Agree completely Rob. I enjoyed the win Monday night and have said from he start that my dream season is the Hawks beat Denver and SF twice and those are the 3 wins. Then the get at top 3 pick. Play lots of tough/ close games and develop the young players with a focus on the OL/ DL becoming bullies again. That was my ideal 2022-23 season and nothing from Monday night has changed that way of thinking.
What I saw Monday night was a fired up Hawks team that beat an average and poorly coached Denver team. The chances of either team actually being good and making the playoffs is remote IMO, which bodes well for next years draft.
Time for Pete, the former Hawks and all us fans to turn the page on the Willson era and be grateful for the memories. Focus on the future and getting this team back to being contenders.
UkAlex6674
I don’t know why a lot of people are saying the Broncos will be a poor team for the season. For me, they will be there or there abouts for the playoffs (but will fall just short).
They have a very good run game, obviously the QB, and the D in the second half showed it can make adjustments and shut a team down.
They just need to figure a couple of things out, and they have time to do it.
GoHawksDani
They’re in the division with KC and LAC. Both are better than DEN. They have a fairly tough schedule. They could reach the final WC spot but I doubt it. They’d need to get themselves together and quick
Trevor
Watching that Seahawks run defense and their inability to contain / defend the edge makes me think Kyle Shanahan is licking his chops. Have to think SF will game plan to simply run the ball till the Hawks prove they can stop it. If they do and expose the LB group it could get really ugly quick, regardless of what Trey Lance does.
If the Hawks can run the ball effectively, the OL can protect Geno and the defense can stop the run then the Hawks could beat and over rated SF team. But that is a lot of “ifs”.
Agree with all of this Trevor. Kyle won’t be like Hackett and abandon it imo.
Dave1401
They’re probably going to be more willing to load the box to stop the run because you don’t need to respect the deep ball in the way you would against Wilson. I’m more concerned about our ability to tackle Deebo Samuel in the open field
Roy Batty
The zip of Geno’s passes compared to Russ were on full display Monday.
Haven’t watched the film separately, but at the game what looked particularly bad was the Hawks’ first down runs on offense. Put Geno regularly behind the 8-ball. Got to improve that.
And from what I could tell, that failure to contain the outside runs, which was horrible early, was often due to the edge guy crashing inside. Usually Taylor.
Peter
Agree with Trevor.
The hawks were much better than I thought they would be. Excellent first half. Awesome goal line stands.
Great to hear Lumen field was “pumped and jacked.” Hope that is sustainable because that place has been a ghost town for a few years. Someone in the YouTube comments asked if Seattle gets to the playoffs will that be a great achievement? Undoubtedly. Alternately now that the “villain,” of the team has left the building there is no protection from mayor Pete and the fans if this thing goes sideways.
There are very few times in American football where a one point victory is a referendum on anything. This game was no exception. Now the real work begins.
10 point dogs on the road is a sign from whatever you believe in that you need to do some soul searching and figure out why that is coming off a win. Forget the field goal. If Hackett had turned on his thinking cap he would have ran and ran right at Seattle. Pretty concerned that Shanahan won’t abandon the run because running is what his team does.
PJ in Seattle
True. Jeff Wilson Jr. isn’t bad, but he’s no game wrecker and they don’t have Eli Mitchell and likley Kittle as well. We have a shot if Geno can replicate the first half of this last game.
Really cool article. The only guy I’m sure was a great pick is Lucas. The kind of unsung hero that can play well but set the tone and culture for the rest of the line in the future. Big things to come I think.
Starhawk29
Totally agree. One of the most surprising things I’ve seen this week though, was a quote from JS about Lucas. Something to the effect of “we weren’t expecting him to start this quickly.” Granted, I am not Schneider, but he looked very ready to me on his college tape. Watching him handle Thibadeaux with smooth technique and a strong anchor really sold me on him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being one of the best RTs in the league.
It always starts with Jimi. He’s the one guy all other guitarists mention.
Blackthorn
Weird, petty behavior from Carroll. It’s not a good look.
Trevor
Pete is acting a bit like the passive aggressive Ex GF at this point. Move on Pete and focus in the guys on the roster not the ones who have moved on. If I don’t hear a discussion about Wilson the rest of the year it will be a good thing. Glad it happened in week one to get the childish soap opera over with.
I would love for somebody in the media to ask Pete if “Russ hangover” is real.
I know Pete would answer something like ‘every week is championship week’ but just putting the thought out there into the zeitgeist would be a healthy thing to do.
Alex
Be careful? They need to compete, and I disagree with tanking for draft stock. I get this is a draft blog so that’s where peoples heads are at. Counter to Sherman point, I think it’s a fair reaction to someone who sounds like privately didn’t treat him with respect. Would I have gone about it differently? Probably. We’re all different though. I’ll voice the opinion of the contingent that reads and appreciate the draft blog, but wants to win games rather than root for draft position . I hope they win 8-9 even if they don’t make the playoffs. I think they’ll get better as they go, and if they do I can only imagine the complaining here… which should tell you something ;p
makes you wonder what happened in the locker room for so many players to have such a distaste for wilson. let’s not forget about harvin and tate on how they view wilson. not a good look for an organization as a whole, to say the least.
Peter
Harvin? Who’s he?
Denver Hawker
This game was clearly their Super Bowl this year.
The entire org seemed focused on making Russ the villain, and feel validated by the win- as if this victory means the football Gods have declared their judgment.
I don’t mind the pomp for Week 1 to try and get fans excited- but time to move on.
They appear as the bitter ex showing up to the club with a new date, their best dress, dancing and drinking too much. I have little doubt Denver will be in playoff contention, Russ will be laser focused on winning here forward and find new love with Denver fans. He’ll look back at Seattle with fond memories, but eventually ex-teammates leave, and what’s left is how the org treated him this day. He won’t forget that.
Tallyhawk
I think the fact that this game happened so close to the trade upped the emotions quite a bit. Had this game happened later in the season or even next year it wouldn’t have been so. It would still be emotional but basically no time has passed so it’s still very new and raw. I would’ve liked to see RW get a warm reception when he came out then once the game started boo all you want. I’m not sad he’s gone but I do very much appreciate what he brought to the city and organization.
BruceN
Can’t disagree with you. We won, let’s show some class and take the high road. But all this talk afterwards reeks of pettiness. This is the second poor act after the way they treated Bobby with his release. I was fully onboard with the decision, but to let your 10 year captain hear about his release from other sources was low class.
I don’t think anyone wants balance or slightly different talking points
They just want ‘everything is awesome’
But even then, if you want that, why are you commenting on a vid you have no interest in?
2022
Denver Hawker
Well, they lack conviction, so counter talk makes them feel vulnerable and it’s easier to react that way than to sit with it. It’s religious cult-like dogma they want- not critical analysis.
Robbie
People’s tunes will change if we start losing. I don’t understand why all these people are saying, just enjoy the win. No one is saying you’re not. Crazy.
Peter
What’s not to get Rob?
Do and say exactly what I say to do or else you’re a dummy head, doo doo brain. Duh.
Also I know for a fact that Wilson never did any work for children’s hospital and there’s a good chance he actually put those kids there himself with his terrible off field actions. Total phony. Everyone knows when Sherman went to a division rival he did that to help the hawks by sending them the play calls.
Pete’s whole attitude amazes me as it pertains to Russ. We see now that the RW3 show was getting old a long time ago, but Pete enabled it to carry on. Protecting him from criticism from the vets and the media allowed the fracture of the team. The organization seemed to do a good job, at least for a spell, of keeping it behind closed doors as well. I’m not saying that was the right or wrong approach, but you can’t now act like you were the victim of drama queen Russell’s show the whole time. You kind of created this monster Pete!
Really happy we got the win, and I hope we get a few more and stay close in games. I agree with Rob that they can’t let the win distract from next week. Really hope they use this as momentum. If a team can force you to win with Geno, one could certainly force you to win with Lance.
STTBM
Everything happening just reinforces my opinion that things were rotten in Seattle for most of the last decade. And the only way it’s ever going to get back to Championship football is to clean house, with Carrol, Schneider and all the rest getting the boot.
Everyone looks like Clowns now, even our defacto owner. It was nice being nationally relevant, but that’s gone now.
Sherm needs to apply some harsh honesty to himself, considering his substance abuse issues and off field behavior. Wilson was a great player for us, and a great person off the field. Yeah, he’s weird and made himself bigger than the team, but so did Carrol, no matter what BS he spews.
No one bitches about any other top qbs for being Big Shots or wanting more say: but Wilson isn’t allowed. Why? All I can think is that old BS about him not being “black enough”. I guess if he were a gangsta asshole, or an uptight white guy, everything would be forgiven…
Too much sour grapes from all sides, no one accepting any blame, and too many Seahawks fans being jerks.
Wake me when the team is sold and the new owners empty the trash…
Roy Batty
The way they handled Bobby’s release epitomizes this current iteration of the franchise.
I don’t know about Bobby’s release. I have questions about that.
Bobby publicly complained on Twitter that nobody told him, he had to hear about it. He went on Rich Eisen and said the Seahawks asked him for a face to face meeting and he said no.
It sounds like he heard from someone that he might be cut, called the Seahawks, and they revealed their cards in a way by saying ‘let’s not do this over the phone, let’s sit down and talk.’
He then had a choice: meet with them and hear them out or tell them to get stuffed. He decided on the latter.
They could have had an adult discussion about ‘is this about my cap number or just starting fresh?’ They could have at least had the discussion about whether he could stay on with a reduced number / reworked contract (although admittedly I would’ve hated that) or whether they can shake hands and part ways amicably. But Bobby didn’t even want to entertain the discussion.
My guess is when JS and PC said they could have handled it better, they were referring to how word got to Bobby from a source other than the brass.
I think a piece of the issue was Bobby decided to act as his own agent and may not have wanted to face the harsh truth that teams talk to agents in a more direct manner than they do players, and he willingly removed that buffer and a good chunk of the reason he is upset at the Seahawks is a direct result of his own choices.
STTBM
Cha, that’s a really considered approach to the Wagner situation. Good job.
I still think it was handled poorly by the team–leaks shouldn’t have happened, that’s sloppy and not how they do things. But Wags was complicit, his pride wouldn’t let him admit he was slowing down, nor that his effort was lacking: entitlement crept in.
We’re better off without Wags, given his lack of consistent effort last year, and his entitlement. But regardless of the specifics, Seattle bungled his release.
As I suspected, everyone got a bit carried away reviewing Charles Cross’ debut
But that is great for Abe
TomLPDX
Yeah, that was encouraging for Abe. Uchenna also…man had a really good game. I hope Coby Bryant can fix his tackling woes because I’d rather see him out there than Coleman.
Mike
But in fairness geno had a great grade, let’s not pick and choose to prove priors rob
I’m being accused of confirming my priors… by not even saying anything!
Jesus wept people. I know Seattle folk love the phrase ‘confirming your priors’ (I think it’s a really whiny turn of phrase but that’s by the by) but I didn’t even say anything about Geno here. I commented very specifically on two rookie offensive tackles.
Whenever the PFF grades are released now, do I have to pass comment on every active player to avoid being accused of ‘confirming my priors’
Bore off
Group Captain Mandrake
I have to admit that I’ve lived in Seattle or at least nearby since 1985 and I have never heard that phrase. And I’m fine with that😀
mtpgod
I find it odd Blythe was graded so low, he seemed to have a couple great hustle plays. I’d like someone smarter than me to tell me how he was the worst guy on offense after looking at the game tape.
TomLPDX
Thanks Curtis. Austin Blythe got killed in run blocking. I must have missed that. I guess no credit for recovering Penny’s fumble down field.
My son loves mario kart, mario party, Minecraft and animal crossing
Denver Hawker
My kids love Smash Bros, Zelda- BOTW, and they play Among Us too.
KD
As much as I love a good adult video game with plenty of hack and slash action, two of my favorite games of all time are 100% family friendly: Dragon Quest Builders 2 and Stardew Valley are brilliant, fun, chill and appropriate of kids as well. Look them up, i think you will be interested in giving them a try. Very conducive to creativity, design and management.
GoHawks5151
I understand what you are saying but I don’t think it has crossed into a dangerous territory for the team. A Well known rule in sports is the 24-hour rule. 24 hours to celebrate or cry about it and then you move on. This was a radio interview the very next day so understandably things were a little fresh. No question some wanted to get their digs in on Russ. But even Sherm on his podcast said that Russell should have got the ball at the end and played a good game.
It is a division game so I would expect the team to be ready for the niners. If there is one thing that will carry this team through the rougher parts of the season it will be the youthful enthusiasm of the younger players not the vengeful Spirit of the coach and past players.
Matt
We are now 48 hours in and the ticker tape parade continues.
Russell denied Marshawn his hand-off to take their second Super Bowl win. Hackett denied Wilson his 4th and five. Shit happens. Kinda poetic. Russ will do well now as a team player. Pull his magic during the game, not at the end of it. That was a young man’s game.
I love how people are now settling on Wilson being the person who made the decision to throw on that down
The way some people are approaching Wilson since this trade is absolutely ridiculous
Tien
I don’t think any of us KNOW that Russ was the one who called that pass play in the SB.
I still hate that play call but if I had to guess, it was Pete/the coaching staff that called the play and Russ just tried to execute what was called…like what he did on Monday night in getting off the field and letting McManus try the FG.
I would’ve thought it would be pretty obvious to see if Wilson had called an audible to that play
Yet only this week, surprise surprise, we’re now hearing about how he was the one who called the play all along
James Z
The pettiness (I don’t know how else to describe it) of the management in general and PC in particular regarding RW borders on the pathological. Football is a brutal game, with potentially life-challenging injuries for players on every play. It’s comprised of alpha-males and massive egos at every level. That a coach with 15 years or so in the league would bother with such nonsense is just really sad. PC should know better. His ego has clouded his self-awareness yet again. It appears to be spreading throughout the organization.
Matt
Perfectly put. What lead up to the game was cringeworthy.
What happened since then is outright pathetic.
Agree with Matt, perfectly put and absolutely pathetic.
Henry Taylor
They also won the game. So you could say the antics had its desired effect.
Rob’s right that they do need to be careful, and the mentality can’t be a one time thing, but I don’t know why we’re killing a coach for effectively motivating his team.
Aaron
I get that most of Seattleites got caught up in all the Russ propaganda over the past 10 years but at what point do we finally admit that Russ was a massive issue for the culture and overall team.
How many past Hawks have spoke out on Russ’s behalf? Zero. The answer is zero.
Pete is usually very positive and scripted with his responses. His answers about this game bucked that trend. Very telling.
Our great teams were built on our defense (shoutout LOB) and Marshawn. I look forward to attending the games they get their names added to the Ring of Honor.
Matt
You’re conflating a couple egotistical loud mouths as the whole locker room.
If it wasn’t for Sherman and Baldwin – we’d have little input about “RW being hated.”
Those two, to my confusion, can’t get over that people gave the QB credit. They can’t handle it. I have soured so greatly on those two because I can’t imagine winning a super bowl and being miserable about it because the guy they didn’t like, got some credit.
You’d think two Stanford grads would understand that QBs, rightly or wrongly, get a lot of attention. These guys are so fragile, they can’t handle it.
The thing that made Baldwin and Sherman plus some other guys on that LOB so great was the chip on thier shoulder and the feeling they were being disrespected.
It is naive and silly to think they would be any different now. Tigers don’t change thier stripes
Matt
Trevor, I mean this respectfully, but that’s a lame excuse.
I understand the chip on the shoulder concept; but the pettiness goes far beyond that into territory where they are tainting their legacy because they can’t handle that the guy they didn’t like got treated like every other QB in the game.
I was fortunate enough to go to the super bowl they won. I loved those teams, at the time. As time goes on and these petty feuds persist, criminal actions, generally gross behavior increases; I actually have a sour taste in my mouth about those teams. Can you tell me your opinion on the LOB hasn’t changed with Sherm’s, ET’s, and Browner’s behavior and criminal activity? I didn’t expect them to be perfect; I didn’t expect them not to turn into petty and in some cases, genuinely bad people.
At some point, these guys will completely regret their behavior because they will understand the joy they robbed themselves of because again, their fragile egos couldn’t handle it. I’m really not trying to be an ass here; but I find the whole thing pathetic and sad.
Trevor
“Lame excuse” ? I am simply pointing out a fact and explaining why they act the way they do. People don’t change they are who they are.
Listening to KJ on Brock and Salk this morning it’s prettt clear they were far from the only two who felt that way. They are just the most vocal because that’s who they are.
I blame Pete just as much as anyone. I get why Russ got special treatment but Pete preaches accountability for all and if he gave Russ special treatment and kid gloves that’s on him.
Matt
They were the only two to make a spectacle of it. KJ made it pretty clear that he understood why the coaching staff kid-gloved him. Any competent coaching staff isn’t going to shit on a young QB in front of the team to appease the ego of a few.
Apparently Sherman and Baldwin couldn’t lean on that Stanford degree to understand basic logic of nurturing a young QB.
I think what annoys me most about all this – PC is a defensive head coach. Coaches tend to be harder on their specialty than anything else. I guarantee you Andy Reid is far harder on his offense than defense. That’s just how things work.
I don’t think Pete deserves blame for this. I think he thought he was doing what was best for his team and he won a super bowl because of it. The only people I put blame on are the guys that actually caused the problems.
Were Sherman and Baldwin unable to act like adults and talk to Pete? Instead they just run around poisoning the well? I’m amazed people justify this garbage as if Sherman and Baldwin were just helpless in this whole charade. They did *nothing* to help solve anything. They exacerbated the problem.
Here’s the irony in this whole argument – I’m not even a big RW fan. I think he’s weird as hell. But, and I’m not saying you said this, the crap going around right now that he’s a bad guy, wasn’t even that good – is just stupid and wreaks of people being jaded for some odd reason. And I find it embarrassing for grown adults to act the wag Baldwin and Sherman have. Then you have dumbasses like Gee Scott egging this on.
Not to mention, and here’s a real cheap shot; the audacity of Richard Sherman to talk about “special treatment” after some of his “extracurricular activities” is rather rich. Talk about glass houses.
Matt
BTW – I’m dropping the RW stuff after that last comment. Just had to vent after everything I’ve heard and read the last couple days.
TomLPDX
Go listen to Tyler’s last press conference when asked about Russ. Tyler is the class of the team right now.
Thanks Tom. The anti-Sherm/anti-Baldwin.
But hey, everybody hated Russ.
TomLPDX
You know what really bums me out is Baldwin. Really respected who he was as a player, still respect who he is as a person (really!), but the pettiness. Just detracts from who he is. Let it go, Doug.
That tweet he posted after the win made me want to vacuum pack my face
Starhawk29
While I understand why you feel that way, Doug has always been petty. It’s who he is. Whether taking the “pedestrian” comments personally or carrying the “undrafted” chip on his shoulder, Baldwin has always been a petty person. It’s why he was good, imo.
I’m not letting his comments/memes take away from the connection he had as a player with Russ. Regardless of what the guy thinks of his former QB as a person, they clearly had a mind-meld while they were on the field together. They were special together, and if they had beef behind the scenes, even more credit to them for how well they played.
Peter
Why does it matter what players from 7+ years ago think?
The only two HOFers of that era one tge coach spent the whole off season scheming to beat. And the other unceremoniously dumped this last off season.
Conspicuously absent Earl Thomas and strange that none of the best oline Seattle had in a decade was asked to come raise the flag. Where was Robert Turbin? Jermaine Kearse busy?
I dunno probably just a scheduling thing that only a certain cadre of players was there……weird that no one else was available to be part of the festivities….I’m confident that there’s a reasonable explanation for that.
Jabroni-DC
The win over Denver is probably the high point of this season.
Max drama.
Opening week with minimal film.
Revved up home crowd.
Hated former divisional foe.
Cult of Pete vs Russ.
Incredible red zone turnovers.
Action Green.
So here’s a question about the 49ers. Did Trey Lance actually win the starting QB job? Was it by default due to Garoppolo’s injury? Or is it a political move?
Starhawk29
I’ve seen a lot of “Russ ruined the culture and the team” takes over the last few days, and I want to try and counter that with some nuance. That tension existed within the Seahawks organization is just fact at this point, we all know it. However, just pinning the blame on Russ or Pete (or sherm, or bennett, etc) feels over the top. This was a very complex situation, and no singular person is at fault.
For starters, the philosophy of head coach and QB were unaligned. Pete wanted to play “Peteball” and Russ wanted to “cook,” and as Rob has pointed out, this formed an underlying tension. Such tension undoubtedly carried over to the players, and possibly has its roots as far back as 2015 after Russ had an all-time-great end to the season. This, combined with the drama of the previous year’s superbowl, and the decline of the defense that year led to a widening of gaps. It was clear from 2015 onwards that the core of the team was the QB. Yet Pete was never fully committed to the modern, pass-happy offense that Russ pushed for for years. As we know, that led to the split.
With the team becoming more Russ’ team, players, especially on defense, felt frustrated for the aforementioned reasons. From this point comes the notion that Russ wasn’t liked in the locker room. Which is seemingly true….to an extent. Let’s not forget that he regularly took the offense on offseason trips to prepare, that he was the leader the team looked to when they needed to win, that in 2015 he and Doug Baldwin essentially willed us to the playoffs. He may have been disliked by some players, but he was a leader, same as you may not like your boss as a person, but may respect them as a leader.
It’s also evident, from anecdotes that leaked out of Broncos camp all offseason, that he still is a leader. The whole team seemed to notice it. A specific example, however, of players maybe not liking the guy but loving the QB came in an interview by Cowherd of Melvin Gordon. In the interview, the tone is relatively light and fun, then Colin asks about Russ. All of a sudden Gordon became serious, talking about how hard Russ works and the standard he has set. This, I think, shows the reality of working with Russ. He’s not a fun guy. He’s not the life of the locker room the way Marshawn was. He’s all about work and winning, and there is little room for fun and games. He’s a serious dude. That’s OK, lots of guys are serious leaders that are very successful.
Finally, I want to bring up the ego. I too read the Brady Henderson article and I understand the way his ego shaped the team. Yet, ego hasn’t proven to be a preventative factor when it comes to winning. Brady has a massive ego, and is the GOAT. Rodgers is all about his ego. Cam Newton had a nice career despite being obnoxiously narcissistic. You can be a good leader, a winner, and coachable, and still have an outsized ego. They are not mutually exclusive. Russ has shown in the past the ability to take coaching (i.e. humble himself before someone with more knowledge). Did his ego contribute to the split with the Hawks? Absolutely, same as Pete’s. Neither man was willing to fully commit to the other’s style of winning, and thus the split was inevitable.
Russ sat with George Paton and watched WR film and basically picked the 5th round WR they took this year. He said ‘that’s the guy right there.’ That was after he was traded (March 8) and before the draft (April 28). Russ was in the building for a short while and after shaking hands and getting his uniform fitted they had him in the room with their GM giving notes.
That was never happening in Seattle.
He got laughed out of the room when he tried to give input on the offensive game plan for the Cardinal game a couple seasons back.
Starhawk29
Great point as well. We saw it with KC, giving the QB a say in player acquisition is a viable strategy. Maybe not one that Pete or John Schneider would every follow, but a viable strategy for sure.
Mark
Pretty sure, RW3, had a hand at least once in player acquisition. I recall he pushed hard for Greg Olsen. That acquisition didn’t turn out to well and the hawks over paid for a over the hill slow TE.
So maybe the FO did give him input, but his choices were bad. He pushed for the head case Antonio Brown too.
People always give this one example to say, ‘see! Wilson did have a big say!’ (when we don’t even know the extent of his interest vs PCJS’s interest in Olsen)
Shall we go through all the acquisitions that Wilson didn’t have a say in that also didn’t work out?
You can make quite a compelling case for PCJS never spending a penny again if we want to go down that road
AlaskaHawk
On Pete Carrolls side of the ledger: Poor drafting ever since the superbowl appearances. Sure we always get our hopes up every draft period, but where are those players now?
I just view this as a marriage gone sour because they were together too long. They both chose to stay in it for the kids, but at this point it’s toxic just because they have to talk and work together. It was time to move on 5 years ago.
Starhawk29
100%. Pete deserves plenty of blame, as does Schneider (we don’t know who really made the picks, so both get the demerit). A marriage is a good analogy here, it is just obvious that the two grew apart. Difficult to keep together a relationship that’s contentious. Oftentimes the best move in those cases is just to move on, but it can take a while to reach that conclusion.
I would disagree that ego has not prevented winning. I think it’s RW’s ego that urges him to dominate the defense, rather than take what the defense gives him. A great quarterback picks the defense apart. RW too often stepped to the line determined to throw deep, regardless of the coverage, rather than take the short throw, hit the open man. Those aren’t the glory throws, and RW wanted the glory, the legacy, the brand. Over the years it became almost all ego with RW, masked by “positive thinking” and striving for excellence. He’s good enough, or was (did you see how underthrown the Jeudy pass was?) that he made a lot of beautiful completions. He just didn’t make enough of the other throws that would have taken the defense out of their game. If the will to dominate others isn’t ego, what is? I’m grateful for years of exciting Seahawk football with RW at quarterback, but he and the team have been sorely limited by his increasing preoccupation with himself and his place in the quarterback pantheon.
Can we please stop re-writing history to paint Wilson as this ridiculous caricature?
None of this is true
He had a preferred style of play and felt PC’s style was holding back the team. Their ideologies clashed. They both had strong opinions on the best way to proceed.
Wilson also expected, not unfairly, to have the kind of input and sway other highly paid franchise QB’s received
The two parties parted because they had different ideas on what was best
That’s it
Glor
Beating Wilson was our 2022 superbowl for me 😉
Not because I don’t appreciate his time in Seattle, but for me it was an excuse to feel that rivalry, one of the great things that made the 9rs into a rivalry was because of PC and JH. Listen, Wilson forced his way out. When he comes back after he retires and raises the 12th man flag, he will have a standing ovation. But don’t expect to much when you force your way off a team (pulling an A-Rod) and then come back trying to beat you in your house. f that.
Gaux Hawks
I respect everyone’s opinion here, but I am LOVING that the organization is relishing in this moment. Huge win for everyone involved.
Petty? 100%
Hypocritical? Sure.
Am I having fun? Absolutely.
Will we lose to the Niners? Probably.
And… i would have booed that bum all night… I’ll start applauding him in publicly after the regular season and beyond (absolutely love the guy).
UkAlex6674
100% agree with this. No idea why people are getting worked up about it – it is completely baffling me.
Plus he has $2.5m salary that comes guaranteed in Feb 2023. Just like last year, it probably is guaranteed for injury, so it’s locked if/when he is out for the year. I haven’t verified that, I’m too sad to look at his contract details again.
So $23.86m still on the books.
They could cut him with a June 1 designation next offseason and eat about $9.4m in 2023 (open up about $8.7m on the cap) and push the dead cap balance of $14.2m left to 2024.
TomLPDX
Sounds like a bargain to me!!! 😉
Ashish
Adams has many health issues now at the best he will survive 8 to 10 games per season if team is lucky. Seahawks better do the math and trade or cut him.
I’ve watched the replay over and over and I see no mechanism for a quad rupture. Nor do I see the bulge over his kneecap (not that you’d be able to walk off anyway with a true quad tear).
It’s so weird that this team’s MO has morphed into one of smoke and mirrors, saying a lot without saying anything at all. I mean, we still have literally NO IDEA what happened to KWIII. What kind of hernia? How’d the hernia happen? Was it practice or otherwise? Where was the surgery done? And why is Pete suddenly giving him a hard time for not healing faster?
Chris Carson. Jamal Adams’ original “issue with his surgically repaired finger”. It goes on and on and it’s getting downright bizarre.
And not one admission that maybe he should have just had the finger surgery anyway. He’s a liability with two healthy hands. If he gets healthy from the finger, this never happens. Not that we’ll ever fully know what happened anyway.
Everything is so vague but this one is especially vague
king.
What cosmic irony it would be for him to be forced into retirement because of an injury sustained on a play where he missed a dead to rights sack of Wilson.
805Hawk
I just made the mistake of reading the comments section on YT. Wow. What an absolute cesspool of delusional fans. Okay, there were some reasonable comments, but it’s almost unbearable. Between that and Twitter…I’d really like a time machine to zap us forward a month, please.
Ever watch a live Seahawks youtube press conference?
Fans of other teams log in to the comment section just to try and troll the Seahawks fans. Not even necessarily the team the Seahawks are playing that week.
I’m not even talking about fun, friendly jibing. Just intentionally trying to distract the fanbase from enjoying the interviews with deliberate attempts to get the fans worked up.
What kind of a person do you have to be to actively seek out opportunities to try and annoy others?
Dear lord.
A couple people troll your YouTube. Now “sports culture is destroyed”
Such a bizarre statement to come from someone from the land of football hooligans
Sports fandom always has a contingent of crazies. And in my view, that’s part of the fun. In fact I’m honestly more saddened by the lack of rowdiness at games these days compared to the 90s , especially in college football. Everything feels sanitized at games these days
UkAlex6674
Captain I don’t agree with the majority of your posts but I so with an element of this one. I think shithousery is a massive element of the game – and sport with a crowd – and it adds a fun element to the game.
STTBM
Just like jerk politicians getting elected and getting away with racism, misogyny, making fun of disabled folks, classism, etc elevates the profile of and legitimizes the attitudes of the scumbags who agree, so to has Social Media promoted and legitimized awful behavior. It’s not just in sports either, it’s rampant in everything, from trolls hacking into little kid forums or directly into child monitoring devices to scare kids or encourage them to suicide, to bullying fat people or trans people or nerds to suicide, Social Media has given rise to new lows in human behavior–and given it a huge platform, with little or no repercussions for the perpetrators.
Rob’s right, and if you can’t see it, talk to a practicing psychologist. Studies have proved how detrimental social media is, in many ways. It’s truly frightening. I know, because I have a family member in grad school for psych, and the studies we discuss are hair raising.
Trevor
Rob blog suggestion. At the end of this week all participants move in from Russell Wilson discussion and chatter. He is a Bronco it is over with let’s all move on and focus on the Hawks, the current players and the upcoming draft.
Rob has such incredible content so let’s focus on that not the QB in Denver. We can all celebrate him when he is inducted into the ring of honour and HOF.
Peter
Can’t wait for the mid season when most of this is gone.
Jabroni-DC
Give it a full season Trevor. Once the picks have been spent & we have our ‘future’ QB in house THEN it will be a natural transition to let go of the ‘Championship Seahawk Era’ (Part I???).
Truthfully, there are certain players who I’ve never moved on from because we have yet to adequately replace or top them. Cortez Kennedy, Walter Jones, Steve Hutchinson, Marshawn Lynch, Cam Chancellor, Cliff Avril & now at the sport’s most critical position, Russell Wilson.
What I’m hopeful of & why this blog stands out to me is that our future QB is playing somewhere else right now & Rob & everyone on this blog is looking for who that mystery QB turns out to be. It’s the most exciting element of this football season. In second place is the unearthing & development of the folks that we have on the roster. I’m choosing to have fun this season, free of the drama of expectations.
ShowMeYourHawk
At the risk of being shouted down as a contrarian, I’ll simply say that this win and camaraderie was good for the city, if not the team. It’s been well documented here and elsewhere that the 2022 Seahawks are dead men walking, as winning records go. We’ve little to hold onto, save the progress of our young and developing players, with hopes that they shine enough to provide hope for next season.
Does Pete need to pump his brakes a bit with the inferred “this win justified our sending Russ away” business? Yes. He’s a grown man, in a leadership position and that stuff should be saved for the locker room, not press conferences. It’s a bad aroma; a mix of noxious hubris and sour grapes.
That said, I’m thrilled that Russ had to give a post-game conference knowing that the crowd turned on him, long after he turned on them. That he wore an “L,” was the cherry on top. I’m grateful for his contributions here, truly. But he’s the opposition now.
I’ve no expectations for this team this year, other than we’ll see some awful play, with bits of promise sprinkled in. Let us dine on schadenfreude for a week. We’ll likely be choking on our own malaise, soon enough.
As always, thanks for your work here, Rob.
Adog
This game reminded me of the titans game last year, the difference being that our defense and special teams are younger and faster. Pete Carroll took away half the playbook or told his qb to take minimal risks in the second half. I’m not sure Waldron has ever been given free rein to call a game with a lead in the second half.
KD
Rob, just to go totally off topic for a second, but have you checked out House of the Dragon? I was massively skeptical about the show after the atrocious final season of GOT, as well as how awful a lot of new shows like Kenobi and She-Hulk have been, but I think HOTD is pretty decent. I like it so far. It hasn’t blown me away by any means, but it feels a lot more in line with classic GOT now that the taint of Dan and Dave has been removed.
I have — and I am thoroughly enjoying House of Dragon
I look forward to it every week
Blitzy the Clown
Me too.
And I wasn’t sure about LOTR The Rings of Power on Prime at first, but the 3rd episode that aired this week was much better.
TomLPDX
I’m still trying to figure out what is happening in the LOTR but it seems to be going well so far.
Group Captain Mandrake
It took two tries to finish the first episode but it has improved a lot. It helps that Amazon has the X-ray feature so I can remind myself who everyone is. I’m not a Tolkien fanboy so I can just enjoy it as a fantasy. Everyone I know who is big into LOTR does not like the series so it’s nice to go into it without any real expectations.
All I see is 12s
I have not checked all the comments so forgive me if this is already been discussed. Has anyone else noticed the totally uncharacteristic way that Pete Carroll,Clint Hurt and others have been so frankly talking about their strategies and Russell’s weaknesses after this game. It really seems like they are trying to let the rest of the league know their blue print for beating Russ and the Broncos.
I cannot remember them ever giving out this level of detail regarding strategy. My guess is there are collusion rules where teams cannot advise each other on strategy but there is probably nothing to stop them from explaining exactly what they know and what they believe is the best way to beat an opponent.
Maybe this is how he sees his path to a top five pick
GoHawks5151
The things that bother Russ are no secret. But hey, anything to push that bronco 1st rounder into the top 5 baybeee
PJ in Seattle
Feel the same way, Rob. I will tell you, having been at both games, that stadium has not been that electric since the 2014 NFC Championship against the Packers. Even moreso in a way, because we were all drowning our sorrows at halftime after our abysmal first half showing and there was a major bummer lull vibe over the 12’s at halftime, before getting to watch the greatest 2nd half comeback that I’ll likely ever have the privilege of seeing with my own eyes.
That stadium on Monday, while filled probably 40% with Broncos fans, was as loud as rockus as I’ve seen it since then. It was Thunderdome from start to finish.
But let’s not get cocky. We balled out and played a great game. But don’t think for a minute that if Hackett doesn’t brainfart that 4th down that we are not all here singing a different song. I had little doubt Russ was going to pick up 6-15 yards on the next play if they let him do it. They were basically getting that at will, and we should all be thankful that Hackett drew some imaginery line at the 46, which was at sea level and well beyond any kick McManus has ever made, and he barely missed and we got to pimp walk out of there like kings instead of consoling ourselves that we kept it close.
But let’s be real – they made adjustments and absolutley were the better team in the second half. We stole one. Let’s not act like we’re going to strut into SF and bitchslap the Niners, as badly as I want that to happen, and start lifting our leg on the rest of the NFC West. There’s a ton of green shoots here and I’m excited about seeing how the team is coming together on an underdog mission, but I’m not yet sold on anything more than 6 wins. But I am super stoked on the future and foundation and know we’re gonna see some ugly games, but we’re play hard and us 12’s are at least not going to have to have suffer through a season or multiple seasons of watching a team that just just quits and doesn’t give a fuck. In that, we have hope.
Glor
” I had little doubt Russ was going to pick up 6-15 yards on the next play if they let him do it”
I totally disagree, just like the reasons you have to play the game, you also have to play the play. Russ failed to get those 5-6 yards the other 4x he was in the red zone. Him picking up those yards was no guarantee and Hackett had just seen his new vaunted QB fail to get them points on every red zone trip they made that day. Yet he had seen his kicker not miss. I get that statically it wasn’t the right move, but it might have been emotionally for him.
Dave
Feel like we’re reading too much into Carroll’s comments on that radio show. The off-season narrative was that we’d be bottom dwellers without Wilson, I think any coach worth their salt is going to use that as a rallying cry about it being a team game, especially when the NFL puts you against said ex QB in week 1. I think that’s less about Wilson and more about Carroll wanting to prove some talking heads wrong.
As for the rest of the aftermath – I get the feeling wider NFL fans are saying the booing and post game was classless etc because they want us to go back to being little PNW Seahawks now Wilson in has left. I.e. to get back in our box and be thankful for what he did for us – as if we were nothing before and our history started in 2012. I think that lends to the whole emotion swirling after this win.
Dave1401
Pete specifically and explicitly talked about how much the win meant to Sherman, KJ, Lynch and the other former players. Tell me thats not about Wilson
Dave
I think it is about Wilson – just indirectly, and I don’t think Carroll was calling him out or anything.
We’ve heard all summer how we’ll suck now the QB has left, as if the whole dynasty (for want of a better word) was because of one person. I think Carroll is just leaning on that aspect of it. And his referral to the ex Seahawks is to mean that these guys had a big part to play in the culture and success we’ve had, and that’s not going to go away just because Wilson left.
Certainly you can think Carroll was being underhanded, I just don’t read it that way.
We’ve heard all summer how we’ll suck now the QB has left, as if the whole dynasty (for want of a better word) was because of one person.
I don’t know why people keep referring to this
When you trade your franchise QB, you inevitably are in some form of rebuild mode. And the Seahawks were.
It was hardly some great slight on the team that the media and some fans didn’t expect Seattle to be very good
And what we saw this week on the Denver game went beyond proving a few media types wrong. As KJ Wright said — it was personal.
Dave
I know we’re in a rebuild and I know we’re likely to suck this year. I don’t think Carroll see’s it that way though.
I think a multitude of factors played into this for Carroll and I just place greater emphasis on it being a rather unique opportunity to immediately suggest it was the team culture that made us win here – not just Wilson. I agree with you on this by like 90%
This game doesn’t have anywhere near the same charge to it if it wasn’t the season opener. I think there’s a lot of personal grief between Wilson and ex teammates but I just don’t see that same issue with Carroll. I think he’d be like this whatever the QB name was.
As to the Seahawks needing to be careful on this – I think Carroll is just a far better coach when the teams are underdogs and /or fighting on emotion. So he’s probably going to try and keep that up throughout the year. It’s a bizarrely unique coaching trait he has. But I have to admit it seems to fit Seattle fan sentiment better than the cold, calculated favourite tag that we’d see more of with Wilson as QB.
And I equally suspect he knew what the reaction would be if RW came to Seattle, ‘cooked’ (so to speak) and won handsomely
Which is why I think a lot more went into this game (and why I made the video really — just hope it’s not ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ against the Niners — I want to hammer them)
Glor
Also, why the NFL scheduled this game week 1. If they came in here in a few weeks, I have no doubt we would have lost. Now if in a few weeks we are looking incredible and Geno some how figures out how to give us more than 2 quarters of good play, then I’ll eat my words.
Blitzy the Clown
[Carroll] knew what the reaction would be if RW came to Seattle, ‘cooked’ (so to speak) and won handsomely
I’m surprised this specific factor hasn’t been brought up before by any of the NFL punditry (unless someone did that I’m not aware of), but I’m not surprised you have here.
I think this was Carroll’s primary directive from the start of training camp this year, maybe earlier. I mean, if there was any one thing that could expose him and his philosophy post-Wilson, it would be Russell returning to Seattle and setting the place on fire in Week 1.
I find it ironic that Carroll barely won with his “wet blanket” approach – like he so often did WITH Wilson, and Wilson barely lost, despite having a pretty good game stat-wise, as he did increasingly often in the last few seasons WITH Carroll.
Dave
Wait I have to reply again Rob because I had only heard your reading of Carroll’s quotes before and I’ve now heard the clip – yeah there was definitely more to it! I stand corrected woo mama ha.
Not sure I have too much of an issue with it though – bit weird but it’s sports drama all the same
ESPN had an article about TVD and reveals TVD more of an introvert
I am curious what type of QB personality PC will look for and would PC build his QB around a QB with an Introvert personality?
I remember PC didnt gel with Mitch Mustain at USC which was a different scenario.
Do you think an introvert TVD QB work as their franchise QB “guy” or doesnt matter if the QB is an extrovert introvert
Starhawk29
Not Rob, but it’s worth noting that Justin Herbert is an introvert as well. As an introvert myself, I think it doesn’t really matter.
TomLPDX
Definitely agree StarHawk29…shouldn’t matter.
Good article seaspunj, thanks for posting it.
Jordan
I really think one of Pete’s strengths is the ability to make any personality type feel comfortable and confident.
The bigger concern with Levis and Van Dyke is that ginger QBs don’t win championships (kidding of course).
TomLPDX
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m glad the Denver game is behind us and we can move on. We won, it was a good game, and it’s over. I hope we stay competitive in all of our games and continually improve as the season progresses, win or lose. Just play well and coach the team well.
Gaux Hawks
broncos 2022 schedule: 5-12 (…very possible)
the first half of their schedule: 3-5
at SEAHAWKS (L)
vs TEXANS (W)
vs 49ERS (L)
at RAIDERS (L)
vs COLTS (L)
at CHARGERS (L)
vs JETS (W)
at JAGUARS (W)
the second half of the broncos schedule is nasty… after their BYE: 2-7
at TITANS (L)
vs RAIDERS (L)
at PANTHERS (W)
at RAVENS (L)
vs CHIEFS (L)
vs CARDINALS (W)
at RAMS (L)
at CHIEFS (L)
vs CHARGERS (L)
I guess if every game is a home opener revenge type game where the crowd is jacked outta their minds in a way they haven’t been for three seasons then I suppose anything is possible.
Denver Hawker
Broncos are a playoff contender, even in a tough AFC West
They have a balanced team and good playmakers on both sides. I know the score was what it was, but they win that game against the Hawks, handily, 9/10 games. Could have easily been 30-17.
UkAlex6674
Hell no will they end up 5-10 and they certainly won’t be 0-6 in their Division.
Despite the L on Sunday they aren’t far off play-offs, just working some things out.
Big Boi
Yikes. I come here for 99% of my Hawks content to avoid the overreaction but it still seeps through!
I know you’re being hopeful for a better draft pick but only injuries and inexplicable mistakes like what we saw on Sunday could result in a 5 win season.
Blitzy the Clown
I can’t determine if the utter lack of news in the NFL mediasphere about Jamal’s injured knee is because of the FO’s frustrating and insulting uncertainty about it, or it’s because the football world just doesn’t GAF about Adams anymore.
Hearing all kinds of info about other injuries around the League but mum on Adams so far.
Blitzy the Clown
Well there ya go
@RapSheet · 11m
Sources: #Seahawks star S Jamal Adams will have season-ending surgery to repair his torn quad tendon suffered against the #Broncos, his 2022 over as he’s headed to IR. Adams is still talking to doctors about the timing of the procedure, as well as who performs it.
HOUSE
This Jamal Adams trade continues to bite us in the ass over and over and over. I’m not a cap specialist (I think cha) could get the answer, but I’m curious what would happen financially if we cut him after this season and just wash our hands of him.
Guys like Josh Jones and Ryan Neal will have chances to shine this season. 🤷🏻♂️
Sad part is this will likely trigger (or has already triggered) a tidal wave of ‘the trade was fine, Adams is a great player, injuries are just bad luck’ narrative.
The trade was horrible.
Signing him to an extension doubled down on the horridness. This contract is an albatross until 2025.
And his play was unacceptably bad.
TomLPDX
I keep seeing all these comments from players about how wonderful he is as a player, etc… I just never saw it or got it. Biggest bust in Seahawks history as far as I’m concerned and the teacup will not play again.
lil’stink
I think the part about not turning a victory lap into a victory mile is a good analogy. I was somewhat surprised at PC’s quotes. I honestly feel he was the one who wanted things to work out with Wilson, that if it was up to JS alone then Wilson wouldn’t have got that last extension. I’m assuming (and hoping) we aren’t going to be hearing any more from PC on the topic. Let’s move on.
Sherman has a history of pettiness towards Wilson, so his comments shouldn’t carry too much weight. Although I do appreciate his insight as an analyst.
But I think Doug Baldwin’s dislike of Wilson runs deeper. Baldwin has put out a few tweets the last couple of years that seemed to be thinly veiled criticisms of Wilson. And they weren’t about Wilson getting too much credit or about being treated like a golden child. I think Baldwin sees Wilson as being completely disingenuous. That Wilson is a shameless self promoter and not at all the good Christian he makes himself out to be.
I still remember the rumor about Golden Tate and Wilson’s first wife. I wonder how close Tate and Baldwin were, because Tate certainly didn’t appreciate the rumor, and wasn’t happy that Wilson did nothing to quash that rumor. The truth is we’ll probably never know why some of Wilson’s ex-teammates seem to dislike him. But with Baldwin I think it’s more than just superficial dislike. I think he saw glimpses of Wilson behind the scenes that he truly did not care for. Coupled with the time and energy Wilson spends crafting his image, and how the media would eat that image up… I think it only served as fuel to Baldwins fire of disdain for Wilson.
That would still seem like a disproportionate response from Baldwin — who also greatly benefitted from Wilson’s ability to throw the football to him
He almost appears to have an unhealthy disdain for Wilson and it’s not entirely clear why. Nothing that has been said would make it appear reasonable to act the way Baldwin has
TomLPDX
I don’t know Rob. I always had the feeling that Baldwin had a deeper dislike for Russ than any of the other players. I think lil’stink is right about the disingenuous stuff that Doug felt about Russ. That’s between Doug and Russ though…and yes, Russ made Doug look good, but who is to say that Doug wouldn’t have been just as good on another team given the opportunity.
I’m not saying he couldn’t possibly have been as good. It’s just a fact though that he benefitted from Wilson being good. If he’d been stuck with Tarvaris Jackson types, he probably wouldn’t have had the career he did.
And I maintain that ‘feeling someone is disingenuous’ doesn’t warrant the way Baldwin has acted.
Romeo A57
It would be funny to track what these people are saying after what will most likely be a lot of losses this year. They can’t handle anyone saying that the Seahawks are not very good, when it is painfully obvious that they are not very good this year.
Getting outgained at home by 180 yards is only one of the bad signs of what is to come.
Big Boi
I’ve come to the realization that we are going to get absolutely trucked on Sunday. I have this bad feeling the team is watching tape from the Broncos game right now and clowning on Russ, while the 49ers are hunkered down and dissecting every Geno Smith play ever. This has a huge “let-down game” feeling to me while we are now the 49ers “get right” game. I’d rather lose a close game to the Broncos and then play the 49ers really well, then to beat the Broncos by the skin of our teeth and then get demolished by the 49ers. The 49er-stans chirping will be relentless.
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Agree completely Rob. I enjoyed the win Monday night and have said from he start that my dream season is the Hawks beat Denver and SF twice and those are the 3 wins. Then the get at top 3 pick. Play lots of tough/ close games and develop the young players with a focus on the OL/ DL becoming bullies again. That was my ideal 2022-23 season and nothing from Monday night has changed that way of thinking.
What I saw Monday night was a fired up Hawks team that beat an average and poorly coached Denver team. The chances of either team actually being good and making the playoffs is remote IMO, which bodes well for next years draft.
Time for Pete, the former Hawks and all us fans to turn the page on the Willson era and be grateful for the memories. Focus on the future and getting this team back to being contenders.
I don’t know why a lot of people are saying the Broncos will be a poor team for the season. For me, they will be there or there abouts for the playoffs (but will fall just short).
They have a very good run game, obviously the QB, and the D in the second half showed it can make adjustments and shut a team down.
They just need to figure a couple of things out, and they have time to do it.
They’re in the division with KC and LAC. Both are better than DEN. They have a fairly tough schedule. They could reach the final WC spot but I doubt it. They’d need to get themselves together and quick
Watching that Seahawks run defense and their inability to contain / defend the edge makes me think Kyle Shanahan is licking his chops. Have to think SF will game plan to simply run the ball till the Hawks prove they can stop it. If they do and expose the LB group it could get really ugly quick, regardless of what Trey Lance does.
If the Hawks can run the ball effectively, the OL can protect Geno and the defense can stop the run then the Hawks could beat and over rated SF team. But that is a lot of “ifs”.
Agree with all of this Trevor. Kyle won’t be like Hackett and abandon it imo.
They’re probably going to be more willing to load the box to stop the run because you don’t need to respect the deep ball in the way you would against Wilson. I’m more concerned about our ability to tackle Deebo Samuel in the open field
The zip of Geno’s passes compared to Russ were on full display Monday.
Haven’t watched the film separately, but at the game what looked particularly bad was the Hawks’ first down runs on offense. Put Geno regularly behind the 8-ball. Got to improve that.
And from what I could tell, that failure to contain the outside runs, which was horrible early, was often due to the edge guy crashing inside. Usually Taylor.
Agree with Trevor.
The hawks were much better than I thought they would be. Excellent first half. Awesome goal line stands.
Great to hear Lumen field was “pumped and jacked.” Hope that is sustainable because that place has been a ghost town for a few years. Someone in the YouTube comments asked if Seattle gets to the playoffs will that be a great achievement? Undoubtedly. Alternately now that the “villain,” of the team has left the building there is no protection from mayor Pete and the fans if this thing goes sideways.
There are very few times in American football where a one point victory is a referendum on anything. This game was no exception. Now the real work begins.
10 point dogs on the road is a sign from whatever you believe in that you need to do some soul searching and figure out why that is coming off a win. Forget the field goal. If Hackett had turned on his thinking cap he would have ran and ran right at Seattle. Pretty concerned that Shanahan won’t abandon the run because running is what his team does.
True. Jeff Wilson Jr. isn’t bad, but he’s no game wrecker and they don’t have Eli Mitchell and likley Kittle as well. We have a shot if Geno can replicate the first half of this last game.
My fear is that Deebo runs all over us.
Sherm = hypocrite
Thanks for pointing that out Rob.
By the way, love the stadium banner. Very funny.
That banner! Great way to start the day.
Just saw this, second article I’ve seen on Lucas in 2 days:
https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/lists/abe-lucas-seahawks-abraham-lucas/
Really cool article. The only guy I’m sure was a great pick is Lucas. The kind of unsung hero that can play well but set the tone and culture for the rest of the line in the future. Big things to come I think.
Totally agree. One of the most surprising things I’ve seen this week though, was a quote from JS about Lucas. Something to the effect of “we weren’t expecting him to start this quickly.” Granted, I am not Schneider, but he looked very ready to me on his college tape. Watching him handle Thibadeaux with smooth technique and a strong anchor really sold me on him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being one of the best RTs in the league.
It always starts with Jimi. He’s the one guy all other guitarists mention.
Weird, petty behavior from Carroll. It’s not a good look.
Pete is acting a bit like the passive aggressive Ex GF at this point. Move on Pete and focus in the guys on the roster not the ones who have moved on. If I don’t hear a discussion about Wilson the rest of the year it will be a good thing. Glad it happened in week one to get the childish soap opera over with.
💯
All good points Rob.
I would love for somebody in the media to ask Pete if “Russ hangover” is real.
I know Pete would answer something like ‘every week is championship week’ but just putting the thought out there into the zeitgeist would be a healthy thing to do.
Be careful? They need to compete, and I disagree with tanking for draft stock. I get this is a draft blog so that’s where peoples heads are at. Counter to Sherman point, I think it’s a fair reaction to someone who sounds like privately didn’t treat him with respect. Would I have gone about it differently? Probably. We’re all different though. I’ll voice the opinion of the contingent that reads and appreciate the draft blog, but wants to win games rather than root for draft position . I hope they win 8-9 even if they don’t make the playoffs. I think they’ll get better as they go, and if they do I can only imagine the complaining here… which should tell you something ;p
I directly said I have no interest in tanking
Your comment is bizarre
makes you wonder what happened in the locker room for so many players to have such a distaste for wilson. let’s not forget about harvin and tate on how they view wilson. not a good look for an organization as a whole, to say the least.
Harvin? Who’s he?
This game was clearly their Super Bowl this year.
The entire org seemed focused on making Russ the villain, and feel validated by the win- as if this victory means the football Gods have declared their judgment.
I don’t mind the pomp for Week 1 to try and get fans excited- but time to move on.
This tweet from the org lacks class and making fun of a franchise legend is beyond petty: https://twitter.com/seahawks/status/1569742847355801600?s=46&t=gbO6QajVAu2_B_5gMUGo5w
They appear as the bitter ex showing up to the club with a new date, their best dress, dancing and drinking too much. I have little doubt Denver will be in playoff contention, Russ will be laser focused on winning here forward and find new love with Denver fans. He’ll look back at Seattle with fond memories, but eventually ex-teammates leave, and what’s left is how the org treated him this day. He won’t forget that.
I think the fact that this game happened so close to the trade upped the emotions quite a bit. Had this game happened later in the season or even next year it wouldn’t have been so. It would still be emotional but basically no time has passed so it’s still very new and raw. I would’ve liked to see RW get a warm reception when he came out then once the game started boo all you want. I’m not sad he’s gone but I do very much appreciate what he brought to the city and organization.
Can’t disagree with you. We won, let’s show some class and take the high road. But all this talk afterwards reeks of pettiness. This is the second poor act after the way they treated Bobby with his release. I was fully onboard with the decision, but to let your 10 year captain hear about his release from other sources was low class.
The comments on YT are wild
I don’t think anyone wants balance or slightly different talking points
They just want ‘everything is awesome’
But even then, if you want that, why are you commenting on a vid you have no interest in?
2022
Well, they lack conviction, so counter talk makes them feel vulnerable and it’s easier to react that way than to sit with it. It’s religious cult-like dogma they want- not critical analysis.
People’s tunes will change if we start losing. I don’t understand why all these people are saying, just enjoy the win. No one is saying you’re not. Crazy.
What’s not to get Rob?
Do and say exactly what I say to do or else you’re a dummy head, doo doo brain. Duh.
Also I know for a fact that Wilson never did any work for children’s hospital and there’s a good chance he actually put those kids there himself with his terrible off field actions. Total phony. Everyone knows when Sherman went to a division rival he did that to help the hawks by sending them the play calls.
LOL
Did any of the commenters acknowledge that you actually picked Seattle to win last Monday?
Good grief.
None
Pete’s whole attitude amazes me as it pertains to Russ. We see now that the RW3 show was getting old a long time ago, but Pete enabled it to carry on. Protecting him from criticism from the vets and the media allowed the fracture of the team. The organization seemed to do a good job, at least for a spell, of keeping it behind closed doors as well. I’m not saying that was the right or wrong approach, but you can’t now act like you were the victim of drama queen Russell’s show the whole time. You kind of created this monster Pete!
Really happy we got the win, and I hope we get a few more and stay close in games. I agree with Rob that they can’t let the win distract from next week. Really hope they use this as momentum. If a team can force you to win with Geno, one could certainly force you to win with Lance.
Everything happening just reinforces my opinion that things were rotten in Seattle for most of the last decade. And the only way it’s ever going to get back to Championship football is to clean house, with Carrol, Schneider and all the rest getting the boot.
Everyone looks like Clowns now, even our defacto owner. It was nice being nationally relevant, but that’s gone now.
Sherm needs to apply some harsh honesty to himself, considering his substance abuse issues and off field behavior. Wilson was a great player for us, and a great person off the field. Yeah, he’s weird and made himself bigger than the team, but so did Carrol, no matter what BS he spews.
No one bitches about any other top qbs for being Big Shots or wanting more say: but Wilson isn’t allowed. Why? All I can think is that old BS about him not being “black enough”. I guess if he were a gangsta asshole, or an uptight white guy, everything would be forgiven…
Too much sour grapes from all sides, no one accepting any blame, and too many Seahawks fans being jerks.
Wake me when the team is sold and the new owners empty the trash…
The way they handled Bobby’s release epitomizes this current iteration of the franchise.
Great post STBM and great addition Roy. You guys rock.
I don’t know about Bobby’s release. I have questions about that.
Bobby publicly complained on Twitter that nobody told him, he had to hear about it. He went on Rich Eisen and said the Seahawks asked him for a face to face meeting and he said no.
It sounds like he heard from someone that he might be cut, called the Seahawks, and they revealed their cards in a way by saying ‘let’s not do this over the phone, let’s sit down and talk.’
He then had a choice: meet with them and hear them out or tell them to get stuffed. He decided on the latter.
They could have had an adult discussion about ‘is this about my cap number or just starting fresh?’ They could have at least had the discussion about whether he could stay on with a reduced number / reworked contract (although admittedly I would’ve hated that) or whether they can shake hands and part ways amicably. But Bobby didn’t even want to entertain the discussion.
My guess is when JS and PC said they could have handled it better, they were referring to how word got to Bobby from a source other than the brass.
I think a piece of the issue was Bobby decided to act as his own agent and may not have wanted to face the harsh truth that teams talk to agents in a more direct manner than they do players, and he willingly removed that buffer and a good chunk of the reason he is upset at the Seahawks is a direct result of his own choices.
Cha, that’s a really considered approach to the Wagner situation. Good job.
I still think it was handled poorly by the team–leaks shouldn’t have happened, that’s sloppy and not how they do things. But Wags was complicit, his pride wouldn’t let him admit he was slowing down, nor that his effort was lacking: entitlement crept in.
We’re better off without Wags, given his lack of consistent effort last year, and his entitlement. But regardless of the specifics, Seattle bungled his release.
Week One PFF
Team
https://i.redd.it/luc23n9wntn91.png
Offense
https://imgur.com/a5k1yuu
As I suspected, everyone got a bit carried away reviewing Charles Cross’ debut
But that is great for Abe
Yeah, that was encouraging for Abe. Uchenna also…man had a really good game. I hope Coby Bryant can fix his tackling woes because I’d rather see him out there than Coleman.
But in fairness geno had a great grade, let’s not pick and choose to prove priors rob
Well this is a first
I’m being accused of confirming my priors… by not even saying anything!
Jesus wept people. I know Seattle folk love the phrase ‘confirming your priors’ (I think it’s a really whiny turn of phrase but that’s by the by) but I didn’t even say anything about Geno here. I commented very specifically on two rookie offensive tackles.
Whenever the PFF grades are released now, do I have to pass comment on every active player to avoid being accused of ‘confirming my priors’
Bore off
I have to admit that I’ve lived in Seattle or at least nearby since 1985 and I have never heard that phrase. And I’m fine with that😀
I find it odd Blythe was graded so low, he seemed to have a couple great hustle plays. I’d like someone smarter than me to tell me how he was the worst guy on offense after looking at the game tape.
Thanks Curtis. Austin Blythe got killed in run blocking. I must have missed that. I guess no credit for recovering Penny’s fumble down field.
Defense
https://imgur.com/PPFXXer
Well then, guess we can’t talk about the peacock finishing in the 60s in PFF ratings again this year. LOL
No surprise Nwosu rated so high. Dude was everywhere.
Rob, what are you (or your kids) favorite Nintendo Switch games?
My son loves mario kart, mario party, Minecraft and animal crossing
My kids love Smash Bros, Zelda- BOTW, and they play Among Us too.
As much as I love a good adult video game with plenty of hack and slash action, two of my favorite games of all time are 100% family friendly: Dragon Quest Builders 2 and Stardew Valley are brilliant, fun, chill and appropriate of kids as well. Look them up, i think you will be interested in giving them a try. Very conducive to creativity, design and management.
I understand what you are saying but I don’t think it has crossed into a dangerous territory for the team. A Well known rule in sports is the 24-hour rule. 24 hours to celebrate or cry about it and then you move on. This was a radio interview the very next day so understandably things were a little fresh. No question some wanted to get their digs in on Russ. But even Sherm on his podcast said that Russell should have got the ball at the end and played a good game.
It is a division game so I would expect the team to be ready for the niners. If there is one thing that will carry this team through the rougher parts of the season it will be the youthful enthusiasm of the younger players not the vengeful Spirit of the coach and past players.
We are now 48 hours in and the ticker tape parade continues.
This was their season, unfortunately.
Russell denied Marshawn his hand-off to take their second Super Bowl win. Hackett denied Wilson his 4th and five. Shit happens. Kinda poetic. Russ will do well now as a team player. Pull his magic during the game, not at the end of it. That was a young man’s game.
I love how people are now settling on Wilson being the person who made the decision to throw on that down
The way some people are approaching Wilson since this trade is absolutely ridiculous
I don’t think any of us KNOW that Russ was the one who called that pass play in the SB.
I still hate that play call but if I had to guess, it was Pete/the coaching staff that called the play and Russ just tried to execute what was called…like what he did on Monday night in getting off the field and letting McManus try the FG.
I would’ve thought it would be pretty obvious to see if Wilson had called an audible to that play
Yet only this week, surprise surprise, we’re now hearing about how he was the one who called the play all along
The pettiness (I don’t know how else to describe it) of the management in general and PC in particular regarding RW borders on the pathological. Football is a brutal game, with potentially life-challenging injuries for players on every play. It’s comprised of alpha-males and massive egos at every level. That a coach with 15 years or so in the league would bother with such nonsense is just really sad. PC should know better. His ego has clouded his self-awareness yet again. It appears to be spreading throughout the organization.
Perfectly put. What lead up to the game was cringeworthy.
What happened since then is outright pathetic.
Agree with Matt, perfectly put and absolutely pathetic.
They also won the game. So you could say the antics had its desired effect.
Rob’s right that they do need to be careful, and the mentality can’t be a one time thing, but I don’t know why we’re killing a coach for effectively motivating his team.
I get that most of Seattleites got caught up in all the Russ propaganda over the past 10 years but at what point do we finally admit that Russ was a massive issue for the culture and overall team.
How many past Hawks have spoke out on Russ’s behalf? Zero. The answer is zero.
Pete is usually very positive and scripted with his responses. His answers about this game bucked that trend. Very telling.
Our great teams were built on our defense (shoutout LOB) and Marshawn. I look forward to attending the games they get their names added to the Ring of Honor.
You’re conflating a couple egotistical loud mouths as the whole locker room.
If it wasn’t for Sherman and Baldwin – we’d have little input about “RW being hated.”
Those two, to my confusion, can’t get over that people gave the QB credit. They can’t handle it. I have soured so greatly on those two because I can’t imagine winning a super bowl and being miserable about it because the guy they didn’t like, got some credit.
You’d think two Stanford grads would understand that QBs, rightly or wrongly, get a lot of attention. These guys are so fragile, they can’t handle it.
💯
The thing that made Baldwin and Sherman plus some other guys on that LOB so great was the chip on thier shoulder and the feeling they were being disrespected.
It is naive and silly to think they would be any different now. Tigers don’t change thier stripes
Trevor, I mean this respectfully, but that’s a lame excuse.
I understand the chip on the shoulder concept; but the pettiness goes far beyond that into territory where they are tainting their legacy because they can’t handle that the guy they didn’t like got treated like every other QB in the game.
I was fortunate enough to go to the super bowl they won. I loved those teams, at the time. As time goes on and these petty feuds persist, criminal actions, generally gross behavior increases; I actually have a sour taste in my mouth about those teams. Can you tell me your opinion on the LOB hasn’t changed with Sherm’s, ET’s, and Browner’s behavior and criminal activity? I didn’t expect them to be perfect; I didn’t expect them not to turn into petty and in some cases, genuinely bad people.
At some point, these guys will completely regret their behavior because they will understand the joy they robbed themselves of because again, their fragile egos couldn’t handle it. I’m really not trying to be an ass here; but I find the whole thing pathetic and sad.
“Lame excuse” ? I am simply pointing out a fact and explaining why they act the way they do. People don’t change they are who they are.
Listening to KJ on Brock and Salk this morning it’s prettt clear they were far from the only two who felt that way. They are just the most vocal because that’s who they are.
I blame Pete just as much as anyone. I get why Russ got special treatment but Pete preaches accountability for all and if he gave Russ special treatment and kid gloves that’s on him.
They were the only two to make a spectacle of it. KJ made it pretty clear that he understood why the coaching staff kid-gloved him. Any competent coaching staff isn’t going to shit on a young QB in front of the team to appease the ego of a few.
Apparently Sherman and Baldwin couldn’t lean on that Stanford degree to understand basic logic of nurturing a young QB.
I think what annoys me most about all this – PC is a defensive head coach. Coaches tend to be harder on their specialty than anything else. I guarantee you Andy Reid is far harder on his offense than defense. That’s just how things work.
I don’t think Pete deserves blame for this. I think he thought he was doing what was best for his team and he won a super bowl because of it. The only people I put blame on are the guys that actually caused the problems.
Were Sherman and Baldwin unable to act like adults and talk to Pete? Instead they just run around poisoning the well? I’m amazed people justify this garbage as if Sherman and Baldwin were just helpless in this whole charade. They did *nothing* to help solve anything. They exacerbated the problem.
Here’s the irony in this whole argument – I’m not even a big RW fan. I think he’s weird as hell. But, and I’m not saying you said this, the crap going around right now that he’s a bad guy, wasn’t even that good – is just stupid and wreaks of people being jaded for some odd reason. And I find it embarrassing for grown adults to act the wag Baldwin and Sherman have. Then you have dumbasses like Gee Scott egging this on.
Not to mention, and here’s a real cheap shot; the audacity of Richard Sherman to talk about “special treatment” after some of his “extracurricular activities” is rather rich. Talk about glass houses.
BTW – I’m dropping the RW stuff after that last comment. Just had to vent after everything I’ve heard and read the last couple days.
Go listen to Tyler’s last press conference when asked about Russ. Tyler is the class of the team right now.
Tyler is a true pro
A class act
And that is why he was voted the offensive captain by his team.
The guy does a great job of mentoring the rookies, giving financial advice and tips on living around the Puget Sound.
Fantastic teammate.
Thanks Tom. The anti-Sherm/anti-Baldwin.
But hey, everybody hated Russ.
You know what really bums me out is Baldwin. Really respected who he was as a player, still respect who he is as a person (really!), but the pettiness. Just detracts from who he is. Let it go, Doug.
That tweet he posted after the win made me want to vacuum pack my face
While I understand why you feel that way, Doug has always been petty. It’s who he is. Whether taking the “pedestrian” comments personally or carrying the “undrafted” chip on his shoulder, Baldwin has always been a petty person. It’s why he was good, imo.
I’m not letting his comments/memes take away from the connection he had as a player with Russ. Regardless of what the guy thinks of his former QB as a person, they clearly had a mind-meld while they were on the field together. They were special together, and if they had beef behind the scenes, even more credit to them for how well they played.
Why does it matter what players from 7+ years ago think?
The only two HOFers of that era one tge coach spent the whole off season scheming to beat. And the other unceremoniously dumped this last off season.
Conspicuously absent Earl Thomas and strange that none of the best oline Seattle had in a decade was asked to come raise the flag. Where was Robert Turbin? Jermaine Kearse busy?
I dunno probably just a scheduling thing that only a certain cadre of players was there……weird that no one else was available to be part of the festivities….I’m confident that there’s a reasonable explanation for that.
The win over Denver is probably the high point of this season.
Max drama.
Opening week with minimal film.
Revved up home crowd.
Hated former divisional foe.
Cult of Pete vs Russ.
Incredible red zone turnovers.
Action Green.
So here’s a question about the 49ers. Did Trey Lance actually win the starting QB job? Was it by default due to Garoppolo’s injury? Or is it a political move?
I’ve seen a lot of “Russ ruined the culture and the team” takes over the last few days, and I want to try and counter that with some nuance. That tension existed within the Seahawks organization is just fact at this point, we all know it. However, just pinning the blame on Russ or Pete (or sherm, or bennett, etc) feels over the top. This was a very complex situation, and no singular person is at fault.
For starters, the philosophy of head coach and QB were unaligned. Pete wanted to play “Peteball” and Russ wanted to “cook,” and as Rob has pointed out, this formed an underlying tension. Such tension undoubtedly carried over to the players, and possibly has its roots as far back as 2015 after Russ had an all-time-great end to the season. This, combined with the drama of the previous year’s superbowl, and the decline of the defense that year led to a widening of gaps. It was clear from 2015 onwards that the core of the team was the QB. Yet Pete was never fully committed to the modern, pass-happy offense that Russ pushed for for years. As we know, that led to the split.
With the team becoming more Russ’ team, players, especially on defense, felt frustrated for the aforementioned reasons. From this point comes the notion that Russ wasn’t liked in the locker room. Which is seemingly true….to an extent. Let’s not forget that he regularly took the offense on offseason trips to prepare, that he was the leader the team looked to when they needed to win, that in 2015 he and Doug Baldwin essentially willed us to the playoffs. He may have been disliked by some players, but he was a leader, same as you may not like your boss as a person, but may respect them as a leader.
It’s also evident, from anecdotes that leaked out of Broncos camp all offseason, that he still is a leader. The whole team seemed to notice it. A specific example, however, of players maybe not liking the guy but loving the QB came in an interview by Cowherd of Melvin Gordon. In the interview, the tone is relatively light and fun, then Colin asks about Russ. All of a sudden Gordon became serious, talking about how hard Russ works and the standard he has set. This, I think, shows the reality of working with Russ. He’s not a fun guy. He’s not the life of the locker room the way Marshawn was. He’s all about work and winning, and there is little room for fun and games. He’s a serious dude. That’s OK, lots of guys are serious leaders that are very successful.
Finally, I want to bring up the ego. I too read the Brady Henderson article and I understand the way his ego shaped the team. Yet, ego hasn’t proven to be a preventative factor when it comes to winning. Brady has a massive ego, and is the GOAT. Rodgers is all about his ego. Cam Newton had a nice career despite being obnoxiously narcissistic. You can be a good leader, a winner, and coachable, and still have an outsized ego. They are not mutually exclusive. Russ has shown in the past the ability to take coaching (i.e. humble himself before someone with more knowledge). Did his ego contribute to the split with the Hawks? Absolutely, same as Pete’s. Neither man was willing to fully commit to the other’s style of winning, and thus the split was inevitable.
Good post.
A huge key was also input.
Russ sat with George Paton and watched WR film and basically picked the 5th round WR they took this year. He said ‘that’s the guy right there.’ That was after he was traded (March 8) and before the draft (April 28). Russ was in the building for a short while and after shaking hands and getting his uniform fitted they had him in the room with their GM giving notes.
That was never happening in Seattle.
He got laughed out of the room when he tried to give input on the offensive game plan for the Cardinal game a couple seasons back.
Great point as well. We saw it with KC, giving the QB a say in player acquisition is a viable strategy. Maybe not one that Pete or John Schneider would every follow, but a viable strategy for sure.
Pretty sure, RW3, had a hand at least once in player acquisition. I recall he pushed hard for Greg Olsen. That acquisition didn’t turn out to well and the hawks over paid for a over the hill slow TE.
So maybe the FO did give him input, but his choices were bad. He pushed for the head case Antonio Brown too.
People always give this one example to say, ‘see! Wilson did have a big say!’ (when we don’t even know the extent of his interest vs PCJS’s interest in Olsen)
Shall we go through all the acquisitions that Wilson didn’t have a say in that also didn’t work out?
You can make quite a compelling case for PCJS never spending a penny again if we want to go down that road
On Pete Carrolls side of the ledger: Poor drafting ever since the superbowl appearances. Sure we always get our hopes up every draft period, but where are those players now?
I just view this as a marriage gone sour because they were together too long. They both chose to stay in it for the kids, but at this point it’s toxic just because they have to talk and work together. It was time to move on 5 years ago.
100%. Pete deserves plenty of blame, as does Schneider (we don’t know who really made the picks, so both get the demerit). A marriage is a good analogy here, it is just obvious that the two grew apart. Difficult to keep together a relationship that’s contentious. Oftentimes the best move in those cases is just to move on, but it can take a while to reach that conclusion.
Fantastic posts guys, one and all.
I would disagree that ego has not prevented winning. I think it’s RW’s ego that urges him to dominate the defense, rather than take what the defense gives him. A great quarterback picks the defense apart. RW too often stepped to the line determined to throw deep, regardless of the coverage, rather than take the short throw, hit the open man. Those aren’t the glory throws, and RW wanted the glory, the legacy, the brand. Over the years it became almost all ego with RW, masked by “positive thinking” and striving for excellence. He’s good enough, or was (did you see how underthrown the Jeudy pass was?) that he made a lot of beautiful completions. He just didn’t make enough of the other throws that would have taken the defense out of their game. If the will to dominate others isn’t ego, what is? I’m grateful for years of exciting Seahawk football with RW at quarterback, but he and the team have been sorely limited by his increasing preoccupation with himself and his place in the quarterback pantheon.
Can we please stop re-writing history to paint Wilson as this ridiculous caricature?
None of this is true
He had a preferred style of play and felt PC’s style was holding back the team. Their ideologies clashed. They both had strong opinions on the best way to proceed.
Wilson also expected, not unfairly, to have the kind of input and sway other highly paid franchise QB’s received
The two parties parted because they had different ideas on what was best
That’s it
Beating Wilson was our 2022 superbowl for me 😉
Not because I don’t appreciate his time in Seattle, but for me it was an excuse to feel that rivalry, one of the great things that made the 9rs into a rivalry was because of PC and JH. Listen, Wilson forced his way out. When he comes back after he retires and raises the 12th man flag, he will have a standing ovation. But don’t expect to much when you force your way off a team (pulling an A-Rod) and then come back trying to beat you in your house. f that.
I respect everyone’s opinion here, but I am LOVING that the organization is relishing in this moment. Huge win for everyone involved.
Petty? 100%
Hypocritical? Sure.
Am I having fun? Absolutely.
Will we lose to the Niners? Probably.
And… i would have booed that bum all night… I’ll start applauding him in publicly after the regular season and beyond (absolutely love the guy).
100% agree with this. No idea why people are getting worked up about it – it is completely baffling me.
People can have a variety of opinions
It doesn’t mean they’re worked up about something
Has it ever been confirmed how long Jamal Adams is out for?
https://twitter.com/bcondotta/status/1570146196550987776
A lot of media speculation that it’s for the year. We’ll see.
This is all very mysterious
Is he going to retire?
It’s just all so vague
He flew all the way to Texas to get an opinion on his finger. He’s probably doing the same thing with this one.
Can we realistically cut Jamal after this year? I dont fully understand the cap implications.
It would cost $21.3m to cut or trade him pre-June 1st next year
You could cut him post-June 1st and pay $9m for the privilege
The only realistic option would be a post-June 1st trade I think
He has $21.3m of bonus money still to accrue.
Plus he has $2.5m salary that comes guaranteed in Feb 2023. Just like last year, it probably is guaranteed for injury, so it’s locked if/when he is out for the year. I haven’t verified that, I’m too sad to look at his contract details again.
So $23.86m still on the books.
They could cut him with a June 1 designation next offseason and eat about $9.4m in 2023 (open up about $8.7m on the cap) and push the dead cap balance of $14.2m left to 2024.
Sounds like a bargain to me!!! 😉
Adams has many health issues now at the best he will survive 8 to 10 games per season if team is lucky. Seahawks better do the math and trade or cut him.
This is the most famous quad rupture I can remember:
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/the-night-charles-barkley-hall-of-fame-career-ended/105cr5bb2ibv71bmpvg8o6mdif
I’ve watched the replay over and over and I see no mechanism for a quad rupture. Nor do I see the bulge over his kneecap (not that you’d be able to walk off anyway with a true quad tear).
It’s so weird that this team’s MO has morphed into one of smoke and mirrors, saying a lot without saying anything at all. I mean, we still have literally NO IDEA what happened to KWIII. What kind of hernia? How’d the hernia happen? Was it practice or otherwise? Where was the surgery done? And why is Pete suddenly giving him a hard time for not healing faster?
Chris Carson. Jamal Adams’ original “issue with his surgically repaired finger”. It goes on and on and it’s getting downright bizarre.
And not one admission that maybe he should have just had the finger surgery anyway. He’s a liability with two healthy hands. If he gets healthy from the finger, this never happens. Not that we’ll ever fully know what happened anyway.
It’s so weird
Everything is so vague but this one is especially vague
What cosmic irony it would be for him to be forced into retirement because of an injury sustained on a play where he missed a dead to rights sack of Wilson.
I just made the mistake of reading the comments section on YT. Wow. What an absolute cesspool of delusional fans. Okay, there were some reasonable comments, but it’s almost unbearable. Between that and Twitter…I’d really like a time machine to zap us forward a month, please.
It’s as if they didn’t even watch the video
Just heard a non-100% crazy positive ‘everything is amazing’ review and determined it was negative
100%
Ever watch a live Seahawks youtube press conference?
Fans of other teams log in to the comment section just to try and troll the Seahawks fans. Not even necessarily the team the Seahawks are playing that week.
I’m not even talking about fun, friendly jibing. Just intentionally trying to distract the fanbase from enjoying the interviews with deliberate attempts to get the fans worked up.
What kind of a person do you have to be to actively seek out opportunities to try and annoy others?
Social media has destroyed our culture
1000% agree Rob. Fucking cesspool, all of it.
People were always this awful. They just didn’t have the apparatus to amplify it.
Agree. Amplify is the key word in your statement.
Dear lord.
A couple people troll your YouTube. Now “sports culture is destroyed”
Such a bizarre statement to come from someone from the land of football hooligans
Sports fandom always has a contingent of crazies. And in my view, that’s part of the fun. In fact I’m honestly more saddened by the lack of rowdiness at games these days compared to the 90s , especially in college football. Everything feels sanitized at games these days
Captain I don’t agree with the majority of your posts but I so with an element of this one. I think shithousery is a massive element of the game – and sport with a crowd – and it adds a fun element to the game.
Just like jerk politicians getting elected and getting away with racism, misogyny, making fun of disabled folks, classism, etc elevates the profile of and legitimizes the attitudes of the scumbags who agree, so to has Social Media promoted and legitimized awful behavior. It’s not just in sports either, it’s rampant in everything, from trolls hacking into little kid forums or directly into child monitoring devices to scare kids or encourage them to suicide, to bullying fat people or trans people or nerds to suicide, Social Media has given rise to new lows in human behavior–and given it a huge platform, with little or no repercussions for the perpetrators.
Rob’s right, and if you can’t see it, talk to a practicing psychologist. Studies have proved how detrimental social media is, in many ways. It’s truly frightening. I know, because I have a family member in grad school for psych, and the studies we discuss are hair raising.
Rob blog suggestion. At the end of this week all participants move in from Russell Wilson discussion and chatter. He is a Bronco it is over with let’s all move on and focus on the Hawks, the current players and the upcoming draft.
Rob has such incredible content so let’s focus on that not the QB in Denver. We can all celebrate him when he is inducted into the ring of honour and HOF.
Can’t wait for the mid season when most of this is gone.
Give it a full season Trevor. Once the picks have been spent & we have our ‘future’ QB in house THEN it will be a natural transition to let go of the ‘Championship Seahawk Era’ (Part I???).
Truthfully, there are certain players who I’ve never moved on from because we have yet to adequately replace or top them. Cortez Kennedy, Walter Jones, Steve Hutchinson, Marshawn Lynch, Cam Chancellor, Cliff Avril & now at the sport’s most critical position, Russell Wilson.
What I’m hopeful of & why this blog stands out to me is that our future QB is playing somewhere else right now & Rob & everyone on this blog is looking for who that mystery QB turns out to be. It’s the most exciting element of this football season. In second place is the unearthing & development of the folks that we have on the roster. I’m choosing to have fun this season, free of the drama of expectations.
At the risk of being shouted down as a contrarian, I’ll simply say that this win and camaraderie was good for the city, if not the team. It’s been well documented here and elsewhere that the 2022 Seahawks are dead men walking, as winning records go. We’ve little to hold onto, save the progress of our young and developing players, with hopes that they shine enough to provide hope for next season.
Does Pete need to pump his brakes a bit with the inferred “this win justified our sending Russ away” business? Yes. He’s a grown man, in a leadership position and that stuff should be saved for the locker room, not press conferences. It’s a bad aroma; a mix of noxious hubris and sour grapes.
That said, I’m thrilled that Russ had to give a post-game conference knowing that the crowd turned on him, long after he turned on them. That he wore an “L,” was the cherry on top. I’m grateful for his contributions here, truly. But he’s the opposition now.
I’ve no expectations for this team this year, other than we’ll see some awful play, with bits of promise sprinkled in. Let us dine on schadenfreude for a week. We’ll likely be choking on our own malaise, soon enough.
As always, thanks for your work here, Rob.
This game reminded me of the titans game last year, the difference being that our defense and special teams are younger and faster. Pete Carroll took away half the playbook or told his qb to take minimal risks in the second half. I’m not sure Waldron has ever been given free rein to call a game with a lead in the second half.
Rob, just to go totally off topic for a second, but have you checked out House of the Dragon? I was massively skeptical about the show after the atrocious final season of GOT, as well as how awful a lot of new shows like Kenobi and She-Hulk have been, but I think HOTD is pretty decent. I like it so far. It hasn’t blown me away by any means, but it feels a lot more in line with classic GOT now that the taint of Dan and Dave has been removed.
I have — and I am thoroughly enjoying House of Dragon
I look forward to it every week
Me too.
And I wasn’t sure about LOTR The Rings of Power on Prime at first, but the 3rd episode that aired this week was much better.
I’m still trying to figure out what is happening in the LOTR but it seems to be going well so far.
It took two tries to finish the first episode but it has improved a lot. It helps that Amazon has the X-ray feature so I can remind myself who everyone is. I’m not a Tolkien fanboy so I can just enjoy it as a fantasy. Everyone I know who is big into LOTR does not like the series so it’s nice to go into it without any real expectations.
I have not checked all the comments so forgive me if this is already been discussed. Has anyone else noticed the totally uncharacteristic way that Pete Carroll,Clint Hurt and others have been so frankly talking about their strategies and Russell’s weaknesses after this game. It really seems like they are trying to let the rest of the league know their blue print for beating Russ and the Broncos.
I cannot remember them ever giving out this level of detail regarding strategy. My guess is there are collusion rules where teams cannot advise each other on strategy but there is probably nothing to stop them from explaining exactly what they know and what they believe is the best way to beat an opponent.
Maybe this is how he sees his path to a top five pick
The things that bother Russ are no secret. But hey, anything to push that bronco 1st rounder into the top 5 baybeee
Feel the same way, Rob. I will tell you, having been at both games, that stadium has not been that electric since the 2014 NFC Championship against the Packers. Even moreso in a way, because we were all drowning our sorrows at halftime after our abysmal first half showing and there was a major bummer lull vibe over the 12’s at halftime, before getting to watch the greatest 2nd half comeback that I’ll likely ever have the privilege of seeing with my own eyes.
That stadium on Monday, while filled probably 40% with Broncos fans, was as loud as rockus as I’ve seen it since then. It was Thunderdome from start to finish.
But let’s not get cocky. We balled out and played a great game. But don’t think for a minute that if Hackett doesn’t brainfart that 4th down that we are not all here singing a different song. I had little doubt Russ was going to pick up 6-15 yards on the next play if they let him do it. They were basically getting that at will, and we should all be thankful that Hackett drew some imaginery line at the 46, which was at sea level and well beyond any kick McManus has ever made, and he barely missed and we got to pimp walk out of there like kings instead of consoling ourselves that we kept it close.
But let’s be real – they made adjustments and absolutley were the better team in the second half. We stole one. Let’s not act like we’re going to strut into SF and bitchslap the Niners, as badly as I want that to happen, and start lifting our leg on the rest of the NFC West. There’s a ton of green shoots here and I’m excited about seeing how the team is coming together on an underdog mission, but I’m not yet sold on anything more than 6 wins. But I am super stoked on the future and foundation and know we’re gonna see some ugly games, but we’re play hard and us 12’s are at least not going to have to have suffer through a season or multiple seasons of watching a team that just just quits and doesn’t give a fuck. In that, we have hope.
” I had little doubt Russ was going to pick up 6-15 yards on the next play if they let him do it”
I totally disagree, just like the reasons you have to play the game, you also have to play the play. Russ failed to get those 5-6 yards the other 4x he was in the red zone. Him picking up those yards was no guarantee and Hackett had just seen his new vaunted QB fail to get them points on every red zone trip they made that day. Yet he had seen his kicker not miss. I get that statically it wasn’t the right move, but it might have been emotionally for him.
Feel like we’re reading too much into Carroll’s comments on that radio show. The off-season narrative was that we’d be bottom dwellers without Wilson, I think any coach worth their salt is going to use that as a rallying cry about it being a team game, especially when the NFL puts you against said ex QB in week 1. I think that’s less about Wilson and more about Carroll wanting to prove some talking heads wrong.
As for the rest of the aftermath – I get the feeling wider NFL fans are saying the booing and post game was classless etc because they want us to go back to being little PNW Seahawks now Wilson in has left. I.e. to get back in our box and be thankful for what he did for us – as if we were nothing before and our history started in 2012. I think that lends to the whole emotion swirling after this win.
Pete specifically and explicitly talked about how much the win meant to Sherman, KJ, Lynch and the other former players. Tell me thats not about Wilson
I think it is about Wilson – just indirectly, and I don’t think Carroll was calling him out or anything.
We’ve heard all summer how we’ll suck now the QB has left, as if the whole dynasty (for want of a better word) was because of one person. I think Carroll is just leaning on that aspect of it. And his referral to the ex Seahawks is to mean that these guys had a big part to play in the culture and success we’ve had, and that’s not going to go away just because Wilson left.
Certainly you can think Carroll was being underhanded, I just don’t read it that way.
I don’t know why people keep referring to this
When you trade your franchise QB, you inevitably are in some form of rebuild mode. And the Seahawks were.
It was hardly some great slight on the team that the media and some fans didn’t expect Seattle to be very good
And what we saw this week on the Denver game went beyond proving a few media types wrong. As KJ Wright said — it was personal.
I know we’re in a rebuild and I know we’re likely to suck this year. I don’t think Carroll see’s it that way though.
I think a multitude of factors played into this for Carroll and I just place greater emphasis on it being a rather unique opportunity to immediately suggest it was the team culture that made us win here – not just Wilson. I agree with you on this by like 90%
This game doesn’t have anywhere near the same charge to it if it wasn’t the season opener. I think there’s a lot of personal grief between Wilson and ex teammates but I just don’t see that same issue with Carroll. I think he’d be like this whatever the QB name was.
As to the Seahawks needing to be careful on this – I think Carroll is just a far better coach when the teams are underdogs and /or fighting on emotion. So he’s probably going to try and keep that up throughout the year. It’s a bizarrely unique coaching trait he has. But I have to admit it seems to fit Seattle fan sentiment better than the cold, calculated favourite tag that we’d see more of with Wilson as QB.
I think this was a lot more personal to Carroll
And I equally suspect he knew what the reaction would be if RW came to Seattle, ‘cooked’ (so to speak) and won handsomely
Which is why I think a lot more went into this game (and why I made the video really — just hope it’s not ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ against the Niners — I want to hammer them)
Also, why the NFL scheduled this game week 1. If they came in here in a few weeks, I have no doubt we would have lost. Now if in a few weeks we are looking incredible and Geno some how figures out how to give us more than 2 quarters of good play, then I’ll eat my words.
I’m surprised this specific factor hasn’t been brought up before by any of the NFL punditry (unless someone did that I’m not aware of), but I’m not surprised you have here.
I think this was Carroll’s primary directive from the start of training camp this year, maybe earlier. I mean, if there was any one thing that could expose him and his philosophy post-Wilson, it would be Russell returning to Seattle and setting the place on fire in Week 1.
I find it ironic that Carroll barely won with his “wet blanket” approach – like he so often did WITH Wilson, and Wilson barely lost, despite having a pretty good game stat-wise, as he did increasingly often in the last few seasons WITH Carroll.
Wait I have to reply again Rob because I had only heard your reading of Carroll’s quotes before and I’ve now heard the clip – yeah there was definitely more to it! I stand corrected woo mama ha.
Not sure I have too much of an issue with it though – bit weird but it’s sports drama all the same
This is only a small part of it
Hi Rob
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/34541574
ESPN had an article about TVD and reveals TVD more of an introvert
I am curious what type of QB personality PC will look for and would PC build his QB around a QB with an Introvert personality?
I remember PC didnt gel with Mitch Mustain at USC which was a different scenario.
Do you think an introvert TVD QB work as their franchise QB “guy” or doesnt matter if the QB is an extrovert introvert
Not Rob, but it’s worth noting that Justin Herbert is an introvert as well. As an introvert myself, I think it doesn’t really matter.
Definitely agree StarHawk29…shouldn’t matter.
Good article seaspunj, thanks for posting it.
I really think one of Pete’s strengths is the ability to make any personality type feel comfortable and confident.
The bigger concern with Levis and Van Dyke is that ginger QBs don’t win championships (kidding of course).
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m glad the Denver game is behind us and we can move on. We won, it was a good game, and it’s over. I hope we stay competitive in all of our games and continually improve as the season progresses, win or lose. Just play well and coach the team well.
broncos 2022 schedule: 5-12 (…very possible)
the first half of their schedule: 3-5
at SEAHAWKS (L)
vs TEXANS (W)
vs 49ERS (L)
at RAIDERS (L)
vs COLTS (L)
at CHARGERS (L)
vs JETS (W)
at JAGUARS (W)
the second half of the broncos schedule is nasty… after their BYE: 2-7
at TITANS (L)
vs RAIDERS (L)
at PANTHERS (W)
at RAVENS (L)
vs CHIEFS (L)
vs CARDINALS (W)
at RAMS (L)
at CHIEFS (L)
vs CHARGERS (L)
Can’t see them winning just five games
Let’s not go crazy here
…manifest it!
…manifest it!!
…manifest it!!!
5…? Come on. Seriously.
I guess if every game is a home opener revenge type game where the crowd is jacked outta their minds in a way they haven’t been for three seasons then I suppose anything is possible.
Broncos are a playoff contender, even in a tough AFC West
They have a balanced team and good playmakers on both sides. I know the score was what it was, but they win that game against the Hawks, handily, 9/10 games. Could have easily been 30-17.
Hell no will they end up 5-10 and they certainly won’t be 0-6 in their Division.
Despite the L on Sunday they aren’t far off play-offs, just working some things out.
Yikes. I come here for 99% of my Hawks content to avoid the overreaction but it still seeps through!
I know you’re being hopeful for a better draft pick but only injuries and inexplicable mistakes like what we saw on Sunday could result in a 5 win season.
I can’t determine if the utter lack of news in the NFL mediasphere about Jamal’s injured knee is because of the FO’s frustrating and insulting uncertainty about it, or it’s because the football world just doesn’t GAF about Adams anymore.
Hearing all kinds of info about other injuries around the League but mum on Adams so far.
Well there ya go
This Jamal Adams trade continues to bite us in the ass over and over and over. I’m not a cap specialist (I think cha) could get the answer, but I’m curious what would happen financially if we cut him after this season and just wash our hands of him.
Guys like Josh Jones and Ryan Neal will have chances to shine this season. 🤷🏻♂️
https://seahawksdraftblog.com/why-the-seahawks-just-need-to-be-careful#comment-641749
Thank you sir… I appreciate the info. So what you’re saying is I’m going to have to force him into retirement, right? Lol
2 firsts, a third and a starting level NFL Safety. Good job Pete.
Looking forward to watching them run it back yet again next season. Woo hoo 🥱
By the way, calling Jamal Adams a “start” safety is like calling Kareem Abdul-Jabbar short.
seahawks 2022 schedule: 5-12 (…very possible)
the first half of their schedule: 3-7
vs BRONCOS (W)
at 49ERS (W)
vs FALCONS (L)
at LIONS (L)
at SAINTS (L)
vs CARDINALS (L)
at CHARGERS (L)
vs GIANTS (W)
at CARDINALS (L)
at BUCS (L)
the second half of our schedule… after their BYE: 2-5
vs RAIDERS (L)
at RAMS (L)
vs PANTHERS (L)
vs 49ERS (W)
at CHEIFS (L)
vs JETS (L)
vs RAMS (W)
Sticking with my 7-10 prediction.
Before the Broncos game happened, I was guessing 5-12 or 6-11. After that first game, I am thinking 6-11/7-10.
Wins I possibly see: 49ers, Falcons, Lions, Cardinals (1), Panthers and Jets. One week at a time. We’ll see what happens
Like the little twist that the guy we sign to take Adams place on the roster had a bet with Adams the year they were drafted on who would go higher.
Tabor definitely didn’t lack confidence. Obviously Adams didn’t either.
https://www.commanders.com/video/nfl-teez-tabor-on-why-he-s-the-best-cornerback-18662721
Who is Tee-Z? Anyone know anything about him?
Was once a big name college prospect at corner until he ran a 4.62 at the combine. Ended up going in R2
And still amounted to nothing. Looking at his stats he did absolutely nothing since he was drafted. What a waste of a roster spot.
https://www.seahawks.net/threads/why-the-seahawks-need-to-be-careful.181445/page-3
I have never heard the word ‘douchenozzle’ before. You maybe the first ever person in the UK to be called it.
I suppose it’s the American equivalent of something like ‘wankstain’ or perhaps the more conventional ‘nob head’
Our words are better though, IMO
I’ve used douchenozzle a few times in my life, but wankstain sounds so much cooler! 🤣🤣🤦♂️
Oh please. Can we just stop now.
Rob, don’t torture yourself by reading that crap. Social media and blog comments sections have gone absolutely nuts. Keep doing what you do.
Corresponding move with Adams going to IR.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/09/15/seahawks-to-sign-teez-tabor-off-falcons-practice-squad/
Sad part is this will likely trigger (or has already triggered) a tidal wave of ‘the trade was fine, Adams is a great player, injuries are just bad luck’ narrative.
The trade was horrible.
Signing him to an extension doubled down on the horridness. This contract is an albatross until 2025.
And his play was unacceptably bad.
I keep seeing all these comments from players about how wonderful he is as a player, etc… I just never saw it or got it. Biggest bust in Seahawks history as far as I’m concerned and the teacup will not play again.
I think the part about not turning a victory lap into a victory mile is a good analogy. I was somewhat surprised at PC’s quotes. I honestly feel he was the one who wanted things to work out with Wilson, that if it was up to JS alone then Wilson wouldn’t have got that last extension. I’m assuming (and hoping) we aren’t going to be hearing any more from PC on the topic. Let’s move on.
Sherman has a history of pettiness towards Wilson, so his comments shouldn’t carry too much weight. Although I do appreciate his insight as an analyst.
But I think Doug Baldwin’s dislike of Wilson runs deeper. Baldwin has put out a few tweets the last couple of years that seemed to be thinly veiled criticisms of Wilson. And they weren’t about Wilson getting too much credit or about being treated like a golden child. I think Baldwin sees Wilson as being completely disingenuous. That Wilson is a shameless self promoter and not at all the good Christian he makes himself out to be.
I still remember the rumor about Golden Tate and Wilson’s first wife. I wonder how close Tate and Baldwin were, because Tate certainly didn’t appreciate the rumor, and wasn’t happy that Wilson did nothing to quash that rumor. The truth is we’ll probably never know why some of Wilson’s ex-teammates seem to dislike him. But with Baldwin I think it’s more than just superficial dislike. I think he saw glimpses of Wilson behind the scenes that he truly did not care for. Coupled with the time and energy Wilson spends crafting his image, and how the media would eat that image up… I think it only served as fuel to Baldwins fire of disdain for Wilson.
That would still seem like a disproportionate response from Baldwin — who also greatly benefitted from Wilson’s ability to throw the football to him
He almost appears to have an unhealthy disdain for Wilson and it’s not entirely clear why. Nothing that has been said would make it appear reasonable to act the way Baldwin has
I don’t know Rob. I always had the feeling that Baldwin had a deeper dislike for Russ than any of the other players. I think lil’stink is right about the disingenuous stuff that Doug felt about Russ. That’s between Doug and Russ though…and yes, Russ made Doug look good, but who is to say that Doug wouldn’t have been just as good on another team given the opportunity.
I’m not saying he couldn’t possibly have been as good. It’s just a fact though that he benefitted from Wilson being good. If he’d been stuck with Tarvaris Jackson types, he probably wouldn’t have had the career he did.
And I maintain that ‘feeling someone is disingenuous’ doesn’t warrant the way Baldwin has acted.
It would be funny to track what these people are saying after what will most likely be a lot of losses this year. They can’t handle anyone saying that the Seahawks are not very good, when it is painfully obvious that they are not very good this year.
Getting outgained at home by 180 yards is only one of the bad signs of what is to come.
I’ve come to the realization that we are going to get absolutely trucked on Sunday. I have this bad feeling the team is watching tape from the Broncos game right now and clowning on Russ, while the 49ers are hunkered down and dissecting every Geno Smith play ever. This has a huge “let-down game” feeling to me while we are now the 49ers “get right” game. I’d rather lose a close game to the Broncos and then play the 49ers really well, then to beat the Broncos by the skin of our teeth and then get demolished by the 49ers. The 49er-stans chirping will be relentless.