No, the Seahawks season isn't over. Far from it. But they sure have eliminated a good portion of their margin for error.
— Mike Salk, 710 ESPN (@TheMikeSalk) September 21, 2015
For the third game in a row, the Seahawks found a way to lose in the fourth quarter.
The Super Bowl. The St. Louis game. The Packers game.
Seattle had a four-point lead, all the momentum and the atmosphere in Lambeau Field was becoming increasingly nervy.
A combination of Aaron Rodgers brilliance, a conservative defense and a key turnover means the Seahawks are in an 0-2 hole after the first two weeks of the season.
Some quick notes:
— Despite well publicised struggles against running quarterbacks, Russell Wilson was a non-factor as a runner in the first half. Why did it take until the second half to get the quarterback moving? Green Bay were dazed during Seattle’s two drives immediately after half time. Looking at the damage Colin Kaepernick did to Dom Capers’ defense, it was hard to watch Wilson avoiding the keeper. Green Bay prepared for the zone-read hand-off to Marshawn Lynch, took it away and had little trouble in doing so.
— Jimmy Graham had one catch and two targets. The Seahawks didn’t know how to build an offense around Percy Harvin and now they’re struggling to make use of another big name target. They have to be prepared to scheme around getting Graham into favourable match-ups (and then throw him the ball) otherwise this’ll end up being another wasted first round pick. This has to be a growing concern after two weeks. Graham is being lost in the same way Zach Miller became ineffective as a pass-catcher — except Graham is an inferior blocker. In a big NFC match-up on the road Graham has to have more than one catch for 11 yards. Has to. And that’s not taking anything away from Green Bay’s defense. The thing is, every defense prepared for Graham in New Orleans — and more often than not he dominated anyway.
— For large stretches the defensive performance was an upgrade over last week in St. Louis. Rodgers was limited after a sound opening drive. Yet as the game wore on and as Green Bay quickened the pace — Seattle had no answer. They didn’t blitz and were picked off using a soft zone. They struggled to create pressure using three and four man rushes in the fourth quarter. They also started to miss tackles and gave up some running gains. Still, it was better than week one.
— For the second straight week a healthy Seahawks roster (minus Kam Chancellor) lost to a beat-up opponent. St. Louis were missing their best two running backs plus their best two corners for a portion of the game. Green Bay were without Bryan Bulaga and Letroy Guion and lost Eddie Lacy early on. Davante Adams also injured his ankle and played hurt.
— For a team that has always been about finishing — the last three games have been agonising. Seattle shouldn’t have blown a 7-point lead to the Rams. The way they ran out of steam in this latest contest is partly due to Rodgers (perfect in the fourth quarter) but also on Seattle. Wilson has avoided turnovers in his career but was caught out on a covered screen play. It prevented the Seahawks from responding with a seven-point deficit and handed Green Bay minutes off the clock and a field goal.
— 0-2 isn’t a disaster, even with the Arizona Cardinals reaching 2-0. Home games against two other 0-2 teams — Chicago and Detroit — will provide an opportunity to reach parity. A week eight trip to Dallas appears less threatening if Tony Romo and Dez Bryant are both unavailable. Even so, the margin for error is tiny now. The Seahawks have lost 50% of the games they lost last year already and have to go to Cincinnati, Baltimore, Dallas, Minnesota, San Francisco and Arizona. There’s a reason only around 11-12% of 0-2 teams make the playoffs. They need a spark to get the season going.
As much as national pundits will make this about Kam being gone the defense was really not far off from where they were in the nfc title game. The real problem is undisciplined play especially Michael Bennett getting two huge offside penalties.
A much bigger concern is our offense. We refuse to scheme to start a game. Everything starts the same way expecting lynch to carry us until bevel gets to adjust to whatever they are running. Maybe we should start in up tempo mode and begin by passing. If that isn’t an option for us due to limitations of Wilson then his contract was s huge mistake. That we can look so good on both sides of the ball and then look absolutely terrible in the same game means the talent is there we just refuse to put them in a consistent position to succeed.
Agreed. I dont want to jump in with the reactionary ‘fire Bevell, he’s the worst’ crowd but I do see an issue with the offence.
Id think the first drives of the game are largely scripted but with the evident ineffectiveness I hope they have the capability to assess and improve upon their offensive playcalling and starts to the game. For the last 4 games this team comes out, looks disorganized and sloppy on offence, gets into a hole, and then struggles to surmount it with only last years NFCCG resulting in a win.
I get that they use half-time to make adjustments based on what they see from the first half but it is taking them too long to get their feet under them. 3 points in a half is not acceptable. This last GB game was essentially lost in the first quarter as you said Rob. For a team that says, ‘always compete’, I hope this applies to our management and game coordinators as well as the players because it really look like they need a kick in the pants to shake us out of this boring, predictable, and conservative offence that we are starting games with.
There is an over reliance on getting Marshawn carries in the first quarter. The opponents are waiting for him. They stuff the run and we go three and out. Then we fall behind. We need to mix it up more early in the game. When did we last see RW run the read option keeper to start the game. It has never happened. Marshawn runs best in the 4th quarter because by then RW is desperate and contributing in the running game. We specialize in the come from behind victory because we have RW’s running as a fall back that only occurs late in games. It is like a boxer who only uses one arm.
The reality is, the ‘fire Darrell Bevell’ crowd was correct. We wasted the first half being passive, playcalling afraid to lose, and guess what? WE DID!
The 3rd quarter was mostly excellent. Naked bootlegs, spreading the field, the read option. 14 points on the board.
But, once again, we had to waste 2 quarters to make it happen. Why? What is this team so afraid of?
I don’t think Pete’s offensive philosophy is the issue. He’s an aggressive guy by nature, but this team has ALWAYS been terrible in the first half. Why?
Bevell. He can’t scheme open receivers. He calls passive 1st half play calls. He bangs the offenses’ head into the wall for too long.
Fire Darrell Bevell.
To be honest, that strategy has worked when the defense makes the stops and Lynch grinds the opposing defense to ground. The problem is the defense has lost a significant step for whatever reason and hence the offence can’t establish the run and play a physical game (as they tend to prefer).
I am not sure if there is an easy solution if the defense does not get back to its dominating self. One solution is to pass more to keep up with the opposing teams scoring more points. However, that flips the offensive strategy of a run-first team on its head and is a bigger unknown in terms of if they an pull it off. The other solution is the fringe players on defense (LBs and DBs) start making plays like the last couple of years.
Seahawks will be fine the next two weeks at home but good quarterbacks do seem to have solved the Seattle defense.
The thing is, Aaron Rodgers and GB are NOT ‘most teams’- especially on their turf. We had to come out swinging and we didn’t. Bevell called another conservative first half, we dug ourselves another hole, and we couldn’t dig out of it.
We can’t wait till the 2nd half of every game.
That’s what I said. We will be fine over the next few games but when we get to face Brady/Rivers/Luck/Rodgers (heck even Palmer) in the playoffs, the defense will have the same issue again.
I do think they need to involve Graham in the game. But, the game plan and the identity of the offense is probably set by Carroll. They want to run the ball and prevent TOs. So, they get conservative. It works if the defense dominates, not so much if it doesn’t.
A lot of blame Bevell gets is unnecessary: if he doesn’t feed Lynch the ball, people complain. If he does and Lynch doesn’t get yards, people complain. If the running grinds down the defense and Seattles runs wild in fourth quarter, Lynch/Wilson get credit but not Bevell. Its a lose lose job.
Not really. Bevell got a ton of unnecessary criticism for awhile, but the 1st half slow starts have always been a constant. And he’s never been good at scheming WR open. Couldn’t do it with Sid Rice, Golden Tate, Percy, you name it.
He’s never done it here.
Running teams almost always start slow, historically. Running the ball is an institutionalized philosophy. Institutions don’t change. They succeed or fail.
“We will be fine over the next few games…”
I hope this is true, and at the same time, the team better face Chicago like there’s no tomorrow or they will get beat and raise the losing streak to four games.
Defense was on the field too long – our defense is better when we grind out points….long GB drives and Seattle 3 & outs is setting up these poor 4th quarter (like missed tackles m) due to fatigue
Both last week and this week, the defense has made big mistakes on third down. Last week we gave up first downs on third and fifteen and third and seventeen. This week, Rodgers catches us with no huddle on the opening series when we have 12 guys on the field. Think how different the game would have been if GB had to punt to Lockett from their 28 instead of marching on that long opening drive.
I completely agree with you Colin,
I’ve disliked Darrell Bevell since he arrived in Seattle. No creativity in his vanilla play calling, he’s completely predictable more often than not. For example, the redzone pass to Jimmy Graham in the 3rd quarter that was almost picked off. Pretty sure the entire country and the whole Packers D knew where that was going. Good thing it wasn’t picked and if it was there was an offsides penalty to reverse it.
Tyler Lockett 1 or 2 targets all game? It’s dumbfounding he cant get players like Lockett or Graham more involved and when he does it’s at a predictable time. This season is far from over, Seattle has one of the strongest rosters in the NFL, even if Seattle make the playoffs as a wildcard they still have a legit shot at getting to the Super Bowl. This is a team that is built to win on the road.
However, it’s just so frustrating watching us hand away games we should have won on the road because of the lack of ability to adjust quickly and scheme properly.
#FireBevell
I’ve said before, I’m not a Bevell fan as a long time Viking fan. This blog is typically friendly to Bevell, but more and more dissension with him is rising.
But I think there is a bigger flaw in the overall plan. Since Cable and PC have to buy off on the game plan, they deserve blame as well. This first half of nonexistant offense and expecting an explosion in the second half is no longer cute or interesting. It’s become a pattern, and it’s pointing right at the coaches.
I still have not heard a single reporter corner PC in his press conferences about their consistently pathetic offensive performances in the past 5 games. 5 games is a pattern
100% agreement. For two years we have essentially punted (pun intended) the entire first half. Problem is, when you always have to play catch up the second half for a chance to win, you walk a razor’s edge and sometimes fall off the wrong side.
We have become too comfortable having an ‘elite’ defense.
Anyone remember the tail end of 2012 when we put up like 40-50 points a game? We let Russ play to his strengths and we attacked. Ever since, we have resorted (reverted) to conservative first half calls and a reliance on the D to keep us in the ball game.
There is no reason this team can’t be just as high-scoring an offense as GB, albeit in a slightly different fashion.
There were encouraging signs, especially with the play of Burley in the slot, and Shead at safety, but this game was within reach, and mistakes took it away.
In other word they beat themselves…
GB deserved that game and they played better.
Come to think of it, as much as we wanted to have a “large target WR” we went and grabbed a spread offense TE instead, but the problem is for the past 3 years or so, we never game planned around any of our TE’s. Miller, Willson, McCoy have all been underutilized and mostly used sparingly, mostly blocking. Kind of discouraging spending big on a house hold name like Graham and not even using the guy. I feel like Graham could be used in the slot, very much like Jordan Matthews. Or, heck why not just put him on the outside?
I think it makes a lot of sense putting him out wide, so if they double him out there, that removes 2 ppl from the box
Some positives.
The OL looked much better in pass pro. RW wasn’t under a lot of pressure tonight. The offense showed up in the 3rd qtr. GB had no answer on SEA’s 2 TD drives. Nice mix of play calls by Bevell. Why does it take him an entire half to adjust? Shead and Burley were an improvement over last week.
Some concerns.
It took Bevell an entire half to get his play calls right. I think PC/Bevell mismanaged SEA’s last possession before the half. Lynch had an 11yd run, then a 7yd run (after an incomplete pass), leaving them 3rd and 3. Very similar to last week @STL on the final drive in OT – they call the same play and it goes nowhere. Wagner looked much better tonight, but he still missed an uncharacteristic number of tackles. Michael Bennett really cost SEA on those offsides. It’s pretty clear the defense eases up when they see the flags fly. Maybe not a lot, but enough to let a QB like Rodgers pick you apart. SEA’s pass rush not finishing. Entire D seemed to ease up in the 4th qtr. (again).
Some big concerns.
Why trade for Graham? Why trade for Harvin? Is the coaching staff incapable of utilizing WR talent? Another game where SEA fails to finish. It’s not how you start…right?
I’m not quite ready to hit the panic button yet but here goes with initial thoughts:
1. I’m not going to get into about bevell but honestly there is no excuse for looking at what works and not doing that each and every game until someone can stop it. The keepers, the pace, etc. This is getting to be nonsense with these slow starts.
2. Maybe its Kam, maybe its Williams, maybe its not playing Clark, or maybe its believing you can get away with middling d linemen and not drafting anyone of note because you forgot you gmhad the best secondary ever assembled until you didn’t, but Christ on a crutch if you’re going to rush four always you need a little more firepower then the always awesome Bennett and who knows what showing up from play to play. Those guys are all great…mebane, Avril, etc but something isn’t jibing. I get “you can’t blitz Rodgers,” because he wins with the deep strike but something’s off.
3. Jimmy graham I hardly knew you. You know who else I hardly knew? Tj houshmanzadeh. I get one was a trade and one was an FA but this is the one thing ill agree with kam about…if you didn’t give big money to outsiders who then do nothing (not jimmy’s fault ) you could instead actually give a guy like kam more money. Not saying he deserves it for his actions but jiminy Xmas jimmy grams on pace for something awesome like 6 targets a game. 4 catches 600 yards and 8 tds. Brutal. I mention housh because I was so stoked when he came here I had just barely got into analytics and that was a bust of a move if there ever was. Percy was just goofy, but I honestly thought graham would do some damage here…
4. Is marshawn gearing up for an unceremonious fall like Alexander? Because right now Rawls as a decoy looks like he cuts better and marshawn at least in Seattle has always been a force by rb standards as a pass catcher….now….i get its two games but there’s something disconcerting to me watching him play.
Just my opinion, but I don’t see the problem with Lynch. Both STL and GB basically sold out to stop him – at least SEA adjusted in the 3rd qtr tonight. Also, so far the OL isn’t as good at run blocking this year, especially the interior. I hate to say it but I think they miss Carp as much as Unger in the run game.
I’m not panicking on lynch. And maybe carp and Unger were bigger losses then I thought…im more thinking out loud because there was a time when SA was the best in the league and then….he wasn’t. And marshawn with this line may be,a long year.
THis is where they say the genius of Tom cable steps in.
I agree about Lynch. I said the same thing last week. He definitely seems off and like he lost a step. Maybe still getting into game shape I hope.
He did look a little off. It looked like he left the game for awhile in the second half and the TV shots of him on the sidelines made it look like he was ticked off about something. Bevell?
Sadly, we don’t look hungry. Our core are all paid, but they’re all struggling to start the year. We look flat, slow and the mental mistakes are discouraging. Is there behind the scene issues? Is the kam loss an even bigger problem? Have we lost too much in the coaching department? Somethings off.
Maybe as a team were just mentally drained. The last 2 years Rollercoaster ride finally wearing us down.
The biggest issue I have is the absence of graham. Percy at least we dedicated plays for. But I dont even see graham. I thought bevell was great at play designs and building around special talent like RW, lynch. Graham is a beast of a receiver, it’s so infuriating to ignore that. Especially when they are stuffing the run. Lockett is being under utilized too. He looks as if he’s a seasoned vet already. Give him some more opportunities.
Overall just a frustrating start to the season. At least we can point to possibly the 2 hardest road games being over already.
I agree about Lockett. Stop with tho rookie hierarchy b.s. And play the guy. Also where on earth is frank Clark? What is with Seattle coaches saying goofy crap like “Clarks going to get 16 snaps a game for now,”. Or collinsworth talking about how surprised bevell was that Lockett was more the a returned?! Really coaches? What’s working so great now that frank Clark gets minimal reps or Tyler Lockett gets minimal snaps
When Clark was in he was effective, caused the Packers LT to false start. Even though nothing happened on that play Clark just looks ready to explode. Can’t wait to see some more Frank Clark! This team needs to let the talent loose. Give Clark snaps, Let RW play HIS game. It’s time to quit holding back.
My thoughts exactly. The effort and mental toughness just doesn’t seem to be there. There are a number of intangible things that seem to a problem but the slowness is concerning. These are the same pro-bowlers from the last couple of years. I don’t understand and am concerned. The post game interviews right now are sad. These guys don’t have their normal spark.
Bobby Wagner has not played well. Missing too many tackles.
He did look better though.
Pete’s “Toy” trades never seem to work out. He should avoid them in the future and keep his first rounders. Develop from within.
Two road game losses. Perhaps Art Thiel is correct. 10-6 and by December comes and this oline has been together, they will roll thru the playoffs regardless if they are on the road or not.
In any event, the offense hasn’t looked good since Arizona last year. The defense can’t get off the field and lacks intensity (other than Bennett and his offsides issues). Earl still looks rusty. There is no true deep threat and they don’t use Lockett in that role. Jimmy Graham is a wasted roster spot that costs 8 mill/year. WHat a joke of not using a premier talent.
And Marshawn, who knows. They should stop force feeding him if it isn’t working. This dependence on second half finishes has caught up with them.
Salk is right, no more room for error.
I agree with you about the trades, but while Graham is being underutilized, I don’t think it’s time to start calling him a wasted roster spot. He had a TD vs the Rams, and honestly he was covered pretty tight most of the game this week. Plus, Wilson always takes a while to develop trust with his receivers…
A lot of improvement from last week. Graham needs more targets, and Lynch needs to shake off the rust (he looked especially slow/bad tonight). Bennett was infuriating, he honestly caused the most damage in this game with his boneheaded offsides. The offense and defense are so close to looking great, they just need to focus and open up. I expect we’ll see more Graham next week, and Lynch should be warmed up by then and back to his Beastly self. The defense absolutely has to stop with the asinine penalties (even Sherman fell victim to one).
I think next week they’ll flex a bit, and when the Lions come to town they should be settled in. Cincinnati will be a challenge, the Panthers are beatable (but scary on D), the 49ers are tough but have taken 3 steps back this season, Dallas probably won’t be a full health when we go to face them, and the bye comes at a great time this year. After the bye 3 home games that should all be wins (Steelers are tough, but home field advantage wins that game), then the Vikings and Ravens (both tough road games) look beatable. To end the season they got a cakewalk vs the Browns, a home game vs the Rams (vengeance match), and a Cardinals team on the road. The Cards are 2-0, but they are a glass hammer on offense…Will they be healthy in week 17?
Overall I see a 12-4/13-3 record with the #2 seed (unless the Packers start whiffing on the road). I’m not too worried…honestly when the schedule came out I saw a 0-2 start as more likely than not. Either way, next week should be fun, Go Hawks!!!
Sherman’s penalty was the result of Bennett’s offsides. When the Packer receivers saw Bennett jump they all switched to go routes and Rodgers had a fortnight in the pocket to get the pass off. Sherm almost had an amazing play on that one, he just got there a bit early.
True, but his penalty was the one that was accepted giving the Packers perfect field position.
Bennett’s offside started it but it was Sherman that underestimated Rodgers. Once Rodgers rolled to his left, Sherman drifted away from his man towards center field feaguring that Rpdgers cant fire that ball deep to the right sideline while rolling left.
Surprize….
Was discussing the penalty on GB receiver #88 Montgomery
The offense only looked good in the 3rd qtr. That’s it. It’s not close to being great. Lots of work needs to be done. It only looked good when it went away from what they are trying to do: establish the run first and make RW into a pocket passer. It also lacks a deep threat that scares anyone’s secondary. I need to see a full consistent game before I’m thinking it’s anywhere near to scaring anyone.
The defense doesn’t look physical. It looks like a bunch of guys playing catchup. The GB oline had a constant push the entire game. WIth that said, Shead was an improvement over Bailey. Cary WIlliams actually looked fine to me. It’s a lack of a finishing pass rush and some very poor linebacker play that is hurting this team.
They better not take Chicago for granted.
Richard Sherman’s game was worse than Williams arguably.
Definitely not scaring anyone, but far from being bad or on the brink of doom. Agree with you about the defense. Although I will say GB has a really great OL group. Both sides need time to gell before we start seeing what we’re used to. The next couple of games should help both sides develop.
Right now, this is a mediocre team that is sleep walking. Like some kind of malaise or hangover again. I also think that the losses of Quinn and Norton are bigger problems for this season than people are talking about, not as seamless a transition as the FO would have you believe. Their absences plus Kam, plus the cumulative mental stress of two consecutive SB seasons. This is a roster of great talent, not playing great, not unified, out of sorts.
This seems to be yet another season that this team will require some kind of magic motivation and unification ritual to find themselves. If it takes weeks, it may be too late with this season’s brutal schedule of no easy games at all.
Defense looked way better(minus the jaw dropping amount of penalties). They caught breaks later in the game but IMO Graham, or lack thereof, was the difference here. Gotta score more than 17 points when you have this roster. Flex Graham out in a 2 TE look in replacement of Kearse or SOMETHING. When Wilson had the pocket though he looked great again. He had to play great today for the Hawks to win but tip your cap to a fired up opponent at home. I don’t know who GB plays next week but I could see them letting down like STL did this week. Teams will slip every week, SEA just needs to rattle some off.
Where is C Matt!? Still need the go-to WR in rounds 1-3 in ’16.
0-2 was in the forecast before the season and now we are there. Can they get to 7-3? Even 6-4 would be workable. 1-0 would be great. But BALT and CIN are coming up and this offense needs to get going.
It’s wired, but Willson looked more like Graham than Graham…that being said, it’s week 2, Graham will start getting used more frequently as the season goes on…I mean he was covered for most of the game, sure you could force it to him, but Wilson needs time to develop trust…it’ll work out.
He hasn’t been used much because they ar trying to fit him into the existing play book. It is time for Carroll and Bevell to come up with some new and inventive plays for him. If they are incapable of that,{which I believe they are} then they should steal some of the New Orleans plays from a few years ao.
Matthews was in the game in the 2nd half. But like Graham, Bevell has not found a way to incorporate them into the attack. And/or Russell has not figured out how to do it.
I’ll say this about the loss vis-a-vis Kam…
GB didn’t beat SEA because Kam wasn’t in the line up.
This was a game I had thought Seattle would lose, when the schedule came out long ago.
What I liked… the defense played sound football. Assignments were mostly covered and there were only a few blown coverages. The WR in the slot were not able to really get going most of the game.
The offense looked like a unit in the 3rd quarter. They played with urgency and purpose. RW was engaged in the game.
What I didn’t like…. the clock management and play-calling on offense. When Seattle started throwing the ball and RW was rushing on the keepers.. the offense started to move… then they got away from it. Totally not involving Graham was a mistake, he had some opportunities available….
I’ll give a B to the OL. They gave up a few pressures and 2 sacks, but looked better in pass protection. Need to get a bit more fire and passion in the rushing attack from the group however. Sweezy was the only one I noticed really bringing… it almost every play.
The arrow is pointing up… and I think 2 weeks of home cooking will get this team going in the right direction and give them momentum.
Momentum will be key the next couple of weeks for sure. The OL actually did look pretty good, well, not bad anyway. Give Wilson a little more time to develop trust with Graham…they’re getting there.
The defense gave up 27 points, i know this is rodgers in lambeau we are playing here but seriously… 34 points one week 27 the next is not number 1 defense stats.
I do believe we are tied with Tampa for 30th in scoring.
Nfl.com website
http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?archive=false&conference=null&role=OPP&offensiveStatisticCategory=null&defensiveStatisticCategory=SCORING&season=2015&seasonType=REG&tabSeq=2&qualified=false&Submit=Go
30th in scoring Defense.
Lots of discouraging things in this game…
For me there are three clear things that are more disturbing than all the others:
1. Where was Clark? He was a beast the whole preseason, cuased a uproar after the draft, and now isnt really getting signifigant playing time? What is up with that? Demarcus Dobbs got more snaps than he did, its totally bizarre.
2. Where is Lockett? Who targets the whole game? Seriously? His returns are oretty good but come on, Lockett was an elite cfb receiver last year who has looked sharp whenever wilson throws him the ball. Why doesnt he throw it to him instead of Jermaine freaking Kearse! Who couldnt catch ONE ball tonight! Lockett is our best receiver, i dont understand it.
3. Here is the ultimate question, where was JIMMY GRAHAM. 2 targets, ine catch for eleven yards. Luke willson had more targets and more receptions AND more yards. This is unacceptable, you crippled your line (unger trade) and coughed up a first round pick, and wasted money that could be spent on chancellor, for a first class decoy. A DECOY. Jimmy Graham is not a decoy, he is an elite receiving threat and red zone monster, force the ball to him all you want, plays will happen. Brees is stuggeling in his absence. Number 1 most disturbing thing about this game was his complete absence.
The rooks will get used more as the season progresses. Game 2 and we expect Clark and Lockett to be the second coming of Jesus Christ (Lockett) and Mike Tyson (obviously Clark). If they just throw these guys in 90-100% of the time, they’ll cause more trouble than positive. Lockett looks great, but what happens when he gets targeted 10+ times a game? He probably drops a couple, screws up a couple of his routes, and catches the rest. The reason he looks so good is because the grows to home are “safe” throws. The same goes for Clark, if they have him in there, how many penalties do you think he’d get a game. They need time to learn/perfect the system before they become full time starters. Expect more in the second half of the season.
The whole Graham thing will pass…Wilson needs time to develop trust and technique with him before he starts forcing throws. Graham has as many TDs as the other receivers/rbs so far this season, so we shouldn’t start freaking out until it’s week 10 and he only has 200-300 yards and 3-4 TDs.
*the throws to him
*)?
The Graham thing may not pass, if Bevell continues to misuse him, or shoehorn him into roles that do not play to his strengths. Train him into becoming more of a traditional TE is tough, and takes time. In the meantime, he should be unleashed to do the things he is capable of doing. Jimmy Graham is a receiver first and foremost. Cut him loose.
I think they will cut him loose…I think they’re only keeping a “leash” on him until Wilson gets more comfortable, which I think will be soon. I could be wrong, but I think once we see them go up against a team with a bad defense (the Bears for example), then we’ll see some great offensive production.
They had better, because the margin for error has been cut to zero. We can’t depend on a Carson Palmer injury to save our season. You have to assume these are the real cardinals we’re looking at. And their secondary is the best in football.
It’t is apparant to me that Kris Richards is not the answer for Dan Quinn. Where was the emotion, the intensity on the back end ?. The tackeling was terrible, no blitz’s that I saw. Rodgers continually escaped to his right when the pocket collapsed, and there wasen’t any adjustment. As for the offense, Bevell and Carroll once again show their inability to design some creative play’s. They seem to rely on “same old same old” play’s. If it worked in the past they are going to run it over and over, just likee the quick slant over the middle in the Super Bowl. Some how they don’t seem to get it that opposing coaches know their tendencies and plan for them. As for Wilson, he seems to be missing seeing things downfield that he should be seeing. Maybe a little to much Ciera.
At first glance, I don’t think Richard reads situational matchups very well. It was something Quinn and Bradley were better at. It’s like he lacks a feel for the game, like in baseball, when a mgr has a feel for a certain pinch hitter in a particular situation.
Richard looks pretty vanilla.
He had some perfect play calls in the GB game. Dialed back the blitzing….. the big mental errors on the OL (Bennett) really made it look much worse than it was….. week 1 looked like a wreck, week 2 looked much more refined. Week 3…. well, they should look like their old selves due to the competition.
A disturbing trend of the D not being able to come up with a big stop when it matters most.
This team is streaky as hell within a game.
I see a ton of new moving parts, on the coaching staff and on the field. But like a rough start in the morning, once it warms up things will smooth out.
Except for flashes in the 3rdQ, the team is flat, out of sync, lacking toughness and swagger. Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes, penalties.
D line pushed around, D line, which is supposed to be stronger than last season, unable to pressure Rodgers, or hold. GB, not a strong running team, was able to smashmouth effectively and control clock. Shead and Burley, good games. Sherman, bad game, second bad one in a row. He was mentally off, and physically a step slow. Not impressive. Cary beat, predictably. Wagner, inconsistent. Tackling better than last week, but that is not saying much. This is not the kind of dominating Seattle defense that gets big stops or makes us for Bevell and his horrible offense.
Unable to pressure Rodgers?? The guy was running for his life the whole game. He looked like RW against the rams last year. The difference is that Rodgers is as effective running out of the pocketime as he is within it. We got fantastic pressure rushing only 4. But we couldn’t finish sacks. And the refs let GB get away with a lot of holding. It was pretty obvious on my TV screen at least. But we got amazing push right up the middle
Sigh. The game was winnable, in spite of the mistakes. The offside jumps by Bennett were maddening – you just can’t get away with that against Rodgers.
Hawks endured the inevitable Q2 surge from GB, and came out OK going into Q2. However, the first-half flatness is deeply frustrating. I don’t understand why this team can’t start fast.
GB’s key explosions came on miscues by the D. I expected Rodgers to play well, and I thought the D was OK, if not dominant. The problem, again, was offense.
I’m getting deja vu from last year on the Jimmy Graham situation. It’s the same argument that was roiling over Harvin – but it’s different because Graham is not a gimmick player. He’s supposed to be the missing piece, the option that saves the offense when nothing is working, the bell-cow, go-to receiver who can pick up yards even when the defense know it’s coming. If you use him that way, Lynch is stronger, the other receivers are stronger, etc. At least that’s the theory. Instead we get shots to Luke Willson.
From my standpoint, the problem with Graham goes to the issue that always plagues this offense: they have no mid-range passing game. It’s either quick jump passes to the sideline, or long darts that work or don’t work. I’m looking for those 12-15 yard routes that supposedly cater to Graham’s giant wingspan, where he can use his radius regardless of defenders. That’s what he did with Brees. Someone smarter than I am is going to have to explain why those plays aren’t part of the mix. They’re supposed to be bread and butter. The Saints didn’t have a runner of Lynch’s quality, and Brees doesn’t have RW’s mobility. Is it too simplistic to suggest that the Hawks go check Saints film and see how it was done? If PC covets the pterodactyl receiver, why doesn’t he use it? How does that piece fit into the overall scheme?
Read: Q1 surge.
Lack of a mid-range passing game is a problem for sure. It seems to be lacking in Russell’s arsenal. Maybe some of it has to do his height and weird mechanics. But Brees isn’t tall,either, and he manages to do it. Ultimately, it is Bevell’s playbook. Or lack of.
Also lacking is a short lob to the corner. Ideal for the red zone.
Ty Montgomery looked pretty damned good tonight for GB. And there are many, including in here, who thought he had bad hands. Would not have minded him in a Seahawks uniform.
I really would have liked to have him as well. However, I’m glad we got Lockett, in the end I think Lockett will be the better player.
Ok, I’ll say it. The biggest problem is Wilson. He is central to utilising Graham, Lynch and Lockett. He runs Bevell’s plays. He’s just got paid like a top (5 was it?) QB but he isn’t playing like one. He has been neither consistent, dominant nor even difference making. He firmly should take the bulk of the blame. I feel as though his touch is gone on his throws, his decisions are neither fast, smart or with conviction. He isn’t moving well in the pocket as its either fight or flight. Worst of all, feels like u e isn’t growing but rather seems to be even regressing. He’s definitely no Rogers, Brady, or even Brees. Have we made a bad call in putting most of our chips on this guy?
How can you say that? Watch the 3rd quarter again. He completly destroyed GB’s defense. They had no idea how to stop him and it resulted in 2 TD’s and the Hawks taking the lead on the road in GB.
Unfortunately one quarter of good football doesn’t win games; for $80m he should play well more than 25% of the game
I think he played a lot better than the first game, and I’m a heavy critic of RW. I think the evil offensive planning of the triumvirate of PC, Bevell, and Cable should realize that RW’s skillset is what makes this team go, and stop force feeding marshawn lynch until the oline has some experience together. The only way for this team to move is what they did in the 3rd qtr, and that will lean on RW’s chaos play. However, I’m not hopeful. The evil triumvirate is stubborn as hell and immovable as an angry housewife.
Plus Green Bay took away his running lanes in the 4th quarter. That’s why the offense dried up again.
I said when we were in negotiations with him that he was a good but limited quarterback and if we could have gotten a 1st from Tennessee to take Mariotta I would have because he has more long term potential and would have been much cheaper to keep the rest of our players.
That being said Russell has shown he is a winner and while I have no idea why we are so awful on offense in the 1st half and Russ in particular looks terrible he does usually turn it around in the second half. His limitation are well know that is why it is so important to play to his strengths and that involves scrambling, boot legs etc. When he does we move the ball and score and our offense looks sharp. When he just hands it to Marshawn we look awful be because our OL is awful.
We have to feature Graham more and run plays really to get him involved. The is no excuse he is an asset that is being wasted by poor play design and improper usage. If we wanted a blocking tight end there are a lot better and cheaper options. He is a huge mismatch receiver lets start using him that way. Enough with how he blocks . Who cares spread him out and get him in space.
I love RW but he is the man now and he needs to show the most improvement if the Hawks are to win more consistently and more comprehensively.
I agree with this statement 100%. The training wheels are off. Money is paid, and he is now a burden against the cap. He can’t be the qb from the rookie year. He must be improved for us to go forward.
I think this is a fair bit of criticism. So far this season throws aren’t great, his decisions haven’t been all that fast, smart or correct.
But that hasn’t always been the case. In seasons past, he’s made great throws and decisions. And of course he’s playing a team sport with 10 other players on the field with him. He’s not in a vacuum.
Also, he moved well in the pocket last night, thanks to the OL that gave him decent protection.
One quarter of good football isn’t sufficient. But that quarter was good enough to demonstrate RW’s capabilities.
Heck- Andrew Luck lost tonight to the Jets. Pedigree does not guarantee a blue ribbon.wilson has his faults but he is a scrapper and will keep trying.
Can someone please explain me why we don’t rotate our front 4 on the OL more often like we used to in 2013 when we had depth. Clark, Marsh and Hill should definitely be getting more snaps. Our pass rush has been no existent in the 4th quarter because Avril and Bennett are gassed.
Question for all.
Who would you sooner be right now. The Hawks at 0-2 heading home to play the Bears and Lions or the Cowboys 2 -0 but without Romo and Dez the next 6-8 weeks?
Hawks for sure. The talent is all over the place (O and D), everyone in healthy, and the games are all winnable and as long as the team can get motivated and clean up their penalties they’ll win those games.
Dallas has a godly O-Line with Weeden behind it…
As out of synch as the offense and defense have been for Seattle, both of those are fixable. Losing Romo and Dez isn’t. Not to mention the loss of DeMarco Murray in FA.
We should’ve won both games. It’s not like we haven’t been in it, and as Forrest said, we have the talent. Does Dallas?
You mean, could have been won, not should have. If we had beaten either team somehow, the fans of those teams would have had a better argument that they should have won.
I’d rather have wins. If the cowpokes can squeeze 8 wins in 14 games, barely over .500, they’re in. Surely they are good enough to pull that off with or without romo and dez.
Wins are definite. Everything else is speculation.
Another note. I cant believe how much more physical the Falcons look under Quinn. I am really impressed with what he has done there so far.
Maybe the questions should be about how much our defense misses Quinn not Kam.
Amen!!! somebody that agrees with me!! It was evident again last niight. Rodgers , time after time was able to escape a collapsing pocket to his right where there was alway’s a huge space. Richards apparently didn’t make any adjustments. If hedid they weren’t effective. I think Quinn was a tougher more fired up and demanding coach than Richards. All we can do now is hope Richards becomes more aggresive in his attitude and play calling.
Final note. I just want to give some love to Doug Balwin. He really is not a pedestrian receiver. He is so wide open on most of his catches and despite limited speed gets tremendous separation which it is clear that Russ needs now. If he played with the Patriots and their passing scheme he would be a Pro Bowler.
Kearse on the other hand for all the love he gets on this site to me is way below average and while me makes some contested and dynamic catches he is rarely if ever open and gets little to no separation. Matthews and Locket definitely need to be getting more of Kearses time and targets.
Baldwin is a beast…hopefully he stays in Seattle and grows with Wilson until he decides to retire.
Kearse is a career backup at best. No love from me. I like him, but only as the third or fourth guy.
Does Anyone know where Bevell lives? i would like to have a few words with him.. lol
overall is was a disappointing loss, but a big improvement over the STL game. I’m looking forward to the next few games at Home to hopefully get us back on track. Dont forget we started last season 3-3
While I want Bevell gone as well, the last 3 games (Pat/Rams/Packers) they have had leads late 3rd early 4th and the D has given it up. And all 3 get dink and dunked and miss tackles. I said this earlier last week, as a coaching staff we are not very adaptive. Talent wise, they can beat anyone, coaching wise it seems they can lose to anyone as well
Here’s why I’m concerned:
a) This team lacks the same fire it played with for the last 3 seasons. The energy level used to be palpable. For some reason, this season just seems subdued. Can it change? Absolutely. As of right now, unfortunately it looks like a team that’s very content with cashing in that check and living to see another day.
b) Why did we trade for Graham? I DO NOT CARE about his blocking. That’s not why you got him. It’s like saying we signed Nelson Cruz to play defense. Now, it doesn’t mean I don’t want him to block or improve; I’m simply saying he was acquired to help the passing game. Square peg + round hole.
c) What is our identity on offense? The OL is not getting any push in the run game. It’s very troublesome. What are we?
d) Is the defense THAT dependent on Kam Chancellor? If so, then we shouldn’t have paid out the wazoo for the other guys, if they are so utterly dependent on him for emotion/leadership.
Here’s why I’m NOT concerned:
a) We still have major talent.
b) No team wants to peak in September. That said, it’d sure be nice to not start so slow.
c) Schedule gets easier. These first 2 games were by far the toughest.
d) 0-2 but both games could have been won. After sleeping on it; it really should not be understated as to how important it is that we were in position to win. Sure, it makes it more disappointing, but we had the opportunity to win.
I still don’t feel great. I still think this team needs some energy/passion. But the pieces are still there.
Great comparison with b). Couldn’t have said it any better.
the coaching staff needs to stop with the uber conservative first-half offense. We’ve seen it time and time again. I get it. You don’t want to run Wilson if you don’t have to, but you can’t keep spotting the team 10 points and hope for the team to catch up in the second half. This offense is at a whole different level when it’s opened up and Wilson is allowed to run.
On the defensive side of the ball, they really need to mix in some blitzing. That 4th qtr was brutal to watch. We’ve seen the Hawks exposed by quick throws in the past. If their zone defense isn’t capable of stopping that tactic, they you need to adjust what you’re doing.
It was a frustrating loss because you could see the potential there. Terrible penalties, stagnant first-half offense and an inability to counter GB’s 4th qtr game plan. All fixable. This is two games in a row where I put the loss squarely on the coaching staff.
The Michael Bennett shit has to stop.
And the blitzing. I’m confused by it as well. Why not take advantage of the athleticism they have on D? A zone blitz would’ve been effective against Rodgers IMO.
One nice outcome was the play of CB Marcus Burley. Thought he played lights out last night.
As did Shead – not lights out, but a good night. IIRC, Burley played significant snaps at NB last yea, and wasn’t he the presumptive NB in camp? And wasn’t Shead the presumptive replacement for Kam?
Which begs the question, if those 2 were the presumptive situational starters, and considering they did so much better than Bailey/Sherm-in-the-slot, why didn’t SEA start them vs STL in the first place?
Yeah Shead played well too. Bruce looked better as well. They need to ‘get home’ or ‘finish’ more consistently, but I thought Bruce brought a ton of pressure.
Agreed. The most frustrating thing to watch last night was the inability of SEA’s pass rush to finish the job.
Jimmy Graham is looking like another wasted move. Doesn’t fit. This offense is set up for running backs and down field/deep threats.
If they wanted a blocking TE, why not just draft one or sign a proven vet from the bargain bin?Their lacking speed on the edges offensively. Maybe P-Rich will help, but if he gets hurt again, there’s no ‘roster mirror’ for him.
“This offense is set up for running backs and down field/deep threats.”
Somebody should remind the OL. Run blocking has been pretty abysmal this season for a team that’s built around the run. In particular, Lynch is getting killed behind the LOS by backside pursuit.
BTW, when was the last time only 1 RB had carries for SEA?
Right? The run blocking was awful. Sweezy is overrated, Nowak and Gilliam are back-ups, and Britt may be too. Although when Lynch ran behind Britt, he seemed to have success.
By the way, our boy CJ Prosise killed it Saturday.
Killed it. He’s becoming my favorite scat back prospect. There is some serious talent on that ND roster. Mike “the mountain” McGlinchey could be the best RT in CFB
Is it McGlinchey? I thought Steve Elmer played RT? Eh, your probably right. It’s funny you say that. The RT jumped off the screen when watching that game.
You think Prosise is more of a scat back? At 6’0, 220? Although he’s probably like 5’11.
I’ve noticed that becoming a trend recently. These big, huge RBs like Derrick Henry, Rod Smith, even LeVeon Bell to an extent have exemplified this. And I don’t think it’s a bad thing, because with their size comes the probability of some of these cats being a 3 down back or not tipping off the defense.
I think Elmer plays RG and McGinchley RT, but maybe I’m backwards on that. Either way, the GT DL was largely ineffective. Gotsis didn’t show much, though you can see the athlete in him.
I guess Prosise is that big. He plays smaller to my eye and I mean that in a good way.
The leading rusher in CFB is Indiana’s Jordan Howard. He’s quickly becoming one of my favorite backs. He’s got some real talent. IMO, he’s worth monitoring.
And Prosise is averaging a little more than 7 yards a carry I think.
I think Seattle will take a back in this class and 2017. The offense didn’t look too bad when Lynch was out or not featured.
Jimmy Graham is a wasted move if Bevell can’t figure out how to use him. It is not a matter of him fitting as much as Bevell’s job to utilize him properly. This should have been fully addressed before they made the deal for him. Can the offense be adapted to accomodate this weapon, or not? Is Russell able to use him, or not? Can the offense be diversified beyond the predictable?
I hate to think about the Patriots, but Belichick’s success is in the way he adapts his attacks every season, depending on what his roster allows, instead of so much fitting personnel to a strict template.
And if the defense is selling out to stop graham, it’s up to bevell to find who is the guy they are letting loose, and I don’t see it. That 3rd and 3 halfback dive in the second qtr had me on the edge of postal.
This season is starting to look like RW’s first season – 2012.
In the first 4 games, 2 tough road losses in games where they had a chance to win late.
Did I see something along the lines of ‘ Leonard Fournette took what was in front of him’ on Rob’s last post? Are you kidding me!? He’s the real deal. That kid just has ‘it.’ Best back in CFB in quite some time. Some of his runs Saturday night were truly special. Unbeleivable that this ‘man child’ is 20 years old!
He’s looking like a top 15 pick.
At least. In my eyes he’s a top 5 kind of guy. In this class anyways. But, as we know, he’s ineligible. A truly special player.
Yes, can’t wait to see where he goes in 2017, but barring any major injury next year I agree he could be a top 5 talent. He’s a frickin manimal
Yes sir. IMO Seattle grabs their Turbo or C-mike this year (2nd-4th round) and in 2017 they’ll grab their workhorse.
Like a Fournette, Nick Chubb, Royce Freeman, Dalvin Cook, Samaje Perine, Ray Lawry, Nick Wilson, Joe Yearby, Sony Michel, Justin Jackson, kid from USC, etc.
See where I’m going with this? They’ll have options. And crazy good ones at that.
The D doesn’t don’t need Kam. Kam was there against SD and in the SB. Shead played well. Burley played well in the slot (still drives me crazy he wan’t on the SB roster). Teams know how to beat the vanilla D. Time to make adjustments. Give up a long ball, but blitz. Play man. Zone blitz. Something besides rush 4 and keep everything close. It hasn’t been effective lately.
Also, I really want to keep Irvin. Let’s trade Wright (KPL takes his place) and use that money on Irvin. Where is the beast Clark showed in the preseason?
He’s still there. It takes D-lineman time to adjust against grown men. 16 snaps is a limited amount of reps.
Wright had 9 tackles and FF/FR when he was ejected. He was one of the brighter spots on D.
Clark is struggling against starters. This ain’t preseason. But him time. He’s played in 2 pro games.
I agree with you about blitzing and the long ball. Take a shot or two at the QB. Even if he beats you deep, at least it’s a quick strike instead of a clock-bleeding dink-n-dunk drive. After RW threw the screen play INT, GB drained the clock because SEA gave Rodgers all day in the pocket. If they’d blitzed him, they might have sacked him. Or they might have gotten burned deep. But either way, SEA gets the ball back with more time.
But *give* him time…
If you really want to keep Irvin Ed and I don’t disagree, Avril might be the guy to go rather than Wright due to age. The money is very close. KPL will still get more pt out of it as Bruce will spend much more time on the line.
The OL is losing badly at the line of scrimmage. It looks like we are currently a better pass blocking team than run blocking and that is not a compliment as the run blocking has been atrocious. So now our “identity” is shot and it shows. Either the O line needs to improve significantly or we need to get creative and find a new offensive identity that works for the line that we have.
Have said it for awhile. If that is our identity, run in standard run formations with a fullback. I, pro, far, near. All those formations will allow Lynch and the Oline to be more effective. Use the spread to mix it up, but enough of using that as our standard running formation.
So here’s my two cents worth, I think that Graham will get utilized properly soon. But honestly I saw 7-8 plays last night were Wilson looked his way and he either wasn’t completely open or there was a better throw. The plays are there and they know they are…it’s just a matter of Wilson trusting Graham to win those matchups and knowing when to throw or not. It’ll take a few games, but by the Carolina game (for example) we should see more consistent attempts to force the ball to Graham. I would also like to point out that the one other throw to Graham was almost picked. Just give them time to sync properly…they maybe 10 days together in preseason, and a decent game against the Rams. This game was disappointing in the Graham department, but calling him a waste is far too premature.
Now, the run game needs to improve. Both from the line and from Lynch. WRs looked great, but I think that was more because of GB covering Graham and rushing the LBs. Still encouraging to see. The O-Line needs to improve runblocking, they look great giving pass protection, but Lynch isn’t looking that great because of it. Wilson also needs to use his legs more early in games.
ST was meh. Improvement is needed on returns, too many starting from the 15-19 yard line. Other than that they looked fine.
Defense is still my biggest concern right now. Earl looked better, but still not 100%. Sherman seems to be playing too loose and wanders on a lot of plays. Shead looked good as did Burley. LBs also looked better, but far from their usual selves (root of the defensive problems imo). And finally, the D-Line was not rotated enough…and of course, Bennett and his offsides need to take a hike. Defensively the next couple of weeks should produce the needed rhythm to succeed. Tackling by LBs is the biggest issue right now though…Too many RBs are getting big runs.
*had maybe 10 plays
0-2 against two tough opponents on the road…no need to panic as they had the opportunity to win both. However, there’s no question that 3 straight blown 4th quarter leads are troubling.
Right now, the team lacks consistency on both sides of the ball. In this game, I thought the run defense and offense were both lacking. Defense allowed 4.4 ypc w/o Lacy in the lineup and Lynch with 40 some yards….not good. On the plus side the offense opened up nicely when Wilson kept it on a few read option type plays. I’d expect to see more of this going forward.
Chicago at home will be a key test…will they find more consistency or will they play down to the level of their opponent? If it’s the latter, then I’ll start to have serious concerns.
And for me, against chicago, I don’t even care if it’s a blowout despite Claussen starting. I just want a win. They need to learn how to win again. 3 straight losses. This team is still playing that last yard in the super bowl.
I’m not convinced the play-calling had anything to do with the loss. Using Graham more and blitzing in key spots I get, nd agree should be utilized. But, again, it comes down to bone-headed mistakes that lead to points, lack of execution, and the fact that the offense and defense are a llittle out of synch right now. As ‘bad’ as the play-calling is or was, we’re still in position to win both of these past 2 games.
Is it time for Patrick Lewis to start? Nowak was eaten alive by BJ Raji and was consistently pushed back and in turn cutting off run lanes and stopping Lynch before he could get going. And while Gilliam is a decent pass protector, his run blocking needs a lot of work. I can’t see this dude ever being a LT in this league.
PC has always had the philosophy of “be better at your thing than they are at theirs.” On offense, that’s manifested as a dominant run game – a punishing runner behind a bulldozing OL. It doesn’t matter if the D sells out to stop the run; you still push them off the line with brute strength and control the lanes/cut off backside pursuit with speed and tenacity. For all their faults, we saw a lot of that with Breno and Carp in the line up. Inconsistency, poor pass pro, and cap space restrictions combined to their departure.
This version of the Seahawks doesn’t seem to have (yet?) the OL personnel necessary to dominate in the run game the way they have in years past. If this is the case, PC will have to adjust his approach…if you can’t be better at your thing than they are at theirs, you have to recognize what they’re giving up in order to beat you at your thing. It took an entire half before the coaching staff woke up to that fact and starting taking what GB’s defense was giving up. In that sense, play calling was a big factor in the loss.
Forgot to add…
Nowak has been very inconsistent thus far. He’s shown up on some plays/drives, but he’s been beaten badly as often. Also, you can see the loss of command and communication along the interior. Sweezy isn’t as effective as he’s been. Britt looked a lot better last night, especially in pass pro, but you can tell he’s lost on some run plays.
Don’t know if Lewis is the answer or if Nowak just needs more time.
vol12 I disagree about Gilliam. I agree he needs to improve his core / functional strength in the run game but remember he is basically a rookie and has played just 2 games. I actually thought he has been our best pass blocker in the 1st 2 games. Cable says he can teach anyone to run block so I guess we will see because this line definitely cannot.
What is this team? Is it the third qtr team that opens it up and uses RW, risks his body to force pressure on the defense, or is it what we’ve seen the rest of the game? Pound the rock and if it doesn’t work, pound it some more.
I don’t think PC knows.
I think MJ already hit on most of what I wanted to say but to add a bit more
1) Sherman looked horrible worse game I have ever seen him play following his last game which was not good.
2) Burly looked great and Sneak good, way better than Sherman
3) Seattle where TE come to die, really should have just moved Unger out there at least he could block, I have never complained about firing Beavell not even after the SB, well that has past he needs to go. I knew we were in trouble when earlier I read a comment about the best part about him is he was plug in play into are current offense. That’s crazy talk, you better review some of NO film and start designing plays for him.
4) Offense line at least stood in some one way while pass blocking but got no push, none of this is on Lynch as some people have posted. Give him some room and u will see Beast Mode.
5) Are offense comes out like crap every game, then we go to school yard football and play are way back into games, however probably not sustainable for the long wrong (again on beavell)
6) The Hell with Kam, I hope for the long haul the hawks remain tough, the Patriots seems to have the proper business plan in place and it works. I don’t care if it does cost us in the short term, I side with management on this one, hold strong.
If they played a clean game with fewer mistakes, the bottom line is that the D and O lines both got pushed around and beat physically.
Talk all we want about the game plans and skill position issues, if you lose on the basics and toughness, you lose. The Seahawks have lost the basic smashmouth physicality that allowed them to be vanilla otherwise. The swagger was from being so physical, it didn’t matter, opposing teams would be beaten up anyway. Where did this go? With Norton and Quinn? They have to get that back. Who knows what it will take or how long.
Agreed! that is the things that concerns me most along with lack of passion an fire. I miss Sherm being angry too.
I liked the pre-ciara RW.
LOL. It’s all her fault!
I liked prenatal Darrell Bevell
Smash mouth football, running the ball, a balanced offense. How can that exist when the Seahawks refuse to use a first or second round pick on the offensive line. Okung and Britt are the last ones left who were picked on the high rounds. As for running backs, we all know Lynch is unique and the other backs are bargain bin players. Makes for a tough game as the Seahawks continue to play in the past.
The future is a small but capable quarterback and a cadre of receivers. He did okay once they quit pretending they were a run first team. Of course the read option will get counted into the running total – which disguises the fact that the Seahawks don’t have an effective run game anymore. Still there is the question of how to integrate receivers. Perhaps that will improve when they get an offensive coordinator that can design pass routes. Until then they should steal a few of New England and Denvers pass routes.
Basically we are back to pretending this is a run first team when the money is being paid to a quarterback , receivers and a soon to retire running back. We need to transition to a pass first offence. Thats why we paid them the big bucks.
Watching this Paul Perkins from UCLA. He’s an exciting back. Put on 10-12 pounds from last year and hasn’t shown any signs of losing any explosion or speed. Has a lot of toughness too. I wonder what kind of athlete he is.
Where would the Hawks be with a first rounder plus Unger vs where they are now?
Good question. I didn’t agree with their draft at all.
Bevell. He has talent, but is not a great game planner. We have also lost our physical play. Our D line is getting blown off the line 4 yards back by ever O line they have faced.
We are not dictating anything we are reacting and doing it slowly and softly.
On a high note we have found another corner in Marcus Burley. Burley played a very good game and tackled better then most of the front seven.
One has to laugh when they hear the pundits say ” the Seahawks are trying to figure how best to use Grahm” Give me a break, you use him by throwing the ball to him! You come up with some new and inoventive plays to get him open. If PC and Bevell can’t do that, {which I suspect they can’t} then raid he New Orleans play b ook from the last few years.!!
As a tight end he shouldn’t need any special scheme. Run 5-10 yards downfield, turn around and catch the ball. Occasionally fake and keep running downfield for an over the shoulder catch. Put Graham near the hash mark and good things will happen.
Exactly. Did you see what happened when Demaryious Thomas simply boxed out Marcus Peters, who had position? That is what Graham and Matthews should be doing, all day.
We face 3 backup QBs in the next 6 weeks? Including a ‘meh’ Andy Dalton. And Cam Newton at home. Me liking these odds.
I like the odds. The question is will the Hawk’s win because they are truly better, or because the teams are weak? Either way, I don’t see any team left of the schedule beating them outright…
When Dalton is on, he is very dangerous during the regular season.
If this team stays the way it is, or just marginally improves, I see 8-8. Best case, 10-6.
I always thought Brenno and Carp would be better in a traditional power run block scheme. Boy they both look like it tonight. Carp in particular looks like a beast now that he can not have to think and just maul the guy in front of him.
The Jets D looks good. Real good. Make me want to watch them play NE good. Make me jealous good.
Much like many of you out there, my friend and I called out whether it was a run or a pass correctly over and over again. If I can do this, don’t you think opposing defenses and coordinators can do so as well. The offense is predictable and boring – and has been for some time.
The defense is sloppy – poor tackles – and it seems like a few players are trying to do so much, which then leaves them exposed. And can someone fine Michael Bennett when he goes offsides? Unbelievable that he keeps doing this!
But, the next several weeks should give them a chance to get into a rhythm and get better. We could get to 6-2.
You mean to say 17-2 😉
Yeah that’s the spirit!!!
Even though the seahawks are struggeling, I love the NFL. Here are my week 3 power ranking. Notes: Some HUGE surprises in these rankings, please comment if anything is too absurd or surprisingly right.
1. New England Patriots 2-0
2. Green Bay Packers 2-0
3. Denver Broncos 2-0
4. Arizona Cardinals 2-0
5. Cincinatti Bengals 2-0
6. Kansas City Cheifs 1-1
7. Pittsburg Steelers 1-1
8. Atlanta Falcons 2-0
9. San Diego Chargers 1-1
10. Dallas Cowboys 2-0
11. New York Jets 2-0
12. Carolina Panthers 2-0
13. Buffalo Bills 1-1
14. Washington Redskins 1-1
15. San Francisco 49ers 1-1
16. Miami Dolphins 1-1
17. Seattle Seahawks 0-2
18. Houston Texans 0-2
19. St. Louis Rams 1-1
20. Indianapolis Colts 0-2
21. Minnesota Vikings 1-1
22. Cleveland Browns 1-1
23. Jacksonville Jaguars 1-1
24. Oakland Raiders 1-1
25. Baltimore Ravens 0-2
26. Detroit Lions 0-2
27. New York Giants 0-2
28. New Orleans Saints 0-2
29. Philidelphia Eagles 0-2
30. Tennessee Titans 1-1
31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1-1
32. Chicago Bears 0-2
Seattle at 17 seems fair, i put them as the highest ranked 0-2 team, titans and bucs both get poor ratings despite both having convincing wins, Chicago is in last place becuase all the other typical bottom feeders have won in the first two weeks, washington is suoer high becuase of their o line and strong running game, plus that defense is playing pretty well
I can’t warm up to the Chiefs, after last weeks epic meltdown I think Pittsburg and Atlanta should be above them.
Just because a team is 2-0 (Cowboys) or 0-2 (Seahawks) doesn’t mean they should be rated so high or low. The Cowboys are decimated, I think they are no better than #15 right now.. and preparing to dive
It will be interesting if Weeden steps up. Romo was good but never excellent.
Just an afterthought about jumping offsides: If it happens, isn’t the smarter play to keep rushing through, take the five-yard flag, and prevent the “free” play that turns into a 52-yard completion or a TD from happening at all? You know, make the most of your temporary illegal advantage?
I realize that’s really hard to do in the split seconds of the moment, that it goes against instinct, but is it possible? You know, just run across the O-line instead of trying to jump back to position, blow through, bump into Aaron Rodgers a little so he *can’t* take advantage and force the refs to blow the whistle?
Yes. Just keep going.
Good point dumbquestion? It’s probably because everyone would think that it’s cheep. I believe there are unwritten laws in American Football.
In case you might have missed it, here’s an interesting analogy to the Chancellor holdout from KOMO’s Eric Johnson:
“It’s none of my business, really, whether Kam Chancellor returns to the Seahawks this season or not. He’s taking care of his own personal business the way he wants to. And likewise, I’ll not invite him to weigh in on my own personal dealings either. I am reminded though, of Achilles sulking in his tent. Perhaps some of you are familiar with that part of The Illiad…
Achilles, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, felt slighted by King Agamemnon…who he thought stole from him. So, he retired to his tent, brooding and sulking, as the rest of the Greeks went out day after day to do battle with the Trojans. The tide of the battles turned, and without the great Achilles, the Greeks began to lose ground to the Trojans. As it got worse and worse, the Greeks came to Achilles and pleaded with him to return to the battlefield, much in the way that Seahawks fans are begging for Kam’s return to the football field today. No amount of pleading could change Achilles’ mind though. His pride was hurt, so he remained in his tent even as his comrades were falling by the wayside. It wasn’t until his best friend Patroclus was killed in battle, that Achilles left the tent, consumed by sorrow and anger, and resumed his a#% kicking ways on the battlefield.
Who knows when our own Achilles, Kam Chancellor, will decide to leave his tent and don his armor again? Pride is a powerful thing. And I’m starting to care less and less.
But it is fascinating, is it not, that the problems of modern day gladiators aren’t so different, really, than the ones experienced by bold, prideful warriors 700 years before Christ was born?
Oh, and if we see Coach Carroll wheeling a giant wooden horse onto the practice field, you’ll know we’re in trouble…”
Was it just me, or has the officiating kind of negated Seattle’s style of play?
The off-sides on Bennett that led to Sherm’s PI should’ve been blown dead since Don Barclay stood up.
Avril not ‘getting off thr field.’ Serioysly? Dude was between the hash marks on the sideline.
The no-call when Clinton-Dix led with his helmet on Baldwin. Yes, he was going to the ground. Right before that they flag Sweezy for basically the same thing.
The blatant holding by Devante Adams in the 1st quarter on 3rd and 1.
Justin Britt coming out of the scrum with the ball, but GB was ruled to have recovered it.
Reviewing plays when GB was out of timeouts.
I know these look like excuses and their far from it. Rather an observation. It looks like the defense is hesitant to play their style/brand of ball. Maybe there’s nothing to it and it’s just me venting. Penalties and not getting calls our way have long been something that’s associated with PC or he’s also pointed out. But, has it caught up with their overly physical style of play?
V-12 thanks for bringing it up.
There were also blatant holds by the Packers OL on Seahawk pass rushers that were not called (one on Avril would have taken them out of FG range). Also, while reviewing the two plays just before the half ( the first one that was totally obvious), after the first review the playclock should have started when the ref set the ball down (player was tackled inbounds), that didn’t happen.
The KJ Wright ejection was bullshit, Packer player should have been ejected too. There was a punch thrown.
Further, every turnover is supposed to be reviewed. Even though Britt came out of the pile with the ball the play was never reviewed and possession was granted to the Packers, very similar to a play last year in St. Louis when Tre Mason coughed it up at the end of the game… we lost. Wonder if it was the same officiating crew?
The officiating in this game was quite suspect and seeing officiating like that pisses me off to no end. It brings back memories of ’05 and I want to punch fucking walls. I still think that Super Bowl was bought and paid for.
Very good point about our pass-rushers being held. Almost every time. I know there’s holding every play in the gane of football, but when hands go to the face, hands are outside of the shoulders, or guys hips are being turned, how much more obvious does it need to get?
I completely forgot about the KJ Wright ejection. Is this what the game is coming to? No physicality, can’t touch the QB, defenses not being able to subsiute because of how much they’ve sped up and modified the rules on offense, and countless commercials that stop momentum?
It’s becoming more and more obvious why PC/JS look for ‘backyard football’ skill sets in their prospects. And it’s not just RWs style of play.
Agree, guys. There are many horrible calls in this game. Lambeau.
Watching college RBs lately, and I’m a huge fan of CJ Prosise at ND. He’s said to be a freak athlete, former Bball player, and track and field star, rumored to have great practice habits. Has an interesting backstory. And I love his competitive energy.
Which leads me out west to a couple stud backs from the PAC 12. Paul Perkins at UCLA has recenty caught my eye. Tough, runs extremely low to the ground, explosive, goodhands, good pass ptotector, and highly productive. Has those huge ‘tree trunk’ thighs. Right in Seattle’s wheelhouse too.
And then Utah’s Devontae Booker. I was high on him, then cooled in him, and now I’m starting to buy back in. He’s really impressed me this year. IDK if he’s explosive enough for Seattle, but dude is the epitome of a ‘grinder.’
I bring up these 2, Booker and Perkins, because the PAC 12 and guys from schools out west, or born/raised out here have been very good to the Seahawks, which I find very interesting. Just something I felt like sharing and 3 guys to monitor this year.
Hey, there’s a pretty good article about the use of Jimmy over on Field Gulls…I think it makes a lot of sense, and it does a great job of breaking down the plays he was in on. Just food for thought I guess.
http://www.fieldgulls.com/football-breakdowns/2015/9/22/9363715/jimmy-graham-seahawks-passing-game-scheme-open-bevell-carroll
Hawks cut Pinkins? Did they sign Quanterus Smith out of W. Kentucky? He was productive for Denver 2 years ago IIRC. Dude has talent.
Signed DB George Farmer
Actually surprised they Cut Pinkins
Doesn’t make a lot of sense. Pinkins has shown to have value. Farmer, who didnt’ make it as a WR, another DB conversion project. He is not projected as a smaller quicker nickel type either.