t trying to insinuate that you were, I just don’t want pc making any desperate trades is all. My bad
I didn’t think you did at all. I agree, there are no trades of incoming players. If we aren’t playing guys like Sidney Jones, hopefully we can get a 6th rd pick for him.
Falcons going to eat $19m of dead money in this trade.
Bungals 4 chances from the 2 and not a single run play.
So dumb.
Line up under center, turn and hand the ball to samaje. Good grief.
Zac Taylor is a risky gambler, opposite of Pete’s approach but net result is same.
I doubt if Burrow will ever win a SB with Zac as HC
Rob did you miss the two turnovers at around our own 20 , does Dk fumble every game, the play that got me more pissed than the Tyson run was the blitz screen to Kamara I’m like not again, time to scrap this 3-4 and return to the 4-3 and set the damn edge
Unfortunately, it’d be nice to have one or two more wins and if the defence wasn’t atrocious.
On the positive side of things they’re very much alive in the division/playoff race; aside from the San Francisco game they’re playing in very entertaining games that don’t feel like a waste of 2.5 hours of weekend; and amongst the most important things that needed to happen this season have been the improved situation/performance/consistency at QB and Oline.
Falcons eating money in this trade, is this kinda like when the browns were doing trades in a manner that seemed akin to buying picks? (My memory is hazy, few years ago when Sacha someone was in the front office).
To the point: I wish Pete and John would drop the charade, and look into more creative means of future roster building. The team is bad. As many others have mentioned, the vets are not even the strong performers (on defense). If John and Pete cannot become more ruthless, then we are really just doomed to a long wait as fans.
I like that the offense is over performing, as well as some of the rookies on defense. I’m glad that injuries forced players like Woolen and Bryant onto the field. Hopefully more Mafe, more M.Adams. For me, if the defense was coming along, and the offense was suffering due to growing pains, this would be way more palatable.
I know the running back position in the N.F.L. is BRUTAL. But the Seahawks have had more than their share of injuries at the RB position. Penny has suffered a broken tibia. It is just not Penny. It seems like every running back that the Seahawks had high hope for has turned into damaged goods. fo Even Walker missed the first game of the season. Right now, I feel pretty good about Walker. But how long can he stay healthy? We lost Chris Carson. C.J. Prosise and Cristine Michael could never stay healthy. Carson and his spinal injuries have forced an early retirement. And now Penny has a serious ankle injury. Not only is it frustrating. But to me it is just plain SICKENING.
As far as Geno Smith is concerned. I was totally wrong. I am not afraid to admit it. I was wrong about Smith. Of coarse having Tyler Lockette as a receiver can make any QB look good. If you don’t believe me, just ask Russell Wilson. Those TD passes to Tyler Lockette were incredible. So far Geno Smith has been fantastic.
On a lighter note. I am SHOCKED by the play of the Seahawk defense. Folks consider these two facts. Last week the Seahawks gave up 45 points to the Detroit Lions. This week those same Detroit Lions were SHUTOUT by the Patroits. What does that tell you about the Seahawk defense?
As Vince Lombardi would say: “What the hell is going on out their?”
I said out played Russ last year before the season, and no one believe me. Only complain about Smith is he needs to avoid those sacks that kill drives and games at the end. Throw away those passes to avoid 4th & forever, we had our chances today.
I swear, if Paddy Considine doesn’t win an Emmy for that performance….
Absolutely inspired acting performance that I can only call Shakespeareian. Shoutout to Ewan Mitchell as well who played Aemond. Fantastic.
Paddy NAILED that role, having to play it a few ways over a good 20 years through the time jumps. Especially last night. That was his episode.
I was excited for Ewan Mitchell and was not disappointed. Loved him as Osferth on The Last Kingdom. He’s going to steal some scenes.
Maybe my expectations have plummeted but I felt like the defense was far improved over last week. We actually stopped them a few times (bar is pretty low here as it doesn’t feel like we stopped Detroit once). There were a few times where we got in Daltons face, a few nice run stuffs, and a few nice pops from Brooks. It’s a mess l, I agree, and the points may not support it, but I think they are steadying the ship – we will find out next week but I’m telling you here and now – we will hold them under 20 pts.
Steadying the ship???
New Orleans had none of their key players other than a banged up Kamara.
There was nothing steadying about that!
This aged well. Thank you very much.
Are you being serious?
You think my words are proven wrong now by that Arizona game?
What a total reach on your behalf. Give it a rest.
Just saying that my post aged well as AZ scored less than 20 points. Haha chill man, not a personal attack. All love for you and the blog, just felt good to be right!
I see absolutely no evidence for that prediction. But here’s hoping you are right. We MIGHT be able to outscore them, but that’s the only way we win.
19-9. Go ‘Hawks!
I wonder if the Seahawks had thoughts about about Deon Jones before he got traded to Cleveland. I think he he would have been upgrade to what we have in the middle… One more quick thought a bummer about Penny if the Seahawks go another direction next year Rob do you have any thoughts on Josh Jacobs the raiders didn’t tender him could be available next year
I’d rather just draft someone in the middle rounds
Sport is ultimately entertainment and I’ve enjoyed watching this team a lot more than the last couple of seasons and I’ll take this during a re build especially as the talk about the Seahawks this season was going to be tough to watch.
With the exceptation of a loss every week these high scoring games have kept me watching till the end of the game last year I was often switching to The Red Zone for viewing
I struggle to find enjoyment when the defense is playing this poorly because it draws serious questions of the people running the team and makes me question whether the rebuild is in the right hands
This defense isn’t just playing ‘a bit badly’ or going through growing pains. It’s a horror movie. That Taysom Hill touchdown run is the stuff of nightmares
The whole point of this year is to build confidence in the future. How can we invest confidence and faith in a defensive minded Head Coach who churns out this product? Who has churned out a bad defense to start the year for four straight years? Who has no idea how to fix the pass rush but has been trying since 2018?
Don’t worry Rob, Jamal Adams will come back healthy next year play the entire season and the pass rush will be fine.
The big hope for me is that the Coach will be gone by the Draft process
Saw the highlights of a few of the games and looked like TVD played pretty well. Hopefully he is heading out of the doghouse. If he goes into the draft I wouldn’t mind him in the least.
QB draft notes coming today or tomorrow (will include TVD) — also got a bunch of non-QB draft notes for this week
Can’t wait to talk draft.
Is it time to consider a running back in the second round again? Love that Walker is coming on, hopefully. Some really interesting names in that area and I feel better with two RB’s.
The Cowboys held the LA Rams and Cooper Kupp to 10 points. I don’t know which is more shocking. Holding the Rams to 10 points or how bad this defense has become. It seems like they have brought in some nice young (defensive) talent over the last 4 drafts. Especially the 2022 draft. And I heard plenty of good things about the coaches they brought in. So basically this is the 4th year in a row the defense has been crap. It’s ugly. Pete Carroll’s bend but don’t break defense is a disaster. What Carroll doesn’t realize is that the league knows how to attack Carroll’s defense. Basically I record the game. Then when I watch the game I fast forward when the Seahawks are on defense I just the Hawks when they are on offense. They have been rebuilding the defense for four years.
That Cowboys defense is led by none other than Dan Quinn, our DC when we last won the SuperBowl.
I wonder if Seattle could try to lure him back as a DC again?
He’s not leaving Dallas for:
a.) A sideways step
b.) To run Pete’s crappy defense instead of doing his own thing when he gets to have Micah Parsons
We have Adams (on IR mostly)
they have tried, at least that was going thru the rumor mill, along with Gus Bradley. being smart guys, both passed on coming back
He will be a hot HC candidate next year, so not a chance.
How about HC for Seattle?
Last four years to show how bad Seattle has been at acquiring talent:
2022:
Mafe (?)
Bryant ( out of position ?)
Woolen (A+)
Tyreke Smith (incomplete info)
2021:
Tre Brown (coach has spoken highly, injured)
2000:
Brooks (JAG for a first round pick)
Taylor ( reserving judgement, trending to bust)
Alton Robinson (witness protection program)
2019:
Lj Collier (bust)
Marquis Blair (bust for the seahawks)
Barton (bust)
Ugo Amadi (bust)
Ben Burr-kiven (bust)
Demarcus Christmas ( bust)
Two firsts and a third and a ton of money for what is now a bust in Adams. Diggs low risk acquisition that has turned into a high risk financial sunk cost.
As things currently sit, it looks like we’ll be picking 10 and 11.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10051824-updated-2023-nfl-draft-order-after-sundays-week-5-results
As Rob has stated multiple times, outside of getting our quarterback; I really don’t know what to think about picking at those two spots.
Find some team that needs something. Trade down if possible. Have seahawks draft Twitter explode and start going BPA. Best guard at 16? Another high ish running back? Which I wouldn’t mind, btw.
It’s a complete dark comedy that this team is at least good where we thought they’d be bad. Legitimately horrible at every level on defense. Denver is falling off the edge, and we may get two top ten picks in a draft without 10 talents that warrant those spots.
Trading down might be easier said than done. In the ’22 draft, many teams in the top 10 seemed to want to trade down and couldn’t find partners who wanted to move up. The Vikings moving way down from 12 at a historically cheap return suggests that analytics might finally be putting the dated Jimmy Johnson draft values in the rear view. If the QBs don’t break right for you and there’s a shortage of in-demand elite prospects at premium positions to fill out other high slots, you’d likely be selling into a buyer’s market.
It’s going to be a problem if we are outside of a quarterback.
Modern thought is high picks for tackles and corners. The two areas we might be fine at.
So what to do? Hope a disruptive dt starts to emerge now that we are halfway through college?
Whether they can trade down or not this team may have to hurt people’s brains and consider a great player at a position of typically way less value with their early picks.
I assign ~99% of this defensive mess to the coaches and ~1% to the players. We’ve seen most of these veteran players succeed in years past – Ford, Taylor, Brooks, Diggs, Neal, Jones. It’s not reasonable to think that suddenly none of them can do their job. Coaching has failed on every level to put the players where they need to be in order to be successful. They’ve failed to coach players up to recognize and respond. Total failure. And these suggestions of spending all the picks on defensive players to fix the defense won’t help at all, IMO. Coaching has to change. That’s it. That’s the fix.
Also, JS will have a hell of a decision to make if Geno plays like this all season. We’ll need a vet QB with a rookie QB in the fold, but I can’t imagine they’ll want to pay Geno what he might be worth on the open market.
The players you cite are poor-to-average, and coaching won’t change that. Subtract Nwosu, Bryant, Woolen, and hopefully Mafe from the D, and we’re left with one-trick ponies and value picks / signings.
Ok dude. However you rate those players is irrelevant. They’ve been successful in recent years. Coaching has failed this team by not putting them in position to succeed.
The coaches have done a piss poor job and we all agree with that, but the players on the field also haven’t preformed or been competitive what so ever. I remember the days when I stood up from my couch when our defense was on the field because you knew a huge hit, sack, fumble or INT was coming! Those were indeed the days and I hope we can reach even a fraction of that level of play again.
I feel this. It’s been years since I reliably pay attention to the defense as they’ve turned into a non factor in most games.
Trade Geno if some team gives a R1 or R2…easy call. Geno is not future.
Three More Years! Three More Years! Three More Years!
The chant that can be heard down the hall from Pete Carrolls office.
Pete’s not going anywhere he doesn’t want to go in the next three years. While many of us agree “It’s time for serious questions to be asked.”, we all know the most likely reality is Pete and his way of doing things is not going anywhere.
So sports fans, lets suck it up and gleen whatever entertainment value there is out of Seahawks games… Cheers
Even if that’s true, I still think those questions should be asked
Carolina just canned Rhule after 2+ seasons. They signed him to a 6 years, $62 million contract guaranteed and thus are eating close to $40 million. Yeah, I know that Carolina’s owner is in a different position than is the Seahawk ownership, but still, I can dream can’t I?
Geno Smith stat watch -also where I eat a portion of crow until further notice-
Smith’s current projection:
4437 yards. 30.6 touchdowns. 6.8 interceptions.
You join a long and distinguished list my friend…
I’m on the list with the caveat of let’s see how the rest of the season shakes out.
That would make me very happy since I recently picked him up on my FFL team. And my WR3 and WR4 (DK and Lockett) who nobody wanted and I picked up in the later rounds.
Genos starting going forward for me over Rodgers…which is wild.
Geno has not faced a good D except SF,Den and we know how it went..
I’m not even a smith fan.
The saints were the number 10 or 11 pass defense before yesterday.
At some point we need to stop this and recognize that something is actually working on the offense. Not sure how it’s happening but something is happening.
Gabe Jackson and Phil Haynes with a 60% / 40% split on RG snaps yesterday.
PC confirmed after the game Jackson wasn’t hurt.
I’m absolutely certain that PC read my Thursday article and made a decision. /s
But seriously folks, that’s something to keep an eye on.
Makes sense to move Jackson if we can. Even if it’s for a 7th rd pick…
It would be a step in the right direction
Salk just said the defense was responsible for the loss Sunday, no answer for Taysom Hill, “it was an awful experience for that defense”
Sounds like he’s getting his tough-talk out of the way early.
Brock just said “I have a lot of questions for Pete Carroll. Not enough of those forceful plays up front. You need to figure things out and figure them out in a hurry.”
Come on Brock. Please.
With the Panthers letting go Matt Rhule I wonder if there is any talent that will be made available on the defensive side that JS could trade for. As long they they keep thier first 5 picks this year.
Which team was taken to the cleaners more:
1. The Seahawks, for the haul they gave up to acquire Jamal Adams, who has cap hits ranging from $18m – $24m per year in 2023-2025;
or
2. The Broncos, for the haul they gave up to acquire Russell Wilson, who has cap hits ranging from $22m – $55m in 2023-2025
Never thought I’d see anything to rival the terribleness of the Adams trade, but Russ’ five-game start to the 2022 season has me thinking it over!
A small part of me feels bad for Russ now. Trying his utmost to create the legacy he wants and going completely in the wrong direction.
I’ll take neither.
Sure looks bad for the broncos.
But the Walmart family can do myriad things over the years to change the outcome.
Meanwhile we all get to sit and wait in purgatory for an excessively long coach and gm contract to run out and a sale of a team while the team trends into the 7 to 8 win wastelands.
Anything short of a top flight QB or a top five defense through the trade means nothing. A little cap savings, a nice player or two, but keep producing the same garbage they currently are is going to make the Wilson trade awash.
Russ has way more upside from the level he is playing at now, by far. Dont have much upside when you’re on I.R. all the time
PC Show w Salk
[q] What happened yesterday? 6:50 had a lead, couldn’t get it done. Really ours to be had. Amazing plays to spark a win, things we didn’t handle well enough. Disappointed. Both sides of the ball, third downs. Expected them to play the run, didn’t expect them to change that much. Short runs on D, they were 4 for 4, crusher for us. Big play (Hill), busted.
[q] Wildcat defending? “QB not handing off, extra blocker, need to execute. You know it’s coming, that’s what is so frustrating. Hill can pass, adds element. Difficult. Everybody has to fit exactly right to make it done. If you only have to make a yard, there’s a blocker on everybody. Breakout sets the stats all crazy. Nothing new, we just need to do it better. Big heavy Wildcat difficult. Tough.”
[q] Rashaad Penny hurt? “Gonna be a haul for him. Broke fibula. Cracked that. High ankle sprain element makes it difficult. Number of months. Miss the season. Heartbreaker.”
[q] Al Woods ok? “He’s got an inflammation in Patellar tendon. Aggravation. Likely he will manage it. Too much to play on. Getting off like crazy.”
[q] What’s going on with the defense? Not accustomed, you’re known for D success? “Unable to find consistency. Not as clean as need. Process. There are no mysteries. Answer questions, fit the runs, no more missed tackles, uncommonly consistent right now. Doesn’t feel right. Know what we need to do, plan is worked out. Until we find it consistency, it’s hard. Things magnified. Untimely penalties. If you give somebody something they make you pay for it.”
[q] What level of D most responsible? “Kinda sharing it. If it was that easy, be easy to fix. Running the ball at us a lot. 48 runs yesterday. Something we have to deal with. Keep doing it if you let them. League takes what you give them.”
[q] Change to 3-4 offseason play into this? Never seen teams get run on like this? “Didn’t get carryover of strength things done. Played run well last year, not with us right now. Passing numbers down, running the ball a lot. Trying to transition to clean it up. We’re working at it. It’s there, I can see it.”
[q] Loss of Jamal Adams? “Yeah because he’s a playmaker. Run guys down. Effect way call offensive plays away from him. Know where it’s going because of our personnel. Not present. Certainly a factor.”
[q] Geno done best? “Extremely consistent. First throw in game. Stuck a ball into Noah. Here we go. Accuracy better than anybody’s. Moved well in pocket.”
[q] Didn’t see this Geno offseason, command of offense, no presnap issues? “He did it again like a couple weeks ago. Saw in running game. Hit it again yesterday. Poise. Making an audible gives us a good chance. Execute and hand the ball off, bang. Got offense under control.”
[q] Sustainable for Geno? Long term answer at QB? “Got Drew nipping at his heels every day in practice. Good stuff in support keeps everyone on toes. Not gonna sit back and get comfortable. Have a chance to have a great year. And future. Physically in great shape.”
[q] Defense – who are voices help turn this thing around? “Seeing Tariq getting the ball. Cody did it again. Aggressive attacking forced fumble. Don’t look like they’re going away. They’re doing it with their play. I’m hoping they’ll do their thing. Continues to be a factor. Best game, challenging receivers. Sat on routes, they couldn’t get away from him. Penalty, perfect LOS jams, two handed guy couldn’t get off line. Never done it better. So many cool things. Kinds of guys. Mafe nice job. Jordyn all over field. Centerpiece of action.”
[q] Tariq MPH on Hill play? “22.9 MPH. Done that a number of time.”
[q] Dickson scramble punt? “supposed to kick it. I’m totally taking that. I shouldn’t have allowed that to happen. How easy can you make it for them. That was the margin in the game.”
[q] You give them chances, they take them? “Don’t’ give your opponent anything. We’re not there. Big emphasis on penalties last week and we still had 4 in each phase – O, D, ST. Win games, win by doing right.”
[q] How are teams attacking you? “Run the ball 48x yesterday. Didn’t have to throw it. Didn’t feel threat there. Short run downs really good. Just not in the plans. They did some nice things, we didn’t adapt fast enough. Wish we’d done some things quicker.”
[q] Draft class, Woolen, Walker house call, 2 OTs, Mafe, Bryant? “One of my all time optimistic foreshadowing moments. Every guy came through. Shane thrilled with OT’s yesterday. 2 sacks, held the football. Seeing it from everybody. Walker perfect mid zone run. Great for him to feel that. Now he has a ton of opp and we’re counting on him.”
[q] OT’s immediate success? “Really good athletes first of all. Quick, sudden, strong. Handled it well. Just getting started. Five games old.”
[q] Cross run blocking? “Been consistent, gonna get better. More physical when confident he’s doing right. Same with Abe. Assured they’re doing right, footwork right, knock guys off the FB even better. Solid job now, not a problem at all.”
[q] Mariners game? [cha ed, nope]
“There are no mysteries….”
Nope the whole thing is a mystery wrapped in an enigma.
Really enjoy the how fast is Tariq woolen is the new how good is Bobby Wagner.
Offenses call plays away from Adams? When? In college? He was good as a safety blitzing. Not good as a safety.
STILL trying to pretend the peacock is actually a good player. Sad Pete, sad.
I don’t even know what the point is anymore. For fans of John if he’s really in charge now…..?….. adams should be let go via the easiest to palate way possible. Unless there’s a retirement settlement which seems unlikely for a muscle/ tendon injury.
Thanks cha, I would not have the patience to listen to these. So the changers in our D are Woolen, Bryant, Mafe and Brooks. Three rookies and a guy we do out best to put him in situations he’s uncomfortable with (e.g. playing coverage last year) or not getting enough support. This is a huge tell on how bad the others are.
That question and answer perplexed me greatly.
I felt like Brock was asking “who are the leaders on the defense? Who has the guts to stand up and say ‘this isn’t good enough’ or corner a player and say ‘you’ve been brutal, get going’ ?
But Pete’s response was all positive about the young players and to say they’re talking with their play. Which is true, and great.
I can’t tell if Pete misunderstood the question (or maybe I did) or he just chose to give his own answer.
Because in the past he would have said Bobby, KJ, Diggs, etc are the guys in the room who will get people right.
Thanks. Love these. easier to wince in 3 minutes than to wince non-stop for 20. Pretty sure you meant Coby, and not Cody, on the fumble…
“It’s there I can see it.”
Good God man, what the hell are you rambling about?
It’s as if he’s watching an airliner on fire nosediving into the ocean and believing they’ll pull up at the last minute by doing a Sully maneuver.
Once again 12 penalty’s for 85 yards, the hallmark of the PC era . The Saints had 26 1st downs, many just handed to them. Geno can not seem to catch a break. Sitting behind iron man Wilson for so long, and now this defense screwing him.
Catch a break? Geno might, might make a ton of cash next year. Seems like a good break to me.
My thoughts too.
If he ends the year this well, some team is going to pay him good money.
If you’re inclined to think the Seahawks’ defense wasn’t that bad last night because they did force some turnovers and punts…
Keep in mind the Saints were without their starting QB and top WR and lost their #2 and #3 WRs to injury in the game. Their only offensive weapons were Kamara and Hill. And with Hill, if he was in the game, you knew for certain he would be the ball carrier. And even with all that, Seattle couldn’t make a stop.
Hill’s TD run is as close to an in-season fireable offense as anything I’ve seen. Problem is who do you fire? Unless it’s Carroll, would it make any difference at all?
New Orleans defense is solid, and we should be encouraged with how our offense performed against that squad.
But their offense is a joke. Just like Detroit’s offense is a joke. And the laugh’s on our defense.
I’ll say it again, Seattle have the worst LB and Safety position groups in the entire NFL.
yeah – that’s the depressing part. Detroit’s offense actually was rolling coming in they’d put up 35 on philly in the opener, and 36, 24 in the other games (don’t know what happened yesterday). But New Orleans? Just an average to below-average offense, esp w Dalton at QB. It was just a sad and miserable performance by our D.
Is Cooper Rush the real deal? How do Cowboys draft QBs so well..
Romo, Dak, now Rush…
Rush and Romo weren’t even drafted… both UDFA
That’s even better right.
Where’s Desai? (Most likely on the first bus out of town, I know.)
My only hope (and it’s very little) is that something equivalent to letting Solari go and promoting Dickerson will happen on the defensive side. Preferably midseason (almost no chance) or over offseason at latest (still unlikely).
As Rob and others have suggested many times, Carroll needs to go full Saban. Let Desai fill his role as Associate Head Coach and actually run the defense his way (with or without Hurtt, I don’t care).
If Carroll is indeed in some sort of ridiculous game of one-upmanship with Wilson, his inflexibility makes him his own worst enemy. Carroll’s having the same old problems with the defense. Wilson’s having the same old problems in Denver. (Not saying that’s completely on Wilson, but he’s the one constant in the equation.) Whoever is able to make the key deviations from tendency will prove the other wrong. Probably a stalemate, but we’ll see.
Thanks Rob (and cha) for all the great info and perspective!
With Penny out, plus Homer already on IR, one thing I think might be cool would be to give Dareke Young some RB looks when they go with multiple RB formations like they’ve been doing. He’s big and explosive enough, plus he has experience as a runner from college. They could use him like they had been with Walker, lining up on the end of the formation where he can threaten on jet sweeps, or as a receiver on screens, or just straight taking handoffs out of the backfield. Bit of a Deebo lite.
I rather like Mohamed Ibrahim, RB from Minnesota that has 41 career TD’s and is ranked as a late day-2 to early day-3 pick. Of course, there are other higher ranked RB’s however I imagine the Seahawks higher picks will go for QB, DL, LB & IOL, so RB -MAY- have to wait until later in the draft, making Ibrahim a possibility?
I think Darwin Thompson could be solid for us, he’s probably the next man up, question is, will get get looks on 1st and 2nd down as backup to Walker, or does Dallas get those looks as well as 3rd down back snaps? We shall see.
Oh for a philosophy like Philadelphia. Drafting Jordan Davis whilst they still have Fletcher Cox, and Cam Jurgens whilst they still have Jason Kelce. That is what is called investing in the trenches. And do you know what? It looks like they have a fine football team as a result!?
Proactive rather than reactive.
Hello Jamal Adams trade
Question – on the DL we were a 1 gap scheme last year where some of the DL and edge guys were successful. Does it take a different type of player – bigger stronger to play a 2 gap DL scheme?
I couldn’t get past this excerpt from Pete Carroll’s interview with Brock and Salk this morning:
MS: “Coach, what’s going on with the defense? This is not what (we’ve) become accustomed to here in Seattle…where is this defense at?”
PC: “We’re unable right now to find the consistency, and we’re not clean as we need to be. And that’s just the process that we’re in the middle of right now. We can see it happen. You can answer the questions. (There are) no mysteries. We gotta make the plays when we get our chances; we gotta fit the runs as we need to. We gotta make the tackles when we have to. We’ve had—(there were) a couple missed tackles on touchdown plays; there’s right, really good players in really good positions, and the guy gets through and makes the play better than we make it. It’s uncommonly consistent right now. It just doesn’t feel right. And so we can see it. We know what we need to do. We’re on—the plan has worked out. We just need to keep battling, and we need to be more consistent.”
I’d be curious to hear Rob’s thoughts on the above, particularly as regards: (1) Mike Salk’s premise that bottom-tier defense is not what we’re accustomed to in Seattle, (2) Pete Carroll’s assertion that the consistent inability we’re seeing is uncommon, and (3) Carroll’s statement that “The plan has worked out. We just need to keep battling…”
I’d prefer a question that asks about why Seattle has started the last four years badly on defense and been required to improve dramatically as the season goes on — and what cause is there to believe we wont see it happen a fifth time next year.
And I’d prefer a better answer than one that claims the defense is ‘just inconsistent’ when it has been consistent. Consistently awful.
Exactly: consistently awful. Consistently awful and chronically underprepared—verging on unprofessionally so at times—and Carroll knows he can sidestep the important questions with little more than that signature Baffle-Face shrug-grimace of his.
I’ll credit Corbin Smith for asking your first question, at least:
CS: “Hey, Pete. Obviously, every year is a little bit different, but this is three straight years now the defense has needed at least five games to find its footing. As a coach, why do you think this keeps happening? And do you see patterns to these prolonged slumps to start the season?”
PC: “I don’t know about the patterns. I don’t know that. But there’s—when you go three years and it starts slow, then I guess you could look at that pattern, but I don’t know how it goes for us working forward…I don’t know why it’s like that. I have no idea why it would start slow.”
I guess Carroll’s prolixity was just him being polite, since he obviously wasn’t worried about having to tender a response of any substance. He visibly smirked while Corbin was asking that question, by the way.
Oh, and you nailed it with your “Coach, how good is (Player X, Y, Z)?” prediction, by the way, and with the “Whattaya think of the Mariners?” one, too.
Sigh.
I noticed the smirk and the dismissive tone of a fair and relevant question
Extremely disappointing reaction from Carroll
Barton was keying on whoever was blocking for Hill, and successfully enfaged said blocker with regularity. Is that what they practice?
Depends on the defensive call. Defenses have plays just like offenses where coverages, run fits (responsibilities), rush vs. drop responsibilities, etc. change. His responsibility could have very well been to take on the lead blocker and blow him up so others could clean up. Its hard to say.
https://i.redd.it/p54g6g8s80t91.png
PFF Offense
https://imgur.com/tmxEaiT
PFF Defense
https://imgur.com/J7aGIBp
I know these are opinion based and it’s tough to grade players, but Cody Barton looked awful yesterday. And to give an average grade to a run defense that allowed 2 100 yard rushers on the same day?
I’m giving the folks that did the PFF defensive grading an F this week.
I’m as critical as anyone on Cody Barton but I thought he had his best game yesterday (not saying a lot). It might just be that he didn’t feel like the big missing link when they were all crap but I didn’t see any glaring misreads or two hand touch tackle attempts brushed aside.
Dickson’s run grade feels high…..
I’m not sure if I buy all the talk of drafting so much defense. A lot of these guys looked good before this year. Brooks isn’t an all pro but he seemed capable. I think Diggs is trying to cover up a lot of other people’s mistakes. Taylor looked like he was on his way to becoming a double team guy. This could be blind optimism, but I think proper coaching might still be able to field an average defense with these guys and maybe 2 or 3 additions via draft and FA. A bang average D would compliment this stunningly great offense.
On offense I’m eating serious crow over my Geno criticism, but we still have a lot of football left to play against better teams. As sad as it is to see Penny go out, we’re guaranteed to see if Walker is the guy or not now. I feel like if we had Miami’s staff in Seattle with our guys we’d looking a lot like that team is now. I’ve heard guys on this site that I respect say for months that Jodi Allen won’t fire Pete because she won’t pay someone not to coach, but I’m not sure I buy that. If the disfunction grows I think it effects the value of the team as well. Buying a functional locker room has to be more appealing than a dumpster fire. I don’t know a ton about buying or selling franchises though so I could be wrong.
Two things about Pete being let go. One if this trends poorly and she/ the trust lose revenue from stadium action.
Two. All we know is the team can not be sold until the 2024-25 due to a deal with the city. But none of us knows if that is the time frame.
Phil knight purportedly made an offer to buy the trailblazers. Maybe it was too low an offer. But to my knowledge that was turned down and I don’t recall provision preventing tge trailblazers from being for sale.
PC Monday PM press Conf
[q Boyle] Penny handling injury? “Heartbroken, but experienced at rehab.”
[q Mueller] Walker taking over role? “Hasn’t had many turns with the guys yet. Obvious he can do it. Take adv of opps that come up. No time to patiently wait. He’s going. Great opp for him.”
[q Corbin] Three straight years defense needed 5 games, why? Patterns to prolonged slumps? “I don’t know about patterns. Three years start slumping, maybe can look at a pattern. Gotta make our moves, get our best guys in right spots doing right things. Working at it. I don’t know why it’s like that. I have no idea why we start slow. We’re dealing with it again, we know we’re going to come out of it.”
[q Brady H] Signs see turning a corner on D? “Fact we had issues with Wildcat deal, unusual aspect and player. Unique style we won’t see again. Didn’t handle well. Not concerned teams will come out throwing with RBs now. Base stuff I felt we held Kamara in check. Avg 4 yards/carry. Wildcat stuff killed us. I think we’re gonna get better going forward.”
[q maz veda] Defender shedding blocks, technical or physical or recognition? “All engaging, everything. Good leverage playing with blocks and disengaging. Need to work better. Fundamentals of run D never go away. Work all year. Keep improving.”
[q condotta] Tony Jones RB just picked up? “Made team been there all year. Strong, tough, versatile, catches the ball OK in backfield. Boost of depth. Deejay will play a lot more. Darwin Thompson too. Travis Homer in two weeks.”
Al Woods? “Day by day.”
[q Tim Boyle] Scored 103 points, not won, level of frustration? “Fast explosive, Geno understands all aspects, checks, LOS, big part of that. Good group around. Guys come through. WRs, TEs, RBs, making plays. Keep making plays and explosions.”
Game 4 ALDS Sunday cross programming game time adj? “In conversations right now, both sides working at it.”
[q Mueller] DK and Tyler great but need WR group more balanced? “Not worried about that at all. Only 49 plays, a lot of production. TEs not as involved. Did fine with what they got. Not a perfect mixture. Take what they give us.”
[q Condotta] Ryan Neal and Safeties? “Very active, very good job. Opps to make, tackled well, hit well, defended pass well. Very obvious. Gave us a boost. Josh nice job in sub stuff when he had opps. Fired up about Ryan. Did well.”
😧
Is he just being dismissive in his way, or is this sincere?
Hard to say. He brushed off the idea that it is a pattern. That was pretty dismissive. Then he backtracked a little and said maybe it is.
I think some will have an “AHA!” moment with him saying he doesn’t know what the problem is. But I don’t think he knew last year or the year before either and he bluffed his way through it with the press then. At least now he’s honest about it.
I liken it to the brief unguarded moment where he said he wouldn’t have been in Seattle as long as he was without Russ.
Enjoyed the total misdirection when asked about lots of scoring and not winning….here’s some stuff about geno *tada*
Also really good job “holding ” Kamara (injury recovery not full speed) to …just…4.5yds a clip for 103 total yards.
Come on man. That is some grade A turd polishing.
Good question from Corbin Smith — the question that, IMO, had to be asked and deserved a better answer than the dismissive response Carroll provided
We’ll never know for certain, but I think it’s tragically ironic that Carroll and Schneider passed on who had to be their dream replacement for Lynch in Nick Chubb, presumably because they didn’t trust his knee (read: his ability to remain healthy and available) for Penny, who carried a significant workload without injury during his fairly prolific senior year.
Regardless of Penny’s ability to stay healthy since then, what happened to him yesterday wasn’t because of any deficiency in his health or physiology. It was random and cruel. I wish him a full and complete recovery, though I am ambivalent about his return to the Seahawks on even favorable contract terms.
Absolute rubbish Intel on that. I’ll always thank Chubb for getting me into data. As I sat with paper and pen and listed out a 12 game run spanning two seasons where he was THE best running back in the nation against the absolute top defenses.