Instant reaction: Seahawks beat Niners in really weird game

I’m not sure how to adequately react to this game.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all.

The Seahawks managed to have one of the worst starts to a game you’ll ever see. They were truly awful.

Here’s the first quarter yardage stats:

49ers: 167

Seahawks: -3

It wasn’t just a bit of a slow start either. This pattern continued deep into the second quarter.

It felt like watching the 2009 team. No kidding.

And yet despite it being a painful, one-sided car-crash — somehow the score stayed 7-0.

The defense made stops and the ever-accommodating Jimmy Garoppolo threw an interception.

After a horrendous opening drive, the much maligned defense hung in there. It propped up the abysmal offense as it toiled and struggled to even return to the line of scrimmage on any given play.

The O-line was bullied. They were absolutely blown away. Nothing worked.

The defense kept hanging… and kept hanging.

They hung on long enough for the Seahawks to finally work out some answers.

Other opponents might not be so generous. Yet thankfully, the 49ers squandered their early advantage. The Seahawks gradually found an offensive foothold — thanks to magic from the quarterback and a brilliant cameo from Alex Collins.

Then at half-time, the back-breaker. Garoppolo’s all over the place at times but he knows the offense and he isn’t Trey Lance. We wrote about Lance a lot, unflatteringly, during the draft season.

He’s not ready to play. Until the Seahawks took their foot off the gas, he looked like the worst kind of rookie — a deer in headlights.

As the Seahawks grew and grew offensively, the 49ers shrunk. They looked like giants to start the game and mice to conclude it.

The only shining moment was a busted coverage on Deebo Samuel and some late movement when Seattle played their typical time-consuming defense.

I tweeted after the big bust, in reaction as you do on social media, that Jamal Adams was the worst trade ever (and was immediately reminded that some of the great football minds are all based on Twitter, wasting away when they could be running a coaching staff somewhere).

Whether it was on Adams or not (Mark Schlereth thought it was so I’m not going to assume the timing of the tweet was totally unjust) — I still think the Adams trade is a clear L (hyperbolic language or not). I would suggest Ryan Neal’s performance highlights that. He was superb and is a lot cheaper.

But I’m starting to wonder if the actual ‘worst trade ever’ (yes, I’m milking that hyperbolic phrase today) might end up proving to be San Francisco’s Hail Mary with Lance.

We’ll see how his career develops but I wasn’t convinced at North Dakota and this performance probably made Niners fans cringe a little bit. Especially those who’ve been calling for him to start. Don’t be fooled by that late drive, when Seattle already had the cigars out.

So the Seahawks move to 2-2. I’m not convinced they took a big step forward or anything here. After all, they started terribly, played a team who lost their starting quarterback at half-time and the Niners also played without a kicker.

Yet at the end of the day, it’s always fun beating the Niners. Because they are a bit irritating.

The defense does deserve some props though, after some rough sledding. They enabled this win by keeping the team in it. The Niners were 2/14 on third down. The late touchdown felt a little too predictable and avoidable but the Seahawks are a team determined to never do things the easy way.

Onto Thursday night and the Rams, who were blown out by the Cardinals. I’m not sure what to make of that, other than clearly Arizona were the underestimated team in this division.

Please consider supporting the blog via Patreon (click the tab below)…

Become a Patron!

197 Comments

  1. Sea Mode

    *deer in headlights

    (and was immediately reminded that some of the great football minds are all based on Twitter, wasting away when they could be running a coaching staff somewhere).

    💀💀💀

  2. cha

    Grading my watch points

    Make Jimmy Garoppolo beat you
    Grade: B+

    The Seahawks allowed some inside runs, but sniffed out the Niners’ quick screens and kept them from consistently moving the ball on the Shanahan creativity alone.

    Jimmy (and Lance) couldn’t make the plays when they were needed. The Niners set up a brilliant trick play and Jimmy underthrew Kittle. He also had an ill-advised interception.

    A 4th Qtr fourth down stop was a great example of this. They tried a right edge run and the Seahawks sniffed it out and extended the play and stopped them.

    Win on third down
    Grade: C

    2 for 10 on offense

    2 for 13 on defense

    This was sloppy on all sides, but the defense kept this game close with a mix of effort and the Niners offense being ineffectual.

    Attack the middle of this defense
    Grade: B-

    The Seahawks had zero room there in the first half, but ground out some tough yards inside in the second half. The Alex Collins run for a TD was brilliant.

    Keep Deebo Samuel from wrecking the game
    Grade: C-

    8 catches for 156 yards and 2 touchdowns.

    The only saving grace is they couldn’t get Samuel the ball early enough in the game to make a difference.

    They tried a run with Samuel early and the Seahawks stuffed it for 1 yard.

  3. Pran

    I am not convinced. Offense is regressing with each passing week.
    Defense just cannot hang in there with a better QB.

  4. Paul Cook

    Hugely important victory for the psychology/spirit/will of the team. Things could have gotten ugly with a loss. I still can’t believe it was 7-7 at half time. I felt if RW could come unstuck at all, we’d win the game in the 2nd half.

    Whew! Dodged a bullet.

  5. Henry Taylor

    I said this during the game, but if you want to take heart in this game just think about how annoyed 9ers fans must have been watching that game.

    Watching their team absolutely dominate for a good 20 minutes in the first half and fail to pull away. Go in level at half time to see your long awaited franchise saviour come into the game, and absolutely stink up the joint. You just love to see it.

    Bang. Bang. 9er. Gang.

  6. Paul Cook

    We also get the bonus of playing the Rams after a bad loss. Get them while they’re down.

    • BobbyK

      Or they’re going to be hungry to prove it was one bad day and take it out on the Seahawks.

      • Paul Cook

        With the Rams coming to Seattle on a short week, Ill take them coming here off a hard loss and feeling less invincible than they were than the other way around every time. We definitely have the psychological edge, but whether or not we can do anything with it remains to be seen.

  7. Sea Mode

    Most exciting highlight of the day:

    https://twitter.com/RealLoganRyan/status/1444789534785343492

    Geno Smith had better up his game…

  8. Brandon Adams

    I do not pretend to be a great football mind. 😉

    Anyway, this is just another inevitable bump on the road to another 11-5 season and early playoff exit.

    • Rob Staton

      I’m not sure they’ll get to 11 wins to be honest. That still feels like a long way off, even with this victory.

    • Paul Cook

      It’s probably going to take some people awhile to account for the new 17 game regular season.

      • Brandon Adams

        Everyone spends the first three months of the year writing down the last year on their checks. 😉

  9. Eric

    Rob, I totally get there are reasons to be sceptical about this Seahawks team, but after the last two weeks of being absolutely miserable watching the Seahawks I want to try and find some positives.

    1. Sidney Jones finally replaced Tre Flowers. Gave up the first touchdown and didn’t look amazing, but still a massive upgrade.

    2. The offense did something which it feels like they haven’t done in years. Make adjustments. Yes, it was out of necessity, but I’m hopeful that the offense will be able to find some balance and not rely on blowing up teams in the first quarter and regressing the rest of the game.

  10. pdway

    Personally, im dubious about Jimmy G’s ‘injury’ – i think they just wanted to avoid the benching of their starter.

    anyway – not pretty – but good to see Russell do a couple old school Russell things, and a road win over the Niners always always nice. And at least the season isnt over after Week 4….

    • BruceN

      That was my first thought. But why then keep Lance on a short leash if that was the plan. It will be an interesting week in the Niner country.

  11. KennyBadger

    Winning disguises many blemishes. Seattle needs to keep their dermatology appointment. Always great to beat SF!

  12. GoHawksDani

    A 7 point against a team without their first 4-5 starting RBs, without their kicker and after a half against an almost highschool level QB is not that great. If Garoppolo stays in niners might won. If Gould would’ve been healthy they might’ve won.

    If niners would’ve won it might’ve been better for the Hawks. Now everyone will think that this defense is actually good and the second half will make people forget the first. But a W is a W. It just postpones the inevitable but I’m not going to be a party pooper, I’m happy after all we beat the niners.

    Good stuff:
    Neal. Put this guy in games. I don’t care if by benching Adams or playing big nickel more.
    Diggs. He’s the better safety between him and Adams. He’s always on the action
    Collins. He’s shifty but can also run in the middle. He needs more touches
    2nd half RW. Made nice calls for plays and diagnosed some stuff well. The TD to Swain was classic Russ

    The bad:
    Adams. He had that nice hit on Kittle but nothing other than that
    1st half RW. Ouch, indecisive, bad throws
    1st half offense. Wtf???
    OL especially run blocking
    Run defense sucked for all game
    CBs (Garoppolo had too much space to throw the ball)

    If they beat the Rams next week they might change my thinking but now I think this is only a smokescreen

    • Shane

      Forgot….

      Bad
      DK’s dropped passes

    • Call Me AL

      I agree Dani, a W is a W. But they certainly benefitted as you said by the 9ers RB situation and not having Gould. I just couldn’t get over the fact that it looked like they benched Garoppolo. If that was the case it was a huge mistake by Shanahan. I think the defense got a free pass today.

      As for the offense, you have a franchise quarterback, hard running RB’s and good wide receivers, how in the world do you explain that first half performance? And not just today, the last two weeks as well. Long runs during games where they can’t even get a first down or any sort of a sustained drive. Somethings not right with them and they haven’t fixed it.

      While they probably silenced the critics for a week, I’m not so sure they have solved any problems. Thursdays game is going to be real telling.

      +1 on Ryan Neal, I to would like to see him starting over JA as well. Neal’s just a gamer! Good to see Collins getting more opportunities as well!

    • BruceN

      “ Neal. Put this guy in games. I don’t care if by benching Adams or playing big nickel more.”

      I could be wrong but I thought he played in dime packages during the game. Either way, yes, I like to see him more. Same with Collins.

  13. Donovan

    While I concur this doesn’t necessarily indicate a turning point or greatness on the horizon, you’ve got to give the Hawks major props for getting a win on the road against a well-respected divisional foe, especially after the last two weeks.

    Great job, Hawks!

  14. Denver Hawker

    I didn’t get to watch the game, but will watch the replay.

    Looking at the stats- it looks like the Niners just lost. Still doubled them up on yards, but two turnovers were the difference. Special teams looks a little unsung hero for Hawks as well.

    Probably didn’t learn anything about this team, but road win against Niners with a Bosa this time, I’ll take it.

    • Roy Batty

      Cannon muffing a kick return is the real deciding factor in this game, to me. Otherwise they simply played OK for one half on offense and the defense beat a depleted Niner offense. The good news is that in two weeks they play the atrocious, and I do mean atrocious, Steelers. Worst case is 3-3 after six weeks. Much better than 2-4, as many of us were thinking would be the case.

      And watch Adams on a the second viewing of the game. It’s simply hilarious that the guy is paid that much and, even after showing less than a backup, Neal, is still talked about by the commentators during the game as if he is making any appreciable difference. At one point the announcer was saying how Adams forced the Niners to change the plays direction, pre-snap, when it was simply the thing ANY team does when the defense loads one side at the line of scrimmage, no matter who the Hawks had planted there. The guy kept singing Adams’ praise when he was doing nothing. One big Kittle hit, after Kittle had already started bobbling his catch, was his only worthwhile stat. Diggs was the stud of the day. Not Adams.

  15. mantis

    I was thinking the blown coverage was jones fault, reason why pete took so long to play him, maybe not knowing all the calls.

    While I agree with everything said about Adams I thought that was one of his better games

  16. Norman

    The positive to take away from an otherwise confounding game: effective adjustments.

  17. Bankhawk

    Caveat here: I’ve seen only the highlight reel, but heard Duane Brown’s play criticized/questioned in some quarters.
    First, are the critics justified by the tape? If so, is it sandbagging due to the preseason discord, or real, actual decline that could justify the Front Office declining to extend? Or, just spurious observations by random commenter?
    Also, feel like today vindicates my elation at retaining Alex Collins this year!

    • Big Mike

      Duane had a rough first half as did the rest of the o-line until the late scoring drive. Their play proved in the 2nd half nicely. As for him sandbagging, highly doubtful as his PFF rating going in (and the eye test) was very respectful.

  18. 206

    I take the lack of comments on this thread as a good sign. Content for now! Its gonna be a rollercoaster season

    • Rob Staton

      I think part of it will be just a complete unknown or what is the right reaction to that game. It was very strange. I’m opting to enjoy the fact they beat the Niners and just kind of glossing over how they got there.

      • Roy Batty

        A couple of DK dropped passes just about had me tuning out. Those would have put the game in a different light, if he made them. The most galling one came as DK was streaking down the sideline and Russ threw it with perfect placement with DK in full stride. A gem that instantly turned to dust.

      • 206

        Yeah I have no idea how to interpret this win, we need a much larger sample size… but you right, for now, it’s always good to beat the 9ers. With 9er injuries and non convincing wins they may be similar to the hawks.

  19. BobbyK

    The first half proved again they aren’t bullies (something we’re used to now days). They were dominated on the LOS.

    They won and I’m happy but the trenches (first half) simply showcased why this season will end the way past seasons have… Getting dominated in an early round playoff game in the trenches and losing in convincing fashion (assuming they make the playoffs).

    Best offseason move for the Seahawks, Rams, and Cardinals was the 49ers trading up and drafting Lance. Could have stayed where they were and drafted Mac Jones and kept future draft picks, but they screwed the pooch, thankfully.

  20. Submanjoe

    I’m happy they won. I don’t feel great about the team. Russ looked hesitant at times, he’s still not comfortable pulling the trigger quickly and that does lead to some sacks, and some simple throws get turned into difficult throws. The defense was terrible, another 450 yds given up is just a ton. They’re lucky. Niners couldn’t finish drives, missed field goals, etc, which is understandable given their injury situation. The Seahawks cannot count on winning games that way, no team can. And I don’t know about Carson suddenly, he just didn’t look great today. Alex Collins looked much better.

  21. Paul Cook

    I have to say, Mac Jones on this last TD drive looked better than I ever remember him in college, as good as he may have been on a great college team. Real poise. It’s way early, but I may have sold him a little short.

  22. Ishmael

    Bizarre game. The Seahawks were actively bad for a lot of it, but found a way to win, and pretty comfortably, which is usually the mark of a good team. Always nice to beat the Niners and watch their fans melt, but there was nothing in this to inspire confidence.

    I don’t want to say Jamal Adams is a bad player, because I’m sure he could be valuable on a different team or under a different scheme, but in Seattle he just sucks. The trade was a disaster from the start, but buying into the sunk cost and extending him was madness.

    • Rob Staton

      The two big issues with Adams are fit and cost of the trade.

      In the right defense with the right coordinator or Head Coach, he can be really good. We’ve seen that. This isn’t the situation for him to thrive.

      Yet even in the right place, he wouldn’t be worth what Seattle has invested. No way at all.

      • Dec

        Adam’s was terrible. Several missed tackles. Goes in for the big hit and misses when a standard tackle would have done the job. Even when Diggs or Neal makes the play he dives on the pile and then jumps up celebrating as if he made it happen. Maybe I interpret him wrong but that must be annoying for the other members of the defence.
        In addition, Diggs is playing better but is less flashy. In my view he is more deserving of a new contract but my fear is we wont have the money due to Adam’s contract. Give me Diggs and Neal and invest money elsewhere. Jamal Adam’s- the gift that keeps on giving.

        • TomLPDX

          I totally agree with this post.

          The Peacock sucks and he is sucking the life out of our D players that see his show.

  23. GoHawks5151

    Something I keep coming back to in regards to the offensive inconsistencies is that this is Shane Waldron’s first year as a play caller. I actually don’t think he’s doing too bad. This game shows he can make a few adjustments. Let’s not forget his toughest challenge is marrying Wilson and Carol’s goals with his own. I still see motion and other creative wrinkles throughout games so far. Still a lot of room to get better and I think Eskridge, Everett, Dissly and maybe even Collins end up elevating the offense with consistency.

    Nice to see Robinson, Green, and Taylor have some success. Keep Mayowa on the bench. Brooks looked better. Neal looked really good. Jones made some plays. Big nickel or dime may be the best option going forward.

    Bucs desperate enough to take Tre off our hands??? Haha

  24. GerryG

    Back during the draft process when folks were talking about Lance, I think it was Danny Kelly that replied to someone’s tweet on Lance’s single season of CFB games played that he only had about seasons worth in in High School too. So, regardless of his talent, the kid just hasn’t played enough to have a chance in year 1, maybe even year 2.

    I only caught the end because I was watching the Ms, but good grief he looked over matched.

  25. Whit21

    I think Trey Lance’s upside is his greatest quality.. If he can put all the necessary tools together and be a competent QB.. he can be special. Thats easier said than done..

    But overall.. Yeah. Jamal Adams seems like a huge waste because hes mostly a scheme fit more than anything, and that doesnt fit with what PC has ever done. Blair and Neal look good enough to take a chance on and save 2 first round picks and 16 mil a year..

    The one thing that saddens me is that after 3 OC’s … There isnt much difference in the offense really.. Its evolved a little, but mostly always looks the same.. which means PC has a lot of influence on what happens on offense.. which i would guess is why RW gets so upset in the last few offseasons. Might be time to pick a side… If i was the absentee owner Jody Allen.. I would pick Russ…

    Sad season for the Hawks..

    • J.P.

      Kind of a microcosm of how I imagined this season. Just sort of stay alive until the offense can start clicking for more than a couple of quarters every game. Get on a roll towards the end. It hurts they blew that Titans game. Could be 3-1 right now with some breathing room.

      I think they should move on from Metcalf. Doubly so if Eskridge comes back and finishes strong. Gotta save money somewhere and his mistakes become less humorous when he’s not making pennies. Maybe Wilson will be compelled to throw to the TEs and RBs again without Metcalf around.

      And Collins should get more touches. Carson is good, but sometimes he’s just no good against certain fronts.

      I have to say, as poorly as they’ve look recently, I’m actually looking forward to the Rams game. Might be awful, maybe not. Feels like that defense has regressed and perhaps you can run a bit on them. In 2018, they could run on the Rams, and run they did. One game Penny had like 10 carries for 100+ yards or something. It helped Wilson a lot, he didn’t implode like he has in recent years with the whole Put it all on Wilson stuff. Just has to manage the offense, maybe run for a few first downs like he did today, take some shots here and there.

      • Whit21

        Yeah… Metcalf is starting to feel like Jimmy Graham 2.0..

        I feel like they need to work the seems a little more with Dissly and parkinson.. and Let Everett roam a bit.. But its still early and we all know pete likes to pull the reins early.. Hopefully this season turns out like 2012 season.. 4-4 through week 8.. with a strong finish..

        I think this defense can finish strong.. and Pete will always let up on the offense and let russ go.. I think thats been his frustration through the years.. Pete wont let him go.. and thus.. the whole “let russ cook”

        • GoHawks5151

          DK needs to catch the ball and stay penalty free consistently

  26. Palatypus

    What if the 49ers used Trey Lance the way the Saints use Taysom Hill?

    • TomLPDX

      Taysom Hill has qualities that Lance will never have. For one thing he is a bigger bodied QB that can take more punishment. I think Taysom is a unicorn. He’ll never be a QB1 but he sure is an all-around playmaker. Kudos to Sean for using him to his strengths.

  27. Forrest

    Random thoughts:

    WTF our O line at the beginning of this game?

    I have been disappointed with Carlos Dunlap this season.

    When SF goes all out blitz and you know you have 1 on 1, air it out.

    When you’re all out blitzing, don’t play soft coverage.

    Jamal Adams seems to struggle with accepting responsibility.

    Clock management still stinks under Carroll.

    Why can’t we be ready with a 3rd and 1 (or 4th and 1) call? This continues to be a problem.

    So glad I don’t have to complain about Tre Flowers this week.

    As I said at the draft, Trey Lance has a tendency to launch throws high over the heads of his receivers.

    Kittle was killing us until he got hit. That did change the game.

    When Russ runs the ball, we do better. I’m starting to think our coaches really want a dual threat QB (Josh Allen, etc.). Jalen Hurts is one to watch (after the season) with Phili’s draft capital.

    What will happen on Thursday night? Can we stop Cupp and Aaron Donald? Doubt it.

    With Ramsey on Metcalf, Eskridge would sure be nice to have in the lineup.

    Where will we invest our $10 million? Stephon Gilmore comes back next week. Geno Atkins? I think Pete wants an inside pass rush.

    After this game, what looks like our biggest need?

    I’m so thankful we have this blog! Great writeup as always, Rob!

    • whit21

      Its been no secret what kind of QB pete’s wanted.. He went from a decent Matt Hasselbeck to Tavaris Jackson. Thats how pete has always been.. Thats the only trickery hes ever displayed.. QB that runs… ooooo Tricked ya.. hes running.. 3rd n short.. we’re gonna throw deep.. OooooooOOooO.. Tricked ya..

    • Palatypus

      1. “Kittle was killing us until he got hit. That did change the game.” HOF linebacker Ted Hendricks of the Raiders once said, “You know what I really love? It’s hitting those tight ends.” (From One Knee Equals Two Feet by John Madden.)

      2. “With Ramsey on Metcalf, Eskridge would sure be nice to have in the lineup.” Didn’t Freddie Swain have a TD today? And that makes two on the season right? We probably need Eskridge in there but the coaches will probably be conservative here, or at least Pete will while Waldron is jumping up and down on the meeting table to get him to change his mind. We might see Eskridge returning kicks though.

      3. “After this game, what looks like our biggest need?” I didn’t see the game because it wasn’t on here in Florida, so I followed it on this board. Based on that, I would say anti-depressants.

      4. “When Russ runs the ball, we do better. I’m starting to think our coaches really want a dual-threat QB (Josh Allen, etc.). Jalen Hurts is one to watch (af”

      5. “Jamal Adams seems to struggle with accepting responsibility.” Hard to say when nobody is sure what his responsibility is on any given play.

      6. As I said at the draft, Trey Lance has a tendency to launch throws high over the heads of his receivers.” See my Jalen Hurts comment.

      • Palatypus

        Comment #4 is supposed to be that Jalen Hurts can’t throw. Stupid laptop keyboard.

      • Big Mike

        “anti-depressants” LOL

  28. BruceN

    Bizarre game. First half offense was plain putrid. For the life of me I don’t understand how an offense with Wilson, DK, Lockett and Carson (he looked slow and ineffective in this game) look so lost. When we go up tempo with motion and snap the ball early things seem to click but we only do it in spurts. Why is that? Would love to hear from Rob and the blog. It was amazing to finish the half tied when at some point we had negative yards to Niners’ 200+ yards. Incredible.

    I know everyone is ragging on Adams, but I thought he had one of his better games (minus that busted play, pending whose assignment it was, Jones or him). Had a few first down saving tackles and good in pass defense. Still, not saying I would’ve made the trade for him. The ROI hasn’t been great.

    It was nice of Dunlap to finally show up and get some pressures on the QB even when he was held on almost every rush.

    Sidney Jones experience was a mixed bag. He gave up some big plays and one (may be two if he was guilty of the busted play). But he also made a few good plays. I think/hope he’ll be an improvement.

    The two best news from the game, we beat the Niners and Lance looks pedestrian after they gave up the farm for him. He may end up being great but it’s going to take a while.

  29. Martin

    A couple of observations:

    234 yards total offence by the Seahawks. Fewest since 2019.

    Metcalf seems to have stopped getting sucked in by opponents but (given the way the taunting rule was interpreted the first few weeks) I suspect that a couple of times a peafowl could easily have been given for the same offence.

  30. Mick

    This feels like the kind of game where your team should go down in the power rankings even if they won.

  31. Ghost Mutt

    Like you say Rob, a really weird game and hard to know what to feel afterwards.

    That first half was just hideous. Devoid of hope. Piss poor blocking, seemingly no blitz beaters, Russ double clutching and getting bashed about. And of course, linebackers getting sucked up by play action to allow easy completions behind them.

    It genuinely was looking like an implosion, and that everything was gonna crumble.

    We’re all critical of the standard of coaching lately, and I don’t think good adjustments made the difference here. But PC’s teams play hard for him, and it was encouraging to see the group not give up.

    I’ll throw out another few positives:

    I’m not gonna wade into the wheel route and whether Jamal should’ve carried Deebo, because I have no idea if it was his responsibility. I did think Adams showed up better in this game though. He had a couple of good stops in run support and timed the PBU on Kittle to perfection. As Rob said though, Ryan Neal did more for a fraction of the cost.

    Alex Collins balled out, he looked like our best RB yesterday. Not saying he’s better than Chris, but he brings this choppy, frenetic energy to the backfield and it’s a great change of pace.

    Sidney Jones got beat up a couple of times, but I’d be happy to make that move full-time going forward. Having Reed on the opposite side was a real boost, it takes away what’s been a very easy target area for opposing QBs.

    Jordyn Brooks had a much better game, with a big sack and a big TFL.

    The O-line looked like they got it together in the second half. I do think scheme had a lot to do with that though, we finally started booting Russ and hitting on short slants to beat the five-man rush.

    Overall, while the win is welcome and massively important, it doesn’t really change the murky outlook going forward. If we have to play one awful half of football in every game (and apparently we do), I vote we continue stinking up the first half from now on.

  32. DriveByPoster

    Just for entertainment value I thought I would break down my thoughts on the game.

    The Good:

    Alex Collins looked like a genuine weapon & did some decent blocking too. Using him & Chris Carson in rotation led to an immediate improvement in the O & good things started happening.

    DK Metcalf’s effort to get into the endzone for the first touchdown.

    Russell Wilson’s TD throw on a totally busted play.

    Russell Wilson running again (at last!).

    Jason Myers kicking. No opportunity for FGs this week but everything else was immaculate.

    Jordyn Brooks’ first career sack.

    Freddie Swain making good contributions.

    Diggs & Neal showing how to play safety properly.

    Half time adjustments. Remember when the opposition needed to be up by at least a TD at half time or the ‘hawks would eat their lunch in the second half? That hadn’t happened for a long time…until today!

    The Bad:

    The offense for the entirety of the first half barring the TD drive that they seemingly pulled out of their arse from nowhere.

    Huge holes through the middle of the DLine.

    For the most part, there wasn’t really a ton of pressure on the opposition QBs either.

    Regardless of whether it was a busted coverage or not, Jamal Adams standing alone in acres of empty space, waving his arm vaguely in the air & hoping that someone else would make a play whilst he stood around not contributing in any way at all.

    Screen plays. Bad at defending them. Terrible at executing them.

    Why are we even playing with TEs? Might as well just stick an extra lineman or wide receiver in there.

    The Meh!

    Cornerbacks not being so bad that they were just picked on all game.

    Trying to run Chris Carson around the edge.

    Tyler Lockett not as sharp as usual. No surprise coming off last week’s injury.

    Michael Dickson’s kicking had a bit of a down day. Not terrible but not his best either.

    Bobby Wagner didn’t seem quite on it today. I even saw him miss a tackle. Probably not his fault though as we don’t seem to be playing with a third linebacker, so he & Brooks are having to do the work of three men.

  33. L80

    Man, Ryan Neal was juiced up and playing all over the field. I loved watching him play yesterday and I want to see a lot more of him.

    -3 at the end of the 1st quarter reminded me of the negaive yardage for the WHOLE GAME vs. the Rams way back in the late 70’s.

    It was nice to see them at least build confidence on both sides of the ball as they will certainly need it this Thursday.

    And how bad is Collier??….Can’t even get on the field.

    • Big Mike

      Collier is so bad he wasn’t even active…..again.

  34. sonicreducer

    Trey Lance is a much bigger project than I thought. The upside is there, but he is a long way from NFL ready. If that was Mac Jones stepping in for Jimmy G we probably lose that game.
    I know it’s early, but at what point do they view Lance/Jones like we do Penny/Chubb

    • Rob Staton

      You say the upside is there. For me he’s just a good athlete.

      The Niners will hope that in time he can be more, ala Josh Allen. But Allen is a physical freak. There’s nobody like him. And Lance is not Allen in terms of athleticism, so I’m not sure if it clicks whether that is his ceiling anyway.

      Taking a chance on him is not an issue. Trading what they did to take a chance on him, for me, was madness. And I said that at the time.

  35. Sea Mode

    Those who were saying this last night were right:

    Bob Condotta
    @bcondotta
    ¡13h

    Carroll says the big mistake in secondary was Sidney Jones. But otherwise liked play of secondary.

    • Paul Cook

      I figured it was a CB. The one thing I can say about Sidney Jones over Tre Flowers was that at least Jones was in the vicinity of the receiver most of the time. With Flowers…how many times did we have to watch the receiver with a 2-3-4-5 yard cushion?

    • Rob Staton

      Don’t encourage them…

      At the end of the day, the ex pro calling the game pointed the blame at one player and while I know Schlereth is a bit love/hate (I quite like him) some of the schematic know it all’s on twitter do get a bit tiresome.

      • BruceN

        On NFL wrap up show MJD said on a wheel route CB goes with WR1 and Adams was supposed to stay with WR2 (Deebo) on that play. So it was his assignment. Beyond my pay grade.

        • Rob Staton

          And that’s part of the problem.

          Pro’s are saying it could’ve been Adams. So even if it wasn’t, it’s hardly a fault of some of us mere observers for thinking that too.

          Yet you go on twitter and to make such a suggestion means you are clearly a total idiot when it comes to football. But there’s a lot of very weird people in Seahawks twitter.

          • BruceN

            Honestly, only the coaches and players on the team would know based on the scheme. The rest of us are speculating. MJD made the comment based on the general wheel route concept, not taking into account our scheme. As for twitter, I use it sparingly. It’s a cesspool, giving every keyboard warrior a bullhorn to spew nonsense.

            Speaking of speculation, the way this offense sparingly uses tempo, pace, short high percentage passes to RBs and TEs, snap early on the clock, etc. is maddening. The spark that got us going yesterday was the big pass play to Collins. Why then use it only sparingly. Why not play that way for 4 quarters. In your view, is this on Russell, scheme, game plan??

      • cha

        I’m finding it strange how so many of the proponents of the trade shouted his sack numbers from the rooftops and talked about how he’s going to tilt the field with splash plays and give the defense so much unpredictability.

        And now that Adams doesn’t have any sacks, hasn’t generated any turnovers and isn’t being blitzed much, they have pivoted to ‘the casual fan doesn’t understand what his role is and how much he impacts opposing offenses. Just watch how many times the offense ran the ball to the opposite side of Adams.’

        • Paul Cook

          It was so weird and incongruous what the announcers were saying about Adams throughout the game. It’s almost as if they saw that he was our new high paid player and that our fan base expected to hear nice things about him all game irregardless if it was called for or not. I noticed this like 4-5 times.

        • Rob Staton

          Exactly. So true. So, so true.

          • cha

            And further, if he really is having that big of an impact and the Seahawks are still that terrible on defense, perhaps those 3 high picks and $70million would be better spent in other places.

            • SeaTown

              What’s really mind boggling is it seems like Seattle padded those sack numbers last year just to give him ammunition during contract discussions. Then they pay him based on his sack numbers and now refuse to let him do what he did last year. I just don’t get it.

    • Big Mike

      I’m no X and O guy and I believed folks yesterday when they said it wasn’t the peacock’s assignment. The problem was that the highest paid defensive player on the team made a huge and demonstrative show of it being someone else’s fault. A true leader would go to the bench in a stoic fashion and let the HC answer the inevitable question about the play.
      I guarantee in that situation he did nothing to endear himself to his defensive teammates and may have further alienated some if them.

  36. Paul Cook

    Can we please have an offense that looks like it knows what it’s doing tempo-wise and schematic-wise? I was watching the Pats/Bucs game last night. There was one drive in the second half where Mac Jones led the Pats down the field with real nice tempo, plays coming in fast, hitting multiple receivers in the mid to intermediate range, getting the ball out quick, moving the chains…you get the idea.

    He’s an effing rookie playing in his 4th game. Why can’t we do that with the greater experience and talent we have? We rarely look like we know what we’re doing on offense, like we have a plan. There’s too often a time gap between the last play and the forthcoming one, like we have no idea what we want to do next. If our running games gets slowed down, and we don’t get chunk plays, it’s like we have no other offense to rely upon.

    I’m really getting frustrated by this. This was supposed to be different this year.

    • Simo

      Agreed! So much for running the offense with tempo. To my eye it seemed like they were up against the play clock on nearly every play. Now I know Russ was changing plays at the line, but that takes time and especially when you’re in a hostile stadium. You have to get to the line quicker so there’s enough time for Russ to do his thing.

      And why not run a few series per game in hurry up mode, as this is a situation where Russ excels.

      • Paul Cook

        I want two simple things, things I see with other offenses. I want a more sophisticated short/intermediate ball control offense, especially as it relates to the passing game. I want to get this kind of schematic mindset more deeply ingrained and deployed in our offense. I want us to pick up the pace a bit at times, keep the defense more off balance, diversify our targets more, keep ourselves out of longer third down situations as much as possible.

        I saw this some in our first game against the Colts, and I saw it on a couple of drives since, this style of play. I have not seen it nearly enough to say with any conviction that our offense is evolving beyond the style we’ve all become familiar with, smash mouth running and long developing pass plays.

        We’ve all gone over this a million times here. I’m no football mastermind. I just see what other teams, many teams with less talented offensive personnel than us do.

        Sometimes I think if we scripted an entire offense for a game irregardless of the situation and ran it with conviction, we’d be no worse off than we’ve often looked this year.

    • BigSmooth13

      They scored 17 points and lost to one of the worst pass defenses in the league. Grass isn’t always greener.

  37. STTBM

    Watched the fourth quarter.

    How come nobody noticed the RT for SF absolutely mauling our DE, usually Green, play after play?! The announcers ignored it too–but Pete didn’t. Every play, dude was not only arm-barring Green, but grabbing the front of the jersey, were talking a full handful, and yanking the collar! It was some of the most blatant holding I’ve ever seen, yet for two drives no flag. Carrol was giving the Ref an earful, so they finally called it–on first down where it wouldn’t cost SF much. Then no more calls…

    Getting harder to stand NFL football, it’s becoming WWF–entertainment, not true Sport.

    Refs keeping the game close at the end…gross!

    • Big Mike

      It was utterly horrendous. In my post yesterday while it was happening (to Dunlap several times as well) I stated that the refs were doing what needed to be done to keep the game close to keep the ratings up. Go ahead and call me a ridiculous conspiracy theorist and to that my answer would be “Super Bowl XL*”.

      • L80

        They were holding our D-Line all day, and that particular play with Dunlao, they showed it in slow motion and the OL, basically held and ripped him to the ground and no call. It was so obvious even in real time. I’m giving the D-Line a pass for most of the day because of the allowed holding alone.

        They need to let the refs (and coaches) know what’s going on that they aren’t calling.

    • Ashish

      I was screaming from my couch, holding 🙂 but ref was not interested. It was clear holding for number of times in SFO last drive, the positive was our defense was able to eat up the clock else it would have been interesting. I agree with Big Mike, it is to make game interesting.

      Good to know it is not just me who thought it was holding.

  38. Les Thomas

    I’ve been wanting Neal to get some time, nice to see Seattle finally pulled their dead out enough to give him a shot. Nicer still to see dbs actually trying to compete with wrs, instead of waiting till they catch the ball to do anything. Schematics is the biggest problem with the D by far.

    Norton deserves blame, but Andre Curtis the Defensive Passing Game Coordinator and the DB coach also deserve to be unemployed.

  39. Sea Mode

    Not I.

    Adam Schefter
    @AdamSchefter
    ¡51m

    Who had the Cardinals and Raiders as the NFL’s last two unbeaten teams?

    • Ashish

      If we manage to beat Rams on Thursday, Cardinals will be 4-0, Hawks and Rams 3-2 and SFO – 2-2.

      • Paul Cook

        If there’s an extra motivational factor for this game, it clearly rests with the Seahawks. Revenge game for beating us at home and knocking us out of the playoffs last year.

  40. L80

    Another observation I have is that quite obviously converting on 3rd down is still a huge problem.

    They keep trying Metcalf but he hasn’t been much of an answer. Secondly, they are putting themselves in 3rd and long way too much. Some of that is O-Line, some of it is RW hanging onto the ball, and some is play calling.

    Were not using TE enough in those situations. We didn’t have Everett for this game but we did have a 6’7″ TE available, and needing playing time. I don’t see a reason why a quick slant pattern can’t soften up the middle of defenses.

    And DK isn’t the 3rd down machine that Baldwin was.

  41. L80

    Great, Salk is talking Mariners with Pete. Is there any possibility of EVER getting competant journalist/broadcasters in Seattle?

    • Pran

      Pete is a fatherly figure of Seattle sports. he needs to talk about everything!

  42. Happy Hawk

    Since nobody mentioned it – i guess it is not a good take but RW set an all time NFL record by getting to 100 wins the fastest of any QB ever. I wonder how many wins we would have got the last 100 games without him? 60? 65? His tremendous athletic ability to survive with such a bad Ol all these years and never miss a single game is more than impressive. If you take out Tom Brady and his 233 wins the next 2 best are B Favre and P Manning at 186. My guess is that RW beats that by the end of his career easily.

  43. JimQ

    The first +/- 20 minutes of the game was sooooo bad, I -for the first time in years-, swore like a drunken sailor after every play. I had the impression that some high schooler players had somehow possessed the Seahawks players and they were all walking around like zombies imitating NFL players. Then, when the Seahawks finally started to show some life, it then became a question on every play if their resurgence would last & prevail, thankfully it did. I hope to never see that kind of crappy start again – ever.

    Adams, based on his performance (or lack thereof) is overpaid by about 15+ million a year that could be used well elsewhere. Perhaps, the Seahawks can trade him for a good CB and a mid-round pick in exchange? That way the Seahawks can say the CB they got makes up for the loss of 2 1-st round picks to justify the Adams trade and save face? —-> ANY player getting 17.5 million year needs to perform at the very highest level possible and Adams IS NOT doing that or even close. Time to get rid of him somehow.
    IMO. – Adams acts like a Peacock and that is a great name for him that describes him perfectly.

    • Scot04

      I have a hard time seeing us getting better than a 3rd round pick. At this point I think we are stuck with Adams and PC will continue to defend his poor play.

  44. Scot04

    In regards to the blown coverage play. This morning Hugh Millen went pretty in depth on who’s responsibility it was.
    He felt PC was just covering for Adams, almost like a teachers pet.
    Said if cover 2 it was Adams job to cover the Wheel route.

    He said he would like to have someone ask what coverage they were running and who was responsible; and watch him squirm.
    (I think we’d all love to see this, we need tough questions)

    Based on how he saw other players on defense and where they were; he said he’d be willing to bet it was cover 2 and Adams job.

    Regardless I’m just glad they won, but too many questions remain.
    They Definitely have alot to figure out before Thursday.

    • Rob Staton

      Interesting. I’ll check that out.

      But what does Hugh know? He’s not even on Twitter…

      • Scot04

        Lol, true about Twitter.
        Hope this helps you find it.
        Sometime between 8:30 & 9:30 on KJR this morning in the hour before Holmgren came on.

        • Rob Staton

          They upload the podcast the next day so I’ll check it out tomorrow

    • Big Mike

      Very, very interesting. Millen doesn’t pull punches. Either way, as I said up above the way the peacock reacted so demonstratively was lame.

      • Scot04

        Agree Big Mike.
        Rob’s Peacock image definitely fits Adams. Unfortunately that’s a bad thing for this defense

    • Sea Mode

      Ok, but I’m pretty sure even Jones owned up to it in his press conference, so not sure on that. One thing is for PC to cover for Adams on his own, another would be to ask/force other players to take the blame for him, which would really be something.

    • Ashish

      Will not surprised if PC is trying to cover for Adams, since he can’t. Bottom line if they have to fix this, I’m sure RAMS is going to have that play come thursday.

      • BigSmooth13

        Sidney Jones himself came out and said it was on him.

        It feels like everyone here hates Jamal which is strange. I get that we overpaid for him both in assets and salary. But look at where he lined up and where the 49ers ran. Almost everytime away from him. Also that hit he put on Kittle I think it was. That was some Kam vibes. He played a good game today.

        • Rob Staton

          It feels like everyone here hates Jamal which is strange.

          No, many of us just think it was a car crash trade and talk about why.

          You don’t need to reduce the conversation to hating him. Unless you feel like some gentle peacock-inspired joshing is the peak of hatred.

          I get that we overpaid for him both in assets and salary.

          Ah, so you agree.

          But look at where he lined up and where the 49ers ran. Almost everytime away from him.

          Have you considered there might be another reason for this rather than ‘we better not run the way of a defensive back because they are renowned for blowing up running plays’?

          Also that hit he put on Kittle I think it was.

          It was a nice hit.

          He played a good game today.

          And yet he graded way below average per PFF.

          • BigSmooth13

            ” Have you considered there might be another reason for this rather than ‘we better not run the way of a defensive back because they are renowned for blowing up running plays’? ‘

            Yes but have you considered that one of Adams best asset is knifing through and stopping wide runs. And that teams do actually gameplay for him.

            ” And yet he graded way below average per PFF ”

            I don’t have access to that or really understand it but when I go on their website I see he’s graded around the same as most safeties. Better than Justin Simmons, Minkah Fitzpatrick and others. Now I don’t know if that’s for the season or just one game.

            • Rob Staton

              You don’t ‘knife through’ to stop a run in space off the edge.

              Look, you would avoid running to his side if you feared he was so good setting the edge. But he isn’t. No defensive back is brilliant setting the edge. I would run right to Kam if he was trying to do that, let alone Adams.

              So I think my original point stands. There’s probably a reason why they ran the way they did and it wasn’t because they feared JA destroying their running game.

              As for comparisons to others, that doesn’t mean anything to me. Those two players might be playing poorly and might be failing to live up to the investment in them too. It doesn’t justify anything in terms of this trade.

              • BigSmooth13

                Shouldn’t the numbers mean something to you do you’re bringing them up? Shouldn’t they be taken into context? Diggs is 68 by pff. Adams is 62. YOU said he was graded way below average by PFF. What is average on PFF?

                • Rob Staton

                  More defense of the sacred cow.

                  What are you even trying to argue here? What has Diggs’ grade got to do with anything?

                  There’s a breakdown of PFF’s grading online for where they clearly explain what their scale says.

                  • BigSmooth13

                    You don’t need to reduce the conversation to making him a sacred cow.

                    Comparison. I said he had a good game, you countered with a PFf score. Looking up the scale all the players I’ve mentioned is either backup worthy or replacement level according to PFF. Not very accurate. PFF scored the wheel route as a Sidney Jones miscue BTW. So what are we going off of here?

                    • Rob Staton

                      You don’t need to reduce the conversation to making him a sacred cow.

                      I feel like that’s what you’ve started doing.

                      Comparison. I said he had a good game, you countered with a PFf score.

                      Which is fair. Because they grade every player on every play and you and I don’t.

                      Looking up the scale all the players I’ve mentioned is either backup worthy or replacement level according to PFF. Not very accurate.

                      Why? If they haven’t played well and get a bad grade, it is what it is.

                      PFF scored the wheel route as a Sidney Jones miscue BTW. So what are we going off of here?

                      His entire game.

              • BigSmooth13

                Yes you knife through to stop a run in the backfield. Which Adams is one of the best at. He’s one of the best box safetys in the league and has been one of the best since he entered in the league. Teams will no doubt gameplay for that. Do I think they designed all the runs to go away from Adams? No of course not that would be stupid. Just like it’s stupid not to think that teams would not gameplan for his strengths.

                • Rob Staton

                  I see you’re now shifting the goalposts because you’re losing the argument.

                  You’re admitting that knifing into the backfield and avoiding running at someone are different things though, which is a start.

                  But then you pivot to meaningless platitudes like he’s one of the best etc etc etc which means nothing in this context. You specifically suggested they avoided running at him. I suggested that probably wasn’t the case and explained why. Now you’re saying they generally game planned in some undesignated way because he’s super good.

                  A lot of mental gymnastics to stick up for a sacred cow. That’s what I’m getting here.

                  • BigSmooth13

                    Yes they are different things.

                    49ers probably did not specifically run away from him all game , I can admit that. I can also say that they specifically ran away from him on certain plays.

                    • Rob Staton

                      “But look at where he lined up and where the 49ers ran. Almost everytime away from him.”

                      “49ers probably did not specifically run away from him all game , I can admit that. I can also say that they specifically ran away from him on certain plays.”

                      And there we have it.

                      As I said, a lot of mental gymnastics to defend a sacred cow.

                      Including starting your comments with ‘everyone here hates Jamal’.

                      You are literally the kind of person I referred to in my latest article.

                  • BigSmooth13

                    You are literally the person you wrote about just the extreme opposite. The writing and attacking of Jamal Adams is clearly not balanced. Which is what I’m getting at. And the reason that the majority of this blog seems to hate Jamal Adams..

                    • Rob Staton

                      There you go again.

                      You haven’t got any counters to what’s being said. It’s just easier to accuse me of being unbalanced and the blog of ‘hating’ Adams.

                      I see right through it.

                      I’ve provided a ton of detail over numerous articles backing up my opinion of Jamal Adams’ performance in Seattle and the worthiness of the trade.

                      People such as yourself don’t like it because you want to protect the sacred cow.

                      That’s fine.

                      But whenever you fire back with ‘you’re just haters’, you have to be willing to embrace what you’re doing.

  45. cha

    Pete Carroll show on 710 espn

    “Span where we scored 4 out of 5 times and stopped them on 8 straight drives.”

    [q] Notice that on sidelines? “Tell by result. Guys started catching fire a bit. Whole thing about being resilient is belief. Can get kinda lost somewhere. Particularly the call for the week. Russ pulls off a couple plays, guys put some plays together and there we are.”

    [q] Let’s talk about the Mariners and listen to the call on the game? Do you have a baseball background? Similar to Scott Servais in positivity and get the best out of each other? (cha ed: I’m not transcribing this pablum)

    [q] Let’s listen to a Raible clip of the game on the Swain TD? “Beautiful play. Shocking play in such trouble, then all of the sudden TD. Really cool.”
    [q] Do for team on sideline? “A dozen guys went right to Russ to celebrate. Sweet, special. Reminds you of why you anticipate their performance. So classic of Russ.”

    [q] Classic Seahawks win, ugly early, good late, held off for win? “I do kind of like it like that. Challenged, really hard, really tough. So valuable to us. Pays off in so many different ways. Really good for us. Hard start, gonna make it better.”

    [q] Russ game? “Great FB game. Ran for TD, mixed ball, called a great game, one of his better games. Couldn’t do much about early start. Sacked on three drives. Came out of it, didn’t give up a sack the rest of the day. Russ’ composure showed up. Big 16 yard run. Beautiful timing. Really good.”

    [q] Making more decisions at LOS? Specific about game plan or normal? “No, doing what we do. Style we play with. Take benefits of timing at LOS. Not always play fast, get a lot done. Collab with Shane. Russ called a really good game yesterday, not gonna talk much about it.”

    [q] What doing at LOS? “Depends. Variety of ways it happens. Makes decisions that fit with the call. Help of Shane. So composed. Think about it, people screaming at you, gotta get everyone the change. A lot happening. So challenging. Respect what he pulled off.”

    [q] DK touchdown? Move on corner? “Release in practice a couple weeks ago, saw exact same thing. Short area, Russ right on it. Really loaded up player now. Speed, power, intricate route coming back to FB yesterday, did it all.”

    [q] Collins game setup better for him? “No, I don’t think so. Sometimes RBs get a feel and take advantage. Some guys just run better than others, and took advantage. That’s why I’m always wide open for whatever. Alex’s experience allows him to see things. Comes to light in great plays. Finds his way with beautiful passion.”

    [q] Defense – 3rd downs good this week? Different? “Kenny’s decision to go with Neal was a big decision. Fantastic FB game. Safeties on fire, really active day for us. Pass breakups like close to 10. Well orchestrated day of third down play. See safeties active, Jamal couple great hits. Neal had 3 or 4 wins on third down. A statement for us. Neal”

    [q] What goes into decision to play w Neal? “He brought it to me. Kittle a factor, worked out. I was excited when he brough t it up and he worked out.”

    [q] Change in CB? “needed to see other guys, another caveat get DJ back to right side. He looked more active on the right side. Anxious to see what he said about it. Sidney had a challenging day. Couple plays got away from him. All in all did a nice job.”

    [q] Veteran corners take longer to learn? “Maybe, I don’t know. We really attempt to not overload guys when they come in. Respect where they came from. Adult way of looking at it. Help them adapt and figure what they do best. Another guy, Bless Austin coming on, Tre Brown coming back too. Ongoing and not settled yet. Competing.”

    [q] How much scheme same this week or played it better? “Brought up things we had, subtle adjustments, worked out well for us. Aggressive nature on third down. Looking to attack. Thursday night, hope to keep picking off those third down wins.”

    [q] Neal on field open more freedom for Jamal to make plays? “It’s not that simple, my brain doesn’t go there. Everything about way played was aggressive, best suited for Diggs and Adams. Give them those opps brings out best in them. Ryan part of that.”

    [q] Adams said defense changes this week? Emotional leader? Can I compare him to Kam in that way? Off the field importance? “Great motor, loves to compete. Aggressive, outgoing, confident guy. Backs it up with play. So excited to get him. Learn what he’s all about. Talks to Kam, they stay in connection. Kam still part of it, legacy. On highlight film this week when we showed some stuff.”

    [q] Meaningful to win in SF? Watch Brady & Belichick? “No, studying for next game”

    [q] Think when Brady left? “I thought it was going to be obvious. Always been the factor that made them so unique (quickly clarifies Belichick was too). Impressive.”

    [q] Dunlap injury? “Sprained toe, turf toe. Gotta see how he responds. Will see.”

    [q] Anyone back this week? “Everett, not sure. Barton banged hard. Taylor tweaked ankle a bit. Jones been sick, docs real happy got source.”

    [q] Eskridge? “I don’t know, didn’t feel well after practice. Shell back to practice.”

    [q] TNF, good memories and weird games? “Let’s have another one, hopefully a win.”

    • Ashish

      Thank you Cha.

    • Henry Taylor

      Nice to hear Norton was the guy that pushed to play Neal. Clearly it was a good call and encouraging to hear he’s not completely useless. I hope they stick with it

    • DC

      Did I catch that he finally let Russ call plays at the line? Wonder if that’s why they finally started to move the ball…

    • cha

      It sometimes feels like everyone’s a bit starstruck by Carroll or hesitant to get on his wrong side.

      The Friday press conf was a good example of this. He walked up to the podium grumpy (for him). All of his body language said “I don’t want to be here.” His answers were clipped. He tried to end it early and just walk off, and one reporter got one more question in. He answered and then just walked off.

      The press corp could feel him radiating it and obliged him.

      All the questions were on injury updates, and a couple bland questions on how the week of practice was.

      • cha

        Oh, one reporter asked how they were going to get Everett to SF to see if he could test Sunday and play. PC smartly answered ‘he’s gonna materialize in the bay area’

        • Bmseattle

          It’s a legitimate question.
          I’m not surprised that Pete disnt want to answer it, tho.

      • Hawkdawg

        I’ve noticed he does tend to be shorter and a bit more adversarial/evasive with the press on Fridays. The vibe I get is that he doesn’t want to give away anything to the enemy 2 days before the game.

    • KennyBadger

      Thanks as always cha.

      Turf toe, yuck.

    • Whit21

      I think thats one of the reason’s a few people around Seattle don’t like Mike Salk. Jim Moore had a scathing article about him coming back to 710 after failing in Boston. I don’t care to listen to 710.. I would rather hear Hugh Millen stammer through big words and his long winded explanations.

      710 us a joke..

  46. Hawk Finn

    Thoughts on Darrell Taylor so far?

    • cha

      Absolutely thrilled he’s been able to even take the field. A huge relief.

      Moments of great play and moments of frustration. Typical for a rookie, but definitely trending up to at least be a solid rotational pass rusher.

      I’d still like to see the Seahawks just use him in a pass rushing role.

      • Mick

        I also wish we kept the players on their positions, have them do what they know best. Taylor has good potential. I would like to see him and Alton as our pass rushers, but I guess they’ll need another year or two to grow.

        • Scot04

          Agree Mick, still hate the moving of Lewis from RG to LG. Especially when Jackson already has experience at LG. The move made 0 sense.

          • Ashish

            Not sure when PC will understand change in position is not helping. See D J Reed for latest example, just moving from left to right at corner back is huge difference.

    • Matt

      I legit thought his career was over. Very happy I’ve been wrong about that.

      • Big Mike

        Likewise on both accounts. Being wrong when it’s a positive for the team is a very good thinbg.

    • GoHawks5151

      He has legit ability that no one else has n this team has. Development and finishing the year healthy would be huge

      • pdway

        I agree. Way too small a sample size to know if he’ll get there, but he’s one of the few Hawks who looks at times like he could be a star someday.

  47. cha

    Points for the NFL’s social media team brining the snark titling the video “Fine…I’ll Do it Myself”

    https://youtu.be/s2YaPpe2w5M

    FYI Russ reached 19.23 MPH on that play. Kyler Murray’s best mark was 20.07 MPH.

    • 206

      He was flying! You could even tell his speed on the TV

  48. Palatypus

    You know, it’s quite possible that Mark Schlereth says so many nice things about us simply because he’s from Alaska.

    • Big Mike

      Also played college ball at U. of Idaho

  49. Mick

    Best & worst PFF grades in D:

    FS Quandre Diggs: 89.7
    SS Ryan Neal: 84.4
    CB D.J. Reed: 74.0
    DT Al Woods: 71.8
    DE Carlos Dunlap: 68.2

    CB Sidney Jones: 35.7
    LB Jordyn Brooks: 37.3
    LB Bobby Wagner: 37.7
    DE Alton Robinson: 38.3
    DB Ugo Amadi: 43.2

    Rob you were right, Neal and Diggs scored better than Adams. I think we are exposing our LBs with the way we play, and this explains their poor grades.

    In O:

    QB Russell Wilson: 82.5
    WR D.K. Metcalf: 73.8
    WR Freddie Swain: 72.2
    RB Travis Homer: 69.2
    RT Cedric Ogbuehi: 68.6

    TE Will Dissly: 45.4
    TE Colby Parkinson: 47.3
    RT Jake Curhan: 52.7
    RB Chris Carson: 57.4
    WR Penny Hart: 57.8

    • cha

      Is it wrong to be thrilled with Kyle Fuller grading a 62.5?

      • Big Mike

        Not when we’ve seen his grades previously

    • DriveByPoster

      If Travis Homer is grading higher than Alex Collins then you have to seriously question the methodology.

      • Rob Staton

        In fairness, Homer had nine snaps. If he’d played Collins’ 22 snaps, he might’ve graded lower than he did. Collins’ bigger sample size probably hurts him (and we only remember the great moments)

      • Denver Hawker

        Homer pulled up by a nearly elite pass blocking grade. I don’t know the PFF formula, but picking up a blitz that results in a good pass play could be just as important as breaking a tackle on a 6 yard run.

        • BobbyK

          I really like Homer because he does those little things extremely well. Good on special teams and awesome in pass pro. He’s not a difference maker or a star by any means (he’s not a good RB) but he’s the type of guy you want on your team when you factor he’s still on his rookie contract. Good contributor in his small roles and cheap.

          • TomLPDX

            This!

            • DriveByPoster

              Thanks for the responses! All fair points.

              But that does raise another question for me. If a player executes perfectly but the play goes away from them for some reason (say, for the sake of argument, a WR executes his route & got open but the QB got sacked) how on earth is that graded?

    • Rob Staton

      Jamal Adams scored a 49.4 grade vs San Fran

      • cha

        How do 4 scores in the 50’s add up to a 49.4 ?

        Are there a multitude of other scores not on the main team sheet?

        And they must be pretty low to drag 4 scores in their 50’s down to a 49

        • Rob Staton

          No idea to be honest. It might be that they give out a general grade with certain criteria that isn’t an average of those other ones.

    • Blitzy the Clown

      Help me understand Ogbuehi’s score. Didn’t he give up a sack and wasn’t he replaced by Curran during the game?

      Honestly, I thought he looked awful.

      • Rob Staton

        He was spelled briefly according to PC due to only just returning from injury.

        I don’t notice him in a noticeably bad way. It appeared they struggle to block the edges on both sides in the run game. But I can’t say I thought ‘Ogbuehi is playing poorly’ per se.

    • Big Mike

      Assume Duane’s grade wasn’t good. His poorest game of the year for sure. How about Collins?

  50. FrogsAlum

    Two interesting RB prospects for the 2023 draft: Bijan Robinson (Texas) and Zach Evans (TCU). Saturday’s game between both schools was a slug fest with both players offering the majority of their team’s offense. Two different styles but both high-level recruits with serious league potential

  51. Rob Staton

    Jamal Adams’ season so far, according to PFF…

    COLTS — 70.7
    TITANS — 63.6
    VIKINGS — 63.6
    49ERS — 49.4

    Listed at 62.8 overall — 42nd ranked safety

    • BobbyK

      You’re just stupid for not knowing he’s better than that. He’s leading the NFL in interceptions, forced fumbles, recovered fumbles, sacks, and tackles. Didn’t you know that? You’re also stupid for saying prior to the NFL Draft that Nick Chubb was better than Penny and TJ Watt would be a better pro that Malik McDowell. Get a clue before you get on Jamal’s back. He’s sensitive. We must support him at all costs. Personally, I wish the Seahawks would give the Jets their 2nd round pick in the upcoming draft, too – just as a thank you for the opportunity to have him.

      • Rob Staton

        This is especially funny given this is literally the level of conversation you get on Twitter 🙂

      • Denver Hawker

        Hilarious! But serious question- is he really that sensitive? Pete afraid to give him honest feedback about his play and risk hurting his attitude? I know there’s still some zeolots that think offenses are avoiding him, but most fans can see what he’s not doing this year.

      • Hawkdawg

        In Rob’s Peacock category, I’m sure people noticed Adams getting beaten like a red-headed stepchild on the double pass–literally be 20 yards away from his man because he bit on the first sweep to the left–then get bailed out by the poor execution that made the second pass to his guy way late, and barely make it back in time to make the play (which I thought could have been a DPI)…and then strut and pose like he was all that. Sheesh. That fools nobody.

        Mostly hat, not much cowboy.

    • pdway

      eye test wise he looked better yesterday than in the Vikings game. More active at least.

  52. Tomas

    Crazy game, grateful for the win … and grateful KS took Lance, who looked like a pretty good Junior College QB. That decision will haunt the 49ers for years. KS isn’t as smart as he thinks he is.

    • Rob Staton

      The way the 49ers handled the trade-up-for-a-QB situation during the off-season was truly baffling

      • All I see is 12s

        We must always remember he tried to trade the pick the night before the draft.

      • Hawkster

        They tried to trade away #3 for a box safety, but nobody was interested.

  53. Rob Staton

    Fair play to Michael Dugar for pressing Carroll on the third down situation on offense.

    Carroll very grumpy and a little patronising in response. But it’s a legit point to be challenged on.

    • cha

      Hugh!

      • Rob Staton

        Bravo Hugh Millen

        Asked a proper question

        Carroll’s response — overly sensitive, precious and not good

        • Rob Staton

          That has been the grumpiest Carroll interview I can recall

          Unsurprisingly, first time in a while (ever?) he’s been put on the spot

          But I also think it’s indicative of a coach who knows this team isn’t as good as he hoped, that they haven’t got the chops to be a serious post-season threat and may well be considering his future (that last bit is my theory but I think there’s something to it)

          This is definitely not the Carroll we’ve come to know, anyway. Nobody else has picked up on that. But I think his body language and energy is massively different at the moment

          • cha

            Agree. Particularly coming off a win.

          • Hawkdawg

            I must be in the minority. Coach doesn’t want to throw a new player to the team and the scheme under the bus. Will need him down the road. Just like Quandre didn’t want to be a “snitch.”

            • Rob Staton

              But he already suggested it was that new players’ fault the day before. Which is the whole reason Mullen went on there. Because he thought that was BS

        • Bmseattle

          What was the question?

          • cha

            Hugh had been talking about the Deebo TD breakdown and who has responsibility on the wheel route to cover.

            He asked Pete about the route and concept they ran in a technical way in order to understand who blew the play.

        • TomLPDX

          Ok, now I have to watch the press conference.

          • Rob Staton

            You do, it’s worth it

  54. neil

    Very informative article on SBNATION detailing how bad RW was on 3rd down in the game. The Hawks are 30th in 3rd down conversion because Wilson seems to favor Metcalf in those situations even though he only has a64% completion ratio. As stated if Wilson can’t pick up his play on 3rd down, we can’t expect too many wins.

    • Ashish

      If Russ wanted to target on 3rd it should be Tyler. But in general coaches should help with better plays and Russ should look for open receivers.

  55. Rob Staton

    Jesus. Who the hell is this clown?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73b1trshA7k

    Another reason to dislike the Niners.

    • neil

      2 of 10 on 3rd down is good? Go check out the article.

      • Rob Staton

        Why are you responding to this comment with that reply?

    • cha

      He must be mad because he fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous of which is, never get involved in a land war in Asia. But only slightly less famous…don’t take a victory lap before the game is over.

      https://i.redd.it/ngbo8q8nwbr71.png

      • Rob Staton

        Ah, he’s San Fran’s Evan.

        I get it now.

      • BruceN

        Hilarious video! He looks like he’s about to have a coronary. On a related note, “Kyle seems to be on the hot seat” story has legs.

        • Rob Staton

          What was with the pacing back and forth?

          • Hawkdawg

            All part of the clown show. But I enjoyed it. I also learned that the Niners have lost 9 out of their last 10 home games? Can that be right?

    • olyhawksfan

      Clown is right. Trying to get a job. Fire Kyle, we’ll take him off your hands.

  56. Alex Higgins

    The Seahawks sure looked terrible at times. They also looked terrific a few times. My beef with PC is that he never seems to get consistent play from his teams. I plan to keep watching, but I reserve the right to turn off the TV at any given moment. I need to develop an App that notifies me when the Seahawks are starting to play well so I can tune in at the right moment.

  57. Palatypus

    Anyone hear Hugh Millen’s.echange with Pete Carroll on KJR? BWAHAHAHAHA !!!

    • 12th chuck

      is there a link?

    • Justaguy

      Made my heart sing listening to that

      • Big Mike

        Ditto. Love you Hugh.
        My gut tells me he’s covering for the peacock but I can’t prove it.

  58. Frank

    My best armchair coach guess, is that Addams will win out as the worst end of the deal still. I think Shanahan wanted Jones kept away from the Pats, and was basically strong armed bye the 49er faithful and possibly Lynch in taking Lance. I think he could be effective as a Kap, Newton, Jackson mold, but certainly with the lack of game time in the last couple years he needs lots of reps to be effective at all but will always be limited bye accuracy in the short to medium zone. I’m thinking poor mans Cam Newton career arch if he can at least get used to actually playing football again and he gets game plans actually schemed for him. I think it’s wise to not just right in a victory for the Hawks for the rest of his career based on a game he wasn’t part of the game plan against a division rival desperate for a win. Off topic, but damn Kyler Murray and the Cards are looking like monsters, this division is insane.
    With Darnold looking pretty Legit, almost wondering what Mitch Trubiski has removed from a horrible situation?

    • Hawkdawg

      The thing with Lance is that he might get good, but too late for Shanahan or Lynch. That’s why they planned on Jimmy being the bridge. That plan is in some doubt, I’d say.

  59. downtownjewelrybryan

    damn… renfrow tackles better than adams

© 2024 Seahawks Draft Blog

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑