For the second time this season the Seahawks were hammered at home.
In week three New Orleans were more physical, dictated the play to Seattle and forced errors. Baltimore did exactly the same today.
The only difference is this week the Seahawks didn’t have time to score garbage time points to polish the scoreboard.
Nothing will ever top the 2017 beat down by the Rams. Yet these two games — against the Saints and now the Ravens — are extremely concerning. It pulls the curtain back on the reality with this team.
You can get after them, even at Century Link Field.
We can sit here and reflect two ways. They’re 5-2. That’s a good record. They’re young and learning. They’re still in a modest rebuilt. They’ve also been battered by two good teams at home, were a goalpost away from losing a third home game to the Rams and nearly lost their other home game to the winless Bengals.
They’re 12-8 at home since the start of 2017. Can we talk about that by the way? The Seahawks are only 12-8 at Century Link Field since the start of the 2017 season. This is supposed to be a fearsome home field advantage. Are they a better team on the road these days?
They want to be the bully. They’re not the bully. They want to run the ball and have explosive plays in the passing game. They want to defend the run and force turnovers. They want to impose their will.
They’re just not doing it with any consistency — and other teams are parking up and doing it to them in their own backyard. The Ravens, like the Saints, were faster and stronger.
And sure — Baltimore had a bit of luck along the way. Yet one thing really stands out.
Today the Ravens loaded the box and said to the Seahawks, ‘you’re not running the ball on us’. Seattle responded by throwing it 41 times. When the game was close, they’d thrown 27 times vs 16 runs. That highlights how much they forced Seattle off script. The Ravens dictated to the Seahawks what they were going to do on offense.
They were the physical tone setters.
It’s supposed to be the other way round, especially at home.
It wasn’t all on the offense though. The defense initially restricted Lamar Jackson but by the second half they had no answer. They had no contain or discipline against his scrambling. The pressure was minimal. The D-line has regressed from last year and the linebackers — so much a focus this year — are not impacting games. This in turn leaves the secondary exposed. It’s a trickle effect through each unit.
Baltimore on the other hand harassed Wilson, took away the run, had two turnovers leading to touchdowns and nullified every threat.
Other teams will feel like they can get after Seattle — just like the Saints and Ravens.
And yes — you could argue the Wilson pick-six was a momentum shift. At that point Seattle was in control and it provided a swing. Yet Wilson led a field-goal drive before half time and Seattle started the second half with the ball and a 13-13 scoreline. The second half beating wasn’t due to the pick-six.
It seems they’re solely dependant on their offense. If they can’t run they need Wilson. Sometimes they need both. When teams win the LOS battle they struggle. The defense simply isn’t good enough to compensate on those occasions. Not enough pressure, not enough discipline, not enough big plays. Not good enough to contend seriously.
They’re not alone. There are plenty of other flawed teams, including the Ravens (who recently were themselves hammered by Cleveland). Yet the NFC is competitive at the top and the Seahawks are losing their margin for error.
So the season will continue in this way. Wilson will provide magical moments and win them games. There will be times when they can run and will be more physical too. Yet there will also, likely, be more games like this. And unfortunately, it could be in the games that matter.
Considering their utter dependance on the offense — do they need to add if they want to improve this year? Whether it’s a tight end addition as suggested earlier today by Ian Rapoport or another receiver?
It’s too late now to suddenly turn this team into the bully. They are what they are. Wilson’s lost Will Dissly. Don’t you need to say to your quarterback in a situation like this — we need you this year, so we’re going to support you?
You could say they have bigger needs on defense. I agree. What are you going to do though? Name the one defensive player that is available that transforms this unit?
They’re relying on their offense this year. So it’s either stand-pat and accept this is possible any week or try to do something in the next eight days to give Wilson an even greater opportunity to produce magic — because that’s what you’re relying on.
They’re now 1.5 games behind the 49ers and the Rams got back on track this week with a blowout win in Atlanta and the Jalen Ramsey trade. This was not a good weekend.
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Trade for Aj green or call it a season.
But hey…we’re just rebuilding right? Six yrs later!!
Six years later??? We’ve been rebuilding for 6 years?
So many wasted plays
Ouch, that was hard to watch.
Really missed Dissly out there, both blocking and receiving.
This game sorta highlighted just how much they rely on Wilson. If he isn’t perfect, they most likely can’t compete with the top teams.
Ultimately the game came down to two turnovers that directly gave them 14 points, if they clean that up its a close game they have a chance to win.
That’s what I’m most hot about. Not only have they lost their home field advantage, but teams are flying across the country and imposing their will.
I said it before the season. This defense relied on generational talents making game changing, momentum shifting plays. They don’t have that anymore. I get that Pete wants to simplify his defense, but w/o those type of talents they can’t keep playing that way.
IMO the game flipped not on the pick 6 (dont get me wrong. It played a big part) but rather the missed FG. Meyers has been brutal this season, pouring down rain, a 50 yd + attempt, and Carson was in a groove at that point plus you have RW. Like you said, they gotta rely on their offense at this point so trust them
Blair had a good game I thought. And poor Clowney. Has to do yeoman’s work for this team to even sniff a pass rush.
Is Penny still hurt? Seems like a guy whose strength is getting east-west woulda been an asset against a defense that likes to attack downhill.
Easier said than done, but…
Rodney Harrison: Seattle’s defense made no adjustments to stop Lamar Jackson.
I very much agree on the turning point in the game, and its frustrating because I had no faith in Myers making that kick.
Baltimore were bold and aggressive in this game, Seattle were not.
Jason Myers was an All-pro Kicker last season. But even the GOAT kicker cannot guarantee that he makes every 50+ yards FG in rainy days. In fact, I don’t give them over 60% FG Make rate. I thought Pete Carroll would know that, obviously he didn’t.
Besides, I often wonder one thing: Does Pete Carroll know his team is called Seattle Seahawks? His gameplan is fatally flawed today. Middle & Long passes, 2:1 pass-run ratio in rainy, wet days. So-called homefield advantage. Suicide squad maybe. No adjustment towards a heavy-running team. Cannot cover TEs(the drops from Ravens’ TEs were really on our side), cannot contain or flush Lamar. Pathetic.
Only good thing from this game: Marquise Blair. Maybe it’s time to move on from Tedric I-give-a-big-play-every-fucking-week Thompson.
I thought he played well myself, but today’s trade for a safety makes me think Pete didn’t see it that way. (Blair)
It irks me too that the home field advantage and bully attitude is gone. But having guys like Sherm, Earl and Kam- it is impossible to capture that kind of leadership and hunger twice. Those guys were supreme competitors and it will never be duplicated again. And the other big factor in being the physical, bullying team was Marshawn. CC runs hard but he is not Marshawn and doesn’t provide that same kind of energy.So I think it is just not realistic to think that they can be that type of team, especially in today’s NFL.. It is up to Pete and John to evolve and figure out how to best build an offense and team around Russ. Because he is our best chance to be a championship team again. It is almost like Pete is holding on to this idea of a ground and pound type of team, when really they may be better off being a more modern NFL offense. And I think they have shown signs that they are trying to do that. But again, Pete, on 4th and 3 reverts back to his old school field position, conservative self when the game is in the balance. IT IS MADDENING. And then for Baltimore to do the EXACT opposite moments later was like being kicked in the stomach. I think the 5-2 record is fools gold. There are alot of BAD teams in the NFL. And Seattle has beat 4 bad ones- Cincy, Pitt, Cle, AZ. They easily could have lost 3 of those and could have lost to the Rams. We could easily be 1-6 to be honest. If not for Russell’s heroics.
I think they should stand pat and ride this thing out. If they could make a deal for OJ Howard I would. But I wouldn’t give up picks for AJ Green, not with the promise DK has shown. Keep the picks, reload in the draft and try to keep getting better that way.
I have a feeling they will still win 10 games and get in the playoffs. But probably lose on wildcard weekend or the divisional round. Just not a good enough defense.
” They’re relying on their offense this year. So it’s either stand-pat and accept this is possible any week or try to do something in the next eight days to give Wilson an even greater opportunity to produce magic — because that’s what you’re relying on. ” This statement is absolutely true. If we don’t pick up A.J. Green or an OJ Howard we are done this year.
Now as far as this game goes I was worried to begin with. How can the Ravens throw their QB into the fire so many times per game? Is this a plan that will stand the test of time? I don’t think so. Well I guess you could ask the back-up QB RG3 about that.
They beat us fair and square and RW had the worst game of the year. Props.
IMO, this team has too many issues to compete for a championship, this year: OL, safeties, pass rush, etc.
OJ Howard might help, 2020/21, but at what cost? AJ Green is out of contract, UFA: hard pass.
Stand pat, address the pass rush and OL with early picks; TE, later or in free agency.
Saints, Patriots, 49ers relying on run game and good defense and Seattle throws it 40 times in the rain
I guess we felt like we couldn’t run-to-win this game.
Nope Ravens DL wore us down! We need a dominant OL hopefully the pieces we do have are valuable enough to trade so Schneider can fix it next year. Also I’m not sold on letting Ifeldi go I’m thinking about the other guys.
Penny was a burst compared to picking chubb. But we cant bring that up on this site. Rob gets funny about certain things. So we have McDowell, Collier, Penny all high picks that have resulted to nothing
And you wonder why Wilson is by himself. This trade back crap was good in 2012.
First round draft picks are 50-50 at best, and it slides down from there. Draft whataboutery is pointless. If only we’d made 11 perfect picks we’d be the best team in the league – like all 31 other teams. You win some, you lose some. Collier is six games into his first season after missing most of the preseason. McDowell almost killed himself and didn’t play a single snap – maybe he would have been a jet, who knows? Penny hasn’t been great yet, but he still has plenty of time.
TBF, Penny isn’t better than Carson. Chubb would be behind him too. They needed a RB that year with Carson coming off his injury.
Didn’t love the Collier pick myself. Thought it was a good, solid pick but not great.
They took rolled the dice on McDowell it didn’t work out.
With all that said, they do tend to get too cute when it comes to these first overall selections.
I agree. Kevin King would be nice right now. Or Jonathan Abhrams.
King has not played well for Green Bay overall. Abram was off the board when they picked.
You are correct. The thoughts are futile and juvenile on my part. I really thought Abhrams was Chancellor 2.0. A trade up would’ve been nice. I digress.
Watts would have looked good in blue, we had are chance there as well
I was in section 205 today and I am embarrassed by many of the Seahawks fans that I was surrounded by. What a soft crowd. No wonder we have lost our edge at home. Brought my parents to their first hawks game and they were so surprised at how subdued the crowd was.
If our team was as soft as our fans we would have lost 40-3 today.
Agreed. It’s beyond frustrating not seeing any first pick from the last three years playing.
When it comes to RB’s I wouldn’t bet against Pete.
After Earl Thomas, what first round pick has came in and made a difference? Saints went down for a couple yrs and now their defense is loaded…all from the draft. We need more ” superior takent”. This gathering picks and hopping for the best is outdated. College kids are faster and stronger…hence needing if that a yr to develop in the nfl. Today I saw Lamar fly through KJ like it watching. We need more talent than draft picks
You mean New Orleans’ defense that contains Marcus Brown, Demario Davis, Kiko Alonso, AJ Klein, Eli Apple, Vonn Bell and Marcus Williams? All astute FA acquisitions or picks outside of R1?
The one move they did make that was bold — trading two R1’s for Marcus Davenport — hasn’t exactly reaped massive rewards.
They’ve built a defense in a way that is similar to the Seahawks. They hit on Cam Jordan (who I had at #3 on my board that year) and spent the high picks they had on Lattimore and Rankins. That’s it. It’s not miles different to Seattle.
NOLA went
7-9
7-9
7-9
With a HOF QB in his prime
Something tells me you’d hate that even more than being 9-7 in a bad year or 10-6 in a rebuilding year.
Or 5-2 this year.
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nor/
I’m glad you’re able to take your anger about today out on me/the blog.
No disrespect Rob…just trying to vent with people who share the same love and commitment for this team. I apologize…but I think this team needs new blood. Pete Carroll is known for hype and energy but nobody in this team defines that. We need a Dog.This has nothing to do with it but earlier on when I couldn’t help but notice Ramsey trash talking Julio. That goes a long way.
To be honest, you cannot find a worse running back than Penny in last few drafts. Maybe it’s not his fault, just picked by the wrong team, wrong philosophy and wrong scheme.
I thought they should have kept the guy from Alabama. Bo Scarbrough. At least he would run forward and not fool around behind the line of scrimmage.
My friend and I run some analysis few days ago. Turns out Penny may be the worst Running Back drafted in 1st round for the decade. Damn.
I think Penny was drafted by the wrong team and scheme. Just like Mariota 🤷♂️
Trent Richardson would have to be the worst first round running back of the decade.
I really liked Penny at San Diego State. I assumed he was third round or thereabouts. Until Seattle took him there I never gave one thought that he could be first round. Same thing with Artie Burns, the cornerback who the Steelers somehow turned into a first rounder. That was another example of a team so fixated on one position they lost track of value and logic.
I have to agree the Seahawks have been too cute in the first round recently. Too much thinking going on. When I was slumping in Las Vegas while betting sports often I’d just clear my head and say…okay I’m betting on the 3 best teams that are playing today. It was amazing how well that worked. Likewise I’m always thinking Seattle should stop screwing around with all the maneuvering and simply take the guy who is available at their spot who has been the highest rated college player throughout his tenure. Don’t get suckered by late bloomer or similar garbage. Take the player who the other players would take, if this were a pickup game. Peers don’t care about current form. They know the pecking order throughout their lifespan. Likewise it will be amazing how well that strategy will work out.
Nobody should fret a loss to the Ravens. That team is a physical matchup nightmare for countless teams outside their division. Seattle should have been arrested for grand theft if the record had been 6-1 with this caliber of team.
Not a great game. Don’t look super fit which isn’t ideal. Baltimore just started running on us and had no way to pick things up or get a stop.
Jackson is a very special player who’s going to do this to a lot of teams. Earl looks like he’s coming into his own, and that’s suddenly a stacked secondary. They played like we used to, team of asskickers who’d tell you exactly what they were going to do and then do it.
It’s not a devastating loss, but it is a good wakeup call. Still a long way off. We’re a slow team across the park, especially on defence, and it’s an issue.
These home struggles are a massive downer, but I will say the Lamar Jackson and the Ravens fully deserve this win, they played a fantastic second half. I would say they’re changing the game on offence, but in reality I don’t think another team is capable of doing what they’re doing. They’ve been incredibly fun to watch this year and full credit to them.
This team isn’t done yet, but winning the west looks a much taller order than it did this morning. If you can get OJ Howard for a 2nd I would get it done. I also thought the secondary played well today, for what it’s worth.
Seattle are flawed and not one player away. Stay the course and focus on defense next year.
This is not a championship team. No one traded player changes that.
No overreactions please, Seattle. Grow and open your window next year.
4th youngest team in the NFL.
But they still need a TE no matter what. Howard is >>> than any of this year’s class. Spend that pick trading for Howard or spend it drafting a TE. Either way, gotta spend it on that position
Exactly this! That contract is beautiful in terms of how elite he could end up being.
Ironic that we ‘have to’ trade a high pick for an underachieving former 1st-Round TE to replace our injured/overachieving mid-round TE.
You can find serviceable TEs in the mid rounds and/or free agency.
Not opposed to trading for OJ Howard, but I don’t think he makes a difference, this year. Despite being 5-2, this is an average team in need of more talent and better coaching (Norton).
Is he underachieving? Or is he an ill-fit in Arians’ offense?
It’s entirely possible he shines in Seattle and they get a quality young TE who is better than the alternatives in the draft.
Agree. I think it’s a combination of a player w/ a history of underachieving playing in the wrong system. He would improve as a Seahawk because of system + RW.
Not opposed to trading for Howard, but would rather address the position in the off-season.
Name me one player in the last three years being traded to Seattle and actually shining. You could say Duane Brown, if he weren’t on a nasty slide trajectory. Apart from Brown, you won’t find any.
The really bad news is, that FA nowadays seems to be no fit to Seattles all-in-style football.
How many trades have they actually made in that timescale??
Clowney is working, it’s not his fault for the D-line. Brown has worked. Sheldon didn’t. It’s hardly a bad record on trades the last three years.
I’m going to remain optimistic. I had a leery feeling about this game. I thought we might win because of some more RW magic. Didn’t happen today. But I feel we have a very good chance to win the next two games against a hapless Falcons team, and then Tampa Bay back here at home. If we can take care of business against these next two opponents, then we will be 7-2. That would be a marvelous record after 9 games.
If we don’t win these next two games, end up 6-3 or, dare I say, 5-4 after them, then we’ve got some real problems. But if we do make it out of them at 7-2, then we can enter our toughest stretch of the schedule with a bit of a buffer. Games 10 through 13 are a gauntlet…
@San Francisco
@Philadelphia
vs. Minnesota
@Los Angeles Rams
We could easily dump 3 out of 4 there.
So what I’m saying is…these next two games are games we’ve got to win to keep the boat sailing in the right direction.
Absolutely right. We have to go to 7-2 after the next two. If you could then go 2-2 in those four games to get to 9-4 we would be OK.
I think the unfortunate reality is that this team is not capable of winning without Russell Wilson playing lights out. The defense isn’t good enough to win games. The team consistently has to overcome head scratching coaching decisions and game planning. There’s no pass rush. OL play is really bad. The running game is fine, but not special.
They are literally reliant on 1 person to win the game, unfortunately. This isn’t mean to be a season is over comment, but the reality is if you take RW off this team – I’d contend it’s probably got a roster quality that sits in the mid 20s, maybe lower. They are missing way too many pieces in critical areas.
Things we thought would be great (LB corps, Pass Rush, OL improvement) just haven’t happened. In fact, the LB corps has been atrocious. KJ is playing like one of the worst LBers in the league. Prior to getting hurt, Duane Brown has been bad. Clowney is disruptive but can’t finish. Other than him…QJeff has the occasional nice play but outside of that – nobody is doing anything to defend the pass game. We don’t create turnovers…I think Shaq Griffin has had a nice year…but he’s not worthy of getting paid a lot when he can’t create turnovers. What was once a staple in a Carroll defense has turned into a lame unit. Tedric is just terrible. Blair looked promising but is more of a SS type.
Frustrating game. Not mad, just kind of sobering up to what this team really is – Russell Wilson and a bunch of mediocre players. If he’s not great, we lose. Pretty simple, at this point.
Well said. We are what Green Bay was for years up to 2019.
Of all the defensive position groups, we thought LB was our strongest — and maybe it is, but that’s more a criticism of the other groups than it is praise for the LBs.
Wagner just isn’t impacting games like he has in previous seasons. Today he was especially quiet. KJ also playing poorly. Not being able to stay with a TE downfield isn’t unexpected. That’s what can happen when you don’t play nickel much. But the missed tackles, weak arm tackles, failure to contain, etc., that’s not the KJ we’ve seen before. And Kendricks isn’t being used effectively.
I thought Blair had a decent game for his first start. Decent enough to be optimistic about him. I’d like to see Cody Barton get some playing time. He’s the future after KJ. He played some WILL in the preseason and looked good doing it. He lacks KJ’s experience, but he’s athletically superior. KJ is both a step slow and not playing with strength.
Wagner today chasing Jackson reminded me of Urlacher chasing Wilson circa 2012. Wagner looks old.
I’m not saying he looks the same as last season, but Lamar Jackson makes a lot of people look slow. He is really, really fast. A LB should not be expected to catch up to him, honestlyz
Failing to play contain and trying to force pass under wet conditions.. what a mess.
Just when fans think something is brewing, team becomes over confident and lays an egg.
Unfortunately this game was effectively over when the Hawks came out weak in the second half. The offense didn’t get the job done and the defense ended up on the field so long that by the fourth quarter they were largely out of gas. Yeah, we’ll do the usual fan things and point to this play or that, this player or that, but it’s systemic. Between youth and ability this is a mid level team, should not have been ranked in the top ten. Going forward they’ll be okay/competitive against genuine lower 10 ranked teams, even up on the others that are middlin’ like them, and handled by the legitimate top 10. They are who some of us thought they were, RWs play not withstanding.
As fans we tend to focus on player talent and short sell coaching for the most part. Schotty and his guys seem to be growing into their jobs gradually and might be able to figure out how to coach up the talent they have available for now as time progresses. I don’t have the same belief on the D side of things. Again, there’s some decent talent there but from the DC on down through the position ranks we have middlin’ coaching that get middlin’ results. Norton was passed over when Quinn left for a reason(s), and didn’t show much at Oakland (though Del Rio might have been part of that too). Richard may have been promoted to his level of incompetence too as DC, but when he was the DB coach he was in his element. Norton might still be good if he were only responsible for the LBs. It’s the coaches that break down the opposition video, it’s the coaches who scheme for that team, and it’s the coaches that call which players are on the field for which probable offensive alignments and call in the plays to Bobby. That’s a lot of responsibility that doesn’t fall on the players. Yeah, the players have to have the football IQ and physical skills to execute, but they aren’t the whole problem as many will want to lay on them.
Maybe now, going forward, we can view this team as what they are. A fairly good team that can be entertaining at times. but not playoff contenders.
They are playoff contenders. They’re just not Super Bowl contenders.
Which makes our current standing a bit of a nightmare. Not good enough to win it. Not bad enough to reload in the draft. Mentioned earlier by someone else…but we are starting to resemble Green Bay from years back…a QB and a bunch of guys.
I think the key difference between the two is Ted Thompson let that situation sit for years. He was so inactive in FA.
Seattle are a much more pro-active front office but ultimately the end product might be the same as you suggest.
Our DBs are toothless. Is there a Jamal Adam’s within reach in the next draft.. Rob?
Sadly not unless you’re picking in the top ten for Delpit.
Today we got to see how important Will Dissly is. He can block and he is a valuable target for RW, certainly when the opponent stuffs the box to take away the run. In a larger sense it shows how important key injuries are.
One has to wonder how much continuing value there is in keeping two rookie WR’s on the roster simply to have them be healthy inactives.
To me there’s a difference between “making” the playoffs e.g. wild card and getting bounced in the first round, and being a contender. It goes back to the middlin’ thing, there are enough seeds to squeak into the playoffs, but not enough juice to be meaningful as a genuine contender. Nuance I guess………..
You make a lot of good points, but Seattle is absolutely a playoff contender.
Seahawks, Vikings, Rams. 2 of those 3 make the playoffs. Maybe Carolina, but I’m not sure how much I trust their young QB down the stretch. Or Cam comes back and is inserted into the lineup and they falter.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility for Seattle to overtake the 9ers as far fetched as that may sound.
I think the loss of Dissly really impacted the offense when we went against what should easily be the best secondary we will play all year. There was simply nobody to attack the seams with when we were blanketed outside. I’m not sure this template can be duplicated against us to that degree going forward, but the offense is going to have to adjust to his absence. Brown can shoulder some of the burden in the red zone (I’m sure thankful we kept him around now), but we need a weapon who can get open in the middle of the field between the 20s. Ursua makes some sense in that regard, but I’m not sure that will suffice. O.J. Howard would be the most obvious trade target, but it doesn’t look like they are interested in moving him — which is odd since that offense doesn’t utilize a TE. A receiver like Green who could play opposite Metcalf could also open up Lockett to play the slot. Maybe I’m just slightly overreacting to a well-played game by a very quality secondary though…
I was at the game.
This came down to 1 thing. Lamar is a damn rb. Every time they needed a play, he ran it. Now I was a Lamar believer, but today showed hes 1 leg injury from rg3 status. 2 return TD on defense? How many times does that happen.Take those away and its tie game, despite all the bad play. Throw in another missed fg from our highly paid kicker. Russ was off, but it was a nonstop rainy mess of a game. Most qbs wont have a ton of success in those conditions. He floated a few just out of reach. This is one of those games where a couple different bounces and it’s a completely different game.
My only complaint, well there are more, but only real complaint was the lockett play on 3rd and 2 before the missed fg. That play to.me was the turning point. I’d rather run it or trust Wilson to audible to a pass. 1st down there and they move into a better fg position and possibly get back in endzone. I have no trust in Myers, especially from deep.
I’m used to the bad calls from Schottenheimer on 3rd downs and the bad decisions on 4th down, wasted challenges and poor clock management from Pete, and the apparent incompetence from Norton, but what I want to know is wtf was that onside kick from our ‘highly paid kicker’ at the end? that was pitiful. can’t we get Dickson to try a rugby drop-kick or something?
I think the entire league is trying to figure out how to do an onsides kick. They really killed that play for good and it is a shame.
Apparently the league is reviewing this every week, trying to find the right way to bring it back.
Big game that exploited the “leaks” now we know what needs to be done next year in FA and the draft. I’d say the toughest position to fix will be K. The draft position should be good enough to fix the other issues with 2 young DE’s on the roster. Hopefully the FS from SF on the practice squad will be ready next year. Things are looking good to me all we need to do is add pieces on the DL & OL. After this game I don’t believe it makes sense to use draft picks for a TE we should “bite the bullet” and roll with what we have. This is the second game where a missed field goal resulted in a score for the opponent you can’t win in the playoffs with that type of “leak” Hopefully Tedric will get more interceptions and avoid anymore mistakes so we can trade him same goes for Mcdougald.
Kicker? Really? This kicker hasn’t lost us a game and can connect from 58 yds. We lost this game by 14 points, not by 1 via a missed FG attempt. We do need help, and primarily on defense. We need a free safety, and we need pass rush.
Are we finally done with the Tedric Thompson experiment? He gave a 25 yard cushion, and was beaten on a 50 yard pass. To make that clearer, he was given a 25 yard head start in a 50 yard dash and lost. And it wasn’t as thought the receiver was way out on the sideline and TT had to cover all that ground to get in position. The route was right up the middle of the field where he was standing. If the pass hadn’t been under thrown and the receiver didn’t have to slow to wait on it, it would have gone to the house.
The traditional way to build a monster D is to create a fearsome line. A line like that limits the time a quarterback has to get rid of the ball, and the amount of time receivers have to get into routes. It makes the defensive backfield better because they don’t have to cover as much of the field, or for as long. During the Legion of Boom days, Seattle went a very unconventional route. We developed the best defensive backfield the league had every seen. That helped our D-line as because the DBs could blanket routes for so long, the DL had more time to get to the QB. Now we don’t have either.
We are in the unenviable position that we make the playoffs year after year, pushing us to the bottom of the draft so the elite talent we covet is gone before we can make a pick. Like this year. Collier was a consolation pick. The talent they wanted was gone before they could step up to the podium. We are going to have to get lucky finding a pick whom everyone has underrated who is actually a top flight talent. Or we’ll need to pick high end talent laden with red flags who falls, like Frank Clark and Malik McDowell.
We may not have the league’s best kicker, but he’s adequate, and not the real problem with this club.
John Schneider has more misses than shots. But we’re still drunk of the superbowl we forgot to pay attention.We have a very accurate and dangerous Qb. A old veteran coach on his way out but still top notch. Why havent we gone back to superbowl status? Six yrs later. Trump will build that wall b4 we’re finished rebuilding 🤷♂️
That seems a little extreme…We went through a rough patch draft-wise a few years ago. Players you would be hoping would be impact starters simply didn’t pan out (safety and DL primarily). I think we’ve had two very solid drafts in a row now. I’m more worried about defensive coaching than anything else; I’m hoping if Quinn is fired, that we’ll be able to capitalize; not that I realistically see that happening.
Understandable but Pete is not getting younger and Wilson too. That window is getting smaller
This needs to get an award of some kind. L.O.L.
Gotta admit I’m excited for our future.
I’m willing to trust our leadership will build a defensive juggernaut in 2020.
Offense is going to be good next year.
Grow young Hawks, grow!!!
I don’t mean this in a combative way…but where are you seeing the potential for a defensive juggernaut? I see a unit that can’t pass rush or create turnovers.
What do you see? *I’m actually trying to be sincere with this question.
Not out of the realm. Lots of positives. Blair played well. Shaq is having a great year. Tre still young and solid. Pass rush has a ton of youth. Add in a new crop of rookies with cap room. Not that far from being a top 1/3 defense. We fix our pass rush and itll be a domino effect for the rest of D.
Assuming we keep Clowney and Reed gets back to playing dominant football I think we need 1 more DE and we are good to go.
Our defense of the super bowl years was fused with fire. Thomas, Chancellor, Sherman, Where is the fire going to come from now ? The 49ers have it, we don’t.
I see a young defensive line that plays gap sound run defense.
I see a young strong safety in Blair that can hit and run but needs to become knowledgeable of the defense (… like Thomas 2010)
I see that Amadi has the speed to earn a free safety spot.
I see Clowney as a great 5 Tech.
I see Reed as a great nose tackle.
We need a pass rusher (I admit this will be tough). We need a Will and a SAM. We need another corner.
I think this is a realistic set of goals for 2020.
My 2 cents.
This goes against everything PC/JS have done draft wise, but they have the capital to do it.
If a tone setter is sitting there or someone who resets the LOS every other snap is sitting there at 10-12 and Seattle is picking 20th-22nd, u making the move up?
They need difference makers. Where ever they can get them, they need to be aggressive. RW is not getting any younger.
I’m kind of over the “we are really good at finding serviceable players on Day 3.” That’s great, but it needs to be supplemented with difference makers on the first 2 days.
Side note, but I think a premiere young LB is a potential target, as well. Our LB play is really bad and it’s an older group. I like BBK and Barton, but I think they are more special teamers than anything.
I think for sure this would be the year to do it. Maybe a Grant Delpit if he is there?
This receiver class is deep enough that you’ll find more than serviceable contributors into day 3. Not saying that’s what they do.
After 3 receivers in the last draft, I would not be happy if they went there again. This defense needs a big infusion of talent. If the defense can step up, the offense we have will do.
RW is opening that window wider. Hes is growing immensely this year. Hes 31, still many good years left. I believe we wont need to worry about his fall off for atleast 5 years.
You mean if Kinlaw or Brown are available at say pick 12?
I dunno man. What does that cost to move up about 10 spots in Round 1? Next year’s R1?
I sure would love a DT like either of those two, but that’s a hefty price to pay for it.
Doubt it. And to be honest looking at this class I have no idea who you’d be moving up for.
Yes.
Their version of moving up might simply mean not trading down. Would they be willing to make a selection with their native 1st round pick if they like the guy there?
For the first time in many years they don’t ‘HAVE’ to trade down to manufacture ‘make up’ picks. That’s part of the reason I hope we go into the draft with all of our current ammunition. I like at least having that option.
I’ve thought from the beginning of the season that our front 7 wasn’t going to begin to come into its own until about the start of the 2nd half of the season. If they don’t begin to accelerate on an upward trajectory at that point as a unit, then we’re going to be a very limited team this year. As Rob has stated, it’s going to solely dependent upon how far RW and the offense can take us without our front 7 developing into a much more formidable unit. Our secondary simply doesn’t have enough potential and or experience at this point to be more than average.
Yeah, I see the merit in adding to the O if a good deal becomes possible. We’ll see what happens on that front.
This game really turned on that Peters pick six. We were looking to go up 13-6 or even 17-6 then bam, your down 3. Also couldnt get off the field after getting them and third and long. Jackson is a beast running, just wonder how long until someone knocks him out and he becomes RG3. Tough loss but we have a chance to go to 7-2 before facing the Niners on Monday night.
Let’s not forget that this was jarran reeds first game action. It should take him a couple games to get right. Plus clowney always plays better 2nd half. Hope our pass rush isnt too far away from being atleast mediocre.
Did ansah play today. Guy has been a ghost.
The dude was invisible! Absolutely nowhere with zero push on the line! He should be released and stripped of all things that make him happy!! He was inactive bro lol.
Well that’s a relief. Lol. I was pumped seeing reed in there atleast. He was hyping up the crowd 2nd half.
He was inactive today…but your point stands. One of the worst FAs PCJS have acquired.
I think that we have to assume that he is chronically injured. Adjust expectations accordingly.
Ugly game, but unfortunately consistent with the problems this team has had for a couple of years, between personnel losses and mediocre drafting.
I still think it’s possible that they are a scrappy underdog that will gradually get better, that no one will want to play at season’s end.
The 49ers are getting cocky, despite the fact they really haven’t played a good team, with a good QB and/or opposing rosters intact. They have a decent D, but their offense is shaky and can be attacked. The Rams are inconsistent, suffering from Super Bowl malaise.
Niners have not been all world beaters either. Garrapolo has not looked good. And they’ve had many close games so far. For God sakes they won a game turning it over 5 times! The dline is legit. It is masking other issues. Tough team, but hardly unbeatable.
With all the trades that have been going on in the NFL the last season and a half can someone give me a argument for trading for a talented vet?
You can point to the Lynch trade. But I’d risk a 5th for a first round talent also.
I hope unless it’s for a forth rounder or back that we sit pat and focus on the team for our staff. Hold your equity.
Aside from that I’m not sure I’d hold onto any of our players on D. I’m a fan of many but Bobby and Kj have been not great to say the least this year. If that is where you are going to spend your money you need more production.
Well Duane Brown was worth acquiring. Dante Fowler helped the Rams a year ago. That’s two off the top of my head. Will be interesting to see how Jalen Ramsey gets on.
Wade Phillips is a great coach that can get production out of talent. I agree very much it will be interesting to see how he does there with Ramsey. Ramsey V Metcalf will be the fake hype for announcers for years to come hopefully. 😀
I should have stipulated in particular *mid season trades high picks* for a talented vet. Though the point can be made how much did Brown help the Hawks that season. Frank Clark, great for the Hawks not so much the Chiefs thus far. Or in more to my point Sheldon Richardson trade.
Mid season trades for our front office seem to often be out of desperation.
I don’t think anyone would be advocating a mid season trade for Howard (or AJ Green) if Dissly wasn’t lost for the season. Losing a key part of your offense tends to make a team a little desperate.
The biggest issue I was/am worried about with Dissly going out is Russ trusts his hands. Meaning now that is out we might see more games like today’s were Russ didn’t appear sharpe. No safety blanket.
I’m not against a trade. Even when it’s for players who are better athletes than players i.e. half the guys we’ve traded for such as Clowney. I just know it does effect chemistry. Unless you have the One known as Belichick coaching then players just jump into line.
If we give up a few picks at the forth round and later I’d take a talent Like OJ even with his bad season. And that’s not just the new offense. His blocking has been crap this year also. Although better the last few games.
Green I’d take at dirt cheap. Him in the slot would change a few things in the scheme but Russ would trust his hands instantly.
I gotta believe the reason they haven’t made a trade for Howard is that TBB want more than SEA are offering. At this point, I’d be willing to trade the extra R2 and R5 picks for him.
This team relies too much on 12 personnel to roll with Willson, Hollister and Hunt. On run pays too, but especially on pass plays. It’ll help when Brown returns and Fant can be the jumbo on runs. But I don’t think Willson or Hollister are enough offensive firepower. Playing without a productive receiving TE is like trying to make a fist without one of your fingers.
Did we put a spy on Lamar? Or was he faster?
Seemed Bobby did some spying but don’t think there was a permanent spy. Especially considering how often he was free to roam. Think they blitzed too much today but maybe felt they had to create some pressure in Q4.
Not a fan of a trade for OJ Howard. Even with him we are know better off than depending on Russ to have a great game to win. We have had a lot of luck and good bounces this year or else we are not 5-2 we are at best 3-4. We should have lost to Cleveland, we should have lost to the Rams. This is a young team and definitely void of talent in the secondary and the D-line. We’ll be lucky if Reed even gets 3 sacks this year, last year was an anomaly. Clowney is good but not great and I have seen nothing from him that suggests game changer at the position. Ansah is washed up. We have lots of money to spend in Free Agency but we will also have a lot of wholes on our roster due to Free Agency.
Maybe a little negative, but there is lot to like about this roster. It just needs help moving forward and that’s why we need all the picks we can get, and please no more trading down, take the best player available where we pick. Still upset about the Collier pick and on missing out on all the other good dline in the draft.
If we’re depending on Wilson to be great to win — isn’t he more likely to be great if he has a weapon to replace Dissly?
I’d also urge against people slamming L.J. Collier, weeks into his rookie season having spent camp injured. Collier was superb at TCU and the Senior Bowl. It’s way too early to pass judgement on that pick and would be an ugly reaction to this loss. It’s not his fault and neither were the Seahawks ‘wrong’ for taking him based on a few weeks since recovering from an ankle injury.
Frank Clark wasn’t great as a rookie, remember.
I think you misspelled subpar for superb Rob. Drafting Collier was more likely a panic choice, but the valuation of college players has been fatally flawed in Seattle since 2013. Of course you won’t agree, but PC/JS never returned to the prolific level in 2010-12.
It wasn’t in any way a panic choice. I studied Collier’s tape closely and wrote about him many times. He was superb at TCU and exceptional at the Senior Bowl.
If people want to criticise the team today, you’ve just had four quarters of football to do it.
Re-writing history about Collier and the draft isn’t necessary.
Maybe he could support your analysis with some production on the field. Otherwise his performance in TCU means nothing to Seahawks fans. Besides, I studies 6 games of tape, and based on my judgement, Collier is a day three player. His clock is already ticking simply because of his age. Let’s hope he stops the horrible trend of ‘Seattle 1st round pick’, but I ain’t holding my breath.
You’re just being silly now.
Couldn’t agree more. If Wilson is our hope. Get him another weapon besides Tyler. It’s not a coincidence he’s averaged 4 catches 65 yards the last 4 games. Teams are locking lockett up. We need something dangerous up the middle.
Indeed. And before anyone says defense is a bigger need — I think we all accept that. However, there aren’t any problems on this defense being solved by one player. A weapon to replace Dissly, at a time when we’re asking RW to play like a MVP to win us games, is the least we can do for the QB.
Another weapon?
QB is having a MVP season but suddenly needs more weapons.
In this scheme a TE is very QB friendly, correct. But better production from a D that across the numbers is in the back half of the league is needed.
Alright, I’ll bite
Name the one player SEA could trade for or sign as a FA that would provide better production for, as you put it, a D that is below average at all 3 defensive position groups
Yes he needs more weapons.
Yes it is too early to tell with Collier, but he is a sub-par athlete. He is Tedric Thompson 2.0. Good college tape, but not enough of an athlete at the next level to make a big impact. We all liked Chase Winovich, we had a chance to get him, but we went with a sub-par athlete with good tape. Every one called out Collier’s performance before we drafted him. One draft guy said ignore his workout watch his tape. One. He and Christmas are all we got from a D-Line heavy draft. Even you commented that this was the one down side to the draft. Now we are spending money and picks to acquire a pass rush. Who knows what Clowney will get in Free Agency, and who knows if we will pay him. So now we are still back where we were before this season even started. Trying to work out our pass rush. D-line is still our biggest need in my opinion.
No matter what we get Wilson for weapons this year, this team is not going to contend for a championship this year. Please keep the rest of our picks and find guys that can ball out. Since the Superbowl we have looked a lot like the Carol teams in New York and New England. Mediocre. We definitely need help but its not another project on offense, we lived through that with Graham. We need to rework our d-line again, and return to being tougher than the other team. We are not, and you brilliantly already stated that. This d-line gets pushed around way to easy. We have a terrible run defense. We have a terrible pass defense. No pass rush and a very lackluster secondary. Who knows though maybe they will find a way to scheme better, but I really doubt it, because that has never been a focus of this team.
“D-line is still our biggest need”
Let’s see…
SEA’s current TE group:
Willson
Hollister
Sometimes Hunt/sometimes Fant
SEA’s current DL group:
Clowney
Ansah
QJeff
Reed
Green
Ford
Several others (Collier, Woods, etc)
How can you look at the roster and think DL is a more immediate need than TE?
“Please keep the rest of our picks and find guys that can ball out”
I’m not sure what this means. Aren’t they always trying to find those guys? I mean, do you really think they haven’t been trying to find the ballers? You can debate about the success of their searches over the years, but I’m pretty certain they’re always trying to find guys that can ball out.
I don’t understand why we keep thinking we have all these D-line guys. Are they on the roster this year? Yes, will they be next year, who knows?
Clowney–FA
Ansah–FA
Woods–FA
Reed–FA
QJeff–FA
Green– Below Average Player
This is not a solid built team to compete for years down the road. We will be watching these players go in and out of the building again next year. We have missed on all of our D-line picks in the draft the last few years beside Ford and Reed and if Reed receives a big offer from another team he is probably out the door as well. So yes D-Line is still our biggest need. We spent money and picks this year to get a pass rush and still do not have one. We will do the same next year.
There is absolutely no argument that can be made to suggest that adding OJ Howard is going to be the missing link to make this team a competitor. The only team in modern age to win a Superbowl based off their offense is the Patriots, and clearly we are not the Patriots. Keep the picks, yes find ballers, we always look for them, but stop being cute, no need this year we got lots of picks, use them where they are at and get best player available at any position besides QB and possibly RB.
Hopefully Collier balls, but to maintain that the Seahawks made D-line a priority this off season is ridiculous
Nobody is arguing that OJ Howard is the missing link.
Making a trade this week doesn’t have to be solely about finding the one true link that makes this team suddenly world beaters.
I think we’d all agree that the D-line also isn’t performing well.
But the fact is they are very dependent on Wilson this season, he’s just lost Will Dissly and they could do with supporting their QB by adding a weapon — preferably a dynamic TE. If a deal for Howard is possible, it would be a solid move.
It’s ridiculous to write off a rookie who spent camp recovering from injury.
I wish people would stop doing it after a loss. There are so many other things to talk about.
Rob, how do you feel about the base defensive scheme? Kendrick’s May have served as a better replacement for Wagner or KJ when they missed time but as a third LB is Seattle losing something by being forced to play more Cover 3 as a result?
Could Blair’s emergence allow them to play more as a Big Nickel?
Should they play a 3 Saftey set over a 3 LB one? Or at least mix and match more?
Should Seattle go with McD and Blair or even Amani and Blair? Thompson really had a rough game today in stopping the run and the early deep pass he gave up didn’t help. Amani seems to have instincts…the ones that Blair seemed to show today.
Would playing Blair over Kendrick’s in Odell’s allow for more M2M which might help the DL have more time in getting to the QB?
Norton blitzing Jackson multiple times seemed like a huge scheme mistake and Jackson exploited it every time with his legs in the 2nd half.
I think Seattle is a 5-2 team with a few flaws but I think they missed a big body like Fluker today and Brown…
Defense gave up 16 points to a dynamic offense. In todays NFL that is excellent.
This offense was supposed to be the strength of this team but is mediocre with RW playing at a MVP level. Trade for a TE, meh, might help a little. Trade for 5 Olinemen. Short of that this team is going nowhere in the near future.
What does the upcoming draft look like for Oline?
Let’s not just fall back on the old ‘the O-line is the problem’ thing. Today they had opportunities to make plays and didn’t. It’s not like Wilson never had time. And they played minus two starters today. I’ll argue with anyone who thinks Iupati, Britt and Ifedi were the keys to the loss today.
They’re currently asking Russell Wilson to win them games with this:
— Tyler Lockett (quality starter)
— DK Metcalf (rookie and thus inconsistent)
— Jaron Brown
— David Moore
His top three TE’s are all either on IR or in Pittsburgh.
If people want Wilson to make magic he needs more than that. That is a much bigger concern than replacing the entire O-line.
PC says he wants his teams to impose their will on their opponent. If you think this oline is imposing their will it’s your blog.
Dissly was there for the poor showing against NO.
But imposing of will is not strictly down to one unit. There are other areas of the team are much more responsible for their inability to do that.
This defense is giving up about 22 points a game when you get rid of the 3 touchdowns that were given up by our offense and special teams. Last years defense also averaged 22. At 22 ppg that puts them 15/16th in the league. So yes the defense could be better.
For comparison the 2012 and 2013 Seahawks gave up about 15ppg
Take away the KJ touchdown and the offense is 12th in scoring around 25 ppg which is down from last year. We average 4 points in the first quarter which puts us 20th in the NFL. This also means we are usually playing from behind. Playing from behind doesn’t do our defense any favors.
The 2012 and 2013 Seahawks averaged about 26 ppg.
This team decided to dump a lot of their money into RW at the expense of the defense. This shows in the ppg allowed by the defense. But the offense has also stagnated to slightly regressed.
Is it wrong to expect a team with the highest paid QB to expect an offense near the highest scoring?
No it’s not wrong to expect more from the offense.
But the problems with this team are not mainly due to the O-line as you’re suggesting. I’ll say it again — I’ll argue against anyone who thinks the reason we lost yesterday was down to Iupati, Britt and Ifedi. They’re the three starters who played OL yesterday. This is a team with flaws in a lot of areas, masked to some extent by the QB.
How do you explain the offense only scoring 14 yesterday?
How do you explain a middling offense this year against a strength of schedule ranked a fairly easy 25th? And consider yesterday was the only game without Dissly.
Look, I’m not absolving the defense, but this offense is middling with a mvp caliber qb.
Come on, middling?
They were crap yesterday but you’re going over the top.
The 2019 scoring offense is currently ranked 12th. That includes KJ’s TD. Remove KJ’s TD put’s them 15th-16th. In a 32 team league that’s middling.
But it’s your blog define middling any way you want.
Scoring offense isn’t everything.
Whether it’s my blog or not has nothing to do with it. The offense is not middling.
After more research about our defense…..
Our offense has attributed 24 points and special teams 7 points against our defense for a total of 31.
7 points RW interception
7 points DK fumble
7 points Carson fumble
3 points TOD late against NO
7 points ST return for TD against NO
31 points is 4.47 per game which would adjust Seattle’s Defense giving up 20.7 per game. 20.7 per game would rank Seattle’s defense 11th. Not great but again better than the 15 rating of our offense.
The Seahawks definitely do not have the #11 defense in the league. Come on.
If you want to blame those 31 points on the defense then you are correct our ppg defense is 21st. Had the offense/special teams not given up those 31 points we would be sitting at 11th. Don’t kill the messenger those are the numbers.
Further, the adjusted offense rating of 15th gets the benefit of the no time on the clock TD against the Saints.
Per over the cap we are spending 86 million on offense and 67 million on defense. So if the Seahawks think money is better spent on offense shouldn’t the Seahawks offense be better than the defense? I have no problem with the spending, from a team building perspective I prefer an experienced offense and a young hungry defense. Experience costs money.
My point isn’t to argue with you because both sides of the ball are under achieving.
Knowing where the seahawks are today, what adjustments/trades/aquisitions would you think appropriate?
I’ve just done a blog post and podcast discussing my thoughts.
I was disappointed by the drops by Metcalf and Brown today. On the pick six Russ was looking for Brown to move toward the football, this is his most common interception mistake and usually partially on the receiver.
Thought the Ravens outplayed the Seahawks on both lines off scrimmage. Please no more talk about drafting receivers.
Reed was a non factor on the d-line, and the runs into an eight man front were horrible, predictable mistakes on first down.. Russ needed to switch out of those at home.
Still 5 and 2 is good, just sad to lose home field winning style this year.
The Hawks have had trouble winning at home for a couple of years now.
One thing about today I noticed was….when the Seahawks did a play action and the defense bit for a second there was no one to throw it to. This occurred atleast 4 times. Baltimore has a good backside but one cant help and wonder how much dissly absence will affect this team moving forward. He was very savvy for his football age and knew how to find the pockets. Go back and see how many times pulls it down. No point..just my 2cents
Good game to get our heads down to earth, because let’s be honest… we’re no where near San Francisco.
We missed Dissly sorely today. There’s a reason Willson didn’t stick anywhere else. Also I can see why the pats traded Hollister away.
We sorely need speed on the Dline. Clowney.. as good as he is… he’s slow and he’s not a one man show.
The Oline was missing two starters and we had to start our third string rookie safety. Front seven is slow in general, KJ and wright getting older. We need to add speed speed speed!
If this team is serious about trying to improve at this point in the season… we need to make a trade for another offensive weapon (I’m sorry Russ needs better weapons…) and we need to change the defense scheme to help generate some form of pass rush.
KJ and Bobby…
Was a little loopy after this one.
It seems like we should be focusing on next year to be honest. We might make the playoffs this year but who thinks we get to the Super Bowl?
DEFENSE
Rob- is there a trade “fix” here? Seems like there at least 2 better teams in the NFC and this may not be the year to go for it. I’m still on board with trading for Howard but at this rate I’m not interested in giving up our first 3 picks if we’re still “building”.
We’ve lost to two playoff teams- not bad really.
Any fix has to be on offense as you’ve pointed out. We’re riding the defensive line and linebackers just need them to start upping their level of play. Draft or trades can’t fix that.
Thought the secondary played well sans Thompson. Nice to see Blair making plays.
I felt that their secondary really won the game. Despite the pick six, they were all over our receivers on almost every play. 41 pass attempts, and on most of those their back was blanketing our receiver, who had failed to get open. Our dbs weren’t horrible, but there was a lot more room to throw. Wilson had to be perfect today; he wasn’t. And even a perfect pass might have been knocked away considering the lack of separation our wrs got.
Players still slipping & sliding all over that turf today. Yes it was raining but Yeesh, someone is going to get a non contact injury from it.
Lamar Jackson is a special player. It was fun watching him run circles around world class athletes. Am happy we dont have to play him again!
Next week we face either a hobbled Matt Ryan(ankle) or Matt Schaub. My guess is our defense looks better against either one than it did trying to corral Jackson.
Agree with Rob- JS needs to go get Russ a starting caliber TE. Before Belichek too.
A well coached team got us this week. The bad news is we were out played and out coached. The good news is we also played like crap. I finally got to watch the game. Not one of Wilson’s more memorable first halfs. The loss is out of division and conference.
Reload and re-up. Fix little things and you will have big improvements.
For his first game time the Hollister kid looked not bad decent hands and moves well.
Bully is a mindset. Not the fastest or strongest.
I am excited to see Wilson’s next game. He’s so far one who has shown to have that fighter mentality. We need some on D to do the same.
pretty unfortunate the hawks really haven’t had a game where, the o, d and special teams have had a good day. the first half was good, but not enough. hope they can get it fixed.
Not sure what is going on with the celestial alignment, but this week will be the third consecutive time the Hawks will be on the east time zone , facing a team that had their ass handed to them the previous week.
This defense is looking more and more like Norton’s awful Oakland defense. On the plus side, they finally started playing Blair. The next step IMO is to start the combination of Barton/BBK/Umadi over KJ/Kendricks. I know Wagner’s contract prohibits cutting him but is he a MLB starter next year?
Carroll needs to be known as small-ball Pete. He failed to go for 4th down today. He also failed to go for 4th down in the Ram’s game where Myers missed and they drove down the field before halftime.
On the defense, why didn’t they blitz Jackson on the last drive when they were backed up? The Ravens had the ball for a 9 minute drive. If the Hawks had brought the house and missed, at least they would have scored sooner.
Finally, why is special teams consistently so bad? Either they give up punt return touchdown, or the punter shanks a punt or the kicker misses kicks. There is at least something wrong every game. And, we never put pressure on the opposing punter presumably to better set up our return man. Problem is we never get a good punt return either. This has been going on for years, just frustating.
Not too concerned with offense. They missed Dissly but will adjust. The two touchdowns on turnovers were fluke and they happen. Plus the rain messed things up. Its the defense that gave up a back breaking drives in the 4th quarter.
From someone who goes to games at Century Link each year. The fearsome home filed advantage is gone from non prime time games. The fans that show up to the 1pm kickoffs are not the season ticket holders. They are mostly just the casual fans who jumped on board in 2013. They sit down and stay quiet most of the game.
The home field advantage was from the deafening roar during the huddle and the LOS…on every down. That’s dead outside of prime time games. I know I’m not interested in attending any 1pm starts any more. Just not the same.
And here we go again…Pete is washed, Ravens are better coached team, JS didn’t make a god pick since 2012 etc…puke…you are ungrateful…
Just like almost all our games this year this was one ball game…(WIlson pick six and missed field goal)…this time it goes on the other side…but I am optimistic and I would never change with Ravens for years to come…
Generally I think Pete put to much assigments on LB’s backs…and they are not any younger…and he did that because he doesn’t have confidence in his safeties (especially FS)…we will draft one more safety very high next year again…
Rob, I don’t agree with you that we are to slow on defensive side of the ball…it did look like we are last night but it is because we played against LJ…he is to fast…
Jadeveon, BWag, Kendricks, Shaquill, Tre, Blair are fast players…KJ is slow, and with how much Pete expects from him it becomes bigger problem every week…and the slowest player on the field regarding his position is T2 and he is our biggest problem…when Bradley or Lano gets back I hope T2 is done with us…and you will see, we will look much faster after that…I expect a lot from Blair and Barton in years to come, and with CB duo, Bwag, Reed and Clowney this could be elite defense for next few years…just we need to make life easier for ours LB’s…(in other words we need to nail that safety pick next year 🙂 and we need to get from Blair what we all hope)
And on offensive side of the ball…we miss Disley so much…in both, run and pass…and we miss Brown too…but not only that we lose him as a LT but we also lose Fant as a blocking TE…
And what happened with Penny last night …0 caries? I will wright this again, Penny + 4th for OJ? 🙂
And one last thing…if Russ plans to play for next ten years in seahawks uniform, Joddy Allen, pleas make a decision to put a roof on C Link…
.
With only 2 hours of sleep man can see things that even don’t exists. 🙂 You didn’t wrote we are slow at defense, just Ravens and Saints are faster.
But when I already mention that, do you think that we are slow at defense? And do you think it is enough from T2 or?
I think the team needs to adjust to a future of playing without Dissly. he appears to be very injury prone.
What’s Pete Carroll doing with the challenge flag – I realise he’s know’s about 10,000 times more than I do about the game but I don’t get it.
Watching Thompson in the Earl Thomas role is a friggin joke. Not only getting beat deep while playing 20 yards off the ball BUT looking like a drunken sailor doing it…..This guy needs to be in another uniform (McDonalds).
Blair played well and that was great to see, he needs game time to become reliable but he showed a lot of promise out there.
Hollister was on the PS for a reason. The guy simply is a dreadful blocker. Brown dropping an easy TD and Metcalf fumbling the ball without being touched were killers.
The game totally turned on the missed FG, they took the ball the other way after that miss.
PC was outcoached and the players outplayed. They have a ways to go obviously.
My one thought after watching this game today is that the Hawks may need to reconsider the 3 LB Base defense being on the field so much. I love KJ but her looks really slow out there this year. I know last year they got a little creative using 5-6 DBs more often and I think once Mcdouglad comes back that might be the way to go with both him and Blair being on the field at the same time.
No matter what they do in the back end however the pass rush has to get better. I thought with Ansah and Clowney coming on board it would be a strength but it has been anything but so far.
I’ll let Will Dissly sum up my thoughts:
I think I’ve developed an allergy to the amount of overreactions I’ve read after each loss. Fans out there with pitchforks every time things don’t go perfectly. Happens to me as an FC Barcelona fan as well whenever we don’t win by at least 3 goals. Chill out, people. Lower your expectations a bit and we’ll be fine and get better.
My thoughts exactly. Tiresome.
Thanks for bringing some common sense back into the blog Sea Mode! Every one of us knows the Hawks aren’t a super bowl level team this year, but we keep acting like they are. Rob has been trying to inject some caution and perspective even while the team was going 5-1.
We were/are going to have some games like this, which is probably the reason the team isn’t a SB contender right now. The really good teams are able to avoid games like this, and the Hawks aren’t at that level yet.
We shouldn’t over react to a bad loss, they are bound to happen. They also shouldn’t make a big splash trade as an over reaction. If they can bolster the TE position or any other positions of need via a smart trade, that’s great! Remember the Hawks have ample draft capital and salary cap space next year!
It seems like every season the Seahawks have a “stinker” game or two. I recall that many, if not most, of the folks on this blog predicting 9-7, 10-6, or 11-5 season records for the Seahawks this year. So to me that means all these people expected 5, 6 or 7 losses. So, perhaps this game was just one of those expected losses? I find it funny that after every win it’s SB bound for some fans and after each loss, it’s the end of the world for others. Only one team each season, out of 32, gets to win a SB and we all know that it’s really very difficult to do so.
Of course, we all hope the Seahawks do better than expectations but how realistic is that? The Seahawks could and hopefully will have a strong finish to the season as they usually do. IMO- Next year is the year to shoot for a championship after a strong draft and a veteran FA addition or two that fills most of the major holes and gets them back into the championship hunt.
Regarding Seahawks results from the draft, I recently saw a graph on Huddle report that indicated that the Seahawks were at – or very near – the top of all teams in – total drafted players – that remain active in the league. I think that says a little something about JS/PC’s draft acumen. I’m also very much of the opinion that the draft after the 1-st 20 or so picks is a huge “crap shot” of players that have a wart or two and may have less than a 50-50 chance to excel. That’s just the way the draft always seems to turn out.
As much as I want the Hawks to acquire Howard, I don’t want to give up the draft capital. While watching the game yesterday I don’t know how many times I said to myself, we sure could use Simmons on this defense right now. I understand we would have to move up to get him, so we need the capital. He would look fantastic patrolling the back end. He is also an alpha. The next Chancellor?
What the team does depends on who they resign in free-agency. And I think they will make every effort in keeping the players they feel would best help them going forward.
I like this teams depth. They have good prospects who haven’t even played yet that people are bashing that I think is just a knee-jerk reaction. Happens every time after a loss… There is a good core to this team if you look hard enough.
Everyone has players they wanted the Hawks to draft. I liked Winnovich and Foster Morrau. I was disappointed they were not selected, but understand they can’t take everyone we like for whatever reason.
Looking forward to the Atlanta game. Should be 6-2 by next Sunday. GO HAWKS!!!!
Thank you Seamode. For a minute there I thought I’d wondered into Seahawks Twitter feed before a voice of reason arrived:). Some very good points where made, the extreme value of Will Dislly, the Lb under performing, and how spectacular Lamar Jackson truly is playing this year in this scheme. I would make an argument beyond that that Pete Carroll has always struggled to gameplay against mobile QBs and that why he went out and got Russel Wilson. Ansah isn’t the answer to anything, Martin>Ansah, but overall the offense inability to control the clock and score a few points in the second half was the difference in the game, and a few bounces of an oblong ball. The Raven are a horrible style matchup for us, and maybe the fact that the team was largely built around the idea of beating the Rams left a few ways to exploit us for other teams. I’m not a fan of the 3 LBer sets, and also think the team is missing having a true Leo pass rusher reeking havoc, and would add that we need one more Wr capable of getting open underneath or a seem busting Te to open up the offense. I like Poona, Reed and Clowney, and think Green, QJ, and LC all fit into that rotation but a true pass rusher is still a huge need. This team isn’t bad, and with a healthy Penny and Disley think we win this matchup most of the time, just a few bad bounces and a couple of poor/unlucky plays lost it for us yesterday. On to next week and go Hawks!!!
First of all I would like to bring up positive 10/17 on the third down that’s good right and only 2 penalties that’s good right. 20 first downs okay. My concern is defense attitude the bully has left the building.by the way Tyler lockett look good. As far as defense goes didn’t Mr Jackson looked way faster than anybody on are defense it seemed that way.
Classic Seahawks loss. Self inflicted wounds, Forced out of our gameplan on O, slow to adjust on D. Plus their QB made more plays than ours. Bad game, flush it, on to Atlanta. The thing that annoyed me the most was this is the second game it looked like the weather was too much of a factor. Bad footing, missed tackles, dropped ball and fumbles. This is the PNW, it rains. Do they not practice outside? Got to leave the comfy indoor facility when you are expecting the rain.
Regarding Penny and LJ, injury and inexperience should not label them busts. Penny was never hurt in college and has shown plenty of explosiveness over 2 years. You can look at the guys taken after but in reality it was a style choice. They took a burner, slasher type over replicating the skill set of Carson (Chubb). If anything i think they would have taken Sony Michel over Chubb too. LJ missed a lot of football so far. It hasn’t changed who they drafted though. He is a base 5 tech who is stout and has great hands. He needs coaching and playing time to grow into something more. Seattle has proven they can develop guys. Bad teams make snap judgments like giving up on guys to early. This is our reality. Seahawks are just not where they want to be yet but have all the tools to get there.
The weather thing is a real problem. It starts with Wilson and I don’t think it will ever change. For some reason the rain/snow is his kryptonite. Another troubling but familiar scene yesterday was a defense crowding the line and making Russell uncomfortable. He just looked unsure at the point of attack which might have been due to lack of talent @ WR/TE.
I hope Schneider makes a couple moves this week to upgrade the TE and WR positions for now and with the future in mind. If they go with what they got, it’s a smoke and mirrors show from here out because of Dissly going down.
Hawkblogger sent a simple but really good tweet – basically, this team is not a piece or two away from being a contender. That’s just reality.
I’m absolutely all for the right trade (OJ Howard) but any trade needs to be seen as a this helps us in 2020 and 2021. We cannot view it as a short term band aid.
Reality is this is RW and a bunch of average players (sans a few). Simply put, we need more difference makers in every facet.
Thankfully don’t follow Twitter, but I agree with the sentiment: Not a piece or two away. Said same in reply, above.
Health/age affecting consistency on OL; front 7 underachieving and many set to be free agents; lack of offensive weapons; safety play; slot corner play (loss of Justin Coleman, major). Basically, Russell Wilson + lot of average.
IMO, would be trading for picks and/or players, even if it makes us slightly worse, this season. Would be open to moving Kendricks, Brown, Penny, Thompson, Hill. Get what you can and move on.
I actually agree with that – unfortunately, I don’t think anybody but Duane Brown really has value.
Thompson and Hill…are wholly replaceable players. Unless a team is desperate for a body, don’t know what they are worth. Penny…maybe get a 4th or 5th rounder? What a disastrous pick. Kendricks…man, he has a ton of physical talent – he’s just not a very good LBer.
At the macro, I kind of agree with you. Maybe the better solution is trying to trade some of those guys for younger players at different positions and see if you strike gold (a la Coleman). If you can’t get a 4th or 5th rounder (or better) then get players.
Ha! Was just clarifying Jaron not Duane when you posted.
Agree: None of them have much value.
(Jaron not Duane)
I’m not too down after this game. It is hard to win when you give up two defensive touch downs, one of which Seattle was close to scoring in. The big swing from missed fg to fourth down touchdown was also rough. Tough breaks.
I actually thought that the defense played relatively well. They only gave up one touchdown, which came on a fourth down play, and held their own, other than those two long drives.
The two most disapointing things for me, were 1) the negative plays on first down. Whether it be unimaginative play calling on up the middle runs or just getting beaten up front, that really hurt. Second, our wide outs really struggled to get open against Baltimore’s man coverage, which I thought could be exposed more.
Also, they really miss Dissly as a passing option and a run blocker. Hollister is way too small to do anything as a blocker.
Seattle is a solid team that will play a ton of close games. But when we lose the turnover battle, especially with the consequences being so bad today, we will probably lose. Let’s hope the D can build on this performance, as we don’t have to play anyone like Lamar again this season.
I was simply disappointed that the defense let Lamar play to his strengths. He’s an extremely limited passer and doesn’t process the passing game well at all (poor kid can barely put together coherent sentences). I would have rather lost because he made plays in the passing game rather than simply letting him do the 1 read and run thing.
It was like the early days of Kaepernick when everybody thought he’d be unstoppable. Teams made him play QB and it turns out he wasn’t very good. I see the same with Lamar. The Seahawks either didn’t plan well or we simply don’t have the hogs to execute.
It’s kind of a recurring theme with PC. They make things way harder than they need to be. Nobody on planet Earth is surprised/unaware of Lamar’s ability to run. Again, force him to throw the ball or run within the structured run game. I guarantee he’s a bigger liability if he is forced to do designed runs as opposed to freelance outside of the pocket. At least you’d force BAL to matriculate down field and force Lamar to take more of a beating. He’s too good of an athlete to let run wild on the perimeter.
Yeah, I’d have liked to see that as well. Easier said than done though.
I must say, I have grown to despise Seahawks football in the current mold, even if we win those games.
There is just no recognizable team development. The old pals play, because they are old. Most of them are 2019 underachievers. Even BWagz has the virus. The rookies can practice as hard as they possibly can, and will still only play ST.
Since 2016, the Seahawks are in a perpetuary rebuild situation; often being in the playoffs, but an easy early kill there. Slowly, the team is getting worse, and talent development stalls. The state if things is only overpainted by a franchise QB being MVP contender and wasted in his prime. It is a matter of time this model cracks.
I’m prepared to play the young talent and see what sticks. If we end up 8-8, 7-9 or 6-10, so be it.
And while we are at it, we need to revisit scouting. Not necessarily the late picks, but PRich, Michael, Collier, Penny, Ifedi, McDowell… not a single instant quality starter drafted early for a couple of seasons. There is no chance this being bad luck.
The hairy truth is, that I think PC is unable to pull off the measures required. But he is also probably the best coach ever wearing the Seahawks combo. Change is hard.
This might trigger some people, but the downfall to mediocrity of this team is Carroll. I love him as a person, but tends to be pretty awful HC. Stupid challenges, abismal clock management, plain wrong risk aversion. He’s a players coach. Good at motivating and helping to develop young guys but one of the worst strategist. He had/has good track record because Schneider saves his ass by building solid roster (but JS lost his mojo a bit too). Pete doesn’t hire good staff (Norton is awful, especially ridiculous at LB which is just sad, ST coach is awful, position coaches are spotty), make head scratching dementia-like calls. He’s really good at couple of things don’t get me wrong. But in some aspects I really think he’s the worst in the league. I wouldn’t fire him, I don’t know a better alternative right now. But we might have win some games with a different coach (McVay, Belichik, maybe even Sean Payton), and those close games are not because those were hard games and hurray we rallied and beat the opponents. Those were close because the decisions, mistakes (penalties mostly) and scheme issues.
Calling Pete Carroll an awful Head Coach is just nonsense.
He’s really good at some things, but I don’t think anybody could deny that he’s not even an OK strategist.
When was the last time the offense or defense played really well or dominated because of the scheme or preparation or major in-game changes?
You called him an awful Head Coach.
My previous response still stands to that suggestion.
Rob you have some thick skin to take on all these comments! You do a great job though, thanks.
Losing yesterday isn’t the end of the world and isn’t that surprising. And I’d argue losing to an AFC team is fine, certainly insofar as tiebreakers go.
I wonder if we’ll see Cody Barton at some point and Amadi at nickel and more Blair at Safety. I’m excited to see if they’d at some speed and ferocity to the Defense. And I agree some help on the offense would be nice, Howard for the right price is a good idea. I would over pay for him.
I wouldn’t over pay for Howard!!!
To be honest I’m not afraid of losing, I’m afraid of mediocrity. I’d rather take 3 years of 2-14 (and then 7-9, 10-6, 12-4, 13-3, SB win) than 6-8 years of 7-9 or 8-8. My fears that this team will always be good enough to be a contender for a playoff spot, but wouldn’t reach SB and wouldn’t win it for a long time.
There are some SB capable pieces, but seems like something will be missing always….just a feeling.
What I’m pissed about:
– OTT risk averse mentality (look at other teams, they go for 4th& shorts. Texans went for it even at their own 45 at the beggining, Ravens went for it, Saints go for it a ton, Rams go for it). I’m against recklessness, and I respect field position management, but you have to go for it sometimes…not just when you’re down 2-3 scores in the 4th quarter, or if it’d be a 55 yard FG and you’re 4th and inches.
Going for it tells your offense they’re better than the opponent’s defense.
Or 3rd & 20 on your 20th yard line? Go with the checkdown. 3rd & 20 midfield? Go for the first down.
– Maybe I’m biased, but it feels like it was a long time we scored a TD in a 2 minute drill
– Communication sucks. Ton of unnecessary timeouts taken, they’re slow to get to the LoS, too few hurry-up offense, clock mismanagement. They don’t seem focused and on the same page (coaches and players)
– They’re ridic stubborn. 4-3 base defense even when any team can rape us with matchups? How many times did we see any of the LBs make great play in coverage? And how many times they were badly beaten? Starting T2… Yeah, he had 2 picks. It’s good. But he gave up huge plays and some TDs too. He wants it more than how good he is. I feel those picks were pure soul and not a showcase of him as a player/athlete. He’s not the long term answer. Highlighting Brown. Yeah he also had a couple of nice TDs, which I was grateful and happy, but all in all it’s better when he’s off the field. Use DK, Lockett and Moore. Maybe try out Jennings? Maybe a bit Ursua? Or more Turner. How about bigger in-game changes? I like Schotty, he called good games recently, and he’s opening up. But it’s usually he either has a good overall gameplan (run the ball or operate with mostly short, quick passes or try longer passes) and can make smaller effective changes, or his gameplan sucks and the team is doomed (like vs the Cowboys, or vs now the Ravens). The whole team should be a lot more flexible. And the defense is boring
This team is good, but seems a long way from great. If the schedule would be friendly we could go deep into the POs, maybe even an SB (they might get together for a game). If the schedule would be more cruel this team might have been 4-12. Right now it’s a mixed bag and a bit on the harder side.
I feel we’ll be ATL in a mildly close game. We probably will beat TB in a really close game. SF will destroy us. Eagles will beat us. Vikings will be a close one, but I think they might also beat us. Rams will beat us. I think we’ll beat CAR in a close game. We’ll beat the Cards in a close game, and we’ll lose against SF in a close game. So 9-7 seems most likely unless Reed can really step up, or someone will generate a ton more pressure, or the coaching staff makes big changes, or the OL step up big time (they’re OK, but they need to be good or even great in order to help push us to 10-6 or 11-5)