The 2017 Seahawks were 8-4 after twelve games.
They ended the season 9-7 and missed the playoffs for the only time in Russell Wilson’s career.
I’m not convinced the 2020 version will finish quite as poorly as that. However, it’s starting to feel like history might be repeating.
The Seahawks are 3-4 in their last seven games and they’ve suffered three of the worst losses in the Pete Carroll era.
There’s losing and there’s being embarrassed. Against the Bills, Rams and now the New York Giants, the Seahawks were humiliated.
Yet unlike previous years, they don’t have even one victory of note to dilute these highly disappointing moments.
In 2017, after all, they beat the eventual Super Bowl Champions Philadelphia in week 13. In 2018 they defeated Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs and Aaron Rodgers and the Packers. A year ago they had the heroic performance in Santa Clara.
Who have they beaten this year?
For all the investment, all the resource, all the talk of MVP’s for Russell Wilson and letting him ‘cook’ and all the hope and aspiration to reach the Super Bowl — the stark reality is this team doesn’t look good enough.
There’s still time for this to change, of course, with games remaining. Yet there’s never any reason to avoid having a difficult conversation.
The finger of blame has to be pointed at the four most important people in the franchise.
Pete Carroll
His job is to have the Seahawks prepared to play on a Sunday. Yet far too often they are untidy, play down to their opponents and are out-coached.
Nearly three years after the reset, the team lacks any kind of identity. What are they? A prolific passing team shaped in the mould of their quarterback? A run-the-ball-and-play-defense group? They lurch between all sorts and nothing sticks.
If you don’t know who you are, then you’ve got big problems.
The coaches Carroll appointed to run his offense and defense aren’t getting the job done. Nobody should excuse Brian Schottenheimer or Ken Norton Jr. Ultimately though, Pete Carroll is responsible for this team as a whole. So far this year, we’ve witnessed a stretch of games where the defense was historically bad and a stretch of games where the offense has been diabolical.
Carroll also takes responsibility for the entire football operations. As we’ve discussed a lot this year, the off-season was a mess. The way they handled their self-confessed priority of fixing the pass rush was a shambles. They squandered cap space and picks and made desperation moves — all to produce this team.
The Seahawks are in real danger of winning the NFC West just once in six years, despite having a serious quarterback advantage.
Furthermore, two other coaches in the NFC West have taken Jared Goff and Jimmy Gaoppolo to the Super Bowl in the last couple of seasons.
Being in the same division as Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan is merely shining a light on Seattle’s underwhelming run in recent years.
Russell Wilson
He talks about being the best ever. Recently, he’s discussed his aim to create the most prolific QB/WR duo in league history with D.K. Metcalf. He has MVP ambitions and reportedly, during the off-season, he gave something akin to an ultimatum to the Seahawks to ‘let him cook’.
He has to play better than this. He looks more like Carson Wentz at the moment than Mahomes or Rodgers. Wilson has combined the best spell of his career in the first few weeks of the season with arguably the worst. It’s not good enough and he has to play better.
Don’t make excuses for him. This isn’t because of an absent right tackle, a new perfume, a podcast, a celebrity wife or a play caller. Wilson earns $35m a year. He has shown he is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game.
He simply has to perform at a higher level.
John Schneider
He helped build, with Carroll, one of the greatest rosters the NFL has ever seen. That should always be remembered and never diluted.
However, the decision making since the reset leaves so much to be desired and questions needs to be asked.
The Seahawks have not made the most of their high draft picks. They’ve indulged in questionable, high-profile trades. They’ve squandered money.
Every now and again the old magic returns — the D.K. Metcalf pick and the Carlos Dunlap trade are good examples. Yet the list of gaffes is starting to dwarf the list of smart moves. Their record in the first round of the draft, their inability to address self-confessed priorities, their decision making when it comes to being thrifty at certain positions and splurging at others. These are legitimate concerns.
Worst of all there’s an air of desperation about their moves this year.
Having failed to adequately address the pass rush in free agency, they traded up to make sure they got Darrell Taylor — a player carrying a serious injury. He’d been unable to practise at the Senior Bowl or attend the combine. Some draft insiders suggested, due to the inability to conduct thorough medical checks due to Covid-19, that he could go undrafted. That’s how serious the injury was.
In a typical year with the usual medical examinations taking place, it might’ve been determined that Taylor wouldn’t pass a medical.
Seattle spent a second and third round pick to acquire him. He hasn’t even been cleared to practise yet. You could be forgiven for wondering if he’ll ever play — as he heads for the dreaded ‘second opinion’ on his recovery which has now taken a year.
Then there’s the Jamal Adams trade, executed right before the start of training camp. We’ve clearly seen in eight games that Adams is an effective blitzer. His 7.5 sacks is testament to that.
It’s also worth noting that he averages 10.3 blitzes per game, which is by far the most in the NFL by any player. After just six games, he’d more than tripled the number of times Bradley McDougald blitzed in 15 games last season.
So the numbers are good and Adams deserves credit for his sacks. It has to be acknowledged though that there’s a degree of manufacture with these numbers. If McDougald was able to blitz 10.3 times a game instead of the 1.4 times a game he blitzed in 2019, would he also be capable of producing good sack numbers?
After all, you’re the extra rusher. This isn’t a 1v1 battle, winning off the edge like Myles Garrett and allowing you to play with extra coverage defenders. Blitzing comes at a cost. Before the Giants game, Seattle was blitzing 35% of the time. In 2018, they blitzed just 18.4% of the time.
The Seahawks spent a fortune on Adams in terms of picks, making it incredibly difficult for them over the next couple of years in the draft. The biggest, most pressing problem however is how much they pay him to keep him. As we’ve discussed already, by not having an oven-ready contract ready to go, the Seahawks have ceded all leverage in negotiations.
They simply cannot afford to be paying Bobby Wagner and Jamal Adams around $18m a year each. Not in the current financial climate.
The Adams trade never felt like a calculated, finishing touch. It always seemed like an acknowledgement that the only significant move made this off-season was to remove Jadeveon Clowney from the roster and not add a proper replacement. They needed an injection of talent badly and Adams happened to be available. The cost of the deal was eye-watering.
Now they face an off-season with limited cap space and only three draft picks. They’re right back to square one. As with 2018 and 2019, they’re back to working with severely limited resources. Yet the team they’ve put together isn’t good enough — not on the evidence so far.
So what does Schneider do? Is he willing to be honest about the situation, eat some humble pie and initiate what needs to probably be a second reshaping in a short space of time? Because the 2020 Seahawks are not better than the 2018 Seahawks currently. For all the money and picks ploughed into this roster, they are not good enough. Some difficult decisions need to be made.
Jodi Allen
The final finger of blame should be pointed at ownership. I have sympathy with Allen because she merely inherited a football team. I doubt she ever had any real ambition to be an owner and this isn’t some kind of natural succession plan.
It’s expected that within the next five years someone else will purchase the franchise.
You can’t blame Allen for putting her trust in Carroll and Schneider to run the football operations, seemingly unchallenged. They are experienced and established. They are respected. They have delivered a Super Bowl title.
Yet it’s also the responsibility of ownership, regardless of the situation, to do what is right. You have to make difficult decisions. You still have to hold people to account.
It was the easy decision to extend Pete Carroll and start another ‘five year plan’. Was it the right call to make, however? Are the Seahawks experiencing their own Mike McCarthy moment? Two years ago the Packers dispensed of McCarthy despite his own successful spell in Green Bay because things, sadly, just started to go stale.
Matt LaFleur, his replacement, is 22-6 in the regular season since taking over. It hasn’t always been plain sailing. The Packers were hammered in the NFC Championship game a few months ago. Yet the fact is he’s revitalised a franchise and somehow managed to negotiate the awkwardness of Green Bay drafting Aaron Rodgers’ replacement instead of investing in his supporting cast.
That’s not to say you’re going to easily fall into a great replacement if you make a change. Yet fear of change is never a good enough reason not to pick up the baton. Paul Allen made a mistake with Jim Mora and then rectified it abruptly and spectacularly. That’s real ownership.
I don’t even believe, necessarily, that change is required. I want to believe that Carroll can lead this team back to the top. I also want the owner to be asking serious questions about the recent run of results, the personnel decisions, the performance of the staff (especially the coordinators), the performance of the quarterback and the overall direction of this team.
There needs to be accountability from the top.
Offering a new long-term contract that was almost apologetically leaked to the media, weeks after it was agreed, is not accountability. That felt like the easy option. I fear, rather than being challenged, Carroll and co are simply being left to get on with it.
The owner, the Head Coach, the GM and the quarterback. The most important people in your franchise have to deliver.
There’s a danger of the Seahawks drifting. This season feels so familiar. Whether it ends in a similar way to 2017 or whether they make the playoffs and subsequently make a swift exit again, the years are rolling by and nothing seems to change.
There are many fans who want to reflect on the possibility of another winning season as a cause for celebration. This is a franchise that experienced precious little success prior to Mike Holmgren’s arrival. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with ‘enjoying the ride’. More power to you.
I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with high expectations. This team, this Head Coach, this GM, this quarterback — they have created lofty expectations. This is no longer a cellar dwelling franchise, grateful for the odd great player to pop along once every ten or twenty years. This is a team that has set the highest of bars.
Are they capable of living up to their set standard? Rather than regress — slowly and gradually — is there any evidence of a team that is good enough to achieve merely what McVay & Goff and Shanahan & Garoppolo both achieved in the last two years?
There should be some pressure on those who can still prove the doubters wrong. There are still four games to go.
Trust me, I want to write a 2000-word end-of-season review on how Carroll and Wilson turned things around and shocked the NFL. I will gladly write the words ‘I was wrong’ if that happens.
Unfortunately I suspect that what I’ll be actually be writing is an article that has become all too familiar over the last six seasons.
So this is the challenge now. You’ve got four games and a potential post-season.
Do the heroes of this franchise want to be remembered for glory? Or for the way things petered out into a disappointing conclusion filled with missed opportunities and tarnished legacies?
Over to you, Pete and Russ. You’re the only two of this particular quartet who can influence the next few weeks.
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Perfect.. called out the leaders. Seahawks is no longer fixable this season or next (unless things change radically).
Pete is stale, does not have right coaching staff, a stale front office who cant consistently acquire talent thru draft and FA, top 5 paid QB who is in two minds…. and finally does not have a sound plan for game day.
Totally agree, the leadership needs to be held accountable. Some heads need to roll this year for sure.
RW is either (a) injured (b) sick or (c) too enamored with the wealthy celebrity lifestyle to follow his own advice about preparation and concentration. Something is wrong but ideas are welcome.
Well, he was also a ‘celebrity’ in the first few weeks of the season when he was tearing it up. So it’s not that.
It’s something. Maybe having to do with other parts of the offense, like using basically just two receivers has become too predictable or needing to use OL depth has turned pass protection to crap. I don’t know but this would be a good time for the OC to step in with creative ideas.
Russ is shaken and still won’t take a check down to save his life, literally. If he had taken the underneath routes the Giants were allowing we could be reminiscing about an ugly win. Schotty has forgotten there are tight ends on the roster, and is designing slow developing play or plays with limited options. Plenty of talent across the board, but it’s not being utilized properly.
Well, he was also a ‘celebrity’ in the first few weeks of the season when he was tearing it up. So it’s not that.”
That’s an awfully simplistic excuse and ignores real psychology. I don’t know if Russ is in over his head with other ventures or not, but the fact that an issue didn’t rear its ugly head earlier is not evidence that those issues don’t exist.
And it’s awfully simplistic, as you put it, to assume something is a distraction when you haven’t got a clue whether it is or not. He has always been an active person. He was never ‘not’ busy. It’s a massive reach to blame a podcast and a perfume. And quite silly.
There is a perception that this celebrity guff is a new phenomenon and RW is out of control.
I’ll just remind people that he’s been knee deep it in from day one.
Remember the GQ photoshoot with rookie Russ?
http://media.gq.com/photos/5582d7a43655c24c6c94b775/master/pass/copilot-entertainment-sports-201309-wilson-opener-628.jpg
Fantastic read, Rob. Completely spot on.
Hadn’t considered the Jodi Allen angle, but I think you nailed that. Sure, she didn’t buy the team – she inherited it. That still doesn’t change the fact that there is significant responsibility there.
I’m super pessimistic at the moment. I truly hope this is one of those losses that is so incredibly bad that it actually becomes a huge positive that it happened (sparked change). The hope is that RW has clearly had struggles in his career, but I don’t think he’s ever struggled for 10-11 games straight. So maybe the light is that it starts to click with him again.
Where I have almost ZERO faith is in Pete Carroll. He’s 113 years old – he’s not changing. Again, I hope I’m wrong, but that’s the one I have the least confidence in, of the 4 horsemen that you mentioned.
Great work per usual.
Thanks
Really? I’d go with Jodi because she’s the most unknown.
Does she really have it in her to fire the most beloved and successful coach in team history, which is the ultimate means on how to hold the executive head of the organization “accountable”?
I have my doubts. Like has been mentioned she inherited the team. There’s been no evidence to date that she actually possesses the managerial chops to reach deep and make a decision that would almost certainly be as controversial as it would be consequential even if the team finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs. It’s possible, but it’s the outcome I have the least faith in happening.
I’m not even saying it would be clear that Carroll *should* be fired should they finish 9-7. I mean, how would his dismissal sit with RW? That would need to be taken into account. But that’s what I think of when I hear “holding people to account”, you have to be willing to pull the trigger.
Meanwhile, Carroll has shown a openness to change, even if some might argue it takes him longer than it should. The fact remains that at least there’s precedent. It’s true that in all likelihood will not hire a DC that gets away from the single high cover 3, which remains his staple scheme of choice over the last decade.
I don’t think the McCarthy situation bears any resemblance. In that case there were serious differences between HC and star quarterback that spelled McCarthy’s demise. Plus, there was a certain riding of McCarthy on the coattails of Rodgers greatness in the early years that brought them a championship. That’s just not the case with Carroll where it’s the greatness of the defense Carroll built that can be rightly credited as most responsible for delivering a championship.
Despite being a huge Seahawks fan, something just smells rotten about the team. At first I hated Sherman and bennet for causing trouble and going against the grain of leadership but I think they were onto something.
Pete is stale. Pete is bad with clock management. Pete consistently is putting out poorly coached teams the last few years.
What really grinds my gears with Pete is whenever the hawks do something bad he calls it “uncharacteristic”. Hey Pete news flash, if something uncharacteristic keeps happening, that’s becomes characteristic by default.
But really Wilson is underperforming plain and simple. The Wilson from the start of the season has disappeared. I think you might be slightly underselling the importance of the Seahawks playing their 3rd and 4th string right tackle last game, they were getting abused and that was giving Wilson fits, but despite that he used to be someone who could compensate for those issues.
Now it seems Wilson is happy to hold on to the ball forever, take drive killing 10-15 yard sacks, and just not have any sense or urgency or any killer instinct when he plays.
The more I think about it the more I’m in favor of a complete blow up of the team and leadership and ownership, as I just see this team trending down ala Mike McCarthy.
Russ played ridiculous. wait for long developing plays and then dump late in the middle clobbering the receiver.
The arrogance of Pete, Schotty and Russ showed up in the game plan. Giants paid it back hard and sweet.
Russ and the offense lost to a 4 -7 team with a back up qb who only threw for 105 yds and put up 17 points 8n Seattle home stadium. Wtf?!
Watching the KC game just tear my soul apart. Playing against a 4-7 team (Denver), defense plays OK but gave up some big runs, and couldn’t totally stop Lock, felt average. Offense had some struggles, WRs dropped some balls. It wasn’t a clean performance…only 3 difference is that game and the SEA game:
1, Denver actually played pretty well, much much better than NYG
2, Andy Reid and the OC for the Chiefs designed nice plays
3, most importantly: Mahomes…how he changed calls, managed pressure, went through his reads, made incredible throws. As long as Mahomes plays something like this, Russ should never even get an MVP vote. They are just another planet. Even early-season Russ cannot catch struggling-offense Mahomes to be honest.
The reason I mentioned that game is because the Chiefs and the Hawks seemed pretty similar. The opponent felt somewhat similar (just Denver actually playing well on offense), but the game felt a lot different. The Chiefs played as a team on both offense and defense. The OC and Mahomes elevated the offense even when they struggled. They made a difference…for the Hawks…nope
Don’t buy that NYG did not play well. Their defensive scheme was close to perfect. They played hard, contained Russ on his scrambles, and clearly exploited his long-ball lust. On offense, they muscled their running game and limited mistakes in their passing game with a back-up QB.
Prior to the season I was pretty certain it was going to be Pete’s last especially with the Adams trade, but that extension really threw me through the loop. I don’t think it is out of the realm of possibility that we see a Chris Petersen esque stepping down, especially if we continue to underperform. Some way or another we need some new life in this organization, but it would be difficult under our current uncertain ownership.
At the end of the 2017 season, Jay Glazer reported Pete Carroll was contemplating retirement.
If this ends up finishing like the 2017 season, I wouldn’t rule it out.
Then should I root for the Hawks to lose?
It feels like I should cuz imo this team ain’t seein’ the Bowl with Pete Caarroll in charge.
Making a home run head coaching hire is very difficult to do. Would you trust the current ownership to do that? PC is the most successful head coach on franchise history. Maybe the solution lies in Rob’s ideas about bringing in new coaching personnel under Pete’s leadership.
Yeah it’s much easier to want a Matt LaFleur than actually getting on, we do need a lot more freshness and innovation, otherwise were going to have more games like Sunday where we can’t do anything. This is a big crossroads for the team, hopefully they manage it well and maximize the opportunity, we’d have to be a somewhat desirable place to coach.
No, I would not trust the current ownership to make a great hire. Thus limbo land as Rob outlined above. I mean it feels pretty hopeless today because of this.
And we can’t trust Carroll to bring in forward thinking coordinators.
I tried that in a comment on yesterday’s post in the hope that it might be our only path to change but I got spanked for not being pro-Seahawks.
That would only mean a high draft pick for the Jets :(((
Well written and agreed.
My four ‘hat-tips’ , as guys who I trust to bring it and play with heart and juice every week: Jamal, DK, Jordyn, DLew. Everyone else needs to get on board.
Wow, great read. Thanks.
To me 9-7 is a real possibility. Win next week then take the “L” in the last three games. SF should have Kittle and Jimmy G back by then, right?
As bad as yesterday was, I expect to win the next two games.
I am not confident on the final two.
I will disagree with you a bit on that, as I said on here even before they beat Pittsburgh tonight, the WFT is built to punish the Seahawk team we’ve watched the past 6-7 games. They MAY beat the Jets just because Gase is a horrible HC, despite his proficiency as an OC, but unless there’s an awakening on offense, the Seahawks will be fortunate to finish 9-7. Some will blame Russ, some, probably more, will blame Schotty, but none of us know whether it’s the plays sent in, or the real time decisions at play time that are at fault. I would say it’s a combination of poor coaching choices, and Russ not having faith in his O line, and/or the calls sent in. As just one of many possible observations, we often decry the lack of TE utilization on chain moving plays, but is that on Schotty or Russ…………………if we’re honest, we don’t know for sure, but it’s one of the realities of this offense.
I totally agree, especially with the “I hope I’m wrong” sentiment. I’d really like to read that article and share a February plate of crow. Don’t see it happening, but I’ll get some hot sauce just in case.
I was looking at Super Bowl winners. I know the last 20 years are Belicheck/Brady dominated and that throws off the stats. But, after the Manning/Rothlisberger draft, there have been 0 QBs drafted that have won multiple Super Bowls. The only QBs to make it to 2 SBs since 2000 are Brady, the Mannings, Ben, and Russ. Mahomes will probably change that soon, but just noting how challenging it is to do what we’d like to see the Seahawks do.
Again, I hope I’m wrong, but I feel like the Seahawks will look back at Russ’ career like Saints and Brees. Missed opportunities that were self inflicted. Completely different situations (bountygate vs. poor personnel management & coaching), but similar results.
Brees would’ve made his 2nd year before last if not for possibly the worst no call in the history of the NFL. In my mind, even if it’s not in the history books, he and Payton been to two. It was a screwing to the level of XL* and the tuck rule game.
Literally, such a bad call the NFL changed the rules to prevent it from happening again. Bress has a pretty good shot this year too & so does Rodgers.
I mean, you may think it was stupid and unfair, but the tuck rule was an actual thing and was correctly applied in that game. To me, it doesn’t even count as a screw job – just a bit of misfortune.
Fair play to Joe Fann, he really pushed and probed Carroll on Darrell Taylor. Asked a relevant question, which was a follow up in itself, and then followed up with two more questions.
That’s how it’s done.
And for what it’s worth, it sounds terribly bleak regarding Taylor.
We’ve seen that coming for a while now, sadly. 2 wasted top draft picks on the d-line in what, 5 years?
Sadly 4, and could’ve been more if Dominique Easley dropped to us.
As long as PC is head coach, I’m pretty sure any changes will be the proverbial ‘rearranging of chairs on the Titanic’. I’m a few years older than Pete (although I’m not over 113 years old as an earlier posting stated about PC) and I get up every morning wanting or at least thinking about making changes and it ain’t easy. The resistance from habit, conditioning, and just energy for doing things that might address change is daunting. My hope is that Carroll sees the writing on the wall and realizes that the game has passed him by, and does the right thing-retires!
Well said, as always. I appreciate your conviction in saying these things that need to be said and repeated, as well as the clearness with which you do so.
The sloppiness of PC teams is consistent over the years, but in the past they had the talent across the board to get past it. Now they don’t.
If the team feels stuck, I think it’s because PC is more than just stale–he’s trapped between what he feels was winning strategy in the past and can’t quite let go of and his core understanding of what it is today. However, he can’t be decisive about it and thus flounders by the whims of his personnel desires and probably a somewhat garbled approach to game planning and play calling.
Thanks Roger
Monday Press Conf with PC
[john boyle] Where team at w 4 games? “Shown some vulnerability at 8-4. Let some games get away from us. High expectations every time we play. Doesn’t matter who you play, have to play good FB and finish it out. Won quite a few late, wasn’t there yesterday, wasn’t the way we pictured it. Gotta be on it. Really improving defense making progress. Big run, couple runs after, shut it down. Other than that, complete game. Pleased getting better. A lot of firepower on offense, couldn’t get on the board. Like the season is starting over again.”
[aj] wanted to look at film, what are your takeaways? “Real obvious things, 3rd downs on offense. Gotta stay out of the long ones. Because of the plays that happened before. Want to run. Chris looked good, see him more. Defensively portion of game in 3rd Q lost edge for a moment, like to see consistency throughout. Liked defense hitting, Brooks’ best game so far. Jamal all over the field hitting. ST played great again. Good and bad. Never as bad as it seems, never as good.”
[ben Arthur] Adams playing former team emotional? “Shell also, big deal to these guys. Acknowledge that it is a big deal, don’t let that factor into your focus. Other agendas and goals may come up. Regular championship matchup. No distractions. This is a real conversation that happens. Jamal really firey, I’ll definitely talk to him.”
[ben] Taylor? “Got injection last week, routine of treatment, gone as far as he can. Couple week process before we know more.”
[Michael shawn] RW last couple weeks tough games? “Each game unique. Started so fast, people have changed the way they play us, we have to adapt. Determined to make sure he bounces back.”
[Michael] Dunbar? “Expect him to practice this week. Good process to get back. Work on conditioning, hoping knee has quieted down. Wait and see how week goes.”
[maz veda] Adapting in game, how balance that not abandoning game plan? “Try to do that well. Depends on what is called on. Sometimes you feel like what you prepared will come through if you stay with it. Really subjective every week. Want to think clearly, hopefully make assessments. Sometimes best adjustments is staying w what you’ve done. Really subjective. A lot going on in the game and halftime that rips by. Didn’t change rhythm of the offense, didn’t change as much as we needed to. Same w defense, changed on us.”
[maz] Prepare for team changing DC? “Frank’s been in a lot of good programs. Could be a sore spot with guys want to change this and that. Go into game and evaluate as soon as the game starts.”
[corbin] Penny back what need to see? “Excited to get him back. Long haul. See him bang his breaks. Get down and get it, really good tempo in practice, high tempo. Choices and cuts he makes. How he catches the ball, burst. Really sudden player. Gathering info. Crime if he got out there and didn’t get reps. Will get reps vs #1 team D. Last thing we want to do is rush this. Make sure he feels good about it. To find something out have to take chances in practice.”
[joe fann] No setback w Taylor? Excited he’s gonna practice? “I’m really optimistic. Kinda wishing and hoping, but just didn’t quite get there. I apologize for being too optimistic. Other doctor appointment that changed the time frame.”
[joe fann] Not how he feels? What changed? “He has to feel good about it. He knows the work and how it feels. He’s the one that has to decide. We want him to be right and feel right. Tried to predict time frames. He can really fly on the field. Doesn’t tell you how he feels. 4 doctors involved, making good choices and looking after him.”
[joe fann] Did you project him to be this far out staff cleared him? “Couple weeks ago we started thinking he’d have a shot. Can only take it as far as the information we have. Docs came up w something they thought could help him, he chose to do it and we have to wait it out.”
[art thiel] RW intentional grounding? “Too far out of bounds. Marker white outside, chucked it beyond that. Threw it so far that officials Q’d if he was trying to throw away.”
[bob condotta] Carson involved more why not? “Feeling like he could handle about as much as he did the week before – better now. This week we can cut him loose and let him take the full load. But that hindered us. Hyde entered gingerly as well. Effected us and that’s just the way it went. Hope full speed.”
[bob] 4th down what went wrong? “Really had it played. Rolled overage right to it and guessed right. RW gonna have to find a way to get it in there, tried, couldn’t.”
[Gregg] How often to you call an offensive play? “I do, I have a way that doesn’t disrupt. Communication setup we have. I don’t badger them at all. Real nuisance if you’re in his ear all the time. Talk about opportunity and use the time we have. Talk to the guys sitting next to Schott so he can keep thinking and they can convey to him.”
[Gregg] Carson preserving for playoffs? “We need to get him back. I’m not going to overdo it. We have Hyde and we love him. Main thing is Carson feeling like he can take the full load. We’ll see if we can get that this week. Not holding him back for 4 weeks from now. Freakin championship run! Great 4th Q if we can make it. One week at a time.”
[Curtis crab] Dunlap limited snaps – how is he? “Yes better off today than he was. By Wed/Thur we’ll know where we are.”
[missed this Q] “Need to be balanced, down the stretch we need to be ready for anything. Enough time for D’s to see everybody, now gonna be more challenging. Early year like wild wild west. Need running and throwing game to take what’s there. Not sure what frank’s gonna do with this D. Go where we need to go when they show their hand.”
[tim booth] COVID player? “Not tested positive, just precaution from contact.”
[tim] Spacing competitions? “Measure close contacts and keep score.”
[Jackie] Jordyn Brooks game? “Played hard, had some great plays. 4 or 5 really beautiful tackles at the LOS. Played like a veteran in this game. Confident, physical. He and bobby were banging folks. This is how he’s going to play. Excited and those plays show you why. Almost had a pick too.”
[Jackie] DK on Bradbury stiffarm? “Pretty good, doesn’t rival Marshawn Quake. Pretty darn good.”
[brady] 12 games in, Adams trade? “Ecstatic. He’s been everything we could hope for at this point. Keep getting better. Really good game. Another sack yesterday. Fantastic player. Thrilled about the trade.”
[brady] Adams’ coverage? “Had some good one on ones. He’s right there. Could’ve made a play on any one of them. He will. Some 5 and 6 yard routes, 8 yards in pressure situations, he’ll make those.”
Someone should ask Pete to explain a 3-4 record since the bye and the nature of the losses.
It’s a fair question and an explanation is warranted.
Thanks again for posting these Cha. I prefer to skim through in a few minutes very much when I can’t actually watch the presser itself. Very much appreciated.
Thanks cha!
As for the Adams trade…if that’s really how Pete sees things I’m really afraid of the future…
after listening to the press conference, it still sounds like pc is not dealing with reality regarding the state of the team.
We could be 4-8 and the answers would be the same.
I guess im in that enjoy the ride group. But its still underwhelming knowing were in that purgatory of good, not great teams. Always getting in, never going far.
NFL is hard, winning seasons a decade in a row should be celebrated. But with little playoff success in the last 5 yrs, its safe to say its become redundant. More so, the issue of sloppy, ugly wins and random ineptitude each year seems to highlight the stress of the franchise. This isnt a team that dominates or takes over games a lot. Its always a grind since the glory lob days. Back then, a 10 point lead seemed like a foregone conclussion as a win. The team broke other teams spirits, without the blowout score. Its been the same sloppiness since those days only without 1 of the greatest defenses made.
Id say PC and JS hold the most blame. They should be motivated to win. They should be striving to get better. Theyve had mixed to bad results on too much the last 5 yrs. At some point a SB win a decade old is just that. I do think at some point change is needed. Probably once new ownership takes over. Which will be time to discuss life after RW.
As for RW, this is who he is. Hes streaky. Hes not a typical shootout qb. Hes a playmaker, hes undeniably good. He has ice in his veins and is mentally strong. But hes also prone to wilting throughout games. He needs help around him. He needs a run game to really bring his game to full strength. He isnt mahomes or rodgers. He cannot be that guy each week. Asking him to be that is misusing him. Which i really think PC knows this. He is great, but there are limits to his game.
Question for ya rob.
So with the state of the hawks right now. Do we scale back more to running. It feels like whatever we try to do seems to not work lately. I get the sense we come out next week with 3 runs, and we go 3 and out. Or we try to establish running and we struggle to move the ball. We could say get creative. But i feel weve tried a few creative plays lately that were defended well or blown up. And it grows the frustration from fans where we are overthinking stuff. The trouble with getting creative, is when its not working, its usually a disaster.
This is the state of offenses, when its clicking, everything seems to work. But when your struggling, even your bread and butter plays arent going well. It just feels too homer fan-ish to simply say play better. But essentially thats what im screaming at my tv each week.
I’m not sure they’re in a position to run more.
Carson is clearly not 100% and they are concerned about having him for the final two games plus playoffs. Hyde is not 100%. Dallas isn’t good enough.
I think they’d like to feature Carson in the way they used to feature Marshawn. They just can’t.
Penny needs to get back fast. The running game is too vital to this team. Since marshawn, weve had a hole there every year due to injuries. It shouldnt be ignored when we discuss the issues of the team late in season the last 5 yrs.
Id still resign carson tho. Just keep searching for that replacement in meantime.
https://seahawksdraftblog.com/more-on-marshawn-and-why-he-has-to-stay-in-seattle
https://seahawksdraftblog.com/marshawn-lynch-shaped-hole-still-gaping-in-seattle
Wouldn’t have been an issue, of course, if they’d drafted Clyde Edwards-Helaire or Nick Chubb etc…
Imagine, carson, penny, CEH. Talk about getting serious with the RB depth.
Given how much importance the Seahawks seem to place on the position, they should be trying to collect cheap talent at the position.
That’s one thing that they have done. Dallas this year, Homer last, Penny the year before. Carson a year before that, then Procise, Collins & Brooks.
7 RB’s drafted in 4 years… Not a lot to show for it, but they have been ‘trying’
Dallas and Homer aren’t good enough.
I could try and make the England World Cup team. Doesn’t mean I will.
They have passed on great talent.
I think it’s extremely premature to declare that Dallas isn’t good enough.
I’d rather see Alex Collins out there then Hyde. I hope they call him up again.
I don’t think it’s premature at all.
They were literally bringing in guys off the couch (Collins, Scarborough) to run the ball because they know Dallas aint it.
He’s a special teamer and someone they like catching the ball out of the backfield. As a runner, he isn’t good enough. Powder puff between the tackles.
in the immortal works of Master Yoda; “Do or do not. There is no try.”
Succinct breakdown of the situation Rob. Good stuff as usual.
Adams: I know you say they can’t afford to pay he and Bobby 18 per each but my gut tells me they will. In order to not do so would be tacitly admitting the trade for Jamal was wrong/desperate and I don’t see Pete doing that. I believe the thought process will be that they can get through one year with that cost and then Bobby’s contract will change the situation year after next. In the meantime, other areas of the team may well suffer (KJ? Carson? Pocic? all 3?). I hope I’m wrong because I believe he’s not the right player for the system, especially at that price.
Russ: He and Schotty have utterly failed to adjust to the adjustments teams have made to their early season fire. I know you don’t blame the “celebrity” stuff but I’m going to have to disagree at least in part here. After listening to Schlereth talk about how good the Giants are at disguising their back 7 pass D and how long it took for him to figure out what they were doing on film, I can’t help but think if Russ was still more of that gym rat we saw in the early days, he might’ve been more prepared for what they brought to the table. You wanna be an MVP and win Super Bowls Russ, pay the price.
JS: definitely too many draft failures. While I think Pete is the ultimate authority in Seattle, I do believe the draft is much more John’s specialty and area of responsibility. He’s overall not getting it done as you highlighted.
Jodi: really have no idea what to think about her. Would be nice if she was like her brother but guessing that’s not going to happen. Your point about Paul moving off Mora after one year being true leadership was such a good one. I think unfortunately with her it’s just a waiting game til she sells.
Well in that case, I have no idea how they’re going to fill out their roster. You can’t have three players taking up +$70m of your cap.
Short of cutting/not re-signing most vets not on rookie contracts, neither do I. As I said, I sincerely hope you’re correct. They need the draft capital a trade of Adams would recoup, even if it’s as bad as say a 2nd and 3rd.
I really hope that Pete saying he is “ecstatic” about the Adams trade so far, is just Pete talking a good game, knowing they have to trade him.
Pete also famously said keeping Clowney was a priority, consistently talked about his desire to keep him and was absolutely singing his praises after games last season.
It’s easy to be “ecstatic” about a purchase when you have yet to pay for it!! That payment will come in the form of future high draft choices and an extremely expensive contract if he is re-signed. I thought that question was ridiculous, because it was so easy for Pete to answer it in the way he did.
I may be off but I feel like they already made their decision on this. Drafting Brooks and trading for Jamal I have a feeling they are willing to move on from Wagz. They can’t pay them both, not a field a team competitively next year and no way they step back with the shape of the NFCW currently being so tough. Just my 2 cents and I’m not always sure its worth even that.
This gets mentioned a lot.
They are not resigned to moving on from Wagner. Carroll constantly gets misty eyed talking about Wagner. I suspect a reworked deal is in the offing.
I think they made this Adams trade well within the knowledge that they could assess the lay of the land at the end of the season.
Agreed. And not that they’ve worked out to my eyes, but the drafting of Barton and BBK, just feels like they had a plan regarding KJ and Bobby moving forward.
Again, I don’t think it’s that. BBK is only ever used on special teams. With Barton — they’ve consistently talked, going back to the end of the 2016 season — about adding youth at linebacker. They were concerned about BW & KJ playing 99% of the defensive snaps. Barton was about depth and competition. Brooks, for me, is also about that but he’s also the heir apparent to KJ.
And Brooks is the only LB there with talent. Barton and BBK will never be more than ST and depth.
My biggest fear?
They won’t trade Adams.
They won’t extend him
They’ll try to play out his contract and maybe franchise him 1-2 times.
He might sit out for that, and they might need to trade him for something like a 4th.
Or he might play out 1-2 tag and then walk in FA and Hawks get no compensation at all.
They might fear he’ll sit if they franchise him and after next season he’ll walk in FA
Just skimmed through Stanford vs Washington.
Davis Mills looked fantastic. Don’t be shocked if he goes in R1.
Is there a degenerative issue with Taylor’s injury? And if there was, how the hell we miss this? I thought these guys go through the ringer at the combine??
Pretty sure he couldn’t attend the combine
Yep, he couldn’t attend due to the injury.
Doesn’t matter, we’ll take him anyway ’cause we’re smarter than everybody else.
Wake Up Call Game
If the team is not motivated and playing in top form against the Jets…… fork time.
Top form is putting up 30+ on offense and holding the Jets under 16 points.
Stop silly turn overs….. get the OL healthy and when you see a 7 or 6 man box… blast them with the run. Start early and often. Grind down the defense. Mix in some medium range play action game and some screens early in the game. So the east west / north south game is balanced… just as rushing and passing is balanced.
Long story short… OC needs to have more say about the game plan… and be given freedom to deviate if he sees an opportunity to exploit. Deep shots are fine, but they don’t work against 5 or 6 DBs playing zone coverage.
The Bills loss should’ve been a wake up call.
The Rams loss should’ve been a wake up call.
It’s OK to shrug those games off. They were playing uncharacteristic football that Pete doesn’t recognize.
Just like yesterday. He was surprised by many things.
Like the Bills’ decision to exploit a historically bad pass defense. Shocking.
This has been such a frustrating season. For me, it really began with Benson Mayowa and Bruce Irvin. Two players not good and past their primes. It was reminiscent of Tim Ruskell signing Julius Jones, TJ Duckett, Edgerrin James, Brian Russell, etc. You’re paying money to guys who aren’t good. Such a stupid way of doing business.
I don’t know what to say about the offense. It’s pretty clear that DK and Lockett are an elite duo but the depth behind them is like the DT position… it really sucks.
I hope things can click. I hope they can regain some confidence of the 5-0 start. Confidence goes a long way. I’ve seen teams not be good enough normally do great things because they get hot/confident at the right time. This season still has hope, but I’m running out of it.
that’s where I am too .. this loss really cut the legs out from under my, ‘if they just fix X, we could do this . . ” , hope and positive spin tendencies.
don’t really get what’s up w RW. i guess one could say he’s streaky, but this is the first extended time that he’s failing the eye test for me. maybe something will eventually come out that explains it.
I think the depth behind DK and Lockett is fine; Moore is pretty much a normal WR3, and Swain is a good pro. TE is a bit weak imho, with Hollister really more of a WR than a TE, especially in blocking. Dissly seems healthy, but since Olsen went out, it seems like throws to that position have gone down.
I really think a lot of it is just poor coaching, especially Schotty. The NFL is brutal in figuring out a team’s weakness. What works in the first 4-5 games gets shut down in the next 4-5. That’s where a good/great OC keeps things fresh, keeps defenses off balance.
And this is what is fundamentally wrong with PC’s approach since the glory days. Back then, the gameplay on both sides of the ball was simple. On offense, we’re going to pound the ball behind a nasty run-blocking line, and when you start to cheat too much, we’re going deep on you. On defense, it was either man to man, or Cover 3. No deception, no trickery, just alphas kicking your ass all day. So on both offense and defense depended on player skill, and we had it in spades. This masked schematic issues. Now we don’t have that player skill and toughness; as Rob likes to point out, we don’t have that junkyard dog, punch you in the face mentality. Cuz if you can’t back it up, you’re just talk.
No one is scared of the Hawks right now. Not the Rams, not the Niners, not the Cardinals. And certainly not anyone in the AFC we’d face if we made it to the Super Bowl. Can you imagine this team standing toe to toe with KC, like we did in 2018?
Fantastic article, Rob; thanks for providing realistic commentary to us despite all of us wishing the truth was different.
“Moore is pretty much a normal WR3.”
I agree.
There’s way too much “normal” on this team after DK (and a healthy Chris Carson, which is rare). Too bad the normal gets mixed in with the bad to make the normal look so bad. That’s all on Pete since he has final say.
As Rob has alluded to many times, look at how much wasted money there was this year… Mayowa, Irvin, Dunbar, Hyde, Finney (though he did help get a steal in Dunlap), Cedric Loser, Olsen… That’s about $30 million in crap. Throw in tendered deals like Jackson, Hollister, etc.
People bitch about Russell Wilson, a franchise QB (not one this past Sunday though), making $35 million per year but look how these guys have spent almost $35 million. Is that the $35 million some people want to free up? Gee, lets go with Teddy Bridgewater for $20 million per year so we can get guys like Mayowa, Irvin, Hyde, Dunbar, etc. LMFAO
Where would this team be if DK was not on a rookie contract and they hadn’t acquired Dulpap? IDK. Sad.
“It’s pretty clear that DK and Lockett are an elite duo but the depth behind them is like the DT position… it really sucks.”
More draft brilliance – waste a 2020 6th rounder to trade back in to the 7th round of the ’19 draft to grab Doug Baldwin’s replacement in John Ursua, a guy who was 18 picks away from going undrafted altogether. And then NEVER let him see the field.
Seahawks vs. Giants Game Highlights | Week 13
I think I’ll pass on watching this review…..
I’d submit this to Pulitzer for Excellence in the Field of Non-Fiction if I wasn’t lazy.
I think there are adjustments that can be made and players that can come back to give us a punchers chance but you simply can’t trust the HC/DC/OC. 4th down play calling doesn’t define a game but it shows they’re more comfortable with gadget garbage than they are about making it physical. That is an obvious deviation from what Pete and the fans want this to be, much less a team that’s gonna win in the playoffs.
Steelers lost to washington. Not looking forward to that game.
The one game I was not looking forward to all season.
Crap Field
Road Game
Early Start
Good Coach and hungry young team
And a very good d-line.
Good article. I’m always confused with the perception of Pete and how much control he has over the staff. Some say he needs to relent and let KNJ and Schotty coach, some say he needs to step in and take control. I think he gives a little too much leash. I believe that the coordinators overreact to his suggestions. Too much “yes man” in them. If you truly are prepared and have a plan for your unit you have to have more conviction. This does feel a bit like 2017 and like that year I think you may get both guys getting replaced despite the season result.
This all does fall on Pete and John though. They both have lost a bit of the luster. Is that because they are not being held accountable? At least in part I’d say. They are fighting against human nature a bit. The way Pete has been talking in stretches gives me some hope change is at least being considered. This is still a desirable franchise to work for and should still have good suitors for any openings.
Seahawks fans should be rooting hard for the Bills tonight.
Because if the Niners win this game, watch out.
Early signs aren’t positive.
Steelers crapped the bed
Watching 9ers march 99yds on bills with nick mullens makes me sad. Mostert is a beast too. 9ers getting hot terrifies me.
Guessing Kittle and Jimmy G are back by the time we play them.
Hard to see us winning more than one more game this season. Niners motivated. Washington just knocked off the undefeated Steelers. We’re not beating the rams at this point. Jets could be our one win and that looks dicey after the raiders game
Starting 5-0 and finishing 9-7? Would be speshul
Gotta play the niners on the cursed Arizona field as well
I wouldn’t go that far, it’s been an unpredictable season.
But they clearly have to improve.
I’ll predict two wins, Washington and Jets.
Good overview of the state of the franchise. In the parity driven league that the NFL is, the clearest way to consistently beat that construct, as far as I can tell, is when you have the stable and quality totem pole of ownership, GM, head coach, and franchise QB in place, as you well articulated. We’ve had that for one hell of a run with PA, JS, PC, and RW. It’s been great.
It is breaking down now. First with the death of Paul Allen. From there, it gets a little trickier. It’s hard to properly proportion/target the blame between PC and JS, as PC is the alpha dog in the GM/HC coach equation. But with PA gone, the accountability issue is in a state of abeyance. We do know that the PC/JS personnel combo have lost their “Midas touch” that they clearly possessed in their first great run. You have well articulated their average-at-best results in term of FAcy, trades, and the draft in recent years. It has been papered-over recently by the play by their franchise QB most of all. In recent weeks, however, even that part of the equation is breaking down.
Sometimes great runs just end. It seems that is the case with our Hawks. It pains me that we only got one SB. This great combo at their best deserved at least one more. I’ll always feel that way. That gives you a seat at the table among the teams that are historically discussed as worth being historically discussed.
We’re in limbo now. We can’t count on the new ownership to properly assess what’s going on now. I’ll always love PC for what he did for the franchise. I love his culture-building psychology. He’s great to play for, and sometimes I don’t think players fully realize and appreciate how good they have it with him. Anyway…
We’re at the reaching-for-miracles state now. As a die-hard Hawks fan, I will never give up hope with what’s left of this totem pole of success until the shovel fulls of dirt are laid upon the grave. Maybe we can pull off a miracle. Doubtful, but stranger things have happened.
But I am well aware that we’re in a period of de-evolution without a real reconstruction plan. I guess I’ll just sit back and watch this aging drama unfold.
I’m impressed that you still have hope man. Yesterday pretty much beat it out of me.
Heard an interview with Brady Henderson today. He called yesterday “the most disappointing game of the Carroll era, not the worst but the most disappointing”. I would sadly have to agree. Win out including beating the Rams and it’ll feel differently. But like you said, it feels more like watching the end unfolding rather than gearing up to make a long postseason run.
Believe me, yesterday peed me off by far more than any other game this year. Like you, it beat the crap out of me. It pretty much destroyed the optimistic narrative in my head I was building up to counter the what I knew to be our obvious impairments to any kind of a playoff run. I’m down to a Hail Mary now as far as that’s concerned. LOL
At some point, as Bill Hicks once said, it’s just ride.
I started watching the Seahawks in 77, but it wasn’t until Krieg came along that I really fell in love. I was too young to understand much about football, but between Easley, Largent, Warner and Chuck Knox, I was hooked. I lived through the tough times with Flores, each week hoping for a fun game, and hope for a playoff run. Then Holmgren came along and the flame burned a bit brighter. We had a fantastic halfback, a dominant left tackle, and a QB with a never say die attitude. When Matt said “We’ll take the ball and we’re going to score.” I yelled at the TV: “HELL YAH!”
I watched the Hawks make the Super Bowl and was heartbroken when they lost. And then waited. The Hawks hired this guy from USC who seemed like a retread/failure and who churned the roster like he was making butter. He wanted dogs, guys with chips on their shoulders. Then he picks up a back from Buffalo on the cheap and I’m amazed. This team started to hurt the other team’s ego. Beast Quake shows the nation what’s coming, and in 2012 we see the team come together; the offense is beginning to flex, and the defense becomes arguably one of the best to ever step on the gridiron.
Then we’re ruined by SB48. A game that displayed to the world just how good our defense was. A sublime victory that vindicated our faith.
We return the next year, and again have our hearts broken. Though none of us were happy about the ending, the season and playoffs are something to be proud of.
Now we’re here six years later. Only three players from those teams are active. We never did enough of a reset to truly compete for another SB; it’s just too hard to make those ruthless decisions; you tell yourself that “all we need is another good lineman, or another good WR” without realizing that the league has had 8 years to figure you out. To copy your draft strategies, for rules committees to outlaw tactics that helped you compete.
So I’m in the camp that we won’t make another SB, or NFC championship game under PC. I think that the game is constantly changing, constantly innovating, constantly morphing to cope with rules changes, new ideas, and players that defy stereotypes. I think that when we heard the locker room chat about tuning out Pete’s message, it wasn’t the rah rah that chafed so much as the unwillingness to change.
And despite (for me) this being the most entertaining sport, it’s a business. And PC has had a hard time with the hard decisions; the talk of family, and closeness etc always looks good at first, but the ruthless nature of the business makes all the players realize how things really work. That’s why Sherman was so angry on the way out; why Thomas burned his bridges. They believed the family talk and were heartbroken when it turned out to be talk. The only one of the LOB who still hangs around much is Kam, and I believe some of that is due to the generous contract the Hawks gave him when it was clearly time to keep your options open.
I think the next 3-4 years will have some fun, some excitement as always, but I don’t have the expectations I had in 2014. In 4 years, we’ll have a new owner, coach and GM, probably a new QB, and the cycle will begin anew. Hopefully we’ll be as fortunate in that era as we have been in the Holmgren/PC eras. We’d be luckier than most franchises.
Nice retrospective.
Paul – I’ve been a fan since ’77 also. Lots of fun those early years, but never a real chance until Holmgren came along, and now Pete. For most of those years, fans would be happy with where the team is now, a legitimate playoff contender every year. Fans are never satisfied. I’m going to enjoy these 3-4 years and be happy we are competitive. As long as the team is competitive, we have a chance. That’s not always been the case.
I really hate lines like this.
Seahawks fans have every right to expect more from this team. If you’re satisfied with being a 10 or 11 win team every year and never making any noise in the playoffs, good for you. But you shouldn’t accuse those who want more of ‘never being satisfied’.
The NFL isn’t about what you used to be 20, 30 or 40 years ago. You’re either bad, rebuilding, developing or a contender. The Seahawks aren’t bad, rebuilding or developing. So the goal is to win a Super Bowl, not just have a winning record and call it a job well done.
When they consistently fail to come close to the Super Bowl, it’s perfectly reasonable to question why.
I don’t watch the Seahawks for winning seasons. I watch to see them win a Super Bowl. Period. No super bowl, no satisfaction.
From Pete’s presser transcript above (thanks Cha)
“[maz veda] Adapting in game, how balance that not abandoning game plan? “Try to do that well. Depends on what is called on. Sometimes you feel like what you prepared will come through if you stay with it. Really subjective every week. Want to think clearly, hopefully make assessments. Sometimes best adjustments is staying w what you’ve done. Really subjective. A lot going on in the game and halftime that rips by. Didn’t change rhythm of the offense, didn’t change as much as we needed to. Same w defense, changed on us.”
“A lot going on in the game and halftime that rips by”. That statement is concerning.
Adam Gase will out coach Pete Carroll. ThecJets will get their first win. Book it.
No. I’d take this bet if it was offered.
That being said, the Jets suck and the win probably won’t be as easy for the Seahawks as it should be.
You over estimate Adam Gase. It is HARD to not win a single game already…… they should have won 2-3, but they had Gase in charge and he found ways to crap the bed repeatedly.
Gase was the OC for the Broncos in SB 48! lol
Granted, EVERY single position on the 2020 Seahawks defense is WORSE than what he faced all those years ago.
Seriously – think about that… every position in ’20 is worse than ’13. Unbelievable.
This might be true, but there were a collection of 4-5 guys on that team who might some day be HoFers. They were stacked. I still can’t believe how bad the Broncos looked in the game. They got absolutely destroyed.
Sounds like a power struggle between PC and RW in terms of offensive identity, but I think PC’s identity is the correct direction because of RW’s decision-making on the field. Is having more opportunities to throw put too much pressure on RW? In the early years, RW only threw the ball roughly 25-26 times a game, and right now it’s more like 35-36. Ten play difference doesn’t sound like much, but maybe it is in this case.
A ‘power struggle’ is not the way I would describe it at all.
“I want to believe that Carroll can lead this team back to the top.”
I’m in the camp of those who believe that this team has won its last meaningful game under Positive Pete’s leadership. He has offered zero evidence that he can Always Compete with the bright innovative minds coaching on both sides of the ball all over the league. I’m weary of the talk about PC’s culture-building brilliance because that wore off years ago. We are sadly watching a man fading into irrelevance trying to wring the last drops of success from his past glories. The post-game rhetoric from PC is so tiresome that the only post I can’t bring myself to read on this site is Cha’s summary of the press conference. Your Mike McCarthy analogy was absolutely brilliant, the difference is that there was someone in a position to make that tough call. As Seahawks we are at the mercy of waiting for Pete to call his own number and go enjoy retirement sooner rather than later.
Only if the Seahawks reporters could ask questions half as tough as this.
https://twitter.com/eagles_reek/status/1335995834379460609?s=21
Hey, if you can “boooo” Santa Claus…. you can do anything…. Philli loves and hates their teams.
Some of the most passionate fans with bad dispositions. Speaking of the Eagles. The old Vet was in a bad part of town, which added to the “atmosphere”.
Hard position for Ownership to be in, all of the parts are good not great GM/Coach/QB.
Pete’s never had good clock management, timeouts, challenges, but his game plan and second half adjustments used to be enough to out way those shortcomings.
Snyder pulls of some great trades, and has drafted some HOF but hasn’t hit big in years on the draft and maybe not enough credit is given to Carroll for helping shape those early draft hits on guys he’d wanted in while coaching USC.
Russell Wilson is the Kick Cousins of dual threat QBs, his stats will be nice, he protects the football most weeks, but somehow will always come up short in the clutch, make maddening decisions that’s it’s hard to understand what on earth he’s thinking, frequently leave massive plays on the field bye lobbying balls as high as they are long letting the defense have all the time in the world. He was a different guy early in his career, and hasn’t had that magic factor since his early days. He’s out there making business decisions nowadays, not trying to prove he’s better than a 3rd round pick. I’m hoping all the humble pie he’s eating right now brings back the Wilson from his first couple years. I know his stats are better now, but watch his old stuff and tell me he has that same it factor now. I don’t and never have seen him as a guy that carries a team to a super bowl, he’s a guy that needs a superior team, and a great coach.
It still sticks you as owner with tough decisions, all of them have proven to be good not great.
They already got rid of all of the strong personalities on the team needed to push Wilson to greatness, and surrounded him with people that see him as the team and demigod. So hard to sell bringing someone in to challenge him.
Carroll just signed a big extension and isn’t going anywhere, even his days of being an innovative game plan designer have passed.
Snyder has probably done the best of the group, savvy trades, retooled the oline with minimal pain, and has some nice pieces for the future set aside in Penny, Brooks, Taylor. The Dunlap trade, and personally I think Addams was a positive if he can be reigning. One of the only guys on the team that just have that BAMF to them and don’t seem like there 2 weeks removed from a evangelical mission.
Unfortunately Snyder will take the blame, but I think RW and PC influence is what’s been problematic there.
If we trade Adams, what does everyone thino of just resigning and starting Neal in his place? He makes plays wherever he goes. Seems like a cheaper Adams to me, then we won’t even have to spend a draft pick on a safety…
These fools spent a second round pick on Blair last year. He should be the SS. He’ll be healthy next year. I don’t know why you take anyone in the mid-second round of any draft NOT to play or start them.
They thought Blair was so good/valuable that they took him before DK Metcalf. That tells you what you need to know. No?
I’m not ready to give up the ghost just yet. The offense was great the first five weeks and the D has been much improved the last few games. The coaching staff has four weeks to get the offense and defense playing well at the same time. I’m not 100% sold on this staff being able to do it but lets see what happens. What other choice do we have?
I look at it this way, they can;t play any worse on offense (and we have seen what they can do on offense) and the defense has been getting better and better. ST has been steady all season. Honestly, I think they might be closer to pulling it together….. the big question is can they get all their starting personnel on the field for a single game??? I don’t think they have yet done that…. Dunbar healthy, slide DJ back into 3rd CB and keep Griffin healthy….. Diggs and Adams appear to be playing better as a unit / tandem overall. DL starting to get some pressure on QBs and sometimes dominating games…..
To circle back, it comes down to the offense, being more multiple…. and get the rushing attack going / play action pass game. Game plan has to be more flexible. Get a bit more uptempo…. they only really did it on maybe 2 drives…. otherwise, seemed to be slow to the line and slow to get plays off as of late. HC sets the parameters, but OC sets the tempo and play selection. HC, OC and QB have to be on the same page and recognize when something is or isn’t working earlier….. willing to rush into 6/7 man boxes… or check into rushing plays when they face them.
Agree 100% can Penny be the shot in the arm the O needs? Hopefully he can really help the screen game. Get Shell back at RT. #whynotus
The D gave up an 80 yard, three play drive against a team with Colt McCoy at QB.
It did, but it is still improved overall. And even w that admittedly terrible drive – they held the giants to 13 first downs and 290 total yards. Back-up QB to be sure, but the D looks a lot better than it did in its nadir earlier this year.
It bloody needed to improve, it was historically useless. A disorganised mess.
And there are still big issues, as we saw on Sunday.
There’s no positive to take from those first downs and yardage. Colt McCoy was the starting QB. They came into the game and everyone in the world knew they were going to try and run the ball. They ran for 190 freaking yards.
No positives from those numbers? I’d disagree. we effectively gave up 14 points, maybe not as good as we’d like against a subpar offense, but it’s not a bad result. and we got them off the field when we had to.
I see better play on the D-line the past few weeks, partly Dunlap, and partly others being more active.
I’m not expecting a top-line defense. But if the defense can play at this level, it’s a good enough compliment to a high-end offense (if we can get back to that somehow).
There’s some serious straw clutching going on here.
Again, 190 rushing yards when every man and his dog knew they were going to try and run.
Colt McCoy at quarterback.
Carrol did say he thought Buffalo would run more. Who knows maybe he thought the Giants would throw.
This team was not prepared for this game on either side, defense or offense. They need to wake up. Jets could easily do the same Bloody thing if they don’t come up with a proper game plan. Coaching staff seams totally lost at times.
I have zero trust in any of them. I think it’ll go like this:
1, They will win some game and lose some finishing with 10-6, and either have the best record in NFCW or catch a wildcard spot
2, After each loss they’ll talk about moving on, playing better, fixing the minor details, they’ll get better, couldn’t deliver as a team, how good or underrated the other team blah blah
3, After each win they’ll say: see, improving? And talk some about they’ll even get better than this and good performance, ton of work to do, etc etc
4, They’ll exit the PO in the first round, while being disappointed, saying they’re better than this, should’ve do things differently, shouldn’t make XYZ mistake (time mismanagement/taking a sack/throwing an INT/etc)
5, For the offseason they’ll say they wanna strengthen the positions needs to be strengthen. Give Russ a better supporting cast, take care of their guys, get better passrushers
6, They’ll draft an LB in R2 because they cannot re-sign KJ (he’ll sign elsewhere and have a pretty successful 2-3 years), they’ll re-sign Griffin and overpay him. They cannot re-sign Carson, because he’d cost a ton (8m for example, which wouldn’t be a ton, but they don’t wanna pay big for an RB), but we have Penny and we fully trust him
7, Next year they’ll keep KNJ (look how much the defense improved during the season! lol), Schotty and only change some positional assistants. They’ll have a hard time but they’ll talk about that it was hard to build a roster with limited resources (like if that wouldn’t be their fault)
8, They’ll struggle badly and PC will slowly lose the lockerroom. They’ll finish around 9-7 or 8-8
They might rinse and repeat for 1-2 another year. Hopefully the franchise will be sold by then. New owner will have enough of it and Pete will “voluntarily” go to retirement. New FO will probably tear down most of the roster, and team will struggle for a couple of years doing 4-12, 3-13, 5-11, but these years will be good, because the roster will trend upwards and a team as a whole will getting stronger and stronger every year.
This is how I feel, but I hope they prove me wrong. I lost all hope in this FO and in this roster to be able to deliver truly dominating performances. They’re always seem weaker, slower, less enthusiastic than their opponents
All a distinct possibility, sadly
Sounders going to another championship game. Their 4th appearance in 5 years.
3-2 come from behind win. Get on the train now. I still cant breathe
I don’t usually watch MLS but that was a great game. What a finish!
Solid article Rob. Good perspectives on so many things. If anything I think you went a bit easy on the coaching and Schneider.
I still have to say that I think there’s too much blame on Russ. He’s shown if he has protection and his receivers are getting open(ish) on time that he can deliver and deliver amazingly. So he has’nt for a while now. What’s changed in that time frame? Other d-coordinators have wised up to our offense and the coaching isn’t adapting – isn’t versatile – isn’t innovative and isn’t doing a good enough job in game for 4 quarters.
Add in our o-line which has regressed especially in pass pro for many more weeks than just our right tackle being out. How many quarterbacks fare well with the pocket collapsing so often? You watch games in the nfl and the correlation between a good playing an/scoring offense and how well the o-line protects is just huge. Of course Russ or any other QB is going to struggle when the pocket routinely pushes in all around them and often enough very quickly. So it’s harder to progress through reads on time and keep your eyes downfield with 300 pounds behemoths trying to destroy you all around.
Add in Lockett being hurt, Moore being hurt and defensive coordinators learning our vanilla pass routes and now our receivers aren’t getting open as much as earlier in the season as well.
I do know Russ is looking bad but I just see the same Russ we saw for so so many of his early years where he was running for his life and holding the ball forever trying to wait on a receiver to get open – the difference now is he doesn’t have the elite escapability as before so he’s getting sacked (although throughout his career he’s always had pretty high sack counts – and also has pretty bad o-lines….).
So I just don’t get all the Russ hate right now, just my opinion and all but I really think he should be a lot lower on the blame list when the coaching has been terrible and the GM has eroded talent for years and as has so often been the case he’s playing behind a bad pass protecting o-line.
Criticism of Wilson isn’t hating Wilson though.
And he deserves this criticism. He has to play better. He’s tentative in the pocket. He’s hesitant to throw. He’s taking too many sacks. The tempo isn’t there. His accuracy has been off. He’s turned the ball over too much.
Coaching and protection and drops don’t help. But he has to take a fair chunk of responsibility too. No QB can rely on excellent protection or a fully healthy OL. No QB can rely on everything going their way during a game.
The best of the best find a way. Wilson isn’t finding a way at the moment.
Maybe worst of all, he’s missing open receivers
I fully agree Wilson deserves some criticism, I’m just questioning the level that he’s been receiving. I personally think that when so many people are going to the point of attacking his personal life as a reason for why he’s been playing poorly – then to me that is straying into ‘hating’ territory.
The coaches need to take a look at the realities. For one our o-line has been overrated all year. During our stretch of Russ cooking what pass rushing d-lines did we play? I see either bad ones or ones that were missing they’re best DE’s, Miami wasn’t up to speed yet and Dallas was having identity issues on their line at the time, the rest fall into my aforementioned categories.Now we’re playing some teams that can pressure better. Add in that d-coordinators have largely figured us out on offense and Schotty is lacking in innovation/creativity to counter, sprinkle in banged up receivers and here we are with some of it Russ fault probably just for being competitive and trying to make something anything happen rather than punt a bunch.
The coaches need to do what it takes to both protect him(looking at RT help at the least…) and to give him so different looks that aren’t either deep or late outlets out of the backfield because fault or not Russ wants to win and he’s going to hold onto the ball to try and make a bigger play if the other option is a pass to around the line of scrimmage that builds up to a 3rd and long and the ensuing ears back pass rush and probable punt. Give the protections, stick with the RB who can pass block well, draw up some plays (slants, curls, TE action) that go for 7-10 yards rather than all or nothing, get creative for once! I watched the Bills game the other night and it made me sick – of course Allen looked great, his line blocked well all across giving him beautiful pockets most of the game and the play calling was creative, varied and was even delivered to the QB quickly so they could get a rhythm and tempo rolling! He made some great throws at times but it’s all so much easier to do when things are clicking and most especially when you have a clean pocket to throw from not some avalanche of pass rushers/DT’s like Russ has been facing for weeks.
I’m probably beating a dead horse by now and I apologize for doing so. I just see it as when protected well enough and when plays are written up to force our offensive will on the defense(or at least be able to counter the defense back and forth well enough) then Russ has shown he can play as well as any QB ever. If we as a team aren’t protecting him and if the coaching/play calling are being thoroughly outdone by the opposing defense then just how harsh can we be on Russ? I’d be fine to see him take a game and throw the ball away every time he was under real duress and every time his reads didn’t pan out. Maybe then people would see how bad our o-line and play calling are and point the finger where it belongs with bad darafting/free agency on the o-line and poor scheming/coaching. More likely they’d be up in arms for how many times Russ threw it away though…
Yes, this is unnecessary and isn’t the reason why he’s playing poorly.
The problem is though, when you’re winning and playing superbly nobody really cares about all of the daft things you do off the field. When you’re not doing well, it’s viewed in a very different light. Suddenly the cringey videos with Ciara, the bloody perfume and him awkwardly referring to himself as ‘Mr. Unlimited’ are an easy stick to beat him with. People are less willing to overlook a lot of weird shit.
I don’t think that’s ‘hate’. I think that just comes with the territory if you’re going to live your very high-profile life through social media and bring out a perfume.
He needs to play better though. I don’t mind people saying Schottenheimer or the O-line or the receivers or whoever also need to be better. But I’m not interested in excuses for Wilson or trying to gauge what is a sufficient level of harshness. He just needs to be better.
Show me at least a decent QB who wouldn’t have success with clean pocket and open receivers. If he wants to be mentioned amongst the all time greats and be the ultimate MVP he should work with OKish pocket and somewhat open receivers. And I didn’t watch every receiving option, but Russ holds the ball for 3-4-5-6 seconds a lot. Don’t tell me in that timeframe there isn’t a single RB, WR, TE who is open. Of course if it’s 3&10 and only option is 5 yards deep than it’s a coaching problem. But if it’s 1&10 and there is someone open for 4-5 yards but Russ wants to go deep and he takes a sack for 10 yards then it’s on him. Even when he’s first 2 reads are deep options. It’s not only on Russ, it’s not only on Schotty. But Schotty is not the absolute worst OC in the league I think. He’s mediocre or mediocre-bad. But an all time great QB (or one who thinks he is) should be able to at least deliver a decent-good production with that
Because of RW’s recent poorer than normal play, I focused like a laser on him this last game. Yes, there were times where the pass rush made it all but impossible for him to do much. But this was a lot less than 50% of the time. Maybe in that 25-30% range. The rest of the time was marked by a hesitancy and a lack of timing and execution, or, put another way, a failure to get the ball out of his hands in tempo. In other words, he had enough time to make something other than a sack or a pass thrown too late to happen.
So if it wasn’t always the pass rush, why is this so?
1) Was the coverage always perfect? There were two times he got sacked where the TV coverage in replay showed receivers wide open that he missed, once two receivers not far from the line of scrimmage
2) Even if the coverage was decent, there are ways you can deliver the ball in tempo in a lower risk way, but these windows often close fast. He clearly wasn’t taking advantage of such situations, those quick slants and the like, and when he did, he was late
3) Also, there are certain times/situations where you have to let a freak physical talent like DK win a 50/50 situation. He’s a rare talent in that way, a guy you can put the ball in a place where he has a chance to make a better play on it than the defender. But again, this has to be done with confidence and in tempo
4) Lastly, he is too slow in going to his secondary targets, his check-down receivers.
Bottom line for me, RW has to become a better pocket passer, especially now that he’s aging and not nearly as elusive as he once was, though he’s still good in that way. I just want those scrambling moments to be scaled down somewhat dramatically from here on out. I think many of them are self induced.
I like RW, love what he’s done for our team. I think he (and the coaching staff as well) have to evolve and adjust to some new realities.
I saw the same – my hopeful spin – is that the Giants mixed up coverages enough that he wasn’t trusting what he was seeing – and that it was more their smart/good scheme on defense that caused the issue, rather than a decline in RW.
Now, seems like underneath should’ve been the plan – and more controlled runs like he did so effectively in the second AZ game – but it didn’t happen. Not sure why.
I guess we can disagree as to what a clean pocket looks like. When I watch Green Bay, Kansas City, New Orleans etc I see clear examples of clean pockets often enough. When I’ve watched the Seahawks for a while now I see things collapsing in on Russ and him having to move to get away from initial pushes from defenders (and that’s not considering the after effect of defenders being behind and beside him in uncomfortably close proximity) and I don’t see that near as much with teams with decent to good o-lines.
Surely you also see Wilson holding onto the football far too long as well?
Yes absolutely. I think it’s a learned habit that he’s relied upon to make plays back from when his receiving corps was so lackluster and also his high end competitiveness- problem is two fold, he no longer has that super slippery elusiveness and there are just flat out times where he needs to concede and throw it away, but he knows 3rd and longs and punts are waiting for him then hence even more of the holding onto the ball.
I think the bigger problem is the hesitation and skittishness and having to avoid pass rush etc – that’s throwing his reads/timing and confidence off(along with general offensive rhythm).
I’m the biggest believer that outside of QB the o-line is the most important part of a football team(too many reasons to get into that even extend to helping the defense but focusing on QB for relevant discussion here) – even a Josh Allen who has largely looked so good, or take a Ryan Tannehill – what would those guys look like behind the Hawks line and with our coaching? My estimation is not great and in the case of Allen for instance could have seriously hampered his development/confidence etc.
It’s easy to be an arm chair QB and say if Russ is holding the ball for so long receivers will be open. For one that’s just not always true and to further things a) any QB can only look to one read/receiver at any given time and b) Russ is having to do that so often knowing 2-4 defenders are behind and beside him fighting to demolish him and reaching to strip the ball all at any second and from any angle. He has not been getting “OKish” pockets as much as people want to think, most especially on obvious passing downs/when we are behind in the game etc.
I sometimes wonder how many other games the average Seahawk fan watches because when you see an average/bad/rookie/backup QB play behind the type of o-line Russ has been playing behind of late it is hideous to watch and the fact that Russ has been doing so for most of his career and succeeding for the most part has been heroic. So much of his career has been bad to abysmal pass protection and that has all been on coaching philosophies and Schneider’s drafting. Being a good nfl QB is epically difficult. Doing so with a bad o-line, poor coaching and banged up receivers is asking so much of any QB. I just wish we could swap in an Aaron Rodgers and a Drew Brees etc for a game and people could see what would happen when QB’s that everybody thinks are so amazing playing behind great o-lines with and good coaching – give them weeks to practice even and put them on the Hawks for a Sunday and if they even survived I’d bet anything they’d look like crap. Give him weeks to practice and put him behind their o-line and with their play calling and the bet Wilson looks just as good as any of them.
Talking about innovation… I have tried to follow the movements of those Giants defenders. When you rewatch a couple of snaps, there is so much going on, constant adjustment all over the place.
When I watched the game yesterday I saw players emotionally attuned … two bamf’s…dk and Jamal. Let Wilson play out his contract…but if I’m building a team…I’m making Jamal and dk the cornerstones.
On what planet is the best thing for this team to do moving on from a franchise QB and ‘building’ around a receiver and a specialist blitzer who needs 10.4 blitzes a game to justify his presence?
Unless Russel can lead this team past the divisional round in the playoffs … I’m not resigning him to a new contract. As for Jamal… he’s got juice… dude is pissed off for greatness. We drum up all the hype we want about the blitzing and Jamal being a tweener safety/linebacker, but it’s his emotional leadership and dynamic play that Carrol wanted and traded for. There was a lot talk about not wasting Russel’s prime years… let’s not waste Jamal’s prime years. There are two aging underperforming players on this team that need to go … Russel and Bobby. Let Schneider cook! Pete Carrol s blue print calls for tilters, and aging franchise QBs and a middle lineback sopping up a dispportionate amount of salary does not fit it.
This is ridiculous
I’d be hoping anyone would be willing to give me a 2021 1st and a 2nd in 2022 for Adams. Or perhaps a 1st and 3rd this year. You definitely don’t build a team around a Safety and a Recever.
In 3 stinking hours, sideline conversations, looking at a Microsoft Surface, where in the flying F**k were the simple adjustments to the “game plan” to just take singles instead of trying to hit a home run on every play.
To me, Schotty is just as much to blame as the rest. Help RW out you DOLT. Lockett was open so many times over the middle. Use DK for a decoy at times for crying out loud.
Carroll has already stated he wanted them to ‘stick to the plan’.
Yes! He stuck to the plan, and therein lies the rub, and the problem. Pete should set policy but leave the strategy and especially the tactical adjustments to competent coaches.
Seattles two trick offense of run up the middle and chuck it deep has Al Davis smiling from above. Look at KC, Rams, Niners solid run games and not only do they pound the middle but stretch you east/west with jet sweeps. This makes you defend the whole field much like Seattle did in Wilson’s early years with Lynch. Russ would either give the dive to marshawn on the dive or pull it back and run outside. Same concept of making defense defend whole field. D coordinators have adjusted to this two trick pony.
As to the article completely agree. My one hope as I stated a few weeks ago is Pete is moved to president. Owner Allen gives the edict of hiring someone outside his coaching tree and said coach picks his assistants. This keeps Pete involved but with no headset on Sundays.
Thanks for your work Rob, it’s appreciated.
I’m not convinced you can have Pete involved. He will be a shadow lurking in the background constantly and has such a defined way of doing things — you’d feel like he was second guessing your every move.
When Pete eventually does move on it should be up to the GM or the owner to pick a new direction.
Ideally you are correct Pete wouldn’t be involved. But having just signed this 5 year extension I don’t see him being gone from the organization. A positive spin from both sides (Allen’s/Pete’s) could be put together moving Pete to president. Him concentrating on big picture with Paul Allen being gone, concentrating on day to day running for Jody, etc.
But on game day it’s owners booth and no headset.
Ideal? No. A step in the right direction? Yes.
In some respects it could reinvigorate him if he picks the right young bright HC.
I don’t see it to be honest. I think when Pete is done, he’ll be done. I doubt he’ll want to be a president, detached from the day-to-day workings of the team, sat in an office just watching someone else do the job. That aint Pete.
Swap out “QB sneak” for “HB dive” and this is quite relatable from a recent Seahawks’ perspective too…
https://twitter.com/robertmays/status/1336087540298866689
Watch Jodi sell it to an owner who has ties to Oklahoma City…
One thing I fully expect the Seahawks and the NFL to get right is the sale of the team.
I am hoping for a David Tepper type.
Unfortunately I think it will be Jeff bezos. He’s talked before about owning a team and has roots hear. I don’t think he would be a good NFL owner though.
Please no
After the Seahawks’ near move to Cali in ’95 (or maybe it was ’96), Paul Allen stepped in, in part, to keep the Seahawks at home. I have a strong feeling somewhere in the legal documents Paul Allen signed to transfer ownership to Jodi upon his passing, there was a clause stating that the team could not be sold to anyone who would move it. I’m not a lawyer, but I imagine keeping the team at home was important enough to him that he took steps to ensure they would remain the Seattle Seahawks even after he was gone. Just a gut feeling.
There’s zero chance of the Seahawks going anywhere. They’re too big a brand for the league now.
I absolutely agree. My point was that even if the league would let it happen, Paul Allen would have taken steps to ensure it wouldn’t.
I’ve been loving Ted Lasso- highly recommend to anyone looking for a new show to binge. Rob, you’ll appreciate the American coaching in EPL.
Can’t help but imagine similarities in Pete Carroll. He’s a culture guy, ultra positive, brings out the best in sub-par talent and everyone loves him. What he doesn’t do well is face reality or coach the actual game (Lasso knows absolutely nothing about soccer).
I think there is room for Pete the Head Coach to win another Super Bowl, but he’s going to need a better supporting cast to do the X’s and O’s.
Agreed.
I would like to watch Ted Lasso but it’s on Apple TV over here (which I don’t have access to).
Off topic but I simply have to post something:
RIP John Lennon, 40 years ago today.
If you’re of an age like me, you’ll never forget where you were when you heard the (to me devastating) news.
This is why it’s so hard to be a lasting winner in the NFL. I’ve always thought Seattle and Pittsburgh were mirrors of each other (sorry to those who still hate them…). Stable owner, coach and QB. You know how they are going to draft on Offense and Defense. Respected team cultures. Since the last SB they were in though its a bunch of early playoff exits or missed playoffs altogether minus one conference title loss. Its the price of paying a QB and other vets long term. But they just kind of do there thing. They don’t really deal big money in FA. They don’t make big trades outside of Minka. They just quietly build, hold together and hope talent, leadership and health comes together like this year. I feel like that is the mode Seattle is in. Its not a death sentence or anything. Pittsburgh made big changes during this time too. They moved from Arians to Todd Haley on offense. They also moved on from Dick Lebeau on defense. Both moves had their successes. Resets always look sexy but stability has its advantages too. I don’t think any of the “the big 4 individuals” need to be kicked out just yet, but the team does need new ideas and a process review to refocus the team as anyone who has been in the same job for near a decade does.
Pittsburgh has reinvented itself though on offense, built another fantastic defense, kept key players on board even if it costs them and they constantly reinvest smart picks in weapons for the QB.
I can live with that kind of consistency and approach. When’s the last time the Steelers made a truly confounding off-season decision? I can’t recall any in recent history.
It looks saner now given AB’s post-Pitt act, but not figuring things out w Leveon and AB (arguably the #1 players at their respective positions) felt a little confounding at the time.
They sure have drafted better than us on defense though. And like us, they haven’t had the benefit of top-10 picking position.
Give over. How are you going to pin that on the Steelers!?!?
Bell was offered a great deal and made a total mess of that situation, costing himself millions.
What exactly were they supposed to ‘work out’ with Antonio Brown??? If anything they did well to keep a lid on his nonsense for as long as they did.
at the time they lost him following the ’17 season – Bell was a 25 y.o. RB coming off a 1300 rushing yard, 85 catch season. you could argue he was the best, most versatile back in the league at that moment in time. not working out a deal for a guy like that, who seemed so core to what they did, was confounding. would we feel the same if the Hawks let DK walk after next year over a contract issue?
And holding them to account for AB is probably a bit unfair given what we now know, but in ’18, he was a 104/1297/15 guy.
And note that their record went from 13-3 in ’17, to 9-6-1 and 8-8 in the following two seasons.
It wasn’t confounding at all. Go and look up what they offered and what actually happened there with Bell.
You’ve picked two awful arguments to try and pin something on the Steelers here.
The Steelers managed to go 8-8 without big ben for most of the season I guarantee you seattle wins 4 games max if Wilson were to miss time.
The Washington and 49ers games suddenly look tougher than they did a few weeks ago. Looking back I think there will be two swing games for the season. Week 7 when Seattle beat San Fran. And Week 14 vs Washington. We lose that game and I could see us losing our final three games of the season. Still think we finish 11-5 and lose the division to the rams. If we finish 9-7, the meltdown will be epic……….and the Seattle media will ask about Pete’s favorite color.
The Washington game does, certainly. I’m not sure about the Niners frankly. They were great last week but I thought Buffalo handled them convincingly last night.
Rob,
True about Buffalo. That loss does not look so bad. Watching Allen swagger around last night tells you that they are for real going forward. He knew what he wanted to do, and was confident at his backup plan would work if he went to it.
That is not RW now. What is going on in his mind…. a blur.
couple years back, when Cleveland got OBJ, they spent their whole time feeding him, to the detriment of balance and play control. Wonder if this historic reach that RW talked about isn’t hindering his decision making.
The couple games he went away from DK he caught a lot of flack
Josh Allen is a phenom.
I don’t think even Buffalo thought he could be this good — and he looks like he’s only scratching the surface. He is the ideal in every way physically and now he’s cutting out the errors and WTF moments, he looks special.
I agree, and how could they? He was inaccurate at Wyoming and has been through his time in Buffalo…..until this season. I’d love to know who helped him “get it” or if it just fell into place (less likely imo)..
Remember the foofaraw when John Schneider went to Josh Allen’s Pro Day?
I do.
I think he would’ve been Seattle’s guy if they were picking from that crop in 2018.
I personally think it was more of an argle-bargle.
Props to the Bills for taking Josh Allen. This was a no guarantee stab at a franchise QB, but they *may* have found one. Even though he had the measurables, you never know if the leadership, dedication to craft, resilience of character, and X factor will emerge. It *seems* they may have won the QB lottery.
I have my doubts of Seattle winning in DC ….
I think we all do.
Sadly, the Jets aren’t a guaranteed win either. Nothing is. Making the playoffs is likely but not a lock depending on what SF and Arizona do.
I swear, it doesn’t matter what the 49ers do, their coaches and front office will always get non-stop love.
Frankly, Shanahan-Lynch have been in place since 2017, and more and more it appears to be 2019 that looks like the outlier season.
They’ve had a ridiculous number of injuries this year. And last year they were within a Mahomes-inspired comeback of winning the Super Bowl.
All this after inheriting a joke franchise in 2017.
I think that warrants praise.
For all the good work they have done (and they have done a lot), they have been really lucky too. Two top 5 picks and another top 10. There is also the possibility of falling upward into another top 12 pick in an injury year. Jets winning out of the Bosa sweepstakes is the cherry so far. Getting Jimmy for relatively cheap too. They’re just building and haven’t really had a tough decision yet. We’ll see if they build a lasting winner.
I think I counted 6 first rounds starting for the 49ers last year.
Sticking w Jimmy G, and his salary, their first really tough call IMO.
Can’t fault the roster Lynch has built, one of the most talented in the league when healthy. Love Deebo, and Aiyuk looks really good too.
Yeah I get it, but if I remember right it is very noncommittal and they can get out of it in pretty good shape.
Agree with you about the Jimmy G decision. My total guess, they move on.
They seem smart enough to know to cut their losses.
Jimmy G will end up in NE next year and take the team to the play-offs (but nothing more).
Wentz probably available for a 3rd rounder . . . think he’s got a comeback story in him?
Will they and/or can they afford the contract? I could see him in Frisco no doubt. However……I think he ends up in Indy reunited with Frank Reich.
Good call BobbyK. Hadn’t thought of it but makes perfect sense.
I think Jimmy G’s weaknesses were exposed. Clearly a flawed QB, on top of his physical fragility. NE let him go because they knew. I doubt they’d want him back.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see brady in san fran next year
Brady will continue to decline and retire as a Buc. TB has a loaded roster but a bad coaching staff. If they somehow bring in some ex-Patriot brain trust people to fix things, he might compete next season. Not this one. TB will do an LA Clippers-like exit.
Welp…
https://mobile.twitter.com/statmuse/status/1335980770041634817
Off topic, but I’m convinced Seattle sports are conspiring to make me die young
All joking aside, 4 appearances in 5 seasons. That’s darn impressive.
I am not a Sounders fan, but that game was great!
What a game last night. Was so amped afterwards I couldn’t sleep for hours. Seattle’s front 3 are special. Let’s get another trophy on Saturday!
Forget Blue Friday I’m wearing my Sounders jersey to work
Kind of germane to the talk about the Seahawks, but the Sounders re-did their front office/ coaching staff a few years back…. and more or less kept on rolling (actually might have improved). Perhaps Seattle will as well, in 2022 or 2023.
Jamal Adams is PFF’s 50th ranked safety.
Here are some D-line rankings (out of 130 qualifying players):
LJ Collier — #89
Jarran Reed — #98
Rasheem Green — #99
Benson Mayowa — #100
Poona Ford is #20.
Awesome for Poona! Everything else sucks for all of us!
Poona is going to be tendered. Only question is will it be first or second round?
Hope they just sign Poona to 3 years. If tendered, I would guess a 2nd.
They need to resign Dunlap and KJ as well.
No way I pay Adams anything over 15M per. If he’s not happy just being the highest paid safety move on.
My preference is still hopefully a 1st and a 2nd for him. We need to spend money elsewhere.
Hopefully some other teams will fall in love with his sack numbers. I doubt it though.
R2 for sure
Where is Dunlap?
Not listing him. He spent most of the season in a wasteland. His grade is compromised.
All looks about right. Thank goodness Poona is turning up.
Two 1st’s a 3rd and a player for an unconventional strong safety….huh
For all the grief, Bobby is PFF’s number 1 LB. KJ is number 10 too!
I think Bobby has had some good games.
The question is simply whether he’s worth $18m a year.
The more I look at PFF grades the more I think they are fun but a complete load of hooey.
Like any grading, it will be a mixed bag in an individual game.
It’s pretty hard for a whole season grade to be ‘hooey’.
And it’s also important not to dismiss them simply because they aren’t favourable.
For me the grades for Adams and the D-line pass the eye test.
For them sure…but I doubt Bobby is #1. He had 2 really good games, most games were OK and 2-3 awful. It seems to me he’s an average/good LB now but doesn’t seem great
Yeah that is the one that really got me. If Wagner is the top rated linebacker there must be some horrible linebacking play across the NFL. I also find it hard to believe there are 49 safeties rated higher than Adams (not that he has been great of course). Maybe I just don’t understand exactly how PFF grades players.
Adams’ missed time might be a factor in that ranking.
He’s still grading poorly now that he’s healthy
I think some positions are easier to judge. OL, DL, WR and QB are pretty obvious. I’ve always questioned how the coverage grades are done. Some teams do some really exotic stuff and its hard to judge who is responsible. Particularly the middle of the field with saftey and LBs is hard with the pass offs. It’s an imperfect tool.
Just sent final paper copy of Chapters 1-14 to Kenny Easley for his (autobiography) approval earlier today.
There will be 1-2 more chapters to add (which will require his final approval, too). That being said, is there any questions/requests that long-time Seahawks fans would like to know that perhaps we have not addressed in the book? You’re all important and YOU/US Seahawks fans deserve to have your/our questions answered if possible.
I’m always looking for ways to improve this reading experience for real fans. Thank you for your consideration.
That’s excellent news on the book Bob.
Come on community, let’s send some great questions Bob’s way.
This may have already been mentioned, but I would be interested to know who he thought was the toughest RB of his era? Like who was the one RB that they would have to game plan for and really be up for playing against? Was it Barry? Or Bo? Someone else???
Thanks and I am looking forward to reading this when it comes out!
Congrats on all the hard work paying off.
The mix of love and a paycheck. So, in a way, it isn’t like working at all, when you do what you love and get to write about the team you adore.
Do you have any information about when it will be available? 2Q 2021?
Later ’21. Chapter 15 is going to take some time because I have so many interviews I’ve done with his family, friends, former teammates, opponents, etc. I’m trying to finish the interviews first (even though most are done – then his approval for all written). Definitely a Christmas present of stocking stuffer for next year though!
What is your take on the interviews? Are they to build a more complete story about the man inside and outside the game? or a character trait? or his drive/motivations to become who he was (on and off the football field)?
Chapters 1-14 are most him talking and me doing my best to get his message across.
Chapter 15 is mostly me trying to compliment the book (about him) based on sources NOT of him (family, friends, teammates, people like me, fans, etc.)… if that makes sense?
Inside talking about oneself and Outside looking inward towards the man.
How many pages, 300-350? Did you base the structure of the book on any biographies you read in the past, which were your favorites?
Lucky, writing books during COVID doesn’t get impacted by the craziness of the world. Gives you something to think about and write about each day….. 🙂
The first 14 chapters equals a little over 50,000 words. But this chapter 15 will be more extensive because of the amount of interviews from people who grew up with him to ex-teammates, etc. It’ll be about 60,00+ words when it’s all said and done.
Great news Bobby.
please ask what current players from the offense he would like to see play back in the day to just lay some old school hits on
That’s pretty cool. All I know is that Easley was a true “BAMF”, in the words of RS.
Awesome Bobby!
Holton Hill was waived by the Vikes today. He was suspended (PED’s) in his rookie year and hurt this year, but he’s only 23. Here is what Rob had to say about him in an article leading up to the 2018 draft.
Holton Hill (CB, Texas)
Hill looks like a Seahawks corner. He’s nearly 6-2 and 195lbs with that wiry, long frame they like (32 inch arms). His short shuttle (4.15) was very good — an important test at this position. There seems to be some concern about his maturity but it’s difficult to find specific examples of this. Didn’t have a great combine in terms of the drills but it was a lousy CB session overall. I like him and he played well against Oklahoma State’s James Washington. The Seahawks often take a day three corner to develop and Hill could be the guy.
NFL.com sources: “He will fall further than he should because you can’t trust him. He needed a clean, productive season to rehab the perception around him and I felt like he should have gone back to school. He can play. He’s a Day 2 talent, but I doubt he goes there.”
Likely range: Fourth or fifth round. Ideal for Seattle.
Might be worth a kick of the tires.
Kick the tires and light the fires big daddy
They got an opening on the PS earlier today…. booted a WR off the PS.
It isn’t even the missed throws, or jitters, or other traits Wilson has when he’s in his normal 2-3 bad games he has each year. Or that he peaks too early in the season and always has those bad games at the worst time. What really kills me is the timid nature when it comes to any contact, never fighting for the first down when it’s right there, stepping out of the way when blocking and he could spring someone for a huge game. Those things that just scream I refuse too lose, are missing. He has the talent to be legit top 5 QB, but I think has gotten too invested in the business side, and stats, and recognition. It’s time to stop talking about it, and finally be about it for Wilson. I’ll take a warrior having a rough out or two, but for 35m$ a guy should be putting it on the line to win. The being hyper focused on DK is killing the offense, he sucks at getting open. His best value is stretching the field and being a brutal blocker on the screen game. Yeah, you can pad stats overtargeting him and argue he should have been a top 5 pick because of those stats, but it’s not what’s best for playing winnings football.
I think the whole ‘let Russ cook’ bollocks, all this talk of ‘never had a MVP vote’ and the crappiness of the defense putting too much on RW — none of this has helped.
I agree there could be some play to the stats/recognition bit but not only do I think it’s prudent for a franchise QB to err on the timid side of contact I would think most coaches/teams give pretty strong words to their QB’s to be careful and not take extra contact in all but the biggest situations.
I agree with DK – I don’t think he gets open as much as people think, not only were his route running and short area cutting knocks on him coming out of college but you can see his lack of route focus/smarts – whatever you want to call it, he just seems to get washed up in coverage too often and lacks good ‘selling it to the CB’ skills imo. Add in the fact that he’s a pretty bad jump ball/high point receiver and he has his things to work on.
He has skills that are elite no doubt and I’m not saying he isn’t great but he’s far from a finished product and may never live up to the full ceiling that his size, power, speed and burst could achieve.
My soccer team is Arsenal FC and when you have an owner that does not show interest in the organisation the whole place becomes rudderless. No one is putting pressure on the key figures whether good to push the team on or bad to show improvement.
If not sorted Seattle will head down a path of ordinary until a new owner is in place.
They’re already halfway there imo.
Last year the season was derailed by injuries and I think we are seeing it again with the injuries on the OL, WR (Lockett and Moore don’t seem right), TE, and RB. The Hawks made a bunch of depth moves this off-season to seemingly prevent this from happening again but most haven’t worked out. The only silver lining is we have guys coming back (1st v 4th string at RT) and new blood in Penny and Gordon (Dorsett could help too but haven’t heard a peep about him). The D.Taylor pick has been an absolute disaster so far.
The Giants were missing their best player, Saquon, and their quarterback.
Injuries are not an excuse.
X100
There is ZERO excuse or reason for losing at home to a team with Colt McCoy at QB when Wilson plays the whole game.
That’s rich… we are a decently healthy team for this point in the season. Neither Bruce Irvin or Marquis Blair we’re going to be the difference makers against the giants.
These last few years of Seahawks football are reminiscent of Carroll’s final years at USC. After Bush and Co., he was never able to reset. Those teams looked a lot like these past few Seattle teams, undisciplined and lacking an identity.
Increasingly it looks like this is correct
sadly true
Unless you consider gadget plays on 4th and a yard an “identity”
While I agree there are shares of blame to go around, there were also some aspects of how the season has gone that were beyond management’s control. Schneider, likely with input from PC, opted to spread the money around & wait for Clowney. The strategy necessitated the Adams trade (competitive window) & the drafting of DEs (Taylor & Robinson). What was even harder to foresee were the severity of injuries the team would suffer, especially on the defensive side.
Ivan Lewis needs to go, moreso than Norton. Irvin, Blair, Taylor (I assume they thought he’d be back sooner since they drafted him so high), Dunbar, Griffin, Mone, Carson, Hyde, Haynes, Olsen, Dorsett II, Flowers, Hill, Pocic, etc. The list is long of players who have missed the entire season or multiple games. Injuries to Iupati & Simmons should’ve been anticipated & depth has been okay on the OL even if Ogbuhei is scary to watch. The depth moves that spread the money around have been a mixed bag, at least some young talent has emerged as older retreads have flopped.
The strategy next offseason needs to focus on re-signing some of our free agents, going after a couple of key outside free agents, & filling out the rest of the roster depth from the deep pool of players who will be cut as cap casualties. The org needs to line up some comp picks to make up for the dearth of draft capital, small competitive window bedamned. Getting Brown, Adams, Dunlap, & maybe a couple others to sign extensions that secure the roster & shift around some cap money will be key. It’ll be a tough juggling act but at least the roster will return some young talent who gained experience due to injuries & young talent who missed a lot of the season due to injuries. Personally, I hope the front office chooses to exercise Penny’s fifth year option since he’s shown obvious talent & I expect Carson’s price to be too rich for this roster shakeup. Four draft picks, returning talent, & a few outside additions would be a tough sell to the public but considering the players hitting free agency this offseason (Smith, Carson, Hyde, Bellore, Moore, Gordon, Dorsett II, Olsen, Hollister, Pocic, Iupati, Ogbuehi, Snacks, Mayowa, Irvin, Bullard, Moore, Jackson, Wright, Hill, Randall, Griffin, Dunbar, Thorpe, & Stanley) & next (Penny if no 5th year option, Lockett, Dissly, Brown, Shell, Warmack, Jones, Reed, Dunlap, Green, Adams, Diggs, Reed, Flowers, & Dickson) lining up draft picks to restock the team with speedy, physical talent is the only sensical route after ‘going for it.’
1. A bad off-season plan isn’t something out of their control. It’s just a bad off-season plan.
2. The approach didn’t facilitate the Adams trade. That trade happened, at great expense and right before the season started, because they hadn’t made a single significant addition to the defense.
3. The suggestion that anything facilitated the Taylor pick is fairly comical. It is looking like a disaster.
4. Every team has injuries. It’s no excuse. The Giants didn’t have Saquon or their QB on Sunday.
5. You don’t line up comp picks without losing free agents and not signing replacements. You can’t do what you’re suggesting and line up comp picks.
6. The only way to get speedy young talent is to acquire picks by trading the likes of Adams.
Rob, who do you think are realistic candidates for a trade for picks? Adams I get it, but what other options do we have for getting picks in the first rounds? For example I doubt we would get a first for Bobby Wagner, even if we wanted to go for such a deal.
Adams is pretty much it
I do think Seattle could do better with the strength, conditioning and injury prevention. The injuries have been piling up the last 5 or so years. Some of it cannot be helped I understand but I just think they can do better than Ivan who just seems like a weightlifting coach who pushes too hard sometimes. Russ already has his own team and the team already outsources to Regenokine and other places. They need a better joint effort. Not just strength training but biomechanic and injury prevention focus too. Like with a potential coordinator search, Seattle still has the name value to get top talent.
Most of our own free agents are not good. It won’t be a loss to lose Bullard, Hollister, Olsen, Dorsett, Moore, Hyde, Warmack, Ogbuehi, Mayowa, Rivin, etc. Not at the expense of what they’re currently making. Good riddance is more like it.
If the Seahawks have a chance to do what the 49ers did last year with DeForest Buckner – they should do it. They traded a good DT for the 14th overall pick. If they could do that this year, there would be a chance to either get a good player at 14 who will be under team control for 5 years at a reasonable salary OR trade down several times to add draft picks. They can’t get younger/hungrier without those talented and cheap players you get in the early/mid rounds.
Unless there’s a stud DL (or OT) available at 14 (pretending they’re able to do something like the Buckner deal with Adams) I’d prefer adding a few 2nd/3rd round picks if at all possible. There are just too many holes on this roster to feel good about it moving forward or to think we’re just a player or two away.
I love Carson and think he’s a stud. When healthy. That’s the problem. He’s hurt every year. When you sign guys like that and then have injuries – you actually deserve the injuries and can’t make excuses that we get hurt all the time. For example, coming into the year we knew Olsen and Iupati would get hurt because that’s what they do at this stage in their careers. I’d like them to focus on durable players and to resign Carson only if it’s a friendly deal because you can’t count on him. This team needs (young) players it can count on.
Jets game watch points
Well this isn’t a place any one of us wanted to be at this point in the season. Coming off an embarrassing loss to a lesser talented opponent and facing the worst team in the NFL, who actually showed signs of life in a close loss to a better team.
Fans are right to have their confidence in the Seahawks shaken, but let’s be right. The Jets are the dregs of the NFL.
Defense:
Offense:
Other areas of note:
The watch points won’t be talking about how to attack this sad sack team’s weaknesses, because they’re myriad. It’s all about how the Seahawks approach and execute in this game.
Control the game.
There’s a real tendency to overreact to last week’s game. To draw back and play this game conservative on both sides of the ball, and no doubt there’s some merit to that. A game where the Hawks pound the ball, control the clock, use their ST weapons to win the field position game, and flood coverage on D to keep the game in front of them is an enticing proposition and would make everyone feel a lot better about facing WFT, LA and SF in the coming weeks.
There is a certain advantage though, to coming out of the gate aggressively. Quickly establishing a lead with some bold deep passing on offense and some calculated blitzing on defense can not only restore a measure of confidence, it would give the Seahawks plenty of options. With a two score lead, they could downshift into 2nd gear and give Carson and Hyde some pounding touches, unafraid of putting the team behind the sticks. They could focus on getting the TEs some more targets. They could even (I’m being really fanciful here) tease some looks for the WFT and LA defensive coordinators to get on tape and worry about.
At any rate, this is a game the Seahawks should feel no danger in. I know that’s not easy to say or think after the NYG game, but it’s the truth.
Adjust as needed in game.
After the Giants game, PC was asked and talked quite a bit about deciding when to make adjustments and when to stick to your game plan and trust that you will break through eventually. This game will be a real case study and supply PC with a chance to demonstrate those principles.
DC Greg Williams has been fired and Frank Bush has been promoted. PC already talked Monday about not knowing what a new DC will throw at the offense and the Seahawks will have to discern what the Jets are doing on defense and then respond. I sincerely hope that discussion was not laying the groundwork for an ‘I told you this team was unpredictable’ after a 17-10 win that features a sputtering offense and a confused, indecisive RW.
No excuses. You have a franchise QB, 2 All Pro talent WRs, a bruising RB, tight ends that are proven and an OL that is adequate. This defense should have to adjust to YOU and what YOU’RE doing. Focus on acting, not reacting and leave the fine tuning to when you’ve got the game in hand.
Avoid injuries. Please.
Let’s be straight. The playoffs start next week vs WFT.
This team may not have had that gut-punch injury like losing RW or Bobby Wagner for the season, but they’ve been hammered in their depth at times. This is another reason to get an early lead. The number of guys who could use a break is pretty decent. Current guys who are gimpy like Carlos Dunlap, Chris Carson, Carlos Hyde, and Brandon Shell.
But it could be just as much about giving Duane Brown, Tyler Lockett, Bobby Wagner, Jamal Adams, Jarran Reed, Will Dissly and KJ Wright a breather for the stretch run. This has been a long slog of a season and all these guys are warriors. Let’s run up the score and rotate them out to get ready for a couple pretty tough games coming up.
One more guy on the list that could use a break: RW. Nothing would give Seahawks fans a better feeling at this point than to see Geno Smith trot onto the field in the 4th quarter with a 20 point lead and Adam Gase spotted on the sideline booking a flight to the Bahamas for Monday morning. Russ has carried a tremendous load this season. Let’s see him walking up and down the sidelines, cheering on the offense as it moves down the field.
Find some confidence boosters to build on.
Several players could really use a shot in the arm for the stretch run.
Jordyn Brooks has been improving as of late. A signature tackle would really signal he’s arrived and give his vet teammates a chance to surround him and slap him on the back.
Tre Flowers has been all over the place this year. How much would a pick 6 do for his confidence? Especially with Dunbar nearly ready to return.
How about a Colby Parkinson seam route? Or a RZ play designed to take advantage of his height?
Alton Robinson has been quiet lately. Can he play a significant role in 2021 on a defense that will sorely need good DL? Let’s see what we have in him.
A seamless quarter would do this team a world of good. A couple TD drives, a couple punts forced, and no 17 yard sacks, turnovers or TFL’s.
Good stuff per usual. They have got to establish a rhythm early. You got to think teams will at least throw in some cover 2 stuff that has been killing Russ. I keep thinking about that Pittsburgh game last year. Give Russ some timing throws. Isolate a guy to read, hit the third step and throw. Take some of the thinking out of it for him to get some of the shine back. Complement that with tough runs
All sounds good. That said, I fully expect to play down to even their horrible level and win by around 9. The Pete Carroll way!!
honestly – all i’m looking for is Russell and the passing game to get right. Just want to see him and the offense looking crisp and unstoppable (at times) – get his confidence/mojo back.
Agree about the DC changes. Teams have been disguising coverage and neither our coaches or Wilson are adjusting. Do not want to hear we were not expecting that again. Between how Teams orchestrate their offenses or defenses against us; it sure seems Pete has said this quite a few times this year. We didn’t expect the Jets to open up the running lanes like they did; great play action off that. We gave up too many big plays. Not like us. We need to get better. Ugh
Was meant a reply to cha’s watchpoints
“surprised” “unexpected”……..I have another word for that, “failure”
Not sure if anyone has posted this here but Florio offered a glimmer of hope that the 2021 salary cap might experience a $20m increase to $195m.
If true, that would give the Seahawks about $39m of room to work with at present, call it $30m of “true” room if you figure in injury protection, practice squad salaries and play time bonuses.
Wow Pete just said on his press conference we’re playing better now then we have all year when asked what is going on with the offence since the Arizona game he kind of got defensive about it.
Rob do you think he actually believes this he can’t be this stupid can he
I think Pete got confused and thought the question was about the defense.
That was a seriously convoluted question. Him and Corbin, what are you guys doing with these 4 sentence questions?
Wed Press Conf w PC
“Get back on track is a big deal for us. Starting 4th Q on right foot. Focus and consideration for a championship matchup, that’s how we’re going to go about it.”
[Jackie] Challenge of playing Jets who lost last second? “Way that we talk about it, way we talk about matchups. Storylines don’t have anything to do with how we prepare. Real focus. Good illustration to come back and focus and play good FB.”
[john boyle] Adams overall person/leader? “Sweet trade for us. JS’s vision to see this, inkling of possibility to nurture the chance. Did his homework. Excited to get a player of his magnitude. After all that, been a great team guy. Worked so hard, cares so much about team and relationships w guys he plays with. Perfect in all things. High intensity, jacked up great pride in work.”
[maz veda] Diggs back line communication? “Leadership, talked about. All in player. Work, practice, study, standards he upholds, demands other guys do as well. Such a valuable part of our team. Can see why he was a captain in Det. Love his toughness.”
[joe fann] Arizona game on time on schedule, not so much now? “Different team, different games, different situations. Playing better now than we have in the passing game. Counting on consistency that we’re starting to find. Rush, coverage and connection to play at a high level. Continuing to do better, but turned thing in a positive direction.”
[corbin] Sunday 24 drop backs 3 seconds w clean pocket, 6.0 yards per att and sacked twice…overall OL impression and concern downfield plays? “Feel like guys protected well. Had chances. Trying to get the ball down the field more than allowed. Protection was solid. Couple guys hadn’t played a lot.”
[Michael shawn] Secondary best since LOB days. Vision for transition? Does it look like that vision? “Can’t tell you I had a vision, weren’t sure who players would be, happened quickly. Always felt secondary should be notable. Just a matter of who new guys would be. Wait and figure it out, you have hopes. Find the right combo and turn it around and get back on track again. Collection of guys with that caliber is rare. Brandon Browner a big factor too. Camp this year, expectations went really high thinking of what we could do, a lot to do with Blair, extraordinary factor. Taken a while to get the band back together.”
[Michael shawn] Expend draft picks on Diggs, Adams, Dunbar instead of drafting them? Different? “Browner from Canada FL. Gotta hit it right sometimes, moving in right direction with these guys. Acquiring guys? Not very patient about it, trying to get back where we need.”
[bob] Gordon COVID pass and in mtgs? “Yes”
[bob] Olsen back? “Surprising us in the way he looks. Gordon in the building. Olsen not going to set limits on him.”
[bob] Dunbar? “Practicing today.”
[bob] McGough to PS, trying to avoid a Denver situation? “Yes.”
[ben] (can’t hear) “Learned a lot, different than I was then because of what I learned. Surprise experience, didn’t get much time to work. I did learn a lot. Deal w people in ownership and opinions and stuff like that. Work with your people. Maverick at the time. Wasn’t worried about making friends with owners, just coaching. Needed to work at it more. Not politically correct at the time. Ended too fast.”
[Gregg] 10 gap for Gordon suspension? “I don’t know, climatization type approach. One of the ideas. Give a guy time to get in and protect himself. I don’t understand why the first couple days he can’t be with us….that’s the rules. 21st on the field. Bust it right now so no lag time to adapt. Get it going now. Full speed top speed as long as he can. Maintain it. We expect to give him a chance to help us.”
[Gregg] Growth and change in Gordon? “Both sides, much more familiar. Spent more time knowing him, understand how he learns and his physical abilities. Start way faster now, way ahead. He’s very sincere about it, worked hard to get here.”
[Curtis crab] ST update on Brian Schott? Izzo fill in? “Izzo first class job, jumped right to it. Fantastic job. Brian back with us now, working with Izz, can’t say enough about with Izzo has done to maintain and go beyond and give us week to week consistency to get better.”
[Curtis] How long Brian back? “Maybe a month”
[tim] Jamarco, Neal injuries? Shell? “Shell practice today. Seems like ready to go. Neal end of week to know, Jamarco also. Neither out right now, check them out, give enough time.”
[tim] Dunbar enough work to play Sunday? “One day at a time. Comfortable with DJ Reed. Don’t have to rush Dunbar.”
[brady] McGough separated like Etling? “Alex needs to work with us, a few weeks gets comfortable then separate him. Learn before we make decision, but we’re considering it.”
[brady] Izzo still ST coordinator? “yes”
Fantastic news to hear Brian Schneider is back.
Even more fantastic is that Larry is still fully in charge of ST. That could have been an awkward situation but it sounds like it has worked out. Our ST is probably the most consistent of the 3 at this point.
Wish I could have heard Ben’s question, I’m assuming it was about Pete’s first go-round as a NFL head coach.
Sure wish we could get Flash back now instead of 2+ weeks from now.
I’m really concerned about the post-COVID press conferences, when reporters are able to be in the room. Even when the Hawks broadcast them we rarely hear the questions, just some faint mumbling because Pete’s mic is the only thing on.
So frustrating to hear Pete giving an interesting soundbite answer, only to have no idea what the answer means because you couldn’t hear the question.
Adams: “Sweet trade for us”
SIGH
With the 49ers getting healthy next year, the Seahawks could easily finish last in the division in 2021. Imagine the Adams trade if the Seahawks have a top 10 pick in 2022 due to the Adams trade. That’s a big concern of mine. Instead of a young, hungry player on a team friendly deal – Adams and Wagner will be blocking up a big chunk of cap space between them and they’re not even worth it. Bobby was. That 2018 guy was so unbelievable, but now father time is definitely catching up to him and he’s not the best anymore (but he’s paid like it – that’s not a good combination).
Wanted to post this since I haven’t seen anyone do that yet. It is Dave Wyman’s FB101 for this week and I found it interesting. Talks about the breakdown on the D for the long run and why it happened and compares it to a play later in the game.
https://youtu.be/U7gKz0hWzO0
New podcast up shortly.
Topics discussed:
Jets game (briefly)
Jamal Adams trade and the reality behind his production
Darrell Taylor’s injury
Richard Sherman possibly returning
Predictions vs NYJ and for the rest of the season
Hey Rob,
I want to start with the fact, I love this blog, I read it all the time and it’s great source of information. I truly admire your ability to analyze the draft. I remember when you were literally “pounding on the table” stating that Kyler Murray was the best player in the entire draft, you ignored his physical dimensions which is difficult for many GMs around the league.
I understand that the Seahawks have huge issues but they are 8-4, which most teams in the league would want to be in position. After watching years and years of sports (football, hockey, etc…) every team in including championship types have all kinds of warts. I’ve never see a “perfect team” especially in league where you have financial cap restrictions. Even in baseball where you can literally spend as much as you want (I see you NY Yankees), even with the huge financial investments and almost limitless, they still can’t buy their way to a championship at times.
For some reasons, I’m getting news feeds on the 49s and I’ve learned a few items. I think about 1-2 years ago, I believed that the 49s were on their way to dominate the NFC West for the next 5-7 years under their GM Lynch and players such as Bosa, Buckner, Kittle, Sherman, Armstead, Garrapolo, etc……………….. When I listen to their sports experts now, it is a mess and I’m not even sure if they are going to win the NFC West in the next 10 years.
I might be upsetting a few of your reader buts I prefer an experienced management team who has proven over the last 7-10 years to put a Superbowl winning team of the field and having a chance on any “given Sunday”.
I remember the years when we nearly lost the Seahawks with the idiot Ken Behring and he was pulling his moving trucks to the HQ.
I really push back against this sentiment though Ken. The Seahawks have made bad decisions in terms of personnel, they’ve lost games they had no business losing because of mismanagement and poor performance on the field. They have squandered resources.
We need to talk about these things, not avoid difficult topics.
The aim is to win a Super Bowl. Not simply avoid being rubbish and have something to watch on a Sunday that isn’t Bengals level.
They are now talking about the All Pro vote. I looked at Seattle 2 absolutes of which one probably not get it. Then theirs the 4 guys who hava chase and after that i just don’t see any others.
My 2 guys that deserve it are D.K. Metcalf and K.J. Wright. These 2 guys are having great years. The other 4 guys are Bobby Wagner, Jamal Adams, Duane Brown, and Jason Myers.
Its now the time for Seattle to put up or shut up. They need to win the next 4 games to get better but also to have momentum going into the playoffs. I like seeing the young guys out there getting better. I like to remind everyone that this year was different and well some of the early losing teams have gotten better. No game I believe is a given in the next 4 weeks.
Norton has to go . I’m sorry he simply can’t adjust. No imagination …