Well, that was hard to watch.
It’s certainly true that the 49ers have a very good roster that are a tough opponent for anyone. This was always going to be a big challenge for a slumping Seahawks team.
That said, the Niners came to Seattle without Deebo Samuel. Javon Kinlaw and Jason Verrett are on injured reserve. They’re onto their third quarterback — an undrafted rookie playing in his first road game.
This was also a do-or-die night for the Seahawks. The division would be lost. The playoff chances would take a massive hit. They had to bring their A-game, gather together and find a way.
What we saw, however, was the complete opposite.
As has been the case for weeks now, the Seahawks looked unprepared for this contest. On offense they started with a bunch of three-and-outs. Defensively it felt like they were clinging on throughout.
The close scoreline — 21-13 — barely tells the story.
Before half-time Seattle delivered a comedy of errors so bad it would’ve been fitting to play the circus march in the background. Quandre Diggs drops an easy interception. Travis Homer fumbles the ball on offense. The Niners punch in a touchdown.
Then to make matters worse — at the start of the third quarter, an appalling piece of coverage by the defense to leave George Kittle of all people wide open downfield. A disgusting attempted tackle by Diggs. A massive, back-breaking touchdown to effectively end the game as a contest.
It’s week 15. The plan for a new defensive scheme has gone so badly that it appears the players still don’t know what they’re doing. How can something as basic as the linebacker carrying one of San Francisco’s best players downfield be an issue at this stage, in a game of this importance?
We’ve been talking about Diggs for weeks and this really should be the exclamation point on his future. You cannot pay him $18m next season. It’s as simple as that.
He’s not the only mistake that needs reversing though. They need to get rid of this scheme. I don’t want to see a war-chest of picks pumped into this system.
Before they appointed Sean Desai and Clint Hurtt — Pete Carroll was busy recruiting old pal Ed Donatell. The Vikings have more talent on defense and guess what? The fans and media are trying to run Donatell out of town because they are failing badly on that side of the ball, undermining the offensive production.
Throwing rookies into a system that the likes of Jordyn Brooks seem to be struggling with isn’t the answer. I’ve seen enough. This isn’t the system to build around. It’s too easy to play against, too easy to run against and creates no pressure. Move on.
And no — there isn’t going to be anyone available at #2 or #3 in the 2023 draft who can do what Nick Bosa did today. Sadly.
It’s not just the defense though. The offense didn’t really seem to have any idea how to combat the challenge of the Niners’ defense. The running game was again non-existent. Days after admitting he’s been too aggressive recently — Geno Smith was back to mixing in some nice passes with some ‘oh no…’ throws. He was massively fortunate that a pick-six was called back at the start of the second half on a dubious roughing penalty and was lucky on some other throws that could’ve been snared.
Smith is really the only shining light though — along with the two key receivers (when they aren’t collecting dumb taunting penalties). No quarterback can thrive with no help and no protection. The rookie tackles struggled. They can’t run to save their lives. It’s tough to watch.
The playoff dream is unravelling, as is any real feel good factor from this season. The warm glow of the unexpected is disappearing. They’re 1-4 in the last five with the only win a closer-than-it-should’ve-been win in LA.
The Seahawks have seven wins, with hindsight, against a bunch of bad teams. Two wins against the Cardinals, a win against Denver, a win against the Rams’ backups. They were lucky enough to play Detroit without key players before they got hot. The Giants are imploding in a similar way to the Seahawks.
Perhaps it is still possible to say we never expected to be 7-7 at this point. But in the context of how their schedule has turned out — and how the NFC West has folded with the exception of San Francisco — is it really that much of an achievement any more? Do the Arizona, Rams and Broncos wins really give you much optimism for the future?
The Lions are 6-7 with a loaded strength of schedule at .552. The Commanders (.543) and Giants (.552) are in the same boat.
Seattle’s strength of schedule is .450. That’s a big difference.
The Seahawks are also 3-4 at home this season and 23-16 at Lumen Field since 2018. That’s a topic few people seem to want to embrace. Remember — that 23-16 record also includes a 7-1 record in 2020 when the games were played without fans due to Covid. So since 2018, with fans in the stadium, the Seahawks are 16-15 at home.
Right now it’s difficult to invest faith in the defense without major structural and schematic work. They don’t have the cap space to splurge because a lot of it is committed to players like Diggs, Jamal Adams and the defensive linemen currently on the roster.
I don’t want to watch this team in the playoffs. It would be a futile exercise and might simply mean another crushing loss to the Niners as a bad seventh seed.
They’ll be 7-8 when they lose to the Chiefs on Christmas Eve (what a game to have to face next). They might as well save themselves the bother of a playoff one-and-done and have a better draft pick in each round. Not that the Seahawks will see it that way, or should think that way. But we can. We can be honest about it.
Perhaps of more pressing concern is the total lack of identity this team has and the inability of the coaches to fix problems.
We’re watching Kyle Shanahan’s offense basically just run through quarterbacks and they don’t miss a beat. For the Seahawks, their defensive staff (including the Head Coach) can’t even get the players to avoid blown coverages against a key tight end.
How many more years of bad defense and an inconsistent running game are we going to see? Especially when the clearly defined identity calls for both to be the focal point of the team?
Another 172 rushing yards given up tonight, compared to Seattle’s paltry 70 yards.
In many ways the 2022 Seahawks feel a lot like the 2018-2020 Seahawks. Then, they were carried by the quarterback. Now, they’re carried by a different quarterback.
It’s not supposed to be this way. How long are we going to keep ignoring that?
I can’t watch another game. I’m physically ill.
I’m so glad I waited till this morning to watch the condensed version of the game… Wasn’t quite so nauseating that way…
I’m gonna go on a Geno rant here…never in my life have I seen a QB with this kind of luck. Another 4-6 interception worthy day that results in no picks. 2 blown coverages in garbage time turn a disaster of a day into “not that bad.”
He is such a massive candidate to have a wild regression next season. People really need to start paying attention to how many turnover worthy plays he has in every game. He’s played well, no doubt – but I see very little that is actually sustainable. His season looks wildly different if even 1/4 of the picks come to fruition.
Anyways – I know I’m alone on Geno; but if this organization sees him as the 5 year guy…I just don’t know.
You aren’t alone. That said, every QB has those plays, but it does seem like Geno has a ton of them. I don’t watch every snap of most QBs, though, so it’s hard to compare unless there’s a stat out there for intercepable balls thrown. Anyone?
Absolutely. But, Purdy had 1 turnover worthy play while I counted 5 for Geno.
I totally agree on Geno. He is overrated and sucks. Not worth an extension of $35-40 mil. or franchise tag of $30 mil. Let him walk.
Geno doesn’t suck but we are watching a mirage based on unsustainable luck. I’m comfortable saying he has both played well AND been incredibly lucky. And I fully expect a sizable regression next season when turnover luck normalizes.
Matt you have been saying it for weeks, Geno has been lucky, Very lucky. You are bang on correct, yes all QB’s get lucky sometimes, all sportsmen get lucky sometimes, but it is not sustainable to rely on luck long term.
Do we want to pay Geno in the hope he stays lucky and that defenders stay unlucky against him? We do not have a bundle of cap space to gamble on luck. It’s now time to give Drew Lock a few games, let’s see what he can do, if he’s not a massive downgrade then Geno can test his market and move on if he chooses.
With all due respect, this is insane. Geno playing like a top 7 QB is why we are 7-7 and not 2-12 like we would be with Russell. I get it, a lot of fans wanted to keep Russell and pay him and now they look completely silly so they want Geno to fail. But it’s pathetic. Geno has zero running game. Zero. Whether it’s injuries, or the offensive line not being able to run block. He has no help there. On top of that the pass blocking has really struggled the last 5 games. Geno is getting hit extremely quick. Then you add on a bottom 3 defense, what the heck do you guys expect? It’s really sad to see Geno get all the blame. He’s played lights out. FYI, Burrow, Allen and Mahomes all have more INTs. And that’s not counting their turnover worthy throws that don’t get added to the stats. And 2 of Geno’ INTs were on that BS one by Wagner and then on a missed offsides call last week. Stop blaming Geno. He’s been excellent.
Can we please avoid this kind of back and forth?
I think Geno Smith is the least of our worries. But it’s also Ok to acknowledge that his play since Germany has contained some issues. He was lucky not to have multiple turnovers against the Niners and his turnovers plus near turnovers feel like they are rapidly increasing. But it’s also Ok to accept that his situation is dreadful, he has almost no support at the moment and the few bright spots on this roster typically come from him.
We don’t need to call him the worst ever, neither do we need to accuse those not sold of Geno of being Wilson fanboys. The two, as far as I’m concerned, are no longer connected given how badly it’s gone in Denver.
Sadly this will not change until the hawks are sold and new owners take over. Jodi Allen doesn’t have the spine to fire Pete sadly.
Yeah I’m done with Pete. He needs to go. Or just retire already
Indeed, think of the possibilities for change once the Hawks have been sold and new owners have taken over! Just imagine, say, Jeff Bezos and the Amazon people sinking their teeth into the delicate flesh of a once-beloved franchise, transforming it evermore into one that better reflects the world we live in today. . .
. . .Like they did with Lord of the Rings.
Diggs sucks. He’s done.
Barton sucks.
Except for Nwousu, the line is atrocious.
Fant and Parkinson suck.
Metcalf needs to talk less and catch more.
Pete needs to be sent to the glue factory.
When is Tre going to be healthy again? Might want to focus on next season.
The only players I’m excited about are Cross, Lucas, Woolen and occasionally Walker III.
So much for hope.
Let’s talk for better players and Hope management can figure this out.
(giving room for exaggeration)
1. Agree
2. Agree
3. Mostly agree
4. Disagree
5. Mostly agree
6. Agree
7. Agree
8. Agree with the sentiment
The Chiefs are going to absolutely obliterate this defense. Seattle might move it a bit on the Chiefs D, but they won’t be able to cover the points lost by the Seahawks defense.
I’m glad I will be traveling next Saturday.
On the home record didn’t we have a 7-1 record during the Covid empty stadium season?
So exclude that and its 17-15 record with fans in the stadium. Yet more chanting on offense aswell from what I could gather on tv.
Granted I’m watching on TV from the UK but the only time it sounded loud and like a few years ago was agst the Broncos
Yep
16-15 at home with fans since 2018
what are the chances of Gus Bradley as a DC if the Colts clean house?
“He’s not the only mistake that needs reversing though. They need to get rid of this scheme. I don’t want to see a war-chest of picks pumped into this system.”
you nailed it Rob i am very afraid they incorrect try to fit a round peg in a sqaure hole
i do hope we can get a free safety late in the draft like 9ers had with Hufanga
Dan Quinn as head coach and Gus Bradley as DC sounds really interesting to me.
Bryan Mone with a significant knee injury.
Tyler Lockett broke a bone in his hand.
Carroll saying after the game he had a great speech planned to tell the team how much he loved them and that this week is a reward for them (if they’d won). ‘Maybe next week’ he says.
I imagine all coaches have something like that.
But you don’t tell that to the press after a ridiculous loss.
You sound like an idiot.
Wait, he actually said that??
Yep
Peter,
What would you say you do here?
I ALREADY TOLD YOU!
I DEAL WITH THE REFS AND THE PRESS AND THE PLAYERS SO THE OTHER COACHES DON’T HAVE TO
I HAVE PEOPLE SKILLS
CAN’T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?!
OHHH…OHHH…OHHH…You know what I’m talking about…OHHH
Tried adding onto this but it’s gold and I don’t want to ruin it! You sir are a national treasure!
The Bobs might be good for the organization cha. PC load letter way funnier right now than PC head coach.
We find it’s always better to fire people on a Friday.
Studies have statistically shown that there’s less chance of an incident. . .
Me….?
I’d 86 the coach. Then I’d 86 the gm.
These two are atrocious at what they do.
That draft was not atrocious.
Hitting one 1 draft since 2012 is atrocious.
This one was witout PC meddling I believe
No live stream today but posting a video to YouTube shortly
This was the first game of the season that I’ve actually gotten to watch. Haha…yeah.
A couple of lowlights,
There was a play early on where Blythe & Jackson attempted a double team of Armstead & he sliced through them like no one was there. We are sickly in need of IOL help. Jackson for sure & probably Blythe
Diggs dropping that interception followed by his complete whiff on the Kittle TD. Maybe Diggs & Geno should swap salaries for 2022? The Niners’ offense is not that scary. Our defense IS that scary.
Our trenches need to be addressed.
Mazi Smith & Broderick Jones would help.
And speaking of Mazi Smith (with full marks to Rob on the early love) via Tony Pauline,
“I am much higher than most on Smith and believe he has first-round potential. Smith will be the talk of the town after the Combine, as his testing marks will be off the charts. Morris comes off a career season in which he totaled 7.5 sacks and 11 TFLs. He possesses outstanding upside but still needs work on his game. Morris will end up as a day-two selection.”
I believe Haynes replaced Jackson after that disaster.
Unfortunately, they e dug a hole and are stuck with Blythe for the rest of the season.
Why not try Curhan at the RG spot? I mean, could he be any worse? At least you’d be able to take a long look at him.
I would give a break against the Chiefs to any player with a minor injury. I’d even consider starting Forsythe and Curhan at tackle and give Drew Lock a shot. Not like we’re gonna evaluate what Muse or Abram can do against Mahomes and Kelce, but Brooks has a banged neck and Diggs deserves a wakeup call. An extra week of rest would make a difference against the Jets.
What about Gus???
With a new HC coming to Indy, he could be available.
Success as a d-coordinator everywhere he goes.
Could be just what we need and the lure of possibly succeeding Carroll might just seal the deal.
Old article says it all about his philosophy and pedigree:
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2094735-why-gus-bradley-is-the-next-great-nfl-head-coach
Watching your team get their ass handed to them on both sides of the trenches is just brutal to watch.
Agree. Lose out at this point. Carroll should just retire. 5 years in a row of shit defenses. Geno, the O-line, and the defense sucked ass today. Let Lock play one or a couple of these next games to see what we have in him. Draft a qb and defense. Diggs blows this year. Per Spotrac: POTENTIAL OUT: 2023, 1 YR, $14,000,000; $8,200,000 DEAD CAP. That’s a big cap hit. But I don’t want to us to pay him $18 mil next season. Brooks is overrated and over matched. Barton sucks. Draft pass rushers, LBs, a safety, center, RB, and WR besides Levis or whomever we draft at QB.
I was thinking what you just wrote after last weeks loss Rob.
I feel like we are seeing the same exact style as last year. Can’t run the ball, defense looks terrible. I thought this draft would have at least improved the run game. But it hasn’t.
The defense front is still getting pushed around and the is improvement in the pass rush either.
It’s really frustrating to watch.
Funny thing I was listening to the radio post game show and they didn’t seem to be watching the same game we saw tonight. They were saying the defense did a good job against McCaffery making him earn those yards and the defense was flying around even though they had injuries. K9 looks good coming back. But the Hawks just got behind to much to stick with the run game.
I’ll watch next weeks game but I’m not looking forward to what I think is going to happen.
I felt like that could’ve easily been a blow-out loss, frankly
https://twitter.com/ProFootballTalk/status/1603626165360627712
Not to mention, two egregiously blown coverages gave us our only TD. This wasn’t close. The talent gap was shocking.
Flip side of that is that egregiously blown coverages gave the niners two TDS.
Agreed. Our whole game plan, I think, was classic Pete-ball: the only goal is to run the clock down sufficiently in order to have the game be close in the fourth quarter. It crates winnable situations as long as you don’t turn the ball over but artificially keeps score lines closer than they should be. It’s rough to watch too.
I was trying to say no improvement in the pass rush either.
Just to clear up what I posted above
Need to proof read.
As mentioned there is no identity on this team. Same thing we were saying last year around this time.
😞
Pete was able to run a cover 3 scheme that was very hard to beat with an all-time historic cast of defensive players. Other coordinators eventually figured things out. As time went on, he kept rolling out the same defense with less talented players and it didn’t work out. Then he married himself to Ken Norton Jr. while simultaneously having less talented players and that was a disaster. He tinkered with more cover 2, and now the 3-4 with a lack of impact players and/or players suited to play it…and the clown show continues.
And for all of this talk of our own OC being a wizard… I’d say it shouldn’t take a wizard to figure out that you shouldn’t leave your rookie tackles on an island against Mr. Bosa. Since we supposedly have such a good tight end group, why didn’t we see more double tight formations? Geno didn’t play great tonight, but he did all right when he had time to throw the ball. He really just didn’t have a lot of time to throw for most of the night. If Russell Wilson was still the quarterback, he would have been sacked about 12 times.
Hate to pray on anybody’s downfall, but a part of me is glad Geno is probably going to crash and burn in the latter portion of this season. Him playing well enough to win 9 games or so in a terrible NFC just feels like it’s giving Pete Carroll the wrong ideas about where this team is. He’s not a problem, but I don’t think he’s the guy either.
Year after year it felt like “we’re close” just because Russell Wilson willed them to double digit win seasons and it gave us Jamal Adams. Last thing I need is Pete feeling retirement coming and telling himself you only live once, and going all in on this roster that isn’t anywhere near the Eagles or any real contender.
I wonder how many years you can go 7 wins before they tell him no more.
“Hate to pray on anybody’s downfall. . .”
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. . .
Geno has been great. Stop with this nonsense. The Seahawks have a bottom 3 defense, no running game, and an offensive line that has fallen apart, and you’re on here blaming Geno who has been a top 7 QB all season. Absolutely laughable. You are probably one who wanted to bring Russell back.
As the Hawks’ native draft picks creep ever upward toward the Top 12—a slot where they’ve belonged all season, at least according to their strength of schedule-adjusted PF-PA record—I can see those Denver picks sliding ever downward. Say what you will about how bad the Broncos have been, but they should win at least three of their final four games, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they made it interesting against the Chiefs. Wouldn’t that be something? Denver and Seattle both finishing the season with seven wins: LOL!
The Broncos are not winning 4/4 to finish the season
They might win one or two
Yeah, neither do I see a 4-0 finish for Denver, but 3-1 seems totally doable. Arizona and the two LAs? Shee-it! A six-win total would drop that pick from #2 to, what, somewhere in the bottom half of the Top 10? That’s a lot of points on any trade value chart.
I’m not making any predictions at this point, but three more Bronco wins wouldn’t surprise me at all. Now, three more wins from the Seahawks? Jaw → floor.
Look, we don’t have to turn this latest loss into a doom and gloom session over the Broncos pick
Denver are a crap team
It is what it is
“We don’t have to turn this latest loss into a doom and gloom session.”
I was merely conjecturing over the Seahawks draft situation—at a website called Seahawks Draft Blog. My bad.
I’m very concerned you might be right, Jed.
Denver sucks but they’ve quietly been getting players back from inured reserved, including Randy Gregory. The Cardinals don’t have Kyler Murray and they just lost one of their best pass rushers. Broncos should win this Sunday – lets hope Russ continues to fail.
The Rams defense looks horrible and might not have Aaron Donald when they play the Broncos next week. Mayfield is a turnover machine.
I’m confident the Chiefs will take care of business. But the Chargers defense isn’t great and very susceptible to the run. Broncos could win if Russ plays the way he did last week.
Months ago I would have been thrilled with a top ten pick but now I will be very disappointed with anything other than #2 or #3. Lets hope the other 4/5 win teams are able to win a couple more to offset any progress the Broncos may make.
Broncos had success last week because Russ ran – but he won’t be able to sustain that. And I imagine he will be even more cautious after what happened.
Fingers crossed.
Dave, thank you for responding to my post in a measured, adultlike, and fallacy-free manner.
Truly, what prompted me to bring up the POSSIBILITY of a hot Denver finish to the season was simple, objective observation. Infantile “doom and gloom” venting had nothing to do with it at any point, nor was any “catastrophizing” involved, despite the host (once again) fallaciously asserting the contrary. I’m not even a fan of any team, anyway, and couldn’t give two s**ts what picks Seattle ultimately ends out with. I just like talking football and the draft with fellow enthusiasts—and I don’t find “Denver are a crap team. It is what it is” to be an overly persuasive dismissal of the topic.
Bottom line: Denver has a legit defense—something Seattle has lacked for years—and a team with a legit defense always has a chance to go on a tear, provided its run game can feed off the defense’s mentality and assert itself with a line of scrimmage-based approach of its own. . .
. . .Like what the Broncos did today against Arizona, for instance, pounding the rock 31 times for 169 yards with its running back corps. I simply see no reason why Denver can’t repeat this level of performance against its remaining opponents, who, other than Kansas City, aren’t much better than these Cardinals.
I realize this is not an allowable opinion at SDB, but I respect this Denver roster, despite the offense’s nationally recognized woefulness. The way the team unified and rallied against the Chiefs in Week 14 (up through the Russell Wilson concussion, anyway) kind of impressed me. Less impressive is this casual dismissal of the potential galvanizing effect that a meaningfully spirited effort can have on a football team—something that could well ramp this team up into full-on spoiler mode, for all we know. Maybe the Kansas City game never triggered this kind of vibe in the Bronco locker room, but objective outsider observation suggests that it’s at least POSSIBLE.
From my perspective, entertaining thought-sharing is what makes these kinds of forums worth visiting. A good blog/channel host characteristically welcomes views divergent from his own—a habit worth practicing in other aspects of life beyond the thoroughly disposable, as well, I find. . .
. . .But alas, the recidivist thought criminal—susceptibly hypoxic as he is to the carbon dioxide-saturated confines of the hermetically sealed echo chamber—ever fails to grasp the finer points of sycophantry. This is a good time to make my way to the exit hatch. . .
The getaway Josh Jacobs run by Mason that clinched it was on a missed tackle by Ryan Neal. I tend to believe it’s the scheme that puts the players in bad positions to make the tackle, because Neal has been hitting it hard all season.
Does anyone else find it curious that it was Neal, not Diggs, who Pete trusted to be the safety valve on that play?
I can’t believe the whining on this thread. The over reactions are unbelievable. What do you expect with a team in transition?
Geno should be retained, Select Carter, LB or SS in first round Center or guard and a bigger RB like charbonnet from UCLA in the second round
I know this is difficult to grasp, but it’s the *same* issues going on 5-6 seasons now. Do you really not understand this?
Are you under the impression that Pete Carroll is just a helpless bystander in all of this? He’s a defensive head coach who has sucked coaching defense for over half a decade now. In that time, there has been zero indication that any of this is getting fixed, no matter how many resources are thrown at the problem.
That’s what people are worried about. And rightly so.
Looks like we might need to dig out the comical Ali meme again
Bringing back gus Bradley and Dan Quinn isn’t the solution. If you have any ideas of a coach to replace him, offer it up. All I see are retreads or coaches without much head coaching experience. I have no problem replacing Pete, but the move better result in an upgrade at that role or we end up with several more years of mediocrity.
Sean Payton
Can’t stop the run, check
Cody Barton disaster, check
Key Diggs mistackles, check.
Long 3rd down conversion given up by the defense to extend drive, check
4th down offsides on defense before the snap – check (Taylor!)
Bonehead Metcalf 15 yard penalty after the play, check!
Wasted time out by coaching staff (on 3rd and 23 because they can’t call a play), check.
Getting beat by a team riddled with injuries, check.
This is a familiar story that’s becoming predictable.
To me the glaring reason for this loss os 44/14. That is the run pass ratio. When it comes to running the ball its not always about yards as it is attempts. I dont care if they have the leagues best run defense. Walker finished with 3.9 ypc which isnt great but not terrible. The run defense wasnt bad tonight. Yeah they finished with 170 but 55 of that was on that last play. I put a big blane on the play calling tonight.
The glaring reason for me was Seattle being crap and the 49ers not being crap
I think our center, once again, is hurting the run game. Big time. We need to draft a talented center and perhaps a new guard. Maulers.
I was hoping Shane and the new o-line guy would scheme up a better run game (like they had with the Rams) but it still looks like crap. So jealous of teams like the 49ers who seem to run the ball at will.
Guys. To be honest. I expected this to happen. I don’t know why everyone is complaining. You didn’t really think Seattle was going to win. Did you?
As far Geno’s mistakes you have to give credit to the 49er defense. Geno was pressured all night long. That defensive line of the 49ers has 4(early) first round draft picks. And a 2nd round draft pick.
It seemed like there was four/five guys around the ball at all times. Remember last year in the playoffs against Green Bay. In the frozen tundra. The Packers got a touchdown on the opening drive and that’s it. That was in Green Bay in January. It was cold. This 49er defense is talented. But more than that. They play as a cohesive unit. Talk about gang tackling. That is their game on defense. Everyone knows their assignments. Their tackling is just plain tough.
BTW: Just for the record. With all due respect to Cincinnati, Kansas City and Buffalo. The two best teams in the NFL are Philadelphia and San Francisco. Right now I don’t see any team in the AFC beating either one of these two top powerhouses in the NFC.
Brock Purdy was not undrafted–he was the last pick in the 2022 draft, Mr Irrelevant! So there’s that. What a slopfest that game was. Barton and Diggs are major liabilities, and the defense as a whole needs to be rebooted in the offseason. And Pete–please ride off into the sunset. It’s time.
I think, the Niners have something in Purdy, which they clearly missed in Lamce. When I read your posts about this year’s QB class, and the things we should focus on, including having a kid lead his offense, call his plays and not having four top WR… those were exactly the things done by Purdy at Iowa State. He might not be elite, but as well as Mac and Tua, he is good enough.
That said… I thing the deficiencies with our defense and our rungame have different roots.
The running back corps cannot stay healthy. They call a lot of risky plays, and something is plain wrong in the athletic department. Is it, because we still game plan for Mr Kittles? Nobody outside Derrick Henry can do this in today’s NFL, and even he got badly mauled last week.
The defense is an assortment of headscratchers by hire. Collier, Brooks and Taylor are no top round picks, they overpayed on them while missing on others. Jury’s out on Mafe. The inner DL is overpaid and overmatched vs halfway decent OLs. The LB situation is grotesque, and enough said about the safeties. If it weren’t for the emergence of Woolen and a lesser degree Bryant, one could fall into despair.
I won’t fault them for drafting OTs. But it’s notable that other teams succeed in drafting QB first, and then assemble OL strength. Why is this HC and this FO without any reasoning doing every single crap the other way, with bad results, and are not questioned? PC thinks he is brightest candle on the cake, and he clearly is not. His time management continues to underwhelm. His style of no-plan anti football manages to squeeze out some unexpected wins. It won’t lead to another SB.
And Geno… yeah, it was nice, as long as he got Walker and video tape of him was scarce. QBs survive in the NFL by constantly reinventing themselves. Can Geno do that? I fear, the answer is obvious. He is, what he is. A servicable backup, with a low ceiling.
Sorry, Robs posts, it has to be.
Barton got totally smoked on that TD, pathetic.
Just heard 2 different draft podcast one an Sb nation one another one by a former Eagles draft scout both saying Will Anderson is best pass rush prospects they seen
Good for them
Imagine that Eagles offense with Bijan Robinson.
Ungodly.
This wasn’t unexpected, so the biggest disaster for me was when the cameras cut to Jody Allen in the owner’s suite, drinking and laughing, and Al Michaels noted that, although the team must be sold, there is no timeline. She can sell when she wants to sell. That’s crushing.
Any franchise that would bring Pete Carroll and this group of coaches and players back for another go at it is not serious about anything football-related. We’ve seen this directionless bullshit for too many seasons now and the idea that it’s just going to continue because, gosh, don’t you remember a decade ago? I don’t give a shit how much energy Pete Carroll has. I don’t give a rat’s ass whether he’s “71 going on 40,” as Herbstreit said, because he’s become an exceptionally lousy football coach. His assistant coaches scheme up weak swill game plans that his overdrafted, overpaid, underperforming players don’t understand and fail repeatedly at executing. It’s absurd and it falls on Pete Carroll that it’s happened for…I don’t know…5? 6? 7? years now? Pete is the only constant in that run.
-You simply cannot pay Geno. Let someone else make that mistake.
-You must rid this team of the $35m safeties.
-Anything you can swap for picks, you’ve got to do it. I’m sorry if your favorite jersey wearer is included in that statement. I’m sorry if it leaves dead cap space. Remember when the Saints were like $100m over the cap a few years ago? It’ll work out. It always works out.
-The next 3 games should be the end of the NFL road for about 25% of this roster. You know who they are.
-Most importantly, you cannot allow Pete Carroll and BS to draft more players for their “system.” You can’t allow Pete and his guys to “develop” anyone.
The 49ers brought a 7th round rookie QB into the “toughest road environment in the league” (ahem, bullshit) and kicked the ass of Mr. Defense. Enough.
I can’t watch it anymore.
Pete or me, Jody. You decide who stays.
You put it perfectly. No reason to think change is coming though.
Compare Kam’s hit on Vernon Davis about 8 years ago to Diggs and Barton’s touchdown assist on Kittle. Opposition coached in circles around us yet again. QB running for his life and no ability to stop anything on D yet again. How many times has it been this season I mean the last decade? The team’s tough as a marshmallow and they face a division of great D-lines and great coaching. As Rob said there’s no Nick Bosa in this draft so I wouldn’t put it past PCJS to load up on Colliers and Brookses early yet again no matter the draft stock. How bad did Cross and Lucas look..
All this talk of no sale deadline is complete speculation.
No one actually knows if there is or isn’t.
From a business standpoint, it would make no sense to let that leak.
Seems to me the hard reporting indicates a sale period is very much coming up
And people like Al Michaels, who aren’t reporters, are asking the Seahawks about it and being given the answer you’d expect the Seahawks to give
Didn’t watch the game, couldn’t face getting up at 3.00am in minus 7degC to see the same predictable crap. Woke up this morning,first job straight to this site for Robs report. Bloody brilliant, has there ever been a better intro:
“I am in Finland at the moment, sat in a sauna room, which is obviously not on (Rob wearing woolen hat and hoodie) it’s minus 20 outside and it’s 5.00 in the morning”
Dedication or what
Thanks Rob
😂😂😂
Haha, I’m totally with you. Just finished watching the condensed game after sleeping in a bit this morning!
it’s 22 below in Stockholm… I feel you, Rob!
Does the Mone injury impact how we can cut him in the off season. If it does that’s really bad news. Like if we can’t cut him and save the cap space because he tore his acl then wtf. He has been absolute garbage out there all year.
One of many players who this team has CHOSEN to pay (they didn’t stumble into this D Line) and has played like absolute pony all season
The Hawks are in a division with Mcvay and Shanahan the two most innovative young coaches in the NFL not named Andy Reid. Until the Hawks make a coaching change they will always be competing at a significant disadvantage before the ball is even snapped 4 x a year.
They had the chance. Mike McDaniel was out there, and look who’s succeeding.
This franchise is not serious about winning. It’s a holding pattern to wait out the market until some billionaire picks up the Hawks.
But but… we stole McVay’s right hand man to be our OC…
Watching the SF defence last night was the first time in the last decade I have seen a group that reminded me of how the LOB played. Relentless, tough, aggressive, flying to the ball and trash talking. I hate SF but it was a thing of beauty to watch a football fan. That is how football and defense are meant to be played.
Got me thinking what makes this group different? Is it the coaching or scheme or players. Thought about it all evening and came to one conclusion. Great defenses are a result of 1-2 truly unique players with Alpha personalities that elevate the play and level of confidence/ aggression of those around them. For SF that is clearly Nick Bosa and Fred Warner. That team feeds off those guys and their dominance is infectious.
Think back about all the great defenses over the years they all had at least one of these truly special guys. Elite talent but more importantly true Alphas with incredible passion and physicality. They were leaders of men in every sense of the expression.
Seahawks – Kam Chancellor
Ravens – Ray Lewis
Bears – Mike Singletary
Giants – Lawrence Taylor
Eagles – Reggie White
SF – Ronnie Lott
The same goes for great run games / power offenses that impose their will on teams. It is not great scheme or coaching normally excluding perhaps the Mike and Kyle Shanahan offenses. It is a big rough and dominant RB who imposes his will and gets stronger as the game goes on.
Titans – Derrick Henry
Seahawks – Beast Mode
Cowboys – Emmit Smith
Bears – Walter Peyton
If this is the type of team Pete wants it is a pipe dream until the Hawks find that “guy” on either offense or defence who is not only a great player but also a true Alpha and leader of mean who elevates all those around him making them bigger, stronger, faster and tougher as a collective.
Is there any player in this draft or the next with that kind of potential because if so that is who the Hawks should target above all else QB included.
Quandre Diggs should not get another snap this season. He has made enough business decisions so the Hawks should make one and now. It is embarrassing and sends an absolutely awful message to the younger players. I have watched a lot of Hawks football over the years and have never ever seen a professional veteran football player mail it in like this.
This season is done so play send a message that this is not acceptable. Perhaps play Abhrams and see what you have at least.
I would like to say that I, for one, couldn’t understand why Purdy wasn’t talked about predraft. I trusted the so-called experts who told me he wasn’t an NFL talent. What did I know? My eyes saw him play at Iowa State and saw a gamer. A leader. Escapability and a threat to run and extend plays.
A four-year starter.
Those things do have relevance in the NFL. SEATTLE should have taken him over Bo Melton.
Yes, the defense needs fixing, and Pete needs to be gone, but we have to focus public pressure where we can make a difference. The #2 overall pick MUST be a quarterback. The last two times the Seahawks were in a position to draft a QB in the top 5, the choices were Rick Mirer and Mark Sanchez. This year, they’ll be picking CJ Stroud, Anthony Richardson, Bryce Young or Will Levis. Their chances of getting a (better than Geno) star out of that group are very high.
The Redskins took Chase Young instead of Justin Herbert or Tua and they are still looking for a quarterback. The Seahawks would still have 4 picks left in the top 100 and with a few painless cuts (Gabe, Diggs, Dissly, Jefferson, Adams) they could have almost $70 million in SPENDABLE cap space. They could easily add 6-7 starters with that money, some of them elite, and finish the roster in the draft. But it HAS to start with the QB at #2.
What a frustrating game to watch. On the plus side, it was closer than I thought and they held the niners to under 200 yards rushing. But it felt like Seattle was playing as hard as they could to keep it close. And the niners seemed like they never really needed to get out of second gear. The score is way closer than the game felt.
Holding a team to 170 rushing yards isn’t a cause for celebration
Trust me, I am not celebrating. I fully expected SF to run for 250-300 yards. I am just shocked they “limited” it to 170. I’m looking at that as a plus even though I know it isn’t.
I get it, I just hate setting a low bar and then celebrating when we step over it
Yeah, me too, but that’s kinda where I am. My wife asked how the game was going last night, and my response was somewhere along he lines of “this team is garbage and doesn’t even belong on the same field as SF.” Watching that D be what the Hawks D once was is painful.
Agree with Rob about qualifying for the play-offs. Now that 14 of 32 teams get in, it is an unexceptional achievement and certainly not worth getting excited about whilst the team is playing this badly.
This game was a perfect example of how momentum can impact the outcome. That dropped INT by Diggs was huge.
Our offense runs 100% better with Haynes at RG. I can’t remember how many times I saw Blythe 4-5 yards deep in our backfield with his guy blowing the play up. One of our second round picks needs to be a Center with some strength to hold at the line.
I’m wanting the 3-4 experiment to be over. Go back to Carrol’s base 4-3. Get some better linebackers to play with Brooks. Draft DLine early and often.
That is all. 🍻🍻🍻
Our most effective player vs. 49ers was our punter.
As I was watching the first half, it felt like the Hawks should have been down by 21 but it was 7-3. Then, they were moving the ball for at least a field goal to make it 7-6 at halftime. Instead Homer one hands the ball and one handed the 9ers a gift TD right before the half, and that’s when I turned it off.