This wasn’t exactly what you’d call a clean game from either team. But it was a game the Seahawks thoroughly deserved to win.
There were some really positive moments. Kenneth Walker showed he’s perfectly suited to take over the lead role in the backfield. The two rookie cornerbacks combined to force a turnover. Tariq Woolen also had an interception for the fourth straight game — the first time that’s happened since you-know-who. It’s so immeasurably joyful to see a Seattle cornerback producing picks again, especially a young stud like this. The defense created pressure for the first time in a while (recording six sacks) and generally had a better showing.
It was also a bit of a stumbling and bumbling game by both teams.
I’m a bit worried about Kyler Murray. Not Kyler the player, Kyler the person. He looks miserable. After Arizona’s first drive, the sideline reporter noted he was being consoled by Zach Ertz. This is not the player I remember at Oklahoma. He looks a shadow of his former self on the field in terms of play and demeanour and I hope he has people in that organisation making sure he’s OK. Sometimes it’s not all about money, as we saw with Andrew Luck.
Murray was able to make some big plays with his legs but as a passer he looked really bad. Each of Arizona’s fourth down attempts were lame, unconvincing and sloppy. Murray just looked lost, on each occasion.
Not that he’s given any help by Kliff Kingsbury. It’s astonishing, really, that he received a handsome contract extension. His scheming appears basic and inadequate. Without Nuk Hopkins to provide a cure-all, the basic route combinations are being exposed. This isn’t the Big-12.
Geno Smith also struggled a fair bit more than he has recently. Arizona’s defense is tricky because they bring so much pressure. The O-line struggled to handle such a creative front and that didn’t help Smith. In fairness to Geno, he still did enough to deserve to be on the winning side.
You could argue it could’ve been a blowout with a cleaner game from Seattle. Yet at the same time, Arizona had the three fourth-down SNAFU’s in scoring position. They also had the Murray fumble deep in Seattle territory. But this was all somewhat countered by Michael Dickson’s strange decision (the second in as many weeks) to hold onto a punt and give away a special teams touchdown.
Overall a bit of a slop-fest with a few highlights — good ones — from Seattle.
I want to believe the defense has turned a corner but the Cardinals and Murray struggled so much, I’m remaining sceptical for now.
What it does show, however, is the Seahawks are going to be very capable of grinding out games like this against poor opponents. And that there are also worse teams than Seattle that will fill out the high picks in the 2023 draft.
I don’t expect the Broncos to be so bad that they end up picking unexpectedly high, leaving both teams with a similar final record and potentially giving the Seahawks two picks in the teens.
I’m going to spend a bit of time digesting that thought over the next few days and what it means for the future. I still think the long-term process is the more interesting conversation than any potential achievements in 2022.
Given 2023 is shaping up to be a top-heavy draft, I do wonder what it means. The top young QB’s are drifting further away. The defensive playmakers many crave aren’t readily available. It’ll make for an interesting discussion, although I’m not sure the conclusions will be particularly appealing.
Just checked a betting line for DROY.
Sauce has had a pretty great start to his career but he and Woolen need to be switched in rankings.
Weird season. Had the Hawks down for five wins.
Chargers look beatable. But now the Giants are starting to look like a handful. Who knows how it goes from here on out.
To be fair to Dickson that unblocked Cards player was right in his face – he tries to kick it’s getting blocked. Dickson should have just dropped and taken the safety though.
If us and Denver are both picking in the teens it will be interesting to see what happens, especially if the QB class is so top-heavy. I’d like to see the Hawks aggressive and package those 1s to move up, otherwise we’ll probably be doing the Schneider special and trading down to the late 1st/early 2nd.
Agreed. Dickson had no chance there except to take the safety with the defender in his face about as soon as he received the snap, though the Hawks responded with their only TD drive of the game when they immediately got the ball back.
Remember, they have a replacement long snapper.
Underrated plays of game, geno scrambling to get the free yards when cards gave it to him. Most didn’t lead to actual points in drive, but it’s nice to see. Gives defenses more to think about. Looked like a couple designed runs mixed in there. Even tho he’s not a burner, it’s something rw got away from that I missed.
In reference to the draft, this was my nightmare scenario when we started the season…that we end up an 8-9 win team and pick in the teens along with the Broncos. These are the kind of spots that become an annual thing for years. Not good, but not bad. Hopefully they find some gems to put us over the top. And we don’t get stuck in mediocrity.
I was going to post something similar, beat me to it. Way too many holes on this roster to feel too good about, but at least they are playing better.
I know thats a fairly common narrative and I agree in most sports but the NFL is a different kind of beast. The year-to-year variation is often quite different. Look at the Giants this year for example.
Obviously we all want a high pick for a QB or impact DE but there are other ways to build a team.
The Giants have a top5 QB though, that took some time to develop and appears to be much improved finally. In addition, they have multiple other top5-top10 talents including Jones at QB, and Edge/impact DE Thibodeaux, along with RB Barkley.
So I’m not really sure they prove the point that you can build without a top5 pick.
How about Baltimore? or Philadelphia? or Minnesota? or Green Bay? or Kansas City?
You obviously want as high a pick as possible, and when picking a quarterback it’s ideal to have as many options as possible, which a high pick gives you, but the league is littered with good to great teams that did not spend a top 5 pick on a quarterback.
Say what! Jones a top-5 qb?! Perhaps the stats say so–at the moment. He’s been bottom of the barrel his whole career, and the season isn’t half over.
Just like Geno. Let’s not crown those twos asses just yet lol!
Coaching the obvious difference for the giants. Daboll is light years ahead of that idiot Judge.
When the Chiefs drafted Mahomes, they were coming out of a playoff year.
If memory serves, the Chiefs gave up two first round picks and a third round pick to jump 17 spots and take Mahomes with pick No. 10.
805Hawk, where you live at? I spent 5 years in Lompoc teaching at Cabrillo High School. It’s been almost 20 years, but I still have my 805 phone number.
I’m in Simi Valley. My work takes me all over Ventura, Santa Barbara, and SLO counties, so I know Lompoc well. I’m a California transplant from the PNW, but my wife won’t let me leave!
It’s not where you pick , it’s who you pick.
The crappy teams at the top of the draft tend to stay there for the most part over the last 10 years or so (Houston, Jets, Browns, Jags) regardless of the occasional outlier season
It kind of is where you pick when you have a class like 2023 that is top heavy and a lot of holes
Rob, slightly off the article’s topic, but thank you for the running CFB and draft analysis. I’ve never followed CFB with any regularity and I tend to not pay close attention to the draft until the offseason, so your insight and commentary is particularly valuable to me. Again, thanks.
General draft question… Would you characterize this draft as shaping up to be like last year’s draft, or 2013’s, or something else entirely?
I think it’s different
Last year there were no early R1 QB’s but this time there are
But last year had fantastic depth in R2-3 and I’m not sure we’ve got that in 2023, plus the 10-32 range looks… crazy bad
(Thanks for the kind words BTW)
Not sure if that’s good news if they’re looking to trade up (or down) the board. Sounds like a buyer’s market if you have picks outside the top ten. Unless Bill O’Brien is still a GM somewhere…
It’s concerning to still see Diggs playing so poorly and to see so many missed tackles. The Hawks got lucky. Kyler threw some awful passes in this one and Geno threw a handful of concerning throws that could have been picked. He still needs to throw balls away, rather than take sacks and the offense looked conservative again as we sat on a lead in Q3.
I feel like this wasn’t a “test”. It was more of a throw away game for the purposes of judging where we stand. But progress is progress.
I’ve completely accepted the inevitable. Seattle will likely have back to back picks in the 12-16 range in the draft. If the FO is able to duplicate what they did in last year’s draft, the future will look very bright give that position.
From what Rob has been saying, that could be a prime range for value picks, and who knows, maybe Richardson drops into that range. (Or low enough for a realistic trade up)
This is not a team that will be in the running for a top 5 pick, and I’m thankful for that. This year has shown that the parity in the league means the hill the Seahawks have to climb isn’t as steep as most of us thought. Like Jeff Simmons said earlier this week, this team is an average defense away from being 5-1.
Agreed completely. I don’t want to look like a dumpster fire. Well defensively we do, but there’s a lot of solid young players.
They aren’t getting top 5 pick. Panthers are trading McCaffrey. Lions, texans, raiders, bears, wash, all look worse record wise. Lots of qb needy teams. Would love a qb, def coming around someone to groom while geno is extended.
The NFC is laughable. It’s going to take a truly atrocious record to be in the bottom 5 of the conference, never mind the whole NFL. By virtue of playing other NFC teams some inflated records will emerge but the West, South, and North will all be winnable with anything above .500. So yes, we’ll be in the top half of that mess. We might get a decent pick out of Denver, though. The type of football we would have to play to tank in the NFC is too depressing to contemplate and requires a total breakdown in coaching and execution that I don’t think we want to be dealing with. Onwards and upwards to playoffs this year and see what the draft brings us.
While the Seahawks’ unexpected scrappiness is a pleasant surprise, it certainly is tempered by realizing they likely won’t be in line for a top-ten pick. Still, the idea of trading up for a Richardson, then essentially red-shirting him, is appealing.
With two second round picks likely in the mid-high forties, we can at least build solid depth. Interior linemen often begin to go between our projected first and second picks, and we can likely target Mikes or Wills as well. Even if there aren’t many college players who have separated themselves from the field yet, there is quite probably going to be talented players there eventually. The bowl & pre-draft season will see to that. Coupled with the emergence of our 2022 draft stock, Geno, and all the rest, the Seattle Seahawks are shaping up nicely.
I agree with you Rob. The defense played better but its got a long ways to go before we say it’s even on a upward trend.
But it’s a pleasant surprise that they carried over some of things that worked vs the Saints and overall had their best defensive game. We are seeing more single high or closed field coverages. We are seeing the coaches going back to things the players know how to do. We saw some things like Fire Zone Blitzes that forces the ball out a little earlier and Hurt mixing up tendencies.
Will it click? Who knows. The young players continue to play pretty well and I hope the defense starts identifying its identify. Are they going to be cover 6? Cover 3? So Fangio or Carroll? You made a great point earlier this season that the defense felt like it had too many ingredients in the soup.
Good summation and I particularly agree with the conclusion – the top picks of the draft are all but gone – unless an eleven game slide is right around the corner.
You know, Mariota, Trubisky, Geno and Brown were winning quarterbacks today, while Brady, Mahomes, Rogers and Lamar and Kyler were losers. Is a quarterback even necessary? (That’s the pitch I would use while trying to trade up for one.)
Following Rob’s lead, I’d like to apologize to the following people:
To Geno Smith – you deserve a new Rolls.
To Shane Waldron – I promise not to call you ‘Shane Norton Jr.’ again. Probably.
To Pete Carroll – for an absolute plethora of defenseless offenses directed your way.
To Jamaal Adams – For saying the trade for you was the worst in league history and referring to you dismissively as ‘Coffee Cup.’ Not that I was wrong, but I didn’t want to hurt your feelings too much.
To Cody Barton – for calling you Cody Burr-Kirven Barton and slighting your abilities. Again, not that I was wrong, just ashamed for wondering how many better linebackers there are in the world who may be unemployed. I’m sorry.
To Jody Allen – for feeling it necessary to mention ‘giraffe bones’ and/or ‘Speedos’ every time your name comes up. It’s cheap and beneath me to impugn the dignity of someone’s hobbies. Sell.
Anyway, I can’t believe Woolen lasted until the fifth. Kid’s going to be a superstar.
The trade for the 🦚 was never the worst in league history, that remains the Jimmy Johnson fleecing of the Vikings for Hershel Walker. It is however, the worst in franchise history imo.
We can agree to disagree, although the Walker trade and what followed certainly changed the way the league viewed the draft.
I like Waldron. And I like Shane Norton Jr. I think you should keep it until this team puts a team away.
Pretty glad for the win. Makes it fun. But I’d like to not be watching kickers duels in the fourth quarter where we get the ball on turnovers or a turn over on downs and Waldron can not come up with something in turn keeping a game that never really in question somehow closer than it needs to be.
A bit of an in the moment take here, but wonder if they can get Geno on a 2-yr deal, take a development QB later in the draft, and punt an R1 for next year (get another 2/3). They’d have a veteran presence while allowing proper time to develop a new QB, if that guy doesn’t show improvement, they have 2 R1s to trade in 2024 to move up for another QB.
Just seems like the top QBs this year are further and further out of reach.
Nobody is saying it, so maybe this is a bad idea, but what about trading Geno? How much value will he have at the trade deadline? Who else is a free agent that the Seahawks can turn into draft picks?
Who’s your buyer?
I highly doubt it’s in the cards. But who knows if the right offer comes along.
The buyer would be the short window team that looses their QB. Maybe the FO and Coach have their jobs on the line.
Indianapolis?
If you could get a team to deal I think this isn’t a bad idea. I guess it depends on who declares in the draft, and where everyone sits as far as draft position goes. Also doesn’t have Hawks blowing all their ammo to trade up this year.
I suppose I’m operating with a premise that they tried to blow their ammo and trade up this year for a Levis type, but fail. This sets them up to take another crack at that strategy next year.
I had a couple of key observations, at least to my brain, from this game. Firstly, I have never seen as wretched a performance from a professional football team as what we saw from Arizona today. They played at a sub D1 college level. The NFL should withhold TV money or something as that is simply not an adequate level of performance. Secondly, it was one of the best Seahawks performances of recent years. We did not play down to the level of a vastly inferior opponent, treated them with utter contempt, and saw them off with a minimum of effort and fuss. My only complaint is that we wasted a clever play like the fake high snap against a team that we had no need for such cleverness to beat, but admittedly that wasn’t clear at the time. Outstanding. Next week, Arizona will look like superhumans as they roll the Saints and we will lay an egg against the Chargers. The NFL is nuts.
The NFL only withholds money from players, unless you go full Led Zeppelin like Jim Irsay.
Loved the fake botched snap too 👍
Another useless win. As much as I wanted us to lose today, there was just no way. Kingsbury was intent on blowing this game for Arizona. How could they not kick FGs on those possessions. We really couldn’t have shanked this one. Is anyone surprised that Kyler is so upset. Im shocked at how bad Arizona was today.
We are only 1/3rd of the way through the season. A lot could happen. Injuries…blizzards…nuclear war.
In the event of a nuclear war, say it happened on a Wednesday – would the Thursday game be pushed back to Friday or later? When would we need to have our fantasy rosters set?
Yeah, those damn “useless “ divisional wins that get you tied for first place in the division. Gotta hate those.
That’s where I am at. Sure if the rams and Niners were gonna each win 12, sure being 3-3 would be a disappointment. But tied for first after 6 games and no one looking good? Let’s just ride it out and see where it goes. 2010 sucked for draft position but beastquake set a tone that stuck for a few years.
I do not see 12 teams in the league that Denver is better then. It could happen that they pick in the teens if they continue to play as hard as they have been thus far, but I really doubt that is going to happen. They look to be losing patience with the QB and the coach, and it’s likely that the team effort starts a continual downward slope sooner rather than later as they come to terms with the HC and QB not living up to expectations (to put it mildly).
Is Chris Collinsworth doing in-game PR for the Cowboys?
I’m watching the Eagles put together a clock eating game winning drive and all he can talk about is how amazing the Cowboys will be if they can come back from 20-0 in Philadelphia.
I’m like, what game are you watching dude?
The football establishment is desperate for Dallas to get another super bowl before Jones dies. I think they like the Cooper Rush narrative a great deal too. At some point the thumb will be applied to the scales to make it happen.
Oh and it started last night when the refs conveniently picked up a flag for a 1000% clear block in the back on the TD drive that got the cowpukes within 20-17. The penalty there probably kills the drive. “Well, we’re just gonna pretend the flag wasn’t thrown. Nothing to see here.” And not only do they help Dullass to try to win, but they keep the game close to keep those ratings high.
I never understand this with Dallas. I’ve lived in a ton of places and don’t know any one who gives a flying flip about that team.
A lot of people want the Caboys to win. I want them to lose every time. No matter who they are playing. It looks like their division will be tough this year with the Eagles and the Giants.
A guide for being a fan…west over east, north over south, everyone over notre dame (pro fans insert hated team here), except texas teams.
As much as you wanted us to lose today? Useless win? I can’t stand fans like this. A top draft pick isn’t the only thing that matters buddy.
…I think this is a great season for “good losses” vs “bad wins” (and yes, there are such things).
You guys sure you want to take the double swipe at a team you’ll be seeing again in three weeks?
https://mobile.twitter.com/Seahawks/status/1581789201661841408?cxt=HHwWgMDSqb650vMrAAAA
Bet you wouldn’t see a pic of Andy Reid in this vein.
Are we thinking that this tweet by the Hawks social media team will somehow be bulletin board material in a few weeks? Come on. This is pro football. Unless there is some sort of direct quote from someone actually involved (player, coach) that says something controversial, this is a non-issue in my opinion.
Eh, taking very specific digs at Kingsbury & Kyler feels low class.
Particularly after how badly the Cardinals played.
Feels a little like this guy:
https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/033/666/Bronze_Medal_Meme_Banner.jpg
The entire Seahawks media team feels like that guy.
Can you explain this to me? I don’t see anything wrong but admittedly I’m not a smart man.
I’m not a gamer so I may be wrong, but “double xp weekend” that you can see on one of the computer screens refers to an event where a player can double their “experience points” which allows them to achieve higher ranking.
And of course, Kyler Murrary is on the laptop screen.
Then there’s that weird “L” shaped cloud thing, which looks to be a reference to a Cardinals tweet from their win in Chicago.
So basically, Seattle are trolling the Cards, mocking them if you will.
Yeah. All that and mocking Kingsbury’s house.
https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/1253516983351554049/photo/1
I’m not a big fan of all this to be honest
Not to the point I’ll lose any sleep about it
But this kind of trolly culture to me is just a massive yawn
And as noted, I get a feeling Kyler is having a tough time personally so taking the piss out of him seems out of order IMO
Missed that at first
I agree with Sean and Hawk Finn….getting upset by this is an overreaction.
I’m not upset. I just think the seahawks social media team gloats like we’re big time winners when we haven’t beaten anyone of note yet.
They’re urban tech nerds who know f$ck all about football. It’s pretty clear they don’t understand football, they probably don’t watch the whole game.
Just overpaid jerks looking for ways to make smart-ass comments about stuff they don’t fully comprehend.
Rob’s right, it’s gross to mock Murray when he’s obviously not in a good head space. Like mocking Cooper Rush and his wife because he had one bad game in Philly, the internet is a wasteland full of trolls.
I don’t think anyone is “upset”
I think some people think it’s lame. I count myself among those people.
And again, taking the piss out of Kyler Murray feels pretty inappropriate at the moment given I fear he’s suffering with some mental anguish at the moment
Is Joey Blount dunking on Jamal Adams?
https://mobile.twitter.com/Seahawks/status/1581839373536219141?cxt=HHwWisDS9e-h6fMrAAAA
Thoughts on Brian Burns possibly being on the trade block? 24 years old, 7+ sacks in each of his seasons
He’s not on the trade block
My thoughts are….cool….not for Seattle.
Yesterday was a lot better on Defense. I need to see how this team does against the next two opponents.
Burns or other won’t impact this team more greatly than coaching would.
Yeah burns is one of their few blue chip players, there is probably atleast 10 players they would trade first before even thinking about it.
This is closer to what I expected us to look like this season. Just like I couldn’t get too enthusiastic about the O, one good game from our D is not enough. But we’re showing some progress, vet players start to deliver, the rookies contribute all over the board. Not that awful of a season after all, and I wouldn’t be overly surprised if we took advantage of Arizona’s bad shape and 49ers injuries to sneak into the playoffs.
We can pretty much forget a top3 pick even with trading up. Right now, it feels we might pick in the mid-teens, so unless we’re willing to pack all of our R1s, R2s, next year R1 and maybe R2, I doubt we’d have the option to trade into top3.
No idea where Richardson could go if he declares, but if very early (top5-6), I’m not sure the Hawks wanna trade up with their R1s just to redshirt him 1-2 years. If he’d go in the teens, sure.
So yeah, it might be an interesting offseason.
As for the game:
I think Geno played pretty well. He could’ve been smarter in a couple of sack-situation, and some throws were not that great, but he also showed some poise and good decision making.
OL struggled…which is not ideal…hopefully just rookie hiccups
K9 had some nice runs, and a ton of 1-2 yarder. But I think it’s more on the blocking and we can’t blame him.
ARI sucked really bad on offense…but still, our D# played much better. Nwosu, Mone, Ford played pretty good. I think Bryant is trending upwards also, and has like 3 or something like that FF on the year :-O
I like Ryan Neal. Not an elite guy, but to me he’s the best safety on the team (which also says a lot about the others)
But Woolen…man…that dude will be a huge steal. A good starter at least, but he might be something special. Long, good weight, pretty good tackler, good ball skills, blazing fast and just a rookie. If he can develop further he could easily become one of the very bests of the NFL
Matty Brown pointed something out on Twitter that I noticed in the game myself (albeit with less technical language in my head). They kept 3 down lineman on the field for a lot more snaps this game, 3-4 base and a 3-3-5 nickle. This is a change that gets more big guys on the field to stop the run and takes Cody Barton off the field more often, which also helps stop the run. Certainly seemed to pay dividends yesterday.
Kinda weird since that’s how I thought the defense was being set up in the off-season, but good to see the adjustment nonetheless.
and yet this will result in people being upset about “Nwosu on Moore in coverage” while this is obviously the downside of playing a heavier front. Same happened last year with Mayowa and Dunlap and people called out KNJ for that. The whole 3-4 story of the offseason is mind boggling. It was the biggest story on defense while in reality they reverted from a 3-4 defense to a 2-4-5 (vanilla nickel front to use less technical terms). Now as you pointed out correctly we shifted back to the KNJ defense this week and immediately saw the results.
“Letting pass rusher rush the passer” as Hurtt said before the season sounds smarter than it really was.
Could it be there were too many cooks in the kitchen…
I think this is most likely.
I’m choosing to believe there were signs in this game of menu being simplified. Time will tell.
under RW of the last couple of seasons i found watching the Seahawks very frustrating but now without RW im really enjoying watching these guys playing for the team/jersey – im guessing this is down to expectations but this is beginning to feel like the start of a good re build.
What about the defense though?
Are we going to ignore how it has played so far after one game against an admittedly awful and chaotic Arizona?
I’ve got to see the defense over the next two games. The chargers should (?) Have more firepower and Dabbol is coaching like a mad man right now.
Kingsbury has always felt out of his depth and I’ve never personally thought Murray was that special in the pros. Good not great.
And now because of you I too am a bit concerned for him. Outside of football. On the field he looks to be having a miserable time.
I kind of need to see a whole season. I doubt they can figure it out this season alone. No two games can tell the tale.
I don’t know if you’ll understand me; however, I need this not to be one of their best performances. I want to look back at this game and say wow, this game stunk; they got so much better after this.
They were unproven coming into Sunday, and they remain unproven. I agree with Rob from the podcast, 40% Seahawks effort and 60% Cardinal blunders.
I get all that. No two games will tell the whole story. If however the get some pressure. Keep it a kickers contest then I’ll cede something is happening.
Not a ton of praise yet from me. AZ was/is a mess right now. What does this team do to handle The Chiefs? That’s what I’m looking for.
As bad as Cards were, Hawks still gave up 300+ yards in total with 100+ rushing yards.
I’d agree that the offense has been easier to watch for a multitude of reasons. But that defense….
I suppose it’s much easier to watch the rise of Woolen when it’s backlit by the raging dumpster fire that is the rest of the D.
Just wanted to add. Always enjoy the post game reactions even though I rarely get to see them in real time.
You and Robbie have always been great but I’m really digging the three man booth this year.
Thanks Peter
It’s really starting to look like our pick could end up lower than Denver’s- check out their schedule, it’s brutal. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up in the 3-7th pick area. If their defense starts to falter the wheels could truly come off. Bolles and Gregory on IR.
Might not be a focus yet for you Rob but…is there anyone that stands out to you in CFB so far that has you excited as a OT to OG convert?
If you want to watch a great press conference, check out David Tepper’s after firing Matt Rhule.
Great, fantastic questions from the press. Engaging, well-thought out answers by the owner.
A honest dialogue between ownership and the fans about the state of the team going forward.
Jody Allen doesn’t like your post.
We need some of this on the team
https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/1582045724404875269?s=20&t=jzsuvZ446nFinEjywQGK4w
Pete Carroll Show w Brock & Salk
Pixies lead-in music was nice!
[q] What different? “A few things. Riding inspiration of Mariners. Won or not, already been inspirational. Fired up. A lot of things need to do better. Red zone offense, really disappointed, we’re better than that. Defense 3 pts on first drive, shuts them out after that. Lots of guys contributed. Clint, Shawn put stuff together, right framework – even without Al – and six different guys on sacks.”
[q] Feel like they’re playing Seahawk football now? “Certainly felt reminiscent of days in stadium. Game wears on playing better, crowd crazy, that’s Seahawks football. Crowd energy, guys rushing the passer. Definitely felt like this is what we’re looking for.”
[q] Defense what was different? “Made some declarations this week. Adj to put guys in best position possible. Guys took to it. Extremely aggressively up front. Guys took to it. Better coverage too. Coby plays, Neal plays, harder for our opponent. Continue to expand and grow. Takes a while sometimes. Guys played better. Coby, Mafe, Poona great game, best game, Taylor better.”
[q] Why Poona better? “Always ready for opp, better edge player than two gap player. We were able to help him there, that was the difference.”
[q] Mone best game as a Seahawk? Shelby Harris? Set tone? “That’s where adj most obvious play those guys. Big factor, game on got better.”
[q] Tariq Woolen praise? 5th round? “Look at the film you can see why. He wasn’t playing like this. Potential. Not a steady performer in college, not sure of himself. Not like now. Seeing things, he picks up in games. Taking to it. We didn’t know, we didn’t know. Not obvious.”
[q] Monday-Saturday have to do with success Sunday? Preparation/practice for young guys? “So much to gain, every day extreme value to guys. Every day, every snap seriously. Coaching Woolen to step and jam guys in every walk through snap. More get repped out, better go with it. Natural FB players making plays. Coby marvelous, best week so far. Wasn’t ready to play that good yet. Keep him on the field. Causing fumbles, one guy figures it out, makes him really stand out.”
[q] Ball skills of two corners? “Coby skills to catch haven’t shown yet. Hand eye coord, marvelous hands. Almost had one in crossing route yesterday. He’ll make INTs, he’ll score touchdowns. forced fumbles whole nother dimension we didn’t appreciate it until we saw it.”
[q] Coby how fall to the 4th? “Didn’t run great time. Not a first round time. Guys watched him. Not above-level athletics. Something held him back. Wasn’t because he wasn’t a playmaker. Played next to Sauce, Sauce got all the love. But Coby made plays. Similar to DK, not as regarded as highly as he should have. 24 catches senior year.”
[q] Geno ran? “Ran the ball well, slid.” Faster runner now??? “Don’t know, he’s ready for the moment. Got this chance, ready as can be. Didn’t get out quickly as we wanted a couple times, got hammered. Otherwise great smart game.”
[q] Arizona pressure, how did he handle? Reaction to punt gaffe? Respond by scoring? You actually saw how good he was on the inside? “See a guy pop out of this. This can happen, game gets easier for him. Gave RW another year and another year to learn the game. Once they get over threshold, athleticism comes to the front. Waiting for his moment. Hang long enough, emergence of potentially fantastic talent.”
[q] But Geno’s been better, most long time backups not this good? “I think he’s – stuff can change in any direction – but if he keeps shoveling the garbage every day he can keep it going. Keep him in the pocket.”
[q] Rookie Tackles game? “First play Abe jumped offsides. Jumped because JJ over there. They can handle it. Pushed a bit at times. Run by once or twice. But great job. Remarkable holding up so steadily. Rookies mid year, what kind of factor can they become, our guys are accelerating that. Chance to be good second half of season.”
[q] Rookie class off the field, leadership wise? “Bunch of guys being quiet following along with routine. See how these guys want to take it. These guys more like Kam – quietly emerging into leaders we’ll be grateful for.”
[q] Ken Walker? “Easy going but had real edge you’ll like. Tough. Doesn’t want to give an inch to anybody. Can be really something special. Had fun in the game. Fired up about TD run. Just missed on other shot he had. Quiet celebration. Keep watching this kid. Like Kam, quiet, tough, says with few words.”
[q] Bruce Irvin this week? “I don’t know. Put pads on.”
[q] Why is Irvin here? “Stability, rotation. Help guys not play too much. Mafe, Taylor, especially Chenna playing too much. Active rotation.”
[q] Dickson flub? “Jailbreak. We screwed up. Why not just fall down? Shocked so quickly. Have to get rid of this, stupid to play FB like this, just giving them the ball. Gotta get rid of it.”
[q] Injuries? “Isaiah Dunn hamstring. Gotta get Al Woods back.”
[q] Nwosu fits perfectly on team? “He’s a trojan. Real deal. That element added to team valuable. Tough, smart, strong, feisty. Brings the fight. Creative too. 270lbs has real power. Exciting addition.”
Thanks for doing this Curtis.
Thanks as always for this cha. It is definitely appreciated.
Really Pete, the Mariners as inspiration for a bunch of guys that aren’t Seattle natives that play a different sport? That’s the definition of a “stretch” if you ask me.
I hope they weren’t inspired by the Mariners
No points in about 17 hours of play 😂
(Sorry Mariners fans)
So Robbie Anderson gets kicked off the sideline yesterday for fighting with coaches and gets traded today to the Cardinals. Craziness
Okay.
Now Rams need to trade two first round picks for McCaffrey’s $36million contract.
Well, now that Akers is on the way out, it might just happen. Should we grab Akers? Wonder what the back story is there.
Might not be bad insurance since Penny is out IF the backstory isn’t unreasonable.
No thanks. I’d rather use the draft pick they’d trade for Akers on one of the many talented RBs in this draft class.
And the Panthers are eating over $24 million in dead cap spread over this and next year.
That is a very bad breakup.
Q: After games that Bailey’s [Zappe] the starter, who do you expect to be the starter once Mac Jones is healthy?
BB: We’ll see how that process is. Mac [Jones] still wasn’t able to play yesterday. We’ll continue to evaluate him and see how he’s doing physically.
[Golf clap]
I wonder if Pete is soft shoeing us on Tariq or if they really didn’t see it and just took him based strictly on athletic measurables. If it was the latter the coaching job, likely Pete more than anyone based on his success with DBs over the years, has been unreal as has his learning curve. He’ll still have some growing pains but I marvel at how far he’s come in just 6 games. The sky is the limit.
“I’m going to call it now, he’s going to be a Hall of Famer,” Jefferson said. “He’s a walking gold jacket. That boy came in since Day 1 making plays. I’m excited I get to play with him. I’m just excited to see what his future holds, because he’s going to get a gold jacket.”
https://www.seahawks.com/news/phenomenal-baller-the-truth-seahawks-rookie-cb-tariq-woolen-continues-to-wow-tea
Well at least they’re managing expectations well for TW…
All of this is a smoke screen, it’s to have the press ask” how good is Tariq” questions instead of, why is there no pass rush, why can’t the d tackle, why can’t you stop the run, etc. etc etc
Duh, of course! And it was right in front of us all along.
Speaking of Jefferson, is was a positive to have him active and playing, as he seemed to have a positive impact, along with the return of Neal.
Penciling out a Geno extension that could
a) provide some stability at QB
b) reward Geno for a great 2022 (assuming it continues)
c) not kill the 2023 cap
d) leave room for a rookie QB to take over
3yr $70m with $27m guaranteed including $20m signing bonus + $7m guaranteed salary
2023 salary: $2m (all guaranteed)
2024 salary: $5m (all guaranteed)
2025 salary: $25m (none guaranteed)
2024 Roster Bonus of $18m due in March
2023 cap hit: $8.67m
2024 cap hit: $29.67m
2025 cap hit: $31.67m
Seahawks get coverage with a cheap 2023 and Geno takes home a $22m cash payout in 2023 – or put another way – effectively tripling his career NFL earnings of $11m.
A 2024 cap hit of $29.67m isn’t unwieldy but the March 2024 roster bonus deadline helps both parties. If C.J. Levis-Anderson has won the job, they can cut or trade Geno before the roster bonus is due.
If he hasn’t, they can live with Geno at that number -or- convert the roster bonus to a signing bonus and push $9m to 2025. Reduces his cap hit in 2024 to a very manageable $20.67m (and Geno takes home another $23m cash payout in 2024 – effectively 5x-ing his career earnings to date at that point).
If they trade him in 2024? The new team takes the $5m salary and $18m roster bonus off the books, leaving the Seahawks with a dead cap of $13.33m but a cap savings of $16.33m and they can live with that because they’ll get draft capital back.
2025 none of his $25m salary is guaranteed. They can cut him, trade him or extend him without too much trouble.
But would Geno accept 3y $70m?
That money and that framework is my personal feeling the ceiling should be at this very moment in time.
I really like this proposal except I think Geno will want 25M/yr. Certainly gives everyone flexibility and if Geno performs he can still make more in later contracts.
Yeah, thus my “he’d be tripling his career earnings!” shtik.
Just found out that Levis puts mayonnaise in his coffee, and now I can’t decide which thing I’ve seen in the last 24hrs is grosser: that, or the Larys Strong “Foot of the Queen” scene last night on House of the Dragon….
HoD is make believe, so the coffee/mayo combo is far worse.
Isn’t Levis the guy that eats bananas peel and all?
Yeah that was… something
But also one of the most extreme pieces of character development ever 😂
You can call it gross, but Rex Ryan loved it.
Monday Press Conf w PC
“Good meeting today with the fellas. Defense fired up about playing good FB, good for them to see improvement and in the game. Made it a fun day for the fellas. Fun game to watch tonight and get a prep to start on the week.”
[q] Sustainable step forward for D, saw? “Everything. Guys got off ball well. Great pressure during the day. Traditional running game played well but had a hard time getting Murray. Gave our offense a chance to win. Position to score a lot of points. Can count on either side of the FB right now.”
[q] Third down problems offense? “Timing, footwork, pocket. Some untimely stuff didn’t execute as well. They did a lot of stuff like they always do.”
[q] Arizona 4 for 5 on third down then cleaned up? “Timed up. Got better as the game went on. Needed to catch up with tempo. Coaches adj beneficial. Calm tempo down. Fit players mentality better.”
[q] Why Arizona D effective? “Held FB more. Timing not good. Not something we want to stick to, want to get the ball out.”
[q] Darrell Taylor best game? “Really looked good. Fast, factor on the edge. Good rhythm alternating. Nice day attacking the LOS, playing the crowd. Great rush forcing fumble.”
[q] Somebody had a good game? “One of his better games ever.”
[q] Al Woods ok? “Practice Wed, feels good. could’ve tried Sunday, didn’t want to force soreness to linger. Report today and see Wednesday. Good sign.”
[q] Gabe Jackson ok? “Wait and see. Can’t tell you he’s raring to go yet.”
[q] Phil Haynes play? “solid. Good blocks and pass pickups. Plays like a starter for us. Both sides is a real big plus.”
[q] ST problems? “Bugging the heck out of us. 98% fine, one play wrecks the game for you. Disastrous plays don’t fit us at all. Made a big plea to the guys, clean up every snap. Consistent w coverage, kickers well, made a real error on the one that happened this week. Everything in our power to fix it.”
[q] Nick Bellore said he messed up, leadership? “He had a chance to figure in, we just did something we don’t normally do, didn’t coordinate it well. In game in moment choice, make a call, didn’t handle it well.”
[q] Not having same guys on ST to injury? “I’m not going to get into that. In the moment it was the wrong choice to adjust. We weren’t prepared to do it that way.”
[q] Ken Walker Film saw? “Lateral side to side, will be more consistent. Good FB player. Feel and timing grow. He’s a weapon.”
[q] DL plan more aggressive than reading & reacting, why? “Glad they said that. Part of what we did, the big adj. Make sure utilize their strengths. Guys better in that mode after assessing it. One part of adj this week. Coaches good job recognizing and the players took full adv.”
[q] Stay that way going forward? “Oh no we’re going to back to screwing it up (laughs). No, continuing to grow. More stuff to work on.”
[q] Veteran DL easier to adjust? “Yeah. We made a plea to them and they responded well. Not adj in one week but they did well.”
[q] DL guys took it personal to fix, respond last week? “Wasn’t a one day thing. Tweaking and working, weeks. Finally made a declaration and they took it. I know you’ve been waiting ‘when is something gonna happen’ ? Just one game, big reception.”
[q] Why Woolen drop in draft, size and speed? “Rough around edges. Wasn’t obvious he could play this early. Taken to it. Merging of background with stuff we do fits him perfectly. So receptive, easy to communicate with, great mind, comfortable with challenges, not stressed out. Time of his life.”
[q] Corner injuries Sidney and Artie, when did you decide he was OK for Game One? “First full week we saw him, you could see it. How far, how fast? Great matchups with Goodwin in practice, then DK locked horns. Took to competition. Great attitude about it, respected each other. DK almost took him under his wing. ‘cmon let’s battle it out’. Big guys and smaller fast guys. Convinced us it’s working. Helped his confidence jump. Doing magnificent job.”
[q] Who told you to watch this guy in college? “Don’t’ remember, sure it was John. Looking at numbers, looking at quick checks guys numbers. Certainly a guy. Don’t remember him at combine jumping off the charts. But it was all the scouts.”
[q] Drafted Walker, why so early? “Couple guys at top we thought was real deal. Other guy’s doing well too. Style of runs, came to new program and had impact. A lot to add to that. Excited about RB if it fell for us. Get the 1-2 punch going.”
[q] One reason why this rookie class so good? “Talent is obvious. More so mentality of guys. Humble, hard working, nose to the grindstone guys. Really accessible to reach them, make them aware of expectations. Coachable, no issues. Commonality. Credit to guys doing evals. Important to player. Athletics important but whole part of thing to handle it. Abe and Charles, guys don’t do that. Need makeup and constitution to handle.”
[q] Watch MNF opponent live vs film during week? “Couple monitors here and game over here with coaches. I’m in heaven. Getting a feel for opponent, adds to process. Downloading all that in real time which is fun. I told guys make sure you watch tonight, too much info they can pick up.”
[q] Dee Eskridge more involved? “Sick last week. Done good job getting involved, you can see why. Quick, explosive. Can’t wait to include him more.”
[q] Geno running better than normal? “Yeah he is. First slide like a 2nd grade little leaguer. Been giving him a hard time about it. But he’s explosive. Run he’s the lead blocker, looked fast. Didn’t look fast hit anybody. IF he’d had the shot, he would’ve taken it.”
[q] Barton fewest snaps, matchup or? “No just how game came to us.”
Hugh Millen mentioned today that Daryl Taylor gut 37 snaps and Boye Mafe 36.
More of this please.