‘Games are won in the trenches‘
I don’t really like that piece of football rhetoric. Teams with bad O-lines have won Championship’s. Yet on a day like this, you can’t help but accept there’s an element of truth to it.
Seattle lost on both sides of the ball and were incredibly fortunate to escape with a win.
This was the football equivalent of the Jadeveon Clowney trade. Highway robbery.
The O-line and pass protection was horrendous. The Bengals took away the run and Russell Wilson had no time to throw. Seattle couldn’t find something to go to. They had no counter.
On the other side of the ball, the Bengals came into the game without their starting left tackle. The left guard, who’d moved to left tackle, was out with a concussion. You wouldn’t have guessed. Cincinnati’s new coaching staff put together a superb gameplan to put Andy Dalton in a position to succeed.
They had answers. Dalton had a career day (418 yards). He exposed Seattle’s secondary and picked on the second level of the defense. Tre Flowers was regularly targeted and the attack-minded linebackers barely had an impact.
Seattle’s D-line didn’t play poorly. Quinton Jefferson, Jadeveon Clowney and Al Woods all excelled. The Bengals just kept going. It was methodical, calculated and a perfect advert for those who advocate a pass-focused offense.
The Seahawks ended up playing one of those games. You know the type. The kind that Bruce Arians used to provoke when he brought his Arizona teams north.
Seattle had 233 total yards compared to 429 for Cincinnati. The time of possession was 35:10 to the Bengals and 24:10 to the Seahawks.
Cincy’s staff out-coached Seattle’s. Their starting units were far better. They thoroughly deserved to win.
So why didn’t they?
Simple.
The Bengals had drives to Seattle’s 12, 27 and 36-yard line in the third quarter and scored no points. They missed a field goal, had a turnover on downs and conceded a flukey interception.
And at the end of the game, with one final chance to win, the ref’s made a horrible call to judge Rasheem Green forced a fumble when it should’ve been an incomplete pass by Dalton.
Three turnovers compared to Seattle’s one.
There we have it. Carroll might be older than every other coach in the league. His philosophy might be outdated according to some.
Yet on a day when his team were outplayed — they won the game because they were +2 on turnovers and had fewer errors on special teams.
Make no mistake — this was a vital game to win. A year ago the Seahawks started 0-2 and eliminated all of their margin for error in the NFC West within the first two weeks. They couldn’t drop this game — not with the Rams and Niners winning on the road.
They’ll need to be much better next week in Pittsburgh. They’ll need to be much better across the remainder of the 2019 season.
This was an ugly way to start and they were fortunate to avoid defeat. The opening game of a season is often unpredictable and sloppy. Winning regardless is the key. And we’ve seen performances like this be one-off’s in the past — even during the Super Bowl years.
Some final notes on a weird day…
— D.K. Metcalf had two huge plays. A deep bomb that led to a touchdown for Chris Carson and a vital third down reception that preceded the Tyler Lockett TD. This was an encouraging and excellent debut.
— Quinton Jefferson was Seattle’s star on defense. He had two sacks and two PBU’s. Al Woods chipped in with an interception and a stop on fourth-and-1. Jadeveon Clowney flashed — forcing a team sack and he created some early pressure. Let’s hope Ziggy Ansah missing out isn’t a sign of things to come.
— No targets for Tyler Lockett in the first three quarters. Then he has a long 44-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth followed by an easy dropped pass. Weird, weird day.
— Andy Dalton’s previous most productive passing game was against Baltimore in 2015 (383 yards). That was the year the Ravens went 5-11. It’s concerning how poor Seattle’s secondary was in this game. Tre Flowers was targeted throughout. Tedric Thompson had the big error on the awful touchdown before half-time. Bradley McDougald had a blown assignment just before that. Introducing a rookie (Marquise Blair) isn’t the answer. Delano Hill might be.
— Poona Ford picked up a calf injury and Will Dissly sufferd discomfort in the knee he injured last year. The Seahawks can’t afford injuries at either position.
— I sort of want to watch the game back to see what was happening up front (I’m just not sure I can take another viewing). Were the Bengals pressuring with four, eliminating Seattle’s hot-routes or checkdown’s? Were they aggressive? Why couldn’t Seattle find something — anything — to gain some offensive momentum? Or at least avoid massive yardage loss? Why did Seattle’s version of the Pats defense vs the Rams not work?
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Well said…
I couldn’t agree more.
DK Metcalf flashed
D line flashed
O line and secondary were overmatched.
But a win is a win.
I give them credit for closing it out. For not letting CIN get into a position to win in the final seconds. Agree the refs blew the call on Green’s play, but dang if it wasn’t nice seeing him step up. Thought the refs called a poor game overall. That “hold” on Ifedi that negated a +20 yard run by Penny. The second PI call against Flowers.
QJeff was amazing today. MVP in the game for SEA. Disappointed to see the struggle to get off the field on 3rd downs continues.
Just heard PC say the mental toughness to be behind the whole game and battle back to win is good to see, even if the mistakes that led to it aren’t
Big win at home to keep pace with road wins by LAR and SF.
Agree on QJeff. Thought Griffin was the unheralded player of the game. Shut his side of the field down.
Of course week 1 teams are gonna be rusty, and I know they had mounting injuries this pre-season they needed to manage. Understand that aspect of it completely. But, was not playing the starters a little more a mistake?
The PI call that got reviewed was complete crap. Never should have been called in the first place, and you just knew they weren’t gonna overturn it
Yup. Pete admitted in the post-game that he challenged it because he was “pissed,” not because he thought the challenge would work. This is a disturbing and long-term characteristic of his–“hormonal” in-game decisions. Who knew whether that time-out would be necessary later?
Take a breath, Rob. It was ugly (very ugly at times) but we had moments. Our secondary got decimated but our guys kept the run in check. Mixon, meet Bobby…every time. I applaud Cincy for being prepared for this game and the fact that PC would be highlighting his LBs…they were ready for that and played the short pass to the hilt. Andy had the number of our secondary but at the end of the day the Hawks won. Bobby was still Bobbly, JD made a BIG statement and even though I cussed at our team for 4 quarters, they won.
Your suggestion to take a breath makes it sound like this article is one massively negative overreaction. I think it’s a fair review. They were outplayed today and still won for the reasons listed. I’ll never paper over the cracks when they’re obvious — neither will I be overly negative for the sake of it. I think this is one of the few places where Seahawks fans can reliably expect that these days.
Hey Rob, you wrote exactly what I saw and thanks for that.
Not how it was meant, Rob. I had to take breath after that game. It was hard to watch us get beaten time and time again in the secondary but we did shut down the running game. I kept in mind your earlier article to keep our expectations in check…this was a good example. I do believe that CINCY was better prepared for this game than we were but we did manage to squeak out a win.
In fairness I think Cincy came in with little intention to run the ball. They came to throw and drew up a game plan to exploit our defense in the same way the two LA teams seem to always manage. Kudos to them for that.
I think this is what TomLPDX might be referring too. Cincy had a game plan to throw it and try to Seattle out of base. Seattle stayed in base and still only gave up 20 pts…Dalton threw the ball 52 times to get 418 yds but “his” two turnovers likely cost them the game.
Very tough for Seattle to prepare for an unknown quantity but I thought they managed well enough to get through. The depth at DL is what stood out for me. No Ansah, Reed, or Collins with Poona exiting and they still managed to have a positive effect on the game.
Numerous “non” holding calls by Cincy on Clowney went ignored but Seattle only gave up 3 pts in the 2nd half after adjustments. Lots of tipped balls could’ve gone the other way. The DL, overall, did a fantastic job in my opinion..short handed too..
Two blown coverages really changed the stat line here, Flea Flicker and miscue by TT really changed what might’ve been a blowout into a nail biter.
I felt Russ looked jittery in good pockets and could’ve run the ball a little more but the OL didn’t have its best day. Hoping Russ throws off of his back foot more. When he did, he had success.
TOP also took a hit with Bartons brain fart and the fumble by Carson on the first play of the 2nd half. Those are two extra possessions.
But to your sentiment, Seattle didn’t play great but managed to win and I think that’s a positive. So many areas to improve but I can see the ceiling for this team is high just based on that fact.
In regards to replacing Baldwin, I think Moore’s loss exposed how thin the receiving corps might be right now. Seattle could’ve motioned Lockett more to help him avoid double teams. Penalties and loss yardage on 1st down plays put Seattle’s offense in a bind.
But when you consider Cincy threw 52 times and only averaged 8.5 per attempt it doesn’t look so bad. They exploited whichever side the LB shaded to, which happened to be Flower’s side more, and took advantage. I think more man 2 man could’ve helped in this area.
I’m in favor of moving McDougal to FS with Blair at SS but I’m thinking Nickerson will be active next week so Seattle may play more Nickel and might play Amadi at FS…either way I think it’s time for TT do go to the bench.
“Shut down the run and make them pass,” which Pete said in the post-game was the plan, may now be an outdated plan not suited to the Hawks’ current defensive strengths and weaknesses.
Although Shaquill showed up. Nice to see that.
It wouldn’t be ‘outdated’. It might be ineffective.
I completely agree on the game plan. I believe they came in knowing they were going to throw it 50 times. Good game plan by them.
Along with going -2 on turnovers, Cincy played half the game without a starting RB. One of those cases where 400 yards passing usually points to the losing team.
Happy with a W, even thought the whole affair was forgettable. We need stronger play in the run blocking game before this team will look like Pete Carroll’s Seahawks.
Except for one season, the Seahawks have always played better near the end of the season than the beginning. With a team this young, I think that will play out.
An ugly win but I will take it.
The Bengals game plan reminded me of what SD and Rivers have done the Hawks in the past. Get the ball out as quickly as possible with short precise routes and rely on your WR having sure hand to move the stick. It was an offensive clinic against the Hawks scheme and thier willingness to give up the underneath stuff.
Jeffererson, Clowney, Metcalf and Woods along with special teams were all really positive signs IMO.
I have been a supporter of TT but he was not good today and I think changes in the secondary are coming.
But c’mon…Dalton is not Rivers…
I was a T2 fan after the draft, but he’s nowhere near a starter FS.
Just watched the Ravens game also…I miss ETIII, his first play: Int
Watching Kyler Murray on that drive to tie the game was so reminiscent of young Russ. That kids is going to be good.
He certainly looks the part.
And I’m glad our defensive scheme doesn’t have to deal with T.J. Hockenson this season.
Agreed. We could certainly use a TE like that in our system. I guess most teams could.
I really liked Hock coming out. Quite an auspicious start to his career.
Detroit’s coaching in the fourth quarter was truly puzzling, no idea why they took their foot off the gas after the Cardinals struggled all day with blitzes and pressure. They did a good job taking away Murray’s rushing ability. Will be interesting to see how other teams approach the Cards. KM has a great arm, but he still has a lot to work on.
Way to many plays on first down that went for no or negative yardage, resulting in 3-outs (four times I think; maybe 5). The D played well in most respects–the ST error by Barton left the D out there when they should have been off the field. Clowney is a force but maybe lacking game conditioning (understandable).
Thompson’s misplay was an egregious error, and he is not a rookie. The Seahawks cannot afford plays like that at FS, and it would not surprise me at all to see Thompson demoted.
Nice showing by DK in his first start. Hard to understand why no targets went to Lockett until the 4th Quarter, and his drop was untimely to say the least.
Still, a much better result than the game last year in Denver.
This game feels like a classic early-season game from the PC Hawks.
* RW under a lot of pressure
* Running game can’t get in gear because they’re facing 2nd/3rd & longs
* Thus, the offense struggles to find a rhythm
* Opponent found and exploited a couple defensive holes/weaknesses for key gains
Yet this Hawks team found a way to make plays when they absolutely had to.
Kudos to the Bengals. They not only had an effective game plan against the Hawks, they executed it almost flawlessly. Taylor had them coached up and believing they could come into Seattle and win.
Some one get me a montage of Pete saying, “we just couldn’t get going” from post game press conferences. Over and over and over and over and over and OVER and over….
But recent years there were a ton of young guys on OL who didn’t play together. Now our OL is set (apart from Iupati vs Pocic).
They didn’t run that hard and that much like they did against…Broncos I think last year? When they realized they need to emphasize.
It felt like PC wanted to try out his new toy (Metcalf).
Why not run-run-run? If 1st run is a bust then run-pass-pass, if we manage 2&6-7 run and not go anywhere then it’s still 3&6-7 and we can pass. Or short quick throws, screens. Heavy rotation of Carson, Penny, Prosise, Homer (like 50%, 25% 15% 10%). This type of gameplan would elevate much of the pressure. If there are pressure and we cannot run than go for the quick screen and short throws.
I’m no coach, I know little about football compared to those coaches, but it feels like they wanna play like they wanna play not what is given to them by the opponent
I saw some bad OL communication and teamwork. Ifedi left on an island without a chip against a speed rusher, TE out of synch and injured both himself and the center, missed alignment on RB pass pickup. This all shows the lack of continuity that comes with recovering from injury and sitting starters in preseason. Other than the inherent need to help Ifedi against speed and Brown guessing wrong once or twice a game it was the protection calls and communication that failed not the individual battles. This should improve as coaches learn from the tape.
Aren’t the Hawks going to be signing Deshawn Shead this week so his contract will not be guaranteed for the season? If so, he would likely be an upgrade in the secondary and replace T2.
I don’t think he’d be starting at FS. They may indeed sign him though.
If they make a chance at safety it’ll be Delano or Marquis but more likely Delano.
I suspect they won’t overreact to that one horror play today with Tedric though.
He had a couple of similar plays. And he didn’t do anything really well. He was either OK/mehh or plain bad.
Uh, yikes! That was disturbing. The SH’s, IMO, were out coached. The Bengal’s offensive game plan was spot on for what the SH’s defense was showing them and thus ripped them a new one… Seattle didn’t make enough (any?!?!) adjustments. The offensive game plan by Seattle was vanilla at best and except for some nice things by Carson, DK, and Wilson this game was a proverbial stinker. A lot to fix with what is coming at them the next few weeks.
The good news is we’ve often seen games like this during the Carroll years (even the peak years) and they’ve usually been one-off’s. They’ll need to be much better next week though.
I was stunned by the Hawks insistence on playing three linebackers. For the most part, Dalton just passed over the top of them rendering them useless. I couldn’t figure out why the hawks didn’t adjust since they usually do a good job of that at half.
Probably didn’t adjust because, as we all know, the options at nickel corner are awful.
They miss Justin Coleman big time.
With Nickel being so important in todays NFL I am really suprised the Hawks did not place more importance on trying to lock up Coleman prior to free agency.
I know he had issues as a tackler but he really was great in coverage.
He just became too costly. At the price I’m not surprised they didn’t chase it. I am a bit surprised they haven’t found someone who can adequately play the position though.
I think they did but Kalan Reed’s career is over now. Tough break but I think Nickerson will man the spot.
to my eye i thought ugo looked quick and twitchy when playing the nickel. hopefully he’ll be back next week.
I thought Amadi had a pretty decent game. I agree that the nickel options aren’t great, but it has to be a better bet than what definitely wasn’t working. The linebackers got treated like the Maginot line.
In fairness — Carroll said after the game their aim was to take away the run. So essentially, make Dalton beat them. He nearly did so kudos to him. But as a plan it makes sense. I don’t think anyone expected a career day for Dalton today.
When they beat the Steelers in Seattle a few years ago Ben had a huge day too. So I’m wary about next week. But I’m not sure there’s a nickel corner on the roster you can trust.
“So essentially, make Dalton beat them. He nearly did so kudos to him.”
Reminds me of the Jax game in 2017 when their plan was to make Bortles beat them and he had the game of his career.
Take a stupid play away by our safety before half and it changes a lot of what you are worried about and all Dalton did was rack up yards. On that play he basically threw into double coverage and against a decent safety would have been picked.
That one play doesn’t change anything other than the score. The concerns I raised would all still exist.
How’s the DB class looking for 2020?
Really promising!
Strong at corner
I like the new ending to the bad movie we have seen far too many times before early in the season.
Listened to the game on the radio. As long as we don’t have any major injuries and we get a win it’s all good at this point.
On that note, both Dissly and Poona left the game with injuries. Apparantly Dissly felt discomfort in his surgically repaired knee.
Two very important players, to be sure.
Anyone know when Poona came out? I didn’t notice when it happened during the game, but my friends cable was going in and out all afternoon, so I figure I might have just missed it.
Pete week one is almost a guaranteed ulcer. Glad Seattle won. Great write up. Lots of opportunities for growth. Loved DK showing up.
Quick passes worked against Cincy, but we didn’t throw many of them. Once again, the failure to get 3rd and short doomed our offense.
I fail to understand only 2 targets to Tyler and the complete absence of targets to Jaron Brown. What the heck?
Lockett said he was doubled all day. That’s partly the reason why he didn’t see any targets. The other reason is Wilson had zero time to throw.
Stack the box, double No-E will be the recipe until they prove they can beat it
Absolutely right.
And they’ve got to find some ways to combat that.
The good news is — the Bengals played exceptionally well. Will be hard for other teams to match that. Especially when they haven’t had weeks to prepare and are at peak new-season health.
Some really impressive Rookie performances today from some SDB favourites.
Hollywood Brown (theirs your guy Vol)
DK Metcalf (He and Locket could be a solid 1-2 punch if the Hawks can improve pass pro)
TJ Hockenson (He is what we thought he was a stud)
Terry Mclaurin (Man I wish he was in a Hawks uni)
Nick Bosa (Stud who will terrorize the Hawks for years unfortunately )
+12 (million) for McLaurin
Add AJ Brown to the list for me at least.
And a couple favorites from other years as well:
Malik Hooker: defensive play of the week, man. Wow:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000001052573/Can-t-Miss-Play-Malik-Hooker-makes-INSANE-one-hand-snag-on-end-zone-INT
DJ Chark
Christian Kirk
If I’m not mistaken didn’t Cincy have a whole new regime from top to bottom? How would we know what they were planning without seeing previous game tape?
So we are missing Reed, Ansah and Collier on the pass rush right? 3 out of the 4 best rushers on the team right?
Wasn’t our O-line supposed to be our strength this year?
Should we not draft high on secondary in the draft next year and/or bring in quality talent in free agency in this area next year?
I have always believed that the first two games of the year for any team is very difficult and we should simply wait until game 3 because it seems teams don’t gel until then. Patience…..Me.
Yeah, missing our top two draftees – LJ and Blair, missing Ziggy Ansah, missing Reed, starting a 4th round rookie at Nickel CB, Clowney in his first game with us… and facing a mystery team with new coaches and a new unknown scheme. Pete Carroll sounded honestly nervous about these prospects before the game, and it played out as a nail Biter.
But let’s imagine the O line coming together, LJ and Ziggy joining the D line, and the young DBs stepping it up a notch.
Barring a spate of injuries, this team can only get stronger by the week.
On the topic of watching the replay, did they continue to not roll out the Nickel against 3wr looks? That strategy clearly was not paying off in the first half.
It looked like they barely played any nickel. Looked like they were almost always in base. And the linebackers had very little impact on the game. They might need a re-think here.
The hawks have the best trio of LBs in the game but cincy showed how easy it is to neutralize that.
They need a free safety and a nickel back. Ideally, they’d find a big nickel like we’ve discussed in previous off seasons that can stand up against the run.
Did they? One flee flicker that was more or less a busted assignment from Flowers, and another that was a misplay by Tedric, both of those plays were pretty preventable. Hopefully they try someone new at free safety because I think that will alleviate a lot of problems, I for one think Amadi makes that play
Yes. They did. To the point where during the game the announcers even commented on it and showed a replay on how they were doing it. I’m not knocking the linebackers at all. Pete was so intent on taking away the run when cincy had shown no evidence they were even interested in that he failed to adjust to the bengals game plan. Very unusual since his adjustments at half are traditionally pretty good.
I think the bust was Kendrick’s. At least he was trailing in a way that looked like he got burned…
It was Kendricks. It was a cover 3 that he got stuck guessing the flat with Ross at 4.3 speed running the whell route. Flowers is shown missing the tackle on the 5 from his deep 3rd.
I’m fascinated to see how they tweak or build upon this D gameplan.
I must admit, I’m more concerned than fascinated. I know Pete said after the game it was all deliberate and they were trying to rope them in. On the first viewing — and admittedly I’d need to watch the game again to make a proper judgement — it looked like there were a few too many exploitable situations. There’s roping a team in and there’s Andy Dalton having a career day.
2 TDs and 0 INTs while his offense scored 20 points. That’s a career day for Andy Dalton?
I don’t think a 400 yard passing day by a QB makes a good day. 400 yards passing is usually the result of desparate passes while losing a game.
Was our DB performance against Cincy’s WRs Embarassing to watch? Yes. Yes it was. But if Dalton was really having a career day against us, he would have thrown 4 TDs, not 2.
And those 2 TD’s were a result of major defensive blunders that should be corrected. When the field shortened Cinci had a hard time moving the ball. The secondary does look a little rusty though. I think they just need a little time.
Whatever way you want to frame it, Dalton has the best statistical game of his career per yardage. And it wasn’t just because of that one desperate heave downfield before half time. He had an excellent game executing their plan. There’s nothing wrong with describing it as such.
Nobody gave Cincy a prayer in this game and they should’ve won. And it wasn’t Dalton’s fault they couldn’t convert 4th and 1 or they missed a field goal.
We underestimated Cincy! Cincy could not stop the run last year but they proved they can this year. It looks like we are set up to draft OL ( Tackle & TE) next year if we do that we will be able to resign the DL free agents next year. No reason to worry at this point but don’t be surprised if OL & Secondary become a problem this year.
I would love a detailed view of how they attacked the D. It seems like they targeted Kendricks pass coverage as the weak link and put him in tough choices all game long.
They did what is the blueprint to beat the Seahawks and took the dink and dunk passes that were available. They also showed why you have to have a great quarterback to win doing it. It is hard to take 8 yards a play and not make mistakes throwing 40+ times.
Flower does need to trust his play and not hook with the back hand on the receiver though, Refs are looking for it from him.
You say best day of his career but if you take away the 55 yards and turn the TD into an interception along with make the fumble at the end an incomplete pass he was 34/52 for 363 yards with 1TD/1INT and 1 fumble. I consider that acceptable in the bend but don’t break mentality.
I said a career day simply and purely for this reason — statistically that is a fact. It was his most productive game in terms of yardage.
I want to know what happened to lupati. It’s sounded like he was all set to start. Yet, pocic played most of the game.
Iupati was healthy enough to be active but not to start. It’s good news he was even active.
I’m not in the least disappointed Iupati didn’t play. He’s not the future. Pocic is. And other than that botched play action screen early, he had a banner day. Today for the first time, I could finally see the prospect JS/PC drafted in the second round.
Earl and Sherman had nice games today. Our D seems to still miss that fear in the secondary and teams are happy to attack. I know we needed to get younger and there will be growing pains, but I’m going to stick by my take that Thompson and Griffin are at their ceiling and are liabilities. Griffin’s promise was with Sherm on the other side.
The Seahawks like the ‘edge’ they had. In terms of talent and attitude. They still have talented players on defense but there’s been a considerable step back and some of the fear-factor has been lost.
Seemed to me that many of the completions were against our LBs, not just our DBs. I thought Shaq Griffin played a good game against pass and run. I thought Flowers had a mixed performance, and was robbed on his PI penalty.
Let’s get Marquis Blair some experience at FS, let’s give Nickerson and Ugo a couple games to learn the nickel and dime CB schemes, and this D backfield could have some real guts to it. I’m much more optimistic about this year’s D than last year’s D.
I thought the Patriots employed the “dollar” scheme (7 DBs) very effectively vs the Steelers.
Perhaps this could be schemed into the game plan on 3rd and very long downs. This down and distance is still killing the team defense for whatever reason.
Throwing Blair to the wolves to make mistakes and hope he learns vs loses all confidence isn’t a great plan. PC knows his defensive backs. He’ll know when Blair is ready.
No doubt CIN went right at our secondary. But Ross and Boyd are excellent receivers, and Dalton is a good pocket passer. That trio is definitely better than average. It’s kinda funny the announcers kept bringing up the Rams connection with Taylor, because to me, Dalton, Ross and Boyd are not dissimilar in talent level and difficulty to defend to Goff, Woods and Cupp.
Isiah Wynn looks amazing at LT tonight for the Pats. He is going to be a star if he can stay healthy.
The Patriots offense is trying to exploit the rookie Bush. Everything is more or less 3 stops, toss the ball.. no chance for pass rush to get home.
How can the Pats run that type of offense year after year and still teams can’t stop it or get any pressure on Brady? Amazing really and now add explosive guys like AB and Gordon. Could be scary.
It already is scary. I only watched highlights, but their offense is like clockwork. Brady hits the top of his dropback and immediately either launches a dart that throws a WR open or just dumps it off to their slippery scat backs. Very little chance for the defense to touch him at all.
Then they have Dorsett to exploit the deep field, Edelman in the slot, and add Gordon and now Brown’s individual talent. They don’t even need to replace Gronk.
Wynn was my draft crush last year.
Sometimes, when you play less than your best and you squeeze out a victory…. just count your lucky stars and move along. The Steelers are going to be extremely tough to play, if they get their asses handed to them by the Patriots. Their defense is loaded with speed.
Side note, I really thought Murray for the Cardinals showed up in the 4th quarter and OT.
He is electric. Plenty of zip on his passes. He showed more than some other high drafted QBs have ever shown. Quality heart and refused to quit. Cardinals might be tougher than anticipated.
A couple of those throws and catches by Fitzgerald were an absolute work of art.
Once again the Steelers look like amateurs against the Pats. It will be a better league when B&B are finally out of it. It’s pretty crazy when you see how easy it seems for the Pats to just march down the field and get 1st down after 1st down without even breaking a sweat.
Masters at their craft. If only Brady would have taken what he has been worth all these years the rest of the league might have had a chance.
The Patriots being great is like death and taxes. The are like a well oiled machine in week #1
Josh Gordon touchdown. Antonio Brown next week?
Brady not being paid allows for allot of other players to be paid.. and a ton of players take discounts to play for the pats. We are paying full freight and then some for our stars.
No idea why the Seahawks haven’t set Wilson up with a company they can contract for millions every year. Training, catering, meditation, could be anything. Pay 15 mill a year into that, then sit his contract at 15. You’re laughing. It’s insane that the Pats are allowed to get away with it
Not bothered. Classic opening day game. All that matters is the W.
We’ll adjust and play better but it’s going to be midseason before we hit our stride, as usual.
Wilson for being paid so much will always have the limitations he always has it seems. He can not work a pocket and that will always lead to bad sacks. It was frustrating to watch someone in Dalton be able to simply step up and then slide. When if Wilson senses pressure from one of the sides and can’t gain the edge it is often a sack because he can not see in the pocket. His talents lead to great plays and his draw backs lead to bad ones and us blaming a the line.
One thing he should at least be able to pick up is the blitz off the edge from a DB and he was a victim of that once again today.
This isn’t to say the line didn’t ha its struggles. But I attribute those to not finding a rhythm in either the passing or running game and yes getting out-coach.
Lucky win with a few flashes of brilliance.
Also for the last call Dalton’s small hands had already lost the ball once. It looked as if he lost in before going forward but that’s the game. Take the gifts we can get.
I’m as a big supporter as anyone for Pete but we need to pump the breaks on him as a DB whisperer. Some nice things have worked nicely for sure but ask yourself this, in his years how many DBs came from his program as USC? 1? Polamalu. Peterson at UDUB has produced more in comparison while not getting the same level of talent according to the experts.
A distinction needs to be made, Pete gets dbs to play great within a system. Petersen is a great coach, and has recently had many highly drafted dbs. Where are the pro bowls?
A great coach guides players within a system, such that the players can make plays.
something else to note, the d.bs that have left the hawks, do not play at the same level when there gone as well.I think browner was the only one to stay at a high level.
Come on Barry.
Browner – CFL
Sherman – R5
Maxwell – R6
Chancellor – R5
Lane – R6
Coleman – plucked from NE
Earl – HOF
McDougald — signed for peanuts
Flowers – converted safety
But he’s not a DB whisperer?
That’s right Barry – come on! Do not let the facts get in a way of an assumption and established narrative – Pete is DBs guru end of story. If you close your eyes and imagine hard enough Tedric Thompson and Steven Terrill will start looking just like Earl. Tharold Simon and Tye Smith just went to ProBowls too.
Yes, Pete and John hit on few early and built LOB. However their hit rate since is abysmal and we see NO REPLACEMENTS in sight. Secondary is the biggest glaring weakness on this team.
Jury is still out (fingers crossed) on Griffin and Flowers, hope for Blair, Ugo; But Tedric and Lano simply can’t play.
We have ZERO nickels on this team as well… Patriots play 7DBs package – we can’t find 3.
Whatever their drafting/teaching philosophy is, it has not been working in years. They HAD TO be desperate and ruin cap with Carey Williams and go out and find McDougald just to have any safety capable of playing.
Look at the list below – it will make you rethink ‘DB whisperer’ nonsense.
DRAFT BUSTS:
2011 5 Mark LeGree 156 DB
2012 6 Winston Guy 181 DB
2012 6 Jeremy Lane 172 DB
2013 5 Tharold Simon 138 DB
2014 6 Eric Pinkins 208 DB
2015 7 Ryan Murphy 248 DB
2015 5 Tye Smith 170 CB
2017 6 Michael Tyson 187 S
2017 4 Tedric Thompson 111 S
2017 3 Delano Hill 95 S
FREE AGENTS BUSTS:
Carey Williams
NOV 14 2017 Alex Carter
NOV 14 2017 Trovon Reed
SEP 30 2017 Tyvis Powell
SEP 13 2017 Akeem King
SEP 11 2017 Marcus Cromartie
SEP 4 2017 Demetrius McCray
SEP 2 2017 Pierre Desir
DEC 7 2016 Jeron Johnson
SEP 3 2016 Marcus Burley
JUN 1 2016 Jamal Marshall
MAY 9 2016 Robert Smith
MAY 9 2016 Mohammed Seisay
MAY 1 2016 DeAndre Elliot
FEB 8 2016 Stanley Jean-Baptiste
DEC 9 2015 Akeem Davis
OCT 20 2015 Crezdon Butler
SEP 27 2015 Dion Bailey
SEP 9 2015 Triston Wade
SEP 5 2015 Will Blackmon
SEP 5 2015 Ronald Martin
SEP 5 2015 Ryan Murphy
SEP 5 2015 Kennan Lambert
AUG 31 2015 Keelan Johnson
AUG 31 2015 Ty Zimmerman
AUG 24 2015 Jeremy Crayton
FEB 14 2015 Terrell Thomas
JAN 23 2015 Steven Terrell
NOV 29 2014 Louchiez Purifoy
OCT 8 2014 Joshua Thomas
AUG 30 2014 Terrance Parks
AUG 30 2014 Akeem Auguste
AUG 30 2014 Phillip Adams
AUG 26 2014 Mike Dobson
AUG 5 2014 Thomas Wolfe
MAY 3 2014 A.J. Jefferson
AUG 31 2013 Antoine Winfield
AUG 31 2013 Winston Guy
MAY 14 2013 Chandler Fenner
APR 29 2013 Ray Polk
JAN 15 2013 Ron Parker
This is hilarious. Thanks for the laugh.
The only nonsense here is the idea that for the Seahawks’ Head Coach to be rightly considered an exceptional DB coach he has to hit on every prospect.
What an entitled bunch Seahawks fans have become.
‘Hit on every prospect’ ?! Have you seen the list above (it’s trimmed down btw) – literally hundreds of secondary prospects since 2010?
There is not 1 hit on secondary post 2013. Years of wasted resources.
DB guru coach with secondary being by far the worst unit on the team?!
So fans questioning obvious lack of result in the area of supposed strength are ‘entitled bunch’? Ridiculous and unnecessary. Should we just blindly repeat mantra ‘Earl-Sherm-Kam’ forever?!
I’m Pete’s fan and would not want any other coach (unless BB).
But sorry Rob – maybe there’s also need for some objectivity here.
We often criticize national media for repeating tired narratives – you’re just doing it here.
Absolutely.
I would like to see the lists of all other draft picks from other teams. Most other secondaries haven’t had half ability PCJS have had. To expect constant all pro talent is hilarious.
The hawks have a system. They draft for that system. They put faith in knowing said system requires specific player types. They also know PC is a former DB coach who trains his DBs very well. The strategy works as evidence from what many consider one of the greatest defensive runs in football history.
Until his defense starts becoming a bottom 3rd of the league, then we can call it into question. Question his offensive strategy I get, but this whiney defense talk about not having a top 5 defense again is just dumb.
Who expects constant all pro talent?!
But can we expect DB Guru to field a serviceable starter? Have you seen Tedric or Lano out there?
Again not 1 prospect since LOB (2013) panned out.
btw this secondary is bottom 3rd in the league for couple of years now.
ps – Im 100% on board with run first offense
“Who expects constant all pro talent?!
But can we expect DB Guru to field a serviceable starter?
Again not 1 prospect since LOB (2013) panned out.”
Sounds like you’re contorting yourself into a pretzel to fit YOUR narrative.
You admit you don’t expect constant All Pro players, but then turn around and say that no one has ‘panned out’ when Flowers, Griffin and McDougald started this weekend?
Please take a breath.
Do not patronize me. I’m not interested in petulant twitter-style idiocy.
If you have anything logical or factual I can discuss.
1. This is an incredibly patronising response for someone demanding not to be patronised.
2. This reads a lot like petulant twitter-style idiocy. Calm down, respect others and listen to what we’re saying.
3. It’s pretty hard to start and find elite DB talent when you have three HOF established starters blocking the path (all drafted and developed by Carroll).
4. Justin Coleman and Bradley McDougald were not added pre-2013. Shaquill Griffin was superb yesterday and has a chance to make a step this year. Tre Flowers was superb last season having changed position. This whole ‘not done anything since 2013’ is silly.
I’m not thrilled about the development of the secondary the last couple years compared to years past. That doesn’t mean it’s terrible though. If the Hawks cut Flowers and Griffin they’d be picked up tomorrow- even Thompson.
Listing FAs the Hawks kicked the tires for a cup of coffee isn’t close to evaluating the drafted players. For that the success rate is fantastic for 3rd day players considering few even make rosters.
They also could roll the dice on DB projects during the years they had HoF starters on the field. Some didn’t pan out, big deal.
The frustration for me only falls on the current picks playing on the field. That is what you should judge Carroll for. Thompson and Griffin will determine success being highest drafted DBs not named Earl.
@Rob
I know you have a lot to moderate so you missed ‘cha’ patronizing twice above – I stand by my response.
As for other points I wish you follow your own advise and listen bit more.
So here’s calm recap:
1. Barry stated that maybe we should hold on statement (a simple doubt) and questioned
‘ PETE IS DB WHISPERER ‘
2. In response you jumped on him like it’s ridiculous thought to have
3. I brought 6 years worth of data that it is NOT so crazy to challenge the idea of Pete being so great at Secondary development
The point is NOT bashing Pete. I support him, Hawks and I hope we win SB.
What is silly and frankly insane, to disregard clear and overwhelming evidence because narrative was established in 2012/13. Obviously LOB was great but that’s long gone.
Why does it have to binary tribalism – you with us or against?!
Why this fan mob mentality in which we have to believe stuff unconditionally against evidence?
Both can be (and are) true that 2012-13 Pete’s been best in biz in secondary but very mediocre since.
I am NOT expecting all-pro, probowl or even very good players. STOP putting words in my mouth or calling me ‘entitled bunch’.
But how did we end up with Tedric as a starter?! Standard is an average starter which we don’t have since 2013 again.
Rob, you brought up Coleman and McDougald – these literally make my point. If Pete drafted and developed well there would not be need for these signings (or Carey Williams disaster).
Points on Griffin/Flowers – it is WAY too early to say either way so this should not be part of this argument. Case can be made both ways, some promise but Griffin was awful last year (even graded himself as D+) and Flowers has waaaaays to go. We’re talking about 6 years and hundred plus prospects that did not work.
NickelBacks – we do not have ANY – literally!
Safety – McD and nobody decent to pair with.
Corners – really bad last year – hopefully will improve.
If secondary is THE WORST unit on the team you can hardly make a case for superior Secondary development. Can you?
In summary I am not saying Pete is the worst. I’m simply appalled by sentiment that we should just blindly accept he’s amazing when product on the field and data clearly proves otherwise. Good coach – Far from guru whisperer.
I can’t believe Seahawks fans.
I really can’t.
The expectations and reality of sections of the fan base has become so distorted.
Can’t believe what I’m reading sometimes.
gmoney I apologize if I came off a bit glib with my post.
Your responses were so out there I literally thought you were trying to troll the site.
PC is good with DBs. But I feel it’s overvalued by a lot of fans. He’s good, he’s not god.
He had an awesome run with Kam, Sherm, ETIII. ETIII plays like a 1/1, Kam played like a top10 pick, Sherman also a top10-15 pick.
Browner was good, but nothing really spectacular, maybe an R3, Maxwell also, Lane is like an R4, Coleman R3, Flowers R4, McDougald R3.
He can make some players play better than their past/draft position, etc. But he only had 1 true #1 CB: Sherm.
He only had one true #1 FS and SS: ET and Kam
Did they draft a ton of secondary players early? No, so probably not expected to have a ton of amazing talent.
Should they target guys that are more clear talents rather than get “hidden gems” who are solid, but not amazing? I think yes.
PC is a good DB coach, but he undervalues true talent at the position and try to make guys play good instead of getting guys who can play good and make them play amazing
Who on earth has called Carroll ‘god’? Nobody. It’s perfectly acceptable to state the facts — that nobody in the current NFL has done a better job drafting/signing and developing defensive backs than Pete Carroll. Doesn’t mean EVERY player has worked out. But some of the stuff I’m reading on here is absolutely ridiculous.
Case in point. They sign Brandon Browner from the freaking CFL. Browner was integral to establishing the original LOB and was a vital part of those early years. Anyone now looking back on history and saying, ‘well he was OKAY I guess’ just doesn’t get it. Doesn’t get his impact, how hard it is to bring people in from the CFL and succeed, doesn’t get the mentality he helped create.
You then run through guys like Coleman — who they traded a bag of football’s for — and merely dismiss them as having ‘R3 value’.
This is abject.
Carroll created the single best secondary in NFL history, they became the centre piece of an ’85 Bears level defensive group. And now because he hasn’t just found two more hall of fame players on day three (like you do) people are trying to play down his efforts (despite the fact he continues to find productive players on the extreme cheap).
Come on guys we’re better than this.
My FF teams melted folks today
Ugly but scraped out with a W.. that’s all you can wish for the first few weeks.
Did anyone see the play that Al Woods DESTROYED his man, just straight blew him flat on his backside instantly… I don’t have access to a replay, but I think the play was ultimately a reception.
Yeah, I mentioned it in yesterday’s thread. Working on extracting a clip now. It happened at the 11:00 mark of Q4.
Thanks for the time stamp, I finally got a second look. And BOY did it not disappoint. Woods blew up #67, G John Miller.
I’m not worried. We always start slow and now we’re positioned to bounce back against Pittsburgh, and then get NO at home.
Clowney looked real good. Iupati will be back. Ansah will be back. Collier will likely be back.
We just need to let our secondary gel and find itself and they should improve. Any given sunday!!!
Rob, watching the o-line, I didn’t see a ton of Bengal blitzes beating them. Rather, the Hawks linemen were straight up losing one-on-one. An ominous sign.
Thanks for your comment on the success of the passing attack in today’s NFL. Seeing yet another early season slog does worry me that the game is passing by the old school NFL mentalities. Look at the 1st half here. The Seahawks couldn’t move the ball at all until they went to quick passing game—which everyone uses to gut our D—but when Wilson started getting the ball out fast everything opened up. But then they wouldn’t even stay with that. Furthermore, what good is the read option if Wilson never keeps?
To their credit, the Bengals played well. Dalton looked really sharp. Their o-line sealed holes and protected him while he got passes out quickly and accurately.
I think you’ve interpreted my comments in a different way than I intended.
I simply suggested Cincy’s performance was a good example for those who petition for a pass heavy system.
I don’t believe the game is as simple as having a right and wrong way to play. I believe it’s so much more nuanced than that.
And at the end of the day, Seattle won turnover differential and were cleaner on special teams. Carroll preaches that and it was big here.
I think Clowney had a very nice showing for 1st game of season.
I noticed he is not familiar with the other guys on the DL, he would attack the same gap as Ford did a few plays, they end up not being able to get home. Just need more practice time together.
Overall, I thought the DL played pretty well, the problems were in the LB/S mesh points.
There is a lot to clean up in that department. I would have liked to see more nickle, but they had a game plan and stuck to it.
Jefferson had game of his life. Very strong showing. I thought all the guys actually showed how much depth Seattle has at DL this season, just need to get all the pieces on the field at the same time and healthy.
I 100% agree with the sentiment that the Seahawks tend to have this type of game early in the season. This has been a pattern throughout Pete Carroll’s regime. I am just wondering why nobody ever blames Pete for having his team unprepared at the beginning of the season. After having th the same thing happen for years in a row, don’t you guys expect him to learn from this and adapt at a certain point?
Love Pete and John Schneider, we are incredibly fortunate to have a gm/hc combo like this. But I think it shows kind of a shoddy coaching job when we have this problem year in and year out.
Guess just don’t mess the same thing up over and over. In the first few years, I attributed it to just bad luck, but now it just seems like a guaranteed pattern. Idk maybe just me frustrated after a tough loss. Please correct me if I am wrong.
You do know we won right?
Could it be a by-product of longevity?
The likes of the Bengals had a new OC and DC (same as the Broncos last year), so it makes it really difficult to gameplan for them.
We play a conservative game on both sides of the ball, so early opponents know what to expect from us.
1000% Agreed. PC is an awesome coach…we are lucky as fans to have such a successful coach. BUT still, this could be so much easier if the team could start the season not crawling but up and running right away. If the team wouldn’t sleep through the first half of every game, etc.
It’s about their philosophy: “It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish”. Which is like a bad motivational poster text. No…it’s about how you start, how you do in the middle and how you finish.
I don’t think the players like close games. I think they much more like games that goes like 1st quarter: 10-0, 2nd: 17-3, 3rd: 27-10, 4th: 41-17. Easy, chill, dominating.
I just don’t get what is up with PC and slow starts…how non of the other teams have this much issue with starting slow seasons, games, etc
The New England Patriots started last season 1-2.
That included scraping by Houston in the opening game at home (27-20).
Followed by defeats to the 5-11 Jaguars and the 6-10 Lions.
The Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl.
I know we live in a bubble with our own teams but the idea that all these other contenders come flying out of the traps simply isn’t true. As the 2018 Patriots show.
The Seahawks are a bit like Borussia Dortmund. Win the big games big, but doesn’t have the concentration vs inferior competition playing physical, often struggling as a result.
This is primarily a problem with on-field leadership. We have discussed Wilsons slow starts and ugly first halfs repeatedly. If he goes out and hammers away with two TDs, this game is won after Q1. Establishing the run as a bywork of having a great passing attack, not as a raison d’etre, is something this offense has to learn, IMO.
The OL – and I think we should be entirely honest here – is not a top of the notch unit, and the idea we can afford lousy tackle play on the right and build on a 34y old veteran with decreasing production on the left is just a wrong idea, that has to be addressed next offseason. And, btw, run-run-pass doesn’t work vs competent LBs (my former mid-round crush Sam Hubbard had a great evening), as shown last postseason. Our secondary made Dalton look like an MVP passer, but there was also a large gap between LB and S, so I guess it has something to do with being blitz-heavy and having not enough speed to fill in the trenches. We lost the possession competition 25-35, which is unmaintainable, pure and simple.
That said, we have won. Like Rams, Chargers and Eagles, who just came away in their games, too. Better than a suffering Bears community, asking themselves when Trubisky will ever learn to play under pressure. Better than the Bucs, who don’t even have a QB. Better than the Jags, that lost theirs (oh, btw, Gardner Minshew was looking like a real NFL QB, I really liked that).
The NFL is a league of competitive margins, and every win has to be thoroughly deserved. If PC can take this game and hammer this into the heads of his team, yesterday was the healthy dose of realism required.
Next step Steelers, who got crushed by the NE cheaters in the late game.
Oh God, don’t mention my favorite BVB, though you’re absolutely right…
Ugly, ugly September games. Most of our strength cannot be relied on, our weaknesses are under the scope for the entire league. Thank god DK, Quinton and Carson made some important plays. But even 5 sacks from 56 pass plays are not enough to stop middle/short passing games, Bengals moved the chain too easily. O-Line…don’t even wanna mention them, establishing the run game with their performance?
Last year we played poor and lost in Denver. This year we played poor and get the win.
DK will now force teams to factor him in and that will relieve the double teams on Lockett.
The front 7 looked good – I can’t wait to see them get better week by week.
Chris Carson is going to have a monster year.
And the O-line will figure it out, just like it did last year. We need to get Solari tied up to a long deal IMO. We don’t need the line to be great, we just need it to be above average.
It was tough to watch at times, but that’s what we signed up for when we chose to follow this fantastic franchise. GO HAWKS!
The totally avoidable running into the kicker by Barton added at least 10 plays to the defense when they were getting off the field. That was a HUGE mistake that he hopefully got his ass reamed for.
T. Thompson looks to be a liability
On the flip side he made an absolutely monstrous play on punt coverage later on, where he just smashed through the would be blocker to get in on the return man. I enjoyed that one enough to put him back in my good books.
Pittsburgh only scored 3 vs. N.E. Boy that’s going to change big time next Sunday
The game ended late my night (2 hours behind the UK). I waited to read the instant reaction here and went to bed.It was funny feeling. I fully agree with 100% of the facts in the article but had a different feeling about it all.
I am a firm believer in winning games in the trenches. Our pillar of strength OL certainly did not win this game. Allowing QBs to post career record in passing yards against you is usually very unhealthy for your chances to win. A running team that can not run is not a pretty sight. Etc. Etc. Etc.
It all happened yesterday. AND WE WON THAT GAME.
So, we were either very wrong thinking we have a good OL and possibly one of the best offenses in the PC era or we just had a combination of the slow starting PC teams playing that Tampa Bay game where nothing seems to work.
I kinda think its the later…
And the defense that was destined to be the weak side of the ball for us, that defense missing Ansah, Coullier,Reed that caved and allowed a record breaking Dalton performance – That defense held CIN to 3 points in the 2nd half. They stopped CIN every time they got into the 30 yard line (Again and Again and Again and Again).
Britt and Brown sound pissed about the OL performance so they will come back with a vengeance next week.
So, can’t be any better than 1-0 after one week and we’ll find out more about this team next week at PIT.
Waited overnight before replying.
My ire is directed at the offense.
Our offense was supposed to be the strength of the team this year. Our O-line touted themselves as one of the best in the league. They were hot garbage and left the our defense on the field way to long. Russ get’s a little bit of a pass as he had no time. My only frustration with him was the read option was there all game and he didn’t try until the last drive. He ran it more in preseason when the games don’t mean anything than yesterday when it meant something. The offenses job is to score points and stay on the field. They did neither well.
The defense with all the injuries and new pieces kept them in the game. If they can get healthy they will shape into an above average unit.
But if that offense can’t stay on the field it’s going to be a slog.
Agreed. Read option was there in that last series when they were trying to get the last first down. When he finally tucked it, it was 3rd and a mile.
And that OL was nowhere even close to the best in the league. My lord, did they look bad, on run and pass, out of the blocks. I think the best that can be said for them is that they improved from godawful to barely mediocre over the course of the game.
This looked like a 7-9 team.
Wilson was off (not by stats, but he seemed indecisive and slow to react)
Lockett wasn’t involved much and had a drop
T2 is NOT a safety…he’s pretty bad
Flowers was abused. He’s a bit too grabby still
Kendricks was burned all day against WRs (it’s not his fault, stupid defensive playcalling)
PC, Schotty and Ken Norton all failed as coordinators for this game
On the positive side:
BBK on ST, Clowney, Jefferson, Woods (DTs in general, Ford and Mone also had some solid push), Metcalf played really well way above my expectations. Carson (apart from the fumble and he needs to fix some of his loose carries, he keeps the ball way away from his side and not protecting it enough…but tough runs and nice catches). Griffin played really well, had some nice PBUs. Amadi was not bad (wasn’t spectacular, but for his first start he was OK)
Ohh, and Dissly is plain awful at blocking. He was destroyed multiple times by rushers that led to sacks. OL was also a disaster. On the bright side Carson made an amazing block to save Wilson and if I recall correctly led to a TD pass
Also: Penny is still pretty bad. Didn’t know if I should laugh or cry when there were some rooms on the left, some on the right but he still managed to run into a pile of people (he break to the right I think from that, and managed to pick up maybe 1-2 yards? Couldn’t recall correctly, but still…He has no vision at all)
Penny was bad???….He ripped off a killer 20 yard run and guess what?…IFEDI was holding. When the rest of the line wasn’t holding, they were getting blown back, Carson wasn’t moving forward much either, but pretty rough to say Penny is pretty bad.
I don’t agree that Dissly is awful at blocking. I just watched the game again and it looks like he doesn’t engage his man long enough, releasing too soon most of the time. That’s entirely coachable.
Russ shouldn’t get a pass, as well as Schottenheimer shouldn’t get one.
It’s their offense, and they start like lame ducks. And not only game 1-4, it’s the whole season, and one can argue, it cost us last years’ postseason game.
Our scheme and playcalling is pure horror. We run-run-pass to death, because our game plan tries to avoid turnovers. This is not conservative, it’s ridiculous. The Seahawks pay 35m a year for a player, who is considered and payed as one of the premium passers in the league. We had 200+ yd of offense, with numerous 3-and-outs in midfield. Something is wrong!
Al Woods for your viewing pleasure!
https://media.giphy.com/media/L3Ju3aawN3DWdpYEC9/giphy.gif
Beauty! That is some serious quickness for a 32 year old vet…
A typical sluggish start from the Seahawks, disappointing but hardly surprising. Offensive line was particularly disappointing, but I don’t think the play calling put them in a position to succeed and credit should given to the Bengals front 7 as well.
Defensive line played great, but we’ll need to see it against a non-3rd string outfit. Carson did Carson things, although he seemed to lose co fidence for a bit after the fumble, before finding it again when we needed him. DK is exactly what I thought he’d be, a grown ass man. Special teams and red zone D were major pluses.
Shaquill Griffin was the standout player for me today however (along with Clowney and QJeff), most notably the breakup he had deep downfield against the fastest man in football, it ended up being a free play for Bengals because Clowney encroached, but it was a phenomenally athletic play from Griffen on a day where the secondary was even worse than I thought it would be.
On to the Steelers who’ll no doubt be fired up after getting embarrassed in prime time, we’ll have to be better.
I was relieved you guys held on. It looked dangerous all week, the classic Crowd vs Crowd game on opening week in which somehow the road team is held in much lower regard than the home team.
Cincinnati has plenty of talented players and a very competent veteran quarterback. Dalton is always underestimated by the typical fan, apparently due to the playoff record.
The 10-6 Seahawk forecasts here last week looked very optimistic, at least to an outsider. I suppose it could happen but it would require a hefty favorable split in the razor tight outcomes, like you managed yesterday.
The offseason is always weird in the NFL in terms of perspective. As a Dolphins fan I am always more concerned about protecting the 1972 team’s unbeaten status as unique than anything regarding the current Miami mess. Kansas City is only a slight favorite at Jacksonville? Really? I’m worried about the Chiefs threatening unbeaten yet the oddsmakers suggest they might lose and get out of the worry way on opening week. That’s not the way these things work. I’ve sweated out enough offensive juggernauts of that type fo know they don’t lose early. I didn’t mind taking advantage as a gambler.
In the old days “Any Given Sunday” was accomplished via contrast. Upsets happened when blue collar physical defensive run oriented teams could maul and frustrate the quarterback oriented teams. Given rules changes and coddling of the passing game, that contrast is a thing of the past. Far easier for the teams with elite quarterbacks to rack up huge points week after week that can’t be matched. That’s why 12+ wins looks daunting in May but come September you wonder how in heck they’ll drop 3 or 4, if that many.
The reaction among Miami fans following the Baltimore debacle was all over the place. Baltimore is Miami’s nemesis. I’m not sure that is recognized league wide. They are easily the worst physical matchup for the Dolphins and it’s been that way for a decade. One physical mauling after another. So when you align that dynamic against a surrendering and forward looking practice-squad caliber NFL roster, the extreme outcome was hardly surprising.
If Flores acted the part and sounded the part, Dolphins fans would be exponentially more comfortable. Just get through this, get the quarterback, and we have our guy. But concerns today are that he seemed hopelessly overmatched for that job. His post game remarks were pathetic.
Also the actual practice of tanking is a heck of a lot different than when the term is being thrown out there as theoretical. I am seeing posts today from fans who followed the franchise from the outset in 1966 and say they have never been this fed up or embarrassed. Many are looking for alternate teams of allegiance, whether short term or long term. It almost reminds me of dropping cable in disgust and trying to figure out the best replacement streaming service.
10-6 very optimistic?!
They went 10-6 a year ago. They have a great QB. They just acquired a top defensive lineman. Wilson has never had less than a 9-win season. Even when Carroll had the worst roster in the league in 2010 they went 7-9.
Calling that very optimistic is very strange.
It’s not academic to say that X amount of talent = (this many wins), but I think it’s pretty clear we have a better team this year than last year. Certainly much deeper. We should be able to at least have as much success as last year.
I think the jury is still out there. Better depth yes. Better team? We’ll see.
Yeah I suppose that’s a pretty subjective term. A good bounce here or there can make huge differences in how successful a team is perceived. Like I said, wins and losses is not a cold science, it’s more like alchemy. “Better,” maybe not the right word, but I think it’s hard to make the case that we aren’t more talented. Less talented teams have had more success than more talented teams, and that could certainly be the case this year.
But as I’m tallying the roster, the only real subtractions are Baldwin and Coleman. Clark has been replaced — and then some. Our draft class made the roster in its entirety, and these guys all look like contributors in one aspect or another.
I suppose regression is a factor, but so is maturity. We have every reason to be excited for this season, based on what we know.
My concern would be that Baldwin & Coleman were perhaps more vital than we realise. But we’ll see. The next two game are incredibly difficult so we’ll learn a lot about how good they are.
Based on the one game, seems like Coleman was possibly more vital to the success of the defense than Baldwin was to the offense. But any analysis of the success CIN had passing on SEA has to factor in the far fewer nickel snaps compared to last year. Maybe that’s because they don’t have Coleman (or equivalent) and didn’t feel comfortable with that scheme, which leads back to the argument Coleman was a significant contributor. But maybe they just wanted to run with 3 LBs to see how the unit performed. Maybe their top defensive priority was stopping Mixon/Bernard and forcing the Bengals to beat them with the pass. Maybe it’s a combination of those and other factors.
At this early stage I think TE is a bigger concern than WR. Vannett had a couple of really ugly missed blocks/blown assignments, and he doesn’t really offer much production as a receiver (even if his efficiency isn’t bad). Also Dissly kept letting go of his blocks too quickly before releasing on screens. That’s coachable, but will take time and effort to correct. Plus there’s the concern with his knee.
Fan overreacts to one game, calls out other fans for overreacting to one game.
I stopped reading when you admitted to being a Dolphins fan!!
But why?
Awsi has added an interesting outside perspective to our discussion here on the blog for over two years now. You may not agree with this particular take, but please let’s not shun people just because they may not be Seahawks fans.
He also provides a lot of good info on prospects from the Florida schools, and this is a draft blog, after all.
What
Biggest weakness is the secondary. I still have some confidence they can improve.
The Dline was good but will become great once Reed and Ansah get on the field. The offense will improve. It does every single year from week one.
I’d say 11-5 or even 12-4 is possible if the secondary improves.
On a positive note- I thought Shaq played the best game in the last 18 months. the addition of clowney is only going to get better with more time playing in the scheme- i mean the dude had a week here and caused havoc- ansah and collier will help , plus jreed coming back in 5 weeks. It was a hard game to watch and there are those games every year that PC gives us. I thought play calling had interesting wrinkles to it that were lacking last year and seemed like they specifically had plays tailored to DK and Carson, the jet sweep with Carson was awesome and it actually worked.
My only question for Pete is why do we play too conservatively on offense with the amount of talent we have. I’m not advocating for throwing the ball 900 times a game, but i can count at least 3 times yesterday where the play calls were more giving up the attack mode. I have no doubt next week at Pittsburgh will be different both offensive and defensively but man its frustrating. Unfortunately for Tedric he takes too many poor angles to the football and cant seem to keep his footing when in pursuit, i don’t know how much of that is from the weather or what but he’s been beat deep multiple times from multiple teams, would be interesting to see how long PC has mercy for him back there.
if we can shore up our safety play its gonna work out.
When I watch Tedric blow it, it feels like he tries to do things everybody else in the secondary can do but he can’t do it because he’s not athletic enough! He’s the guy who on your team who can’t dunk the basketball but on the most important plays he tries to dunk it. Growing up playing team sports there was always that kid that you had on your team that just screwed the whole thing up! Tedric needs to limit the diving & jumping to like 12 inches. If it’s not a foot away keep running till you are.
Q-Jeff has a nice game- I forgot he’s a FA this year along with Jackson and Woods as well. The entire DL outside of Ford and Collier are FAs. The market for these guys is getting unreal too. As much as I’m leaning to drafting a top safety or corner, I may need to look closer at the 34DE and DT prospects.
Finally Jefferson had his break out game, Jackson & Green are also pointing in that direction. 3 players many folks have written off. I think we can all agree our DL is heading in the right direction it might end up becoming tops in the league couple with one of the best LB cores in the league! Getting better is what matters most 1st half of the season, second half is where we judge how good we are and make adjustments which could include acquisitions of new players. I think we should pay our D linemen and draft OT TE
Week #1 rookie over reaction and redraft. Some SDB favourites shone on week #1
#1 Kyler Murray (Russ Wilson 2.0 ) Kid is going to be a star.
#2 Nick Bosa – Going to be a nightmare for the Hawks for years.
#3 TJ Hockenson – Will be a top 5 TE in the league by end of year IMO
#4 Hollywood Brown- The ultimate compliment to Lamar Jackson
#5 Ed Oliver – Who cares if he is a tweener so was Donald.
#6 Garrett Bradbury – Have not seen a rookie OL have that kind of impact on a unit in a while
#7 Darnell Savage – Boy do I wish he was playing Safety for the Hawks
#8 DK Metcalf – Looks like the legit #1 big WR Pete has been wanting for years
#9 Brian Burns – Flat out stud
#10 Terry Mclaurin – Has any WR coming out of college ever looked more like a Seahawks WR?
Did you get the sense though that Cincy had been preparing all pre-season for this game? By that I mean the new coaching staff used all of the pre-season to prepare for this game – gameplanned it to the extreme. Seattle on the other hand had no footage of what they would do. They wanted to make a statement, which I think they did, but that might only make the Hawks stronger as they could clearly see their weaknesses.
The game was ugly, and they didn’t play well. For some reason Pete Carroll teams struggle in week 1. I believe the Bengals are a much better team than they were last year. I’m still not a fan of the lack of quick passes. Tedric Thompson is terrible, I have yet to see him pass the eye test of an NFL athlete. They allow teams to complete short passes and rely on them to not sustain drives. Which for the most part they did except for the Thompson way to early jump on an easy pick, and flea flicker that was a good play call.
I just watched the game again and I recommend those who think the sky is falling with our OL do the same. Of the 4 sacks by CIN, only one looked to me to be the result of the CIN defender actually beating the SEA OL. The other 3 were all the result of blown blocking assignments. The first was on Pocic, who failed to pull behind Brown to pick up Dunlap. The second was Ifedi crashing inside to double team the DT with Fluker, while the DE went unblocked (or minimally blocked by Dissly who released too quickly all game). I forget the 3rd one right now.
Anyway, my point is simple: blown assignments are frustrating and concerning, but not overly so in the first game of the season. Mistakes will happen. That’s what practices are for. CIN have quality players in their front 7. Dunlap and Atkins are well above League average as pass rushers. But even still, they didn’t so much beat their man 1-on-1, but rather took advantage of their man missing his assignment. I’d be far more concerned if those 4 sacks all came as a result of our OL getting beaten.
It is always a good idea to watch the game a second time. Stuff never really looks as bad the second time around once the emotion is out of it. Game Pass condensed version is great for this.
Good news. Carroll says “we should count on” Ansah playing next week vs PIT. We’re gonna need all the help we can get to win against the Steelers on the road, especially when they face going 0-2 to start their season. QJeff’s performance yesterday makes me feel bullish about our DE/DL rotation. Ansah won’t be forced to play more than he should. If he can have the same kind of game that Clowney had yesterday, that’ll be enough.
Well the line on next weeks game is Hawks + 3 1/2 points. Very surprised at that given how the O line and D backs played. When betting football games, one major factor to look for is a team that was embarrassed on the road returning home. They usually play very well. Add to that the Hawks inability to win in Pittsburg in the past, and I will have to lay the 3 1/2. I was hoping the line would have been larger so I could take the Hawks. There is a chance the Hawks lose by 3 points but common sense says lay the points.
Less concerned about the defense. I don’t mind and expect needing to grow at the backend going forward as we can draft and develop this better than most
More concerned about the O. Made Cinci look like world beaters and RW did not play like the most expensive/ valuable guy in the league. Defer to scheme and OL trouble but with a big paycheck he needs to step up and play elite. Don’t take sacks, get rid quicker, play a more balanced game, cut out this need to have 4 series to get into positive yardage.
Feel like at this stage, slow starts on offense should be a thing if the past…
A win is a win is a win. And ideally, you want your team to play consistently well throughout a game, from opening kickoff to the final whistle.
But in a world where you can’t get everything you want, and as long as you get the win, I prefer my team to start slowly and improve over the course of a game to come from behind to win, than to have them start fast, but worsen during the game to barely hold on for the win.
The result may be the same. But for me, weak start + strong finish >>> strong start + weak finish.
These dreadful starts are really starting to get on my nerves. I dont even mind if they punt as long as they can get a couple first downs.
Hear you guys and agree as I’ve been a long time fan and have bought in to the philosophy.
But playing calling and OL aside, why does a Brady-led Pats team click but RW-led Hawks O doesn’t.
I’m just sayaung I expect more from a team with the highest paid QB in the league
Why doesnt RW offense not click like bradys?
Cuz Brady is the greatest qb in history, coached by the greatest coach in history. That simple. The more we compare rw to Brady, the more you will be disappointed. How about that matt ryan offense? Or the other 20 offenses that wont touch RWs offense. RW believes in the system. Pete preaches run game. RW is bought in. But when hes needed, he delivers almost automatically. Need a 4th and long completion? Done. Need a huge play in the 4th? Done. Another comeback? Done.
RW has his limitations like everyone else, except Brady, and is one of the most clutch, accurate and accomplished qbs in the NFL. And is breaking records yearly. I agree we should throw some more. But making PC alter his philosophy on football would probably make the seahawks worse. You coach what you believe.
Different philosophy. Pats employ a mostly quick hitting pass game that uses slants, outs and dump offs with 3-5 step drops. When we throw it it is often much deeper and coming off of play-action with 7 step drops.
I don’t think you can say “playcalling and OL aside”. We run a completely different style offense predicated on the running game and big plays.
While I am a bit concerned with how quickly and consistently Cincy was getting pressure, I will say that we have a tendency to overreact as fans. After we started 0-2 last year, all the talk was how RW had lost it, Pete had lost it, Schotty was the worst OC in the history of the NFL, the Hawks said they were going to run and then didn’t run, etc. We were destined for a losing record and likely a top 10 or even top 5 pick.
Don’t remember? Go back and look at the comments from here or FG.
The offense will get better. The line will get better (Pocic actually had a really solid game). The D-line is missing Reed, Ansah, Collier and Poonah (for most of the game), AND just got Clowney a few days ago. It will get better, particularly the pass rush. Defensive back is thin and will be our weakest unit, but we knew that.
I think Cincy will end up being better than most thought and they played a really good/smart game. We got the W, and Pittsburgh looked like they may not be what they have been in years past. I think we can go get one there next week and be looking at 2-0 when NO comes to town.
Go Hawks!
+12
I’d say aside from the inherent unfairness that comes from comparing Russ to the GOAT, I think the main reason is philosophy. The Patriots are about doing your job. Do it right, or you get replaced, even if you win. Even Brady gets reamed by Bellicheck constantly. Pete’s motto of always compete allows for more leeway. Executing is crucial, but the focus is more on beating your opponent in the long run, not necessarily doing everything perfectly. Belicheck is textbook “do it the right way and you’ll succeed” while PC is much more “the end (Ws) justify the means.
That and the fact that the pats have had the most innovative offense in the NFL basically every year. It helps when you can scheme any receiver open.
That’s how QBs are getting paid..does not necessarily mean the production matches the pay. Then Russ makes one or two sandlot miracle plays and every one goes gaga… we should by now know what Russ is, How Russ plays and stop tying play to pay.
Patriots just released former SDB favortie Obi Melifonwu (to create space for AB). The last DB we picked up from NE worked out well. Wonder if he gets a look.
Pete did say there would be competition for the safety spot opposite McD.
Would rather them give ‘Lano a shot even if I’m not sure how that would work. Will probably be Shead though. 🙄
I believe Pete said on the radio that Lano deserves a shot at safety. So I think he’ll get the start next week.
Good to hear. What I was hoping for. ‘Lano over Shead that is. Will be interesting to see how that works
Unfortunately, Melifonwu may be a bust at this point in his career, although it might be a bit early to say for certain. It’s highly doubtful he gets a shot in Seattle as Pete seems to have very specific desires for his DB’s. Here’s to hoping he catches on somewhere though!
The weird part about game one every year is that you’ve got two unbeaten teams going at it with grand intentions, unless it’s the 2019 Dolphins who are more concerned with the 2020 and 2021 draft (which I am perfectly fine with – they at least have a vision if they know they’re not winning the SB this year).
At the end of the day, a W is what they needed and got. But there was more bad than good that I took from the day as I project this team throughout the season. Nevertheless, this current Seahawks team was also missing it’s second and third best DL (imo) so that could change some things. And when I say what I project for the rest of the year – I am talking about the Seahawks being elite. If I’m happy with a 8-8 or 9-7 season – then I’m actually quite encouraged by what I saw yesterday, but thankfully Pete has raised the standard for what we want, hope for, and expect.
Overreaction Monday. First of all. Zac Taylor KNOWs the Seahawk defense. Over the last two years Taylor was an offensive coach for the Rams. So he knew how to attack the Seahawk pass defense.
In regards to Tedric Thompson. At the end of last year Lano Hill had beaten out Thompson. Hill has not been 100%. Number two. Why do you think the seahawks took safetys in the 2nd and 4th round? John Schneider and Pete Carroll KNOW that Thompson is not the long term answer.
Good point about Zac Taylor.
I saw Danny O’Neil post something today. Can’t figure out if it’s ironic or if it plays more to Pete’s philosophy of having a high # of passes and TO’s.
‘Andy Dalton was the 6th QB to throw for 400 yds or more against a PC led Seahawks D. Pete and the Hawks are 6-0 in those games.’
And I hope I got that little stat right.
Hawks bring back CB Jamar Taylor.
No word on the corresponding roster move yet.
I wonder if Neiko Thorpe is getting cut given that PC said his hamstring injury was significant. Can you afford to carry an injured special teams’ guy?
Yes.
He’s the special teams captain and everyone keeps talking this way and he always remains.
You’re probably right! But I’d hate to lose Amadi for the year — unless his shoulder injury is so bad that he’ll be out anyway.
So if Amadi is out for 5-6 weeks and Thorpe is out for the same, who would you prefer to keep?
You can bring back two guys.
Nothing wrong with putting both on IR and wait a few weeks.
Amadi came back in the game after that friendly fire hit. Was there some other news about him potentially missing time?
Apparently he has a shoulder injury.
I just read the injury report and Amadi wasn’t on it. He had the wind knocked out of him.
They’ve since said he has a shoulder injury I believe.
Is Neiko Thorpe the new team’s mascot? It’s plain crazy to carry a guy with 1m CAP hit who does nothing extraordinary and could easily be changed for BBK or Amadi or Blair or Barton or Dickson or Myers or Griffin anyone who plays mainly ST and good in it.
Sherm, ET and Kam was a leader for the DBs they got either cut/traded or retired. The team doesn’t have “captaining” issues with the secondary. Thorpe is a dead weight as roster spot and as CAP hit. I’d rather have Shead or anybody who might actually play in a game at least a rotational guy. Neiko must have some dirty stuff on PCJS or might have some major cheers for the ST to be able to keep his job
No, Neiko Thorpe is the special teams captain and a valued member of the team. Just as Heath Farwell was back in the day or Chris Maragos.
You’re increasingly being provocative and I’m not sure why. I’m going to politely request you tone it down a little bit.
So, opinion: Which team laid the biggest egg this weekend?
* Pre-season darlings Cleveland for blowing their cool vs Tennessee and getting their tail kicked 43-16?
* The Jets who built a 16-0 lead and then blew it and lost to…*checks notes*…BUFFALO?
* The Steelers, who got worked by New England 24 hours after the situation they worked so hard to avoid (AB to the NE) became a reality?
* Miami “no, we’re not tanking, why do you ask?” Dolphins getting pounded by Lamar Jackson, who puts up Mahomes type numbers?
* Detroit, who blew a 17-6 4th quarter lead to the team who drafted #1 overall and ended up in a tie?
My vote is for Cleveland because they have big expectations; they were playing at home; and they were playing a team considered inferior.
Cleveland for me.
Loads of talk. Delivered nothing.
CLE. But NYJ definitely get dishonorable mention
I don’t fault DET so much as I credit Kyler Murray and ARI for coming back. They earned their tie.
Gotta be Cleveland. That was a two point game with 2 minutes to go in the 3rd. About 12 minutes later is was 43-13.
Pretty major collapse at home, especially considering the expectations.
Pitt was a BAD showing as well, but NE seems to have their number. Jets/Buffalo was a division game and Buffalo’s D should be good this year.
Gonna go against the grain here and say pitt.
eventhough Pittsburgh lost to NE, they were pathetically lifeless after all the talk about better by subtraction. That was just a roll over die approach. And after all the AB to Pat’s talk, they should have been highly motivated. Big ben is really declining fast and it showed how close Pittsburgh is to being irrelevant for the first time in a long time.
The Steelers. There were whispers of a solid team headed to the AFC 2nd week playoffs…. as of right now, they might end up doing the unthinkable, firing Tomlin, especially if they lay another egg vs Seattle in week #2. They looked out of sorts, not focused and frankly looked like they couldn’t care less on some of their offense efforts. The defense was left hung out to dry due to fatigue and amount of time on the field during long drives by the Patriot’s offense.
Runner up: The Dolphins locker-room after the game, with multiple reports of guys wanting out of there due to a losing culture or at least front office that doesn’t even care about this season. Following the MLB/NBA model…. which is terrible for the NFL future if it comes to pass….. but you know what they say, “FISH FRY” in South Beach.
I’m still recovering from the Husky game on Saturday. I was so ticked off by that loss I could hardly think of anything else until the kickoff of the Hawks game.
Yeah, the hype balloon got popped pretty quick there in Cleveland. That’s definitely near the top of the list. Pittsburgh showed they’ve got a lot of work to do. I have to put the Bears near the top of the list too, as they were playing their bitter rivals the Packers at home and looked just about completely hapless on offense.
Great that the Hawks won. Ron pretty much covered everything important about it. Count me amongst those who are getting tired of the slow starts on offense by the Hawks. I want them to play with a little more urgency earlier in the games. I hope we cant get the safety position worked out as the season progresses.
Man, that Clowney is an insane athlete. That guy can really run people down. I sure hope we can run down Big Ben and make his life miserable this week. That could be the difference in the game. We’ll see.
1-0. Better than last year. Pitt will be a tough one, but for once maybe we can take care of business.
Our schedule is pretty front-loaded this year. We can’t afford a slow start to the season, and slow starts to games. If we’re going to stake our claim as a contender, stake it early. Scheme for it.
Anyway…
Said it earlier, HOU are gonna be better than people think. Their offseason will start looking better and better, at least until next year’s draft. And as I write this, Tunsil gives up a huge sack late.
But still, they’re on the road against arguably the top contender in the NFC. NOS are certainly one of the most balanced teams in the League. And they’re in a 3 point game with enough time to tie or win.
Now THAT’S what I’m takin bout! Watson is a winner. He was a winner in college and he’s a winner in the pros. Wow!
He lost tho…
🙄
Football is a team sport, right? Watson put his team in a position to win a tough game on the road against one of the NFC’s best teams. Just because the Texans defense gave up a game winning field goal after he did that doesn’t diminish, lessen or negate his performance.
Pitch perfect analysis. We have a week to fix things. Longer actually, as I had chalked the Steelers game as a loss when I saw the schedule.
Britt had 0.0 pass block grade by PFF. He is below average center in this league imo.
Or… he just had a bad game. (along with most of our line)
More and more I lean towards evaluating our OL as a whole unit. Either it’s all clicking, or it isn’t. I’m kind of done with singling out one lineman to hang the blame on (except for bonehead penalties… *cough* Ifedi *cough*).
It’s not only about this game. Last year he was nothing more than average whole year. I think he was in bottom third by PFF grades for centers. And it would be easier to overlook if he is in bottom third by his APY. But he is 7th most expensive center right now.
I have been a supporter of Britt but he was pretty bad last week. Hopefully just an anomaly. I will take league average from him.
That being said with the big improvement from Pocic he could well be the best C on the roster by end of year.
I could easily see next years OL
LT Brown
LG Haynes
C Pocic
LG Fluker
RT Fant or Jones
I thought Pocic was pretty poor yesterday as well.
Reports of Britt’s death have been greatly exaggerated. One game that isn’t brilliant won’t lead the org to kick Britt to the curb. In fact I would welcome an extension. Keeps him right where he is, keeps that precious OL consistency going (remember when Drew Nowak was the C and they couldn’t call protection adjustments out because he was so green?), and may even help us lower the 2020 cap so we can find room to keep some of our 2020 DL FA’s.
And FWIW, Britt and Brown were TICKED in their post game comments. Good news for the Hawks/bad news for the Steelers.
What I don’t get about the Seahawks… if your starting RT isn’t better than 55.6 at PFF rating, and you consequently refuse to give him his 5th year, why don’t you draft depth the year BEFORE the guy becomes a FA? The Pats do it, the Eagles do it, the Ravens do it. Building good Olines is no rocket science, it’s having a plan and sticking to it.
Jones is a perceived depth pick on the blind side. Fant is a FA next offseason, too. So we have to do something next offseason. I think, draft a LT and bring in a veteran RT.
The inner OL looks good.
Perhaps they don’t plan to draft a RT if they opt to replace Ifedi? They have successfully added veterans in recent years.
Lots of options next year, we could trade Britt & keep Ifeldi then draft a center, We might tag & trade Reed if we doubt his off field conduct. I expect the Seahawks to keep their best players and let the average players go next year even though they don’t want to ruin OL chemistry. Assuming our DL has better players than Fant & Ifeldi it makes sense to focus on OT with an aging LT in Brown. Next years draft has several RT prospects wouldn’t be surprised if we draft 2 to back up Fluker & Jones if we let Fant & Ifeldi go.
Just appreciating an incredible play once more:
https://twitter.com/KBowen1070/status/1171123568010301443
Lots of people on Twitter calling for Eric Berry to be signed. Thoughts?
Interesting that people are calling for Eric Berry to be signed, like he’s the potential savior for the secondary. He’s a 30 year old player with a significant injury history who hasn’t played much ball in the past year+.
A bad game (yes, horrible play) by Thompson doesn’t mean he should be discarded for a player no other team has signed. Hill, Blair, Amadi (if the shoulder is okay), or even Shead will get a shot at safety before the Hawks sign Eric Berry IMO!
As PC noted when asked about AB, the Hawks are ‘in’ on every opportunity to improve their roster.
The fact that they haven’t even sniffed Berry makes me think his injury issues are serious, or there is something else behind the scenes we don’t know about keeping him from getting signed by an NFL team.
List of FA that can now be signed with non-guaranteed contracts (via Twitter, so there may be some errors):
DE Wilkerson
S Berry
S McDonald
LB Perry
RB Ajayi
TE Seferian-Jenkins
C Jones
RB Collins
DE Jordan
OT Schraeder
WR Bryant
WR Laquon Treadwell
CB E.J. Gaines
DT Mike Pennel
OT Jermey Parnell
LB Brandon Marshall
DB Briean Boddy-Calhoun
S Goerge Iloka
WR Kelvin Benjamin
RB Buck Allen
WR Pierre Garcon
LB Manti Te’o
S Josh Jones
DE Michael Johnson
OG Stefen Wisniewski
CB Orlando Scandrick
DT Sylvester Williams
CB Brent Grimes
WR Jordan Matthews
LB Shane Ray
CB Philip Gaines
C Russell Bodine
DE Nate Orchard
CB Kayvon Webster
RB Doug Martin
LB Malcolm Smith
WR Derrick Kindred
RB Chris Ivory
DL Zach Kerr
Not sure I’d expect any of them in Seattle. Maybe ASJ if they need a TE.
*gazes longingly at Eric Berry
Given Eric Berry’s reputation and the respect he commands within the league — I think if he’s capable of continuing to play at even a reasonable level, he would’ve been signed this off-season by someone.
You are right I’m sure, got to be a reason he hasn’t signed yet. A guy an dream though, right?
Would you say free safety is a big priority for next season?
It depends on how Marquis Blair progresses.
I think it will be because Tedric will get cut this year. McDougald will be in his last year. The draft will have SS prospects and if you look around the League the Seahawks are not the only team with late round & rookie free agents out performing high draft picks. I like Blair at FS he’s too small to play SS and will spend too much time nursing injuries on the bench if he plays SS game after game.
Uggghh. So tempting to kick the tires on Berry. I know you are right Rob but if healthy at all maybe take a shot. At least a year or 2 stop gap. Speaking of TJ Mcdonald could be thrown on the safety pile. Brent Grimes in the slot?
BIG plans coming soon for the blog. Will need your help with this guys. Will reveal more details soon.
Great Tease Rob! Looking forward to hear what you have planned and how we can help.
It’s a big step. Promise details soon.
Can’t wait. We’ll love it no matter what.
Can’t wait to see what you got coming!
Can’t wait, Rob
Oh boy! Can’t wait!
Can’t wait to see what you got in store for the blog rob! I read every article of yours and always appreciate the hard work and detailed thoughts you put in. So I would be happy to help in any way that I can.
(I would make a donation for the great content BTW, but just graduated. Plan to in the future!)
Go Hawks!
I’m in!
🙌🏼
I have no problem with a run first game plan. Part of the goal of that plan is to control the place of play, and keep the defense honest (not just pin their ears back and rush). That is the Hawks identity and I am perfectly ok with it….if it works.
I have serious issues with the design of the run game. Maybe this is just the first game and should be an anomaly on the season, but nothing we’ve seen from Shotty thus far really backs that up. It is literally stack 8 in the box and trust that our OG will beat their OT for a 3-4 yd gain. Throw in an occasional outside run just for good measure. Pete’s comments yesterday back that thought up too. “we got arrogant and thought we could just run it down their throats.” Obviously that wasn’t working….so…adjust?
I’m not asking for a pass first offense. I know that will never happen with Pete in charge and I’m good with it. All I want is a better designed run first offense.
Where is the misdirection? The mismatches and overloads? Why don’t they spread the field THEN run it up the gut? I feel like the run game plan is something from a JV high school team: 22 Dive, 26 ISO, 28 sweep, and just to mix it up, we go left sometimes too.
Its just so….vanilla.
Of course, all of this could just be frustration from suffering through that absolutely horrendous slog after waiting the last 8 months for real football to come back.
The Seahawks were the most productive running team in the NFL last season.
What evidence is there that the way they run doesn’t work?
I’m happy for them to use a bit more misdirection but I think it’s also unfair to suggest they’re quite as basic as proposed here. Cincinnati set out to take away the running game and equally did an excellent job pressuring the QB. They deserve credit for that. We’ll see how well other teams are able to repeat that feat in the coming weeks.
I absolutely oversimplified, and thats mostly out of frustration. It could certainly be blocking scheme or lack of execution, it could be that Cincy set out to stop that specifically. To my eye, it looked like they ran into traffic every single play and the only yards they got were the result of Carson’s herculean effort. I could be wrong, but I don’t recall a single rush where the seas parted and Carson had a free-ish run for a few yards. I’d be really interested to see the stats on yards gained before initial contact. It wouldn’t surprise me to see that be <1.
I know it seems to work out every year, don't mind me. This is just years of frustration with slow starts and feeling like Pete and co are always 3 weeks behind the curve.
The run game stalled for the whole second half. If PC wants to wear down adversary defenses, this didn’t work out at all on Sunday.
Result: Fumble, Punt, Punt, Masterstroke passing drive TD to Lockett, Punt, Punt
Cincinnati played very well on defense.
We move on to the next game.
Maybe they studied the Dallas game tape. Anyway…
Go Hawks!
Our OL is rusty it happens when your players don’t practice during camp. There is a consequence when players don’t have hard core physical practices.
Carson’s TD was a misdirection play.
I will say this about the Hawks style of play. They rarely if ever get blown out. It’s hard to think of a game where they’ve been out of it in the 4th quarter. That said, I would just like to see a bit more urgency to score/move the ball down field earlier in games, at least against top flight teams, open it up a bit more earlier. And I certainly don’t want to see a repeat of the Dallas game where the run wasn’t working in the first half, and they came out with it again just the same in the 2nd half.
This is mostly just quibbling around the edges, not looking for any kind of wholesale change. It has been mostly working for us.
I was thinking about the AB situation and it just might have setup by AB to go the Pats
from the beginning.
– He only went to 15 of 45 practices
– The whole helmet debacle
– It never seemed like he tried to make friends or be a good teammate
– PC in the press conference smirked and said he was always going to the Pats
– What else could AB have done to get out of Oakland?
– If AB is the perfect teammate in NE after looking like he might have
mental problems what would this say?
It’s already pretty much been uncovered: AB wanted to go to the Pats, but they weren’t willing to send the draft picks to PIT for him. OAK did. So he used OAK to force his way out of PIT then acted nuts to get out of OAK.
Not sure anything AB did was in violation of the NFL personal conduct policy or the CBA, but it sure does smell rotten! If the Pats were in on this ruse from the moment AB became available via trade, they just pulled another fast one on the entire league!
Don’t forget Rosenhaus is his agent. Remember the T.O. to Baltimore fax debacle?
Washington just poached CB Simeon Thomas off the Hawks PS.
Sh**t!!!!!
😲
Quentin Nelson for your viewing pleasure…
https://twitter.com/BrandonThornNFL/status/1171469125593419776
*Quenton
That’s a thing of beauty! Damn…
OT, but this is just really cool.
https://twitter.com/YahooSports/status/1171414079405252608
Regarding our passing game, my suspicion is that 11 personnel will ultimately be more effective with Lockett(Y), Metcalf(X) & Ursua(slot) rather than Brown or Turner. Apparently he’s not up to speed on the play book at this point, showing what he needs to demonstrate in practice or maybe Pete just wants to go with the vets & their knowledge/blocking/teams ability etc. When I read these quotes though, I’d like to see JU get some opportunities on the field with the big boys:
“He’s always been open. You see him,” Russell Wilson said of Ursua (via The Athletic). “He’s got this catlike reflex. He’s got this ability (to) kind of make people miss. It’s pretty special.”
“Very natural football player,” offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer commented on Tuesday. “Very natural. Definitely fits more of that slot role. I mean, he’s very comfortable in there, he understands how you find voids and how to get open.”
As we know, Russ appreciates ‘open’ receivers. So study up Johnny and get your butt out on that field!
Moore’s eventual return from injury would also be welcome.
I was really surprised to see Ursua inactive. Did anyone hear any specific reasons given in interviews?
Meant to type Lockett as the ‘Z’ not Y.
If Ursua is eventually going to win this job & gain pt as I suspect he will, I’m hoping it’s recognized early & we avoid the repeat of “we should have played him more last season” as we had regarding Poona Ford. Someone has to make teams pay for doubling Lockett.
Didn’t hear the reason other than earlier in the pre-season it was mentioned that both Ursua & Jennings were ‘behind’ regarding the playbook.
McLaurin records top-5 speed in NFL this week.
And I still just marvel that a guy as big as Saquon is that explosive. Really something else.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/5g-speed/0ap3000001053379/Top-5-Fastest-Players-of-Week-1-Next-Gen-Stats
Anybody else starting to worry it’s never gonna “click” for Penny? He’s still young, and maybe he just needs more carries, but so far he hasn’t assuaged any the rabble’s misgivings coming out of his first year.
I’m definitely on Penny watch this year. For whatever the reason, of late he’s just not finding ways to maximize his talent in game situations. This is year two, and he’s a first round draft pick. He’s got to step up at some point, or give Prosise and Homer some more PT.
We’ll just have to wait and see. It’s a concern. No doubt.
He had hardly any carries vs Cincy and had a tremendous run called back for a lazy hold.
What I’ve seen with Penny so far is that too many times he doesn’t seem to be running with conviction, like he doesn’t knows what he wants to do. I guess that’s what they mean by “the game slowing down for you.” I hope he will be able to run more fluidly and instinctively increasingly over time. That’s all.
Thank you….He rips off a killer 20 yarder and friggin Ifedi brings it back. Also, every time he got the ball the o-line mailed it in. What’s wrong with people being so down on Penny?
Penny has become a scapegoat, mainly because they took him in R1 and there’s a distinct anti-run game and anti-RB viewpoint among many fans these days.
C’est la vie. We move on.
Kid doesn’t even have 100 career touches yet.
We don’t have enough data to even know if we SHOULD be worried. He hasn’t even had a chance to do his job properly yet.
Nope, not concerned one bit!
Maybe when Ifedi quits holding on his 20 yard first down runs we will see something.
Penny is a more 1 cut and go runner, while Carson is a bit more of a find a hole and go style. Slightly different, but that could be what is holding Penny back right now. Once they got him on the edge or running outside the tackles he looked fine to me (even when the play got called back)
When you don’t practice your OL hard during camp this what you get! You should be use to it by now, we will always be rusty when the season begins.
I’ve watched every run by him. He’s got some book on him already.
He’s got 90 rushes. Pretty skinny book.
Jaylinn Jenkins SS Cal Bears 6-2 205 watching him closely this year for our draft next year.
Hawkins?
That’s the one Hawkins! PAC 12 good source for secondary & OT
I know LB isn’t a need for us, but I think Evan Weaver might end up having a pretty nice career in the NFL. Dude is in on every play. Sad to think he could of been a Dawg.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you’re a running back and get picked in the first round these days, you’re picked to be a bell-cow, a difference maker. In other words, the expectations for Penny are a lot higher for him considering the draft capital we spent on him.
I want to see him succeed, excel, be a potential star, or at least a very solid running back. Just that.
I see flashes but I’m not about the grit. He has only had a few carries so far though and considering Carson is our bell-cow I don’t think we can make substantial opinions just yet. By the end of the year nobody should have an excuse though. I still hold out hope.
When you look at when he was in vs. Carson and actually look at the blocking I doint know how you can blame anything on Penny…..Take a look for yourself on replay.
Here’s an interesting way of looking at it. What if Carson turned out to be a somewhat ordinary dude, rather than one of the better late round picks of the PCJS era? Would you feel confident in our running game going into this season with Penny as our lead back? I’d be feeling about 50/50 on the matter at best until proven otherwise.
If Carson gets injured Penny is the starter.
The conventional thinking would be that’s what you’re getting from a late first round RB. Yet I’m not sure why. Because nobody expects LJ Collier to be a ‘full game’ defensive end. You wouldn’t expect a receiver drafted in that range to instantly be your #1 target. Nobody is putting pressure on Marquise Blair to start immediately and have an impact and he was picked in the 40’s (not that much lower than Penny).
To me he’s not going to be a bell-cow because Chris Carson has developed into such a fine player over the last 12 months. Penny’s role is to now provide an impact as the #2. On Sunday he had a fantastic play that was called back for a lousy and unnecessary hold.
I think it must have to do with the downgrading of the RB position in recent years in terms of the draft capital GM’s are willing to spend at the position. It seems that, outside of the very creme da la creme of running back prospects (Eliott, Barkley, eg), GM’s put a greater value on a cover guy, DT, DE, OLman over a RB closer to the top of the draft board. It’s almost like there’s a greater expectation on a higher pick RB than certain other positions in terms of real or perceived relative value. I can remember when this wasn’t the case in the past.
Anyway…just my take on it at the moment.
That’s definitely true. Personally I think it’s slightly unfair on the individuals. Players develop at different rates, become comfortable at different rates. We saw that with Golden Tate. It took him a good couple of years to adjust to the pro’s. Tyler Lockett and Doug Baldwin? Both great as rookies.
I agree. I was wondering what the shelf life of a RB was compared to other positions? I don’t know the data. My guess is that, all things being equal and excepting the QB position, RB’s on balance have a shorter NFL life, at least in terms of quality production. I could be wrong. I don’t know. Brutal position to play. Again, I have no extensive data on this, but my guess is that RB’s peak in years two through four on balance. At least Walter Payton did (grew up a Bears fan).
Might look into that one some time…
Ha! I did a quick scan of some top RB’s of all time. You could say that some peaked during those years in total yards, yards per carry, etc…(Payton, Campbell, Dickerson), but certainly others did later (Sanders, Simpson). So I’d have to call that inconclusive as of now. LOL
Jordan Willis released by Bengals
On the bright side, the Hawks gave up one point less than the M’s
Nickerson dropped to make room for Taylor. Interesting they Nickerson was trader for to replace Taylor. Was the trade a conditional pick??
It was. A conditional R7. Which they get to keep because they waived Nickerson.
The thought is to move nickerson to PS to replace Simeon thomas who was just nabbed by the redskins. So save the draft pick, still have the guy you want. A smart move. Nickerson probably needs time to learn.
I thought it was very interesting from Brock Huard this morning on 710.
He essentially said that KJ Wright was possibly a step slow in dropping into his zones and passes completed behind him in years past would have been tipped or intercepted… but they were completed game #1. So perhaps OLB/LB is actually a need position next draft… specifically a long rangy type….
After drafting two in 2019, you’d hope not.
They have plenty of draft ammo in 2020, they have potential need at TE, OL, DL and CB…. but if they do a modest trade back in the first they can potentially get 4-5 impact players in the top 3 rounds.
I highly doubt we miss the play offs this year! Picking late round 1, twice late round 2, and late round 3. It depends where we end up picking in the draft next year and if we’re keeping Reed or trading him.
Except that it was Kendricks who was out of position and got beat by Ross for a TD. KJ might be step slower. It happens. But the success CIN had vs SEA with the pass was more the result of SEA playing nickel only 30% of the time, instead of their usual 70%
Cody Barton seemed to have decent range from that WILL spot.
2019 Week 1: Seahawks vs Bengals | Seahawks All Access video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7EtjdAt5RI
Love these vids.
Also, Clint Hurtt seems like an incredibly awesome coach. I’d go play for him any day.
Cool, thanks for sharing.
Funny to hear BBK say something like, “I only had one hand on the ball at the start of that pile” regarding the fumble recovery. lol. There’s some funny business going on in those scrums.
Wrestlers stick their finger up their opponents ass when the ref is not looking, gotta believe it’s much much worse in football.
Three possible needs for next year’s draft. Let me be clear, this is not set in stone. Cornerback, offensive line (tackle) and defensive pass rusher.
Yes,it is hard to believe that a Pete Carroll defense might need help at Cornerback. Next offensive line (tackle ) . Duane Brown isn’t getting any younger. Also Ifedi may or not resign. You can always use another offensive lineman(tackle). Defensive end may or may not be a position of need. Ansah and Clowney are free agents. To early too tell on both Collier and Polite.
Add Fant as a FA, and you have the complete picture.
If they somehow could get the hands on Zuniga or Willekes, they absolutely should. Willekes is one of those guys who will asked how they translate. Winovich and BBK translate freaking well.
I think, they will draft a RT and add a veteran. In the last years, a couple of teams hit gold in the later rounds, taking time, organizing knoowledge transfer. On LT we wait, how Jones turns out as a second string ane how well he learns his craft from one of the best.
I think, if they draft a CB, it will be a high pick. The whole league has adjusted their scouting to Seahawks standards, destroying market efficiencies for us.
Please stop retiring Duane Brown before it’s necessary.
I don’t know why you people suggesting this. What are you going to do? Draft a franchise left tackle in round two? How often does that happen?
It’s extremely possible, or even likely, that whenever they replace Brown in the future it will be with another veteran.
I don’t like the idea of drafting a LT high! However the 2020 RT class is looking really good, Seahawks tend to draft multiple players to fill multiple vacancies on a unit, lots of great players in the draft are being underrated by most of the NFL, and Browns contract is ending soon so if there is a under the radar LT prospect this will be the time to get them on your roster.
I don’t agree. People have been trying to retire Duane Brown since he got here. Relax.
Not trying to retire Brown I just want his back up/future starter at RT or LT on the roster in 2020 for Brown’s last season in 2021. If that person is Fant or Jones then we are already there but right now those guys are back ups so only management knows how good those guys are. If the moto is “get better” Don’t forget it’s because of Brown we can have a smooth transition of new OL I would argue get the guys on the team while we have Brown on the roster. Every year I read 2nd year players stating they were lost as rookies, CB Griffith according to him had the wrong body & wrong objectives in his 2nd year.
It’s too early.
Look at the Rams LT Whitworth. He’s a lot older than Brown. There’s no sign at all that Brown is thinking about retirement. It’d be a waste of pick. They’ve already taken Jones as a developmental tackle. They don’t need another one of those. A high pick would be a waste if they don’t start 3/4 of the rookie contract.
It’s not a need for 2020.
Whitworth is 3.5 years older than Brown and at age 38 looked pretty good vs CAR last Sunday. Barring injury or intention to retire, Brown has many more seasons of quality play ahead of him.
Agreed. That can of course change if he gets a serious injury (fingers crossed that doesn’t happen) but anyone can get a career threatening injury. The Seahawks have a newly re-signed left tackle and can roll with Brown for at least another 2-3 years IMO. There’s no urgency here. There are other needs to be filled. Now if Ifedi and Fant walk that creates an opening at RT. But that’s a question mark and they might prefer to sign a veteran replacement anyway.
Well we saw two teams in the second Week 1 MNF doubleheader game who went the veteran route with their RT.
DEN gave Ja’Wuan James a 4 year/$51M contract
OAK gave Trent Brown $66M over 4 years
That’s a pretty penny, but worth it if works out. Sure seemed to work out for OAK in the one game. Very unfortunate for James, but at least his injury doesn’t appear to be season ending.
Definitely something to monitor throughout the season to gauge what SEA might do with respect to Ifedi next year.
I was thinking that we might move Jones to RT then draft back up OT’s. We gotta pay Clowney, Reed, Ansah, Kendrick’s, Ifeldi, Fant with both Pocic & Britt contracts expiring the same year in 2021. And we gotta think about Carson & Griffith in 2021. If you think it’s best to go mid round for OT I’m on board with that.
It’s too early to make any determination on where they should target. The only obvious thing to me is that they need more talent/competition/depth at corner and if Reed, Ansah and Clowney don’t re-sign then DL will again be a dramatic need.
I personally think it’s unlikely they will re-sign all of the names you’ve listed there. It’s also a bit weighted to try and help argue your point that you’ve listed all the players they need to re-sign and left off the two that weaken the need to draft an OT (Ifedi, Fant).
Right now we can anticipate what the biggest draft needs will be in 2020 (CB & maybe DL). We can also anticipate the positions of strength within the class (likely QB, CB, WR). But it’s way too early to be asserting a drastic need at OT and they’re one re-signing away (Ifedi and/or Fant) from it not being a need at all.
Your anticipation is no better than my speculations!
I can anticipate quite easily what the positions of strength will be because I’ve already watched many draft eligible players.
None of us know what the future holds for Ifedi and Fant.
“Antonio Brown has been accused of sexually assaulting his former trainer, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the Southern District of Florida.” ~ ESPN is reporting
Just when you thought this news cycle involving Brown could finally die down….. yikes
Everyone was laughing at the Raiders not to long ago for being toyed with by a lunatic, but I bet they feel pretty fortunate to be out from under this piece of disturbing news.
Tremendous football talent, but this man needs some serious help!!
Well Brown has a very understanding owner to work with.
Character matters! When you get greedy signing a troubled player, that’s how teams get crushed. I really hope Seahawks cement this example so they don’t make this error in the future.
I haven’t read the comments, but one POSITIVE I would point out is: it’s a W. Winning the ugly ones is a trait of a good team. In 2013 the Hawks won a couple of games that they probably shouldn’t have, but it helped them get the #1 seed. Last year the Hawks won a few ugly ones, and got to the playoffs. Winning that type of game doesn’t mean hoping for luck. Those W’s don’t just happen to happen. It takes grit and determination to get the ugly W’s.
Regarding the 2013 Seahawks…examples include, CAR, HOU, STL on Mon night, TB. If even 2 of those are losses that totally changes that season.
I agree that there are some glaring issues that need attention, but I’ll take the W any day.
Jefferson & Griffith played like pro bowlers, Green, Jackson, & Metcalf proved they belong in the NFL and demonstrated why the Seahawks have dedicated so much time, resources, and energy to those players. Seahawks are flashing dynasty! Next years draft should have the players we need to fill vacancies.
That play on Sunday where Clowney chased down Dalton and tackled him out of bounds for a team sack reminds me of that time when Bruce Irvin chased down Terrelle Pryor. Only more visually impressive for a guy 2 inches taller.
I can’t wait to watch the DE rotation when Clowney has had a few weeks of practice with the team and Ansah is full speed. And then the DL as a whole when Reed returns.
I’m just glad they didn’t call Clowney for a horse-collar tackle. If you look at it, it could have easily happened. With that said, I am now in the “I love Clowney” camp and was super impressed with his play last weekend.
After watching Clowney & Jefferson I’m on board with resigning both of them! Hopefully I’ll feel the same way about Jackson. Finally we have a perfect DE unit assuming they will “dial it up”
I wonder if Poona can’t play if Jefferson can kick inside on running downs?