Despite the angst and booing at Century Link Field, it wasn’t a surprise to see a sluggish first half Seahawks performance and eventually a comprehensive 26-0 win.
Yes, this was an injury-ravaged Bears team missing several key players including their quarterback and #1 receiver. Chicago also has a veteran, respected (ultra-conservative) Head Coach in John Fox and two of the best coordinators in the NFL.
Vic Fangio was the driving force behind San Francisco’s excellent defense under Jim Harbaugh. Adam Gase is a talented game-planner who conjured up an offensive scheme that tested but didn’t really threaten Seattle’s unit.
Fox is well known for his love of the running game. It wasn’t a total shock to see Chicago run effectively to start the day without getting into range for even a long field goal.
After half-time Seattle pulled away with some key second half adjustments — out-gaining the Bears 162 yards to 24 in the third quarter — not including Tyler Lockett’s franchise record 105-yard kick return for a touchdown. The Bears crossed into Seattle territory once. The Seahawks ended a 194-game Chicago record for shut-outs. Every Bears possession ended in a punt. The impatient boo’s in the first half were not a good look for the 12th man.
Even so, it’s clear the Seahawks are still trying to find a rhythm on offense. And that’s fine. New England, Atlanta and one or two others have hit the ground running. The rest of the league are still working to find their true identity, Seattle included.
Darrell Bevell will continue to be scapegoated as the ‘face’ of the problems. In reality he didn’t drop a first-half pass (Thomas Rawls, Ricardo Lockette) that would’ve otherwise sprung big gains. He isn’t the one tasked with providing a functioning offensive line with his own hand-picked players (Tom Cable).
Bevell received criticism for calling a bubble screen to Jermaine Kearse and perhaps rightly so. He didn’t get any credit for the detailed, developing route Kearse executed before half-time for a significant gain. Such is the life of a play-caller.
There are several reasons why Seattle’s offense isn’t firing on all-cylinders at the moment. Marshawn Lynch’s latest mysterious disappearing act didn’t help to start the game (he eventually left for good with a hamstring issue). They clearly want to feature Jimmy Graham without shifting their focus too far from the original identity. Russell Wilson has not had a brilliant start to the new season either. Early in games he’s missed that spark — either as a scrambler or as a passer.
Does he trust the offensive line? Garry Gilliam was beat like a drum by Pernell McPhee. J.R. Sweezy had two ugly plays early on. Tom Cable was tasked with putting a functioning O-line on the field. Right now the line is a major weakness.
It’s also impacting Graham. Yes, it’s ugly to see him face McPhee off the edge. It’s also necessary to keep the tight end blocking if the O-line is struggling. At this early stage it seems clear Seattle’s priority in the draft next year is to find an offensive line starter/upgrade.
Somewhat concerning are the issues experienced on two key target areas this season — short yardage and red zone. The Seahawks still can’t punch home a 3rd and 1. They went 0-6 on third down in the first half. They had three plays in the red zone and settled for a field goal before the break. It’s shocking that a team with Lynch, Wilson and Graham can be this ineffective in the key downs.
Lockett’s 105-yard kick return touchdown ignited the second half. Seattle didn’t score enough cheap points last season or generate enough special teams yardage to flip field position. This is looking like a diamond of a draft pick for the Seahawks.
Graham had the kind of day that will extinguish any silliness about his role in the offense. He finished with 83-yards and a touchdown from seven catches. Of greater concern is the Lynch ‘not ready for the start’ report, the back-rub and the eventual withdrawal. It seemed like a repeat of the 2014 Kansas City game and subsequent rumblings about his unhappiness and attitude. Is it related to Kam Chancellor’s issues with the team? This is one to monitor.
Thomas Rawls had a really nice 104-yard game in relief of Lynch. It wasn’t a perfect display — the dropped pass and a missed cut on one run denying him further substantial yardage. He ran with a lot of purpose and on this (early) evidence appears to be an upgrade on previous backup Robert Turbin.
There are still improvements to be made but unlike the Ravens, Seattle isn’t facing a 0-3 hole. Unlike the Colts, they did find plenty of positives.
Lynch has not been himself since Day 1 IMO. I hope it is just something physical and he just needs to get in game shape but he seems off to me. I hope he is not hitting the 30 yr old RB wall. Even worse I hope it is not an attitude issue again. I for one am so tired of so much drama from a guy who supposedly doe not like media attention.
Better 2nd half but I agree Rob that OL is an absolute mess and our offense will not run well till that is fixed. It is my biggest concern about the teams success going forward. Guess we will see if Cable really is a genius!
Thought Rawls ran well but like I said hard to tell with that Bears team. Certainly looked like an upgrade over Turbin.
The thing with the OL is that we used to be very good to great at run blocking, but below average at pass blocking. With all these new players, we now suck at both pass blocking and run blocking. Gilliam in particular stands out as a liability on both run blocking and pass blocking.
I think he is at least serviceable at pass blocking. If there are any bright spots on the OL, Russell has at times had a passing pocket this season that he has not had his entire career. I will concede Gilliam’s run blocking is not even up to Britt’s rookie level from last season.
Gilliam is a nice swing tackle and back-up, but so far he’s not starter material. We need a C and another OT.
The same can be said at C and LG.
I have hope that Nowak can improve to be the point of being a serviceable center seeing how this is his 3rd game. OT is a different story, it remains to be seen if Gilliam can ever learn to run block.
And unlike STL and SF, SEA has 1 win, not 2 straight losses. Also, SEA didn’t self destruct on the road like SF today.
Rawls looked good, better than the best game I can remember from Turbin. That’s a relief, but you have to scratch your head about Lynch.
RW made some really nice throws in the 2nd half. Real frozen ropes placed right where they had to be. The outcome never felt in doubt, but it’s so frustrating to watch them play through quicksand for the first half.
Cheers rob. Good post.
Other than Lynch and his situation I saw positives all around. A+ for ST. A for the Defense. B+ for the offense. Despite the poor O-Line play, I still saw positives (primarily pass protection). The rest of the offense played well, the defense is solidifying (multiple ints next week?), and ST looked crisp and clean. Lockett is the the whole deal…btw, WRs have looked great so far this year.
The only thing bothering me is Lynch. I don’t know what’s up, but I think age and back issues could be rearing their ugly head…or he’s just playing his usual mind games…either way, I’m confident with Rawls for the time being.
Detroit will test the secondary more next week, and the offense is getting there, so next week should be fun. Cincinnati is the only pre bye team I’m really worried about right now, and Arizona/GB are the only other NFC teams we have to worry about come post season (Atlanta could surprise), so I’m really confident moving forward.
Yeah I agree Cincy scares me a little with that DL and a 1:00 EST start on the East Coast. I actually think we will be an underdog in Vegas for that game.
Yeah, I mean they still look beatable…if the the Hawk’s defense is playing on full cylinders then it’ll be close.
I did not think much of the pass protection. There was still consistent pressure off the edge (on Gilliam side). Not that it was much different last year, but at least they were very good at run blocking last year. I’ve been seeing a lot more whiffed block in the run game than prior years.
Defense and ST did well.
Lynch had a hamstring issue. I think it’s gradually becoming clear that Lynch needs to be managed. For now, I won’t put too much stock into anything wrong with him.
The pass pro wasn’t bad. They gave up some pressures but for the most part, particularly the 2nd half, they gave RW time to throw.
I think SEA missed Willson in the line up. He’s not the best blocking TE, but he does his job and it looked like Gilliam wasn’t comfortable with Graham. McPhee and Allen are all-pros. McPhee may have abused Gilliam, but Allen was pretty much a non factor.
Pass pro was pretty good. Jimmy Graham gave up one sack, Wilson scrambled into a couple of others. Only two noticeable gaffe’s I can remember — Sweezy early on and Gilliam getting owned by McPhee.
Graham was tasked with slowing down a DT on the edge…. when that sack occurred, not an easy task for any TE.
I’m still wondering why the hell Graham is blocking McPhee one on one in passing plays. That just seems silly on all accounts.
How in the world do you figure Pernell McPhee is an All-Pro?
Jared Allen isn’t an all pro any more either, at least not in that system, he will probably be better in Carolina though.
I’m more worried about the hammy than any mind games. I’ve heard of his pregame preparation. It’s quite heavy on the hard tissue massage because he’s in constant pain and with his style of play he needs explosion in his hamstrings. If they clench up, he has to have them worked out until the muscles release. If you’re over 40 and you do a lot of hard physical activity, you’ll know how easy it is for the hams to cramp.
Rob what are your thoughts on the Hawks Offense not being going in the 1st half for 7 straight games now?
I think it’s been an issue for some time. It’s certainly not just a 2015 issue. The team started slowly on offense even back in 2013. Yet they finish very well — so for me it’s not a biggie.
So will our first pick next draft be a new running back or an offensive lineman who can pass as well as run block?
I think the 2017 draft has better RB talent…so OL in 2016. 2016 has gotta be OL and S early and WR/DT depth later. 2017 should be RB and OL early.
Why safety early? Kam’s under contract for 2 more years and lost his leverage. Won’t be an issue IMO. When this team takes a DB before the 4th round, I’ll be surprised.
He’ll also be 28, is fairly injury prone, and could still want to pull another holdout…better to plan for the future than assume everything will work out. Plus depth is weak at S, so future development if nothing else. I wouldn’t be surprised at them getting one in RD 3 personally…
I’m just going off the 3-4 year model they have in place. I agree they need depth, but for whatever reason, they seem to trust in taking DBs later. They’ve needed depth there for 2 years now.
Yeah, well it’s just a hunch I guess, I have a feeling that they’ll draft a higher profile SS this year in the 3rd or 4th Round.
I say take a gamble on rawls being the starter and pick up a running back in round three if lynch retires, oline needs to be the focus of this draft. Sounds drastic, but i think we should go:
1. Offensive Tackle
2. Center
3. Running Back
3C. Guard
4. Offensive Tackle
5C. Safety
6C. Guard
7. Defensive Tackle
7c. Best Player Avaliable
OL every day of the week. Has to be.
This is a bit of a different tune than I’m used to hearing from you Rob. It used to be that we would all freak out about the O-line and you’d talk us off the ledge. Personally I’m reserving judgement on this group at least until mid-season.
I truly believe Seattle will NOT invest high draft picks in OL. They have shown an unwillingness to do that in the past few drafts… and I frankly do not see them doing that this next draft. Start about round 3 looking for a guy they may target….. the bonus draft pick specifically.. the comp pick for the loss of a certain CB in PHI now.
The first half made for a long list of continuing problems to work on.
Let’s not ignore the problems on D just because of the final score, or the shutout. The D-line could not stop the run for the first half. Yes, Mebane was out, but no excuse. This was supposed to be a strength of this team, and so far, it is shaky.
The o-line, everyone knows about.
A relief to get a W, some positives in the second half, but this is a team that is a long way from where it should be.
Hard to judge anything when Chicago is the opponent in a home game you should win anyway. Chicago was basically fielding a team of college all stars.
Just glad for the win and an end to the 3 game losing streak. It does seem troubling that this team doesn’t look to have an “edge” to it. The physicality just doesn’t look to be there. Not much intensity either. If this were the 2013 team it is probably 55-0.
They sure didn’t have any intensity in the first half. This was my primary concern early.
It’s your home opener, the first game in front of the 12s since that play in Glendale. You’re the defending NFC champs, you’ve opened the season 0-2, and now you have a chance to get back to playing some type of way… and it takes an entire half (just like it did against GB), before you get anywhere even close.
Next week vs CAR should be really telling. CAR is the weakest of the undefeated teams (even CIN). Their schedule has been a cake walk so far – @JAX and 2 home games vs HOU and NO. But they are undefeated, they have a stout defense and a somewhat resurgent passing attack with the emergence of Moncrief. A good test for this Seahawks team.
Oops got confused with DET. Forget that.
In fairness though the defense could stop the run — Chicago didn’t break off any big gains and only got into Seattle’s half once in the whole game. So they must’ve stopped the run, even if it wasn’t emphatically done in the first half.
Top concerns:
Offensive line. No sugar coating, they suck. The good news is that if they stay healthy they have no choice but to improve as the season goes on. With an average line this offense would kick ass.
Interior Defensive Line depth. After cutting T Mac I was a little surprised at the final cuts to see the smaller guys Dobbs & King make the roster. We have 3 300+ pounders on the roster. Mebane was out for at least part of the game. We look susceptible to interior power running in part due to the thin depth of the big boys.
Happy to see:
Rawls. Nice game. Running with some vigor.
Liked seeing more I formation mixed into the game plan.
Lockett, Baldwin & Graham all looked good.
Looking back in time I wonder how big a difference Zach Miller’s blocking made for those past O Lines?
Where is Cassius Marsh?
Good question…
Does not seem to get many snaps. Clark played alot more today with the Mebane injury and I thought he played well. Maybe Marsh will take his spot in the edge rush rotation.
Never been impressed with Marsh as a defensive player. He can be a core ST’er and not much more.
agreed
What happened to Mebane? I didn’t see him leave the field. Did he come back?
Groin injury, didn’t return. No update yet, other than a statement at PC’s presser:
“Don’t know that yet, but he [Mebane] did have an issue with it. We’ll have to wait and see.”
The Seahawks played their game today. It’s so obvious how much better this team is when RW has a funcioning RB to work with. O-line and RB are the two biggest needs.
Rawls played well today. Looks like a very solid no. 2 with tons of potential. Love his swag and running style. I think CHAWK said it, but Rawls showed more today than Turbo ever did, Bears or no Bears.
Love to see Jimmy go off like he did today. Youcan tell how much he wants to help his team win ball games.
Frank Clark had a nice game as well. I counted 3 impact plays.
Chicago isn’t a great team, yes, but pitching a shut-out in today’s version of the NFL is hands down impressive. 10 punts in 10 possessions is truly unbeleivable, and no one can tell me different. This defensive performance is going to give these guys a huge confidence boost.
It is pretty clear after the first 3 games what our focus needs to be in the 2016 off season. OL, DT and SS if Kam issue is not resolved
Rd #1 Offensive Tackle (Shon Coleman) I hope
Rd #2 Guard (Best on Board)
Rd#3 DT (Best Run stuffer available)
Rd #4 SS
-Re-Sign Okung (if under $8mil per)
-Re-Sign Sweezy (if under $3mil per)
-Sign Evan Mathis (2 yr deal 4 mil per)
2016 OL Okung(LT) Mathis (LG) Nowak (C) Sweezy or 2nd rounder (RG) 1st Rounder (RT)
-Let Gilliam be a 3rd tackle in case of injury
-Let Sokoli and Nowak fight for Center spot
-Depth (Britt, Glowinski, Bailey)
No RB huh? Even with Lynch’s ongoing issues, Freddy Jack being 34, on a year deal, and Rawls being a very servicable 2, with the abiliy to fill in as a 1. As much as I’ve liked Rawls all summer, he’s just not enough. At least yet.
Don’t be shocked if TC grabs an O-lineman later in the draft.
They make take an RB i 2016 but not in the 1st 4 rounds unless Marshawn flames out this year or retires. There is too much talent in the 2017 RB class. I say fix our OL in 2016 with our 1st 2 pick and then use 1st rounder in 2017 for an RB who will have a solid OL to run behind.
Vol 12 aren’t you sick of Cables late OL picks yet?
Lets stop relying on Cables supposed genius and get some talent on the OL.
I’m not saying I agree with it, but that’s what he does. The O-line will never be the strength of this team. Just because a an offensive lineman is a higj pick, doesn’t mean he’ll be succesful. Are their great O-lineman this year? Yes. Do we know which ones TC feels like he’d need to ‘re-train?” No. We’re not going to be Dallas and start investing in a bunch of rookies.
They absolutely need a C and another T. Draft history shows that good C’s can be had in the 3rd round and after.
and that are actually o lineman
Why are you sick of Cable? He gives JS a list of lineman he can eventually mold into what he wants. JS then uses the OL to save money to spend at other positions knowing Cable will get teh OL serviceable by the time December rolls around. I think the one true high pick of Okung has played pretty well when healthy. Britt was at the bottom of the list of acceptable OT from that year but there was a run. Sometimes the OL just doesnt work out ie see every top ten tackle the last couple years. I think its unrealistic to start 4 converts and one true lineman and expect results.
I am sick of Cable because he has not made a good pick yet. He thinks he can take bunch of guys off the street to make an OL and every year our OL sucks. We paid a QB $20 mil why not try and protect him a little now and open the odd running lane for a change.
Can you name one good Cable pick on OL besides maybe Sweezy who was a 7th rounder.
That might be a stretch. From everything I have read and heard from Seattle media Cable gets to give a list of prospects to JS and John then decides which guys to take. Maybe the problem is they use high picks on vanity players like Percy Harvin and Jimmy Graham. Britt and Carpenter were both high picks and starters on a team that got to the Super Bowl last year. John decided to move on from Carpenter to save money and go with a higher variance players that might be better in time(Sokoli Nowak Glowinski). Sometimes Cable gets blamed for the offensive line being given a ton of lemons and we expect great lemonade every time. Maybe lemons are just sour lemons no matter who gets their hands on them.
My point exactly that is why I am saying they should use a couple of high pick on OL this year. Britt and Carp both have not played like 1st and 2nd round picks. Carp does look better in the Jets power run scheme. He was just not a great zone blocker.
If Cable had pushed for Bitonio, I’d love him, but we’ll never know. I’m not sure I’m in love with this offense, and I think Cable has as much input as Bevel there.
IMO C is more of a need than OG. Also I think RB is a possibility early. It’s way to soon to predict anything, but as an example, if they feel confident about getting Booker in the mid R2, I could see them trading down like they did for CMike.
And before anyone gets all bent out of shape about the prospect of doing that, (1) it’s just a hypothetical example, and (2) Booker is an entirely different prospect than CMike. CMike was all potential and no proof. Booker is proving his potential every week so far this season.
There’s nothing wrong with a team like Seattle having 2-3 good RBs. Ya got Rawls, take one next year, a Booker or Collins type, and then in 2017 take another one after Lynch retires. Compete, compete, compete. After this year, there’s no competition in the RB room.
And 2017 has great prospects, but that’s assuming they all become eligible. Injuries, guys staying, their games falling off a cliff are all pisibilities. Right now, I see 3 legit 1st rounders. Fournette, Chubb, and Dalvin Cook.
All 3 of those guys would be top 15 picks in this years draft hope for them that they stay healthy.
Collins could be a Day 3 steal. He’s a bit under the radar on that Arkansas team. At least it seems so.
Booker will cost you. After their win in Eugene, he’s going to start generating some serious buzz. Oh sure, everyone loves Fournette. But who do you want to draft this year?
I think Collins will go in round two.
This is also a FO that has shown or proved they want 3 good backs. Selecting Turbo one year and C-mike the next while Lynch was in his prime is example A. Example B was cutting Turbo, trading C-mike, and then turning around and signing a 34 year old back while promoting ‘Black Beast’ aka Thomas Rawls.
I agree that Collins is a second rounder. As well as Booker. This is a team in win now mode. We all know they want to pound the rock. Why delay the inevitable?
I’ll say this. You throw the ball to score, you run the ball to win.
I also wonder if the offense will adapt. I know they maintain they won’t shift from their identity. However, a more focused approach towards Wilson as the ultimate playmaker supported by a Rawls or RBBC could be the way forward. And that would take some pressure away from needing a legendary RB, at least until they have a chance to possibly draft one (maybe 2017).
I would put blocking TE high on my need list.
I agree it does appear to be a need. But you can get blocking TEs late on day 3 or in UDFA.
There’s some intriguing types. W. Kentucky’s Tyler Higsbee, VA Tech’s Ryan Malleck, Michigan St’s Paul Lang, Mizzou’s Sean Culkin, Nebraska’s Cethan Carter, Montana St’s Beau Sandland, and Arkansas St’s Darrion Griswold to name a few.
I’m intrigued with Georgia’s Jay Rome; 6-6, 250. He’s an impressive physical specimen.
Don’t forget the extra 3rd rounder.
I hope there is zero attempt to re-sign Sweezy. It’s been how many years now and he is still clueless in pass protection. He blows run blocking assignments left and right. He’s also a penalty machine.
While today might not be an epic beatdown it is a great example of how hard we are to beat if everyone just does their job. The defense was lights out all day at doing what was expected. While it may be boring for some I find it very encouraging we didnt rely on any big plays to absolutely demolish an nfl team. If you need further evidence look at all the backups that had record days passing the ball today. Other defenses were facing offenses without their QB and WR#1 (I am looking at you Atlanta) and gave up huge yards and point totals. We need to start celebrating how good we actually are not nitpicking everything. We had a 100 yard rusher and had no turnovers. We will not lose with that combo. The OL is basically starting 3 rookies and absent a couple defensive mishaps would be 3-0. We want to finish great in December not look good in September!!!
Great point.
Calling the Bears “an NFL team” might be a bit of a stretch. I think nitpicking is entirely appropriate because such moribund play in the first half will get us wrecked against real team.
Why would they be a stretch to be an NFL team? They lost to GB by 8 while we lost by 10. Do you really think Forte isnt an NFL caliber running back? Their O line is still mostly intact. THey have a TE many wanted us to trade for last year. Yes Clausen is terrible and the WR are crappy but 0 points is 0 points. Nobody else this decade has shut them out and they have had some pretty terrible years.
I agree here. CHI’s OL is pretty strong. So is Matt Forte. Sure, SEA could sell out a bit to stop the run knowing Clausen wasn’t a threat to throw. But a shutout is a shutout. That’s rare in today’s NFL.
I’m speaking specifically about the Bears team that played Sunday, not last week or what they might field next week. That was as sorry an excuse for an NFL roster as exists in the league right now. To say nothing of Clausen, Bennett was their only competent receiving threat and they barely used him. Much of their starting defense would not make the 53 of most other teams. The Cardinals were up 28-0 at halftime against a much better SF squad. To take anything good from only being up 6-0 at the half in our house against that motley crew is just pumping sunshine.
We need to play four quarters of the ball we played in the third. We won’t win many more games the rest of the season if we continue to play in the first half like we played against the sad-sack Bears. Reading some of the Bears in-game message boards, a common theme was we were over-rated and they felt good about being so close for so long. And they are right. Ours in not a playoff offense presently and it’s more than just the OL. Better to call a spade right now and possibly fix it than feel good about shutting out a team that shouldn’t have been on the field.
Agree with you bigDhawk! The Bears were a total mess and despite knowing that they had absolutely no passing game, we still allowed them to gash us for big runs in the first half. The Hawks’ D tightened up in the second half and we’ve definitely improved from the first two games but we’re still nowhere the dominant force we’ve been the last two or three seasons. I can’t pin point the reason because on paper, we have a deep talented line, a fast and experienced LB corps, and just one new starter (now that Kam is back in the fold) in the secondary but we aren’t shutting down the running game like we did for most of last season. I’m not as worried about the pass rush because we’re still getting a lot of pressure with our four down linemen and I have to believe that it’ll be just a matter of time before the sacks arrive. I’m hoping that the D keeps improving so that we’ll be ready when we need to play a really good offense, like what we’ve seen of the Cardinals or Falcons…or the Patriots if we meet them in the SB again!
On offense, we definitely need to start better. We also need to stop thinking that Jimmy Graham can block a DE one on one. I remember one play where he totally whiffed on McPhee, leading to a sack of Wilson. First, it was idiotic to expect Graham to block McPhee by himself and two, Wilson needs to realize that if Graham is blocking McPhee that the pressure is coming and to get rid of the ball or scramble away quicker. We finally used Graham more yesterday but it was still disappointing to hear Dave Wyman on the post-game show saying that he was glad the Seahawks finally realized that they need to split Graham out wide and that he experienced a lot of success there rather than lining up as a TE. Really?! We traded for Graham to be our dominant #1 receiver and it took until the third game for us to realize that his best use is to split him out wide?! Rawls looked really quick and explosive and I hope he can keep it up. The pass pro was adequate but the run blocking, at least in the first half, was horrible as usual. If our identity is running the ball and we can’t run block consistently, where does that leave the offense? We’ve made our bed with the OL so here’s hoping that they steadily improve so that before too long, they’ll be competent in both run blocking as well as pass protection.
Chicago didn’t exactly challenge this defense. It’s pretty easy when you know the run is coming on virtually every play and the only passes are going to be safe dump offs.
They weren’t dominating the first half, Forte was getting his yards and it required a second half adjustment by Richard. They couldn’t get into seattle territory mainly because Claussen is so bad.
Next week is a better test.
Agreed but even with Forte getting yards, CHI never got close enough to attempt a FG, let alone make one. A shutout is a shutout.
I’m thrilled with it, and the win, I just don’t think the defense is yet back to its old super bowl self.
Agreed. Each unit is playing ok, but not shutdown. The pass rush is there, but they can’t seem to get a sack. The coverage is tight, but they can’t seem to snatch an INT. LBs are getting hands/arms on runners, but not bringing them down on first contact.
Nice perspective. We expected the Hawks to win, and we pitched a shut out. Got to love that! Next up Detroit.
Detroit will be a much tougher challenge. The RBs in the passing game are going to be the make or break in the game. Seattle needs to lock the rushing attack down. I’m not clear why they can;t seem to put the clamps on it yet, but I think they are looking better each week.
Pitching a shut-out. Impressive. Now they need to do it 2 weeks in a row, that would be more impressive.
I notice a relative lack of complaints about Bevell and SEA’s play calling. It was much better today. I saw some decent WR routes, and players getting open/separation. Lockett was a fingertip away from having a TD catch as well as his return.
Also, Rawls was getting good yardage after contact. He earned his 104 yards. The OL hasn’t gelled yet as a run block unit. Britt is an improvement over Carp in pass pro (no question), but he’s just not the nasty run mauler that Carp is. And Nowak is still struggling, but showing improvement. Gilliam isn’t any better, but SEA runs left often so it doesn’t seem as much of a problem.
Agreed.
There’s nothing wrong with getting the ball to Graham and designing plays around him. I don’t think it’s as Rob says that it proves to extinguish the silliness about his role in this offense. I think the lack of him in the gameplan last week was stark and obvious, I don’t care what Hugh Millen says about the choices RW made to exclude him. Graham gives dcoordinators fits. I think the adjustments they made this week were correct and necessary, and will help this offense going forward because now dcoordinators have to game plan for him, and everyone should benefit.
Bevel should get credit for a better game plan.
The slow starts are still baffling.
Baffling and frustrating.
The first play is always a handoff to Lynch on the zone read. Just once, just once, I’d like to see RW keep the ball and bounce outside.
He was better this week but better is a relative term and the offense struggled like always. Why has it taken 3 weeks to figure out how to use Graham? Run him forward 10 yards, then he turns around and catches the ball. Watch his catches in N.O., there’s not much more to it. The difference this game is we did this, and I doubt it makes the gameplan if Bevell isn’t taking heat all week leading up.
He does make some great calls. but it looks like he sets them up by being VERY predictable for long long stretches. Is the “long con” effective if they know what you’re going to do 8 times in a row, and then you surprise them twice? Is it effective if you throw away the entire first half of every game to make it possible? Even against weak teams like the Bears. No Tds in the first half, no third down conversions, this time at home against an aging defense.
The OL woes are Cable’s fault everyone says, but the defense would be easier to block if they didn’t know what you were going to do.
Every now and then Bevell calls a play action in a situation where they might actually run and it blows my mind; more often, he lines up in shotgun when you know they’re going to run, or he empties the backfield on short yardage 3rd downs. I would happily give back the occasional cool play he calls if it meant no more shotgun or 5-wide on third and short, not giving it to Lynch on every read option in every first half, and letting Russell bootleg here and there for 4 quarters.
In Summary, call a good game for 4 quarters in a row, against a quality opponents. The Bears aren’t good, our offense in the first half wasn’t either, and third down was insurmountable. When are we going to start lining up in a manner appropriate to down and distance?
Two of my favorite plays were the end of the first half, first the attempt to Graham and second the attempt to Matthews. Trying to use their size and ability to exploit the mismatch. Didn’t work, but it will in time and the fact they were scheming for those plays was a positive for me.
Salk on the radio to Brock after Brock defended the first half play calling: “They DO play conservative in the first halves Brock, whatever you say, they do play conservative.”
I liked it when they did that too, really there have been some nice calls but they’re always sandwiched between the usual. Matthews didn’t have any catches and has 2 through 3 games so we can remember trivial things like the time they tried to throw him the ball. Which was encouraging to me too, because it never happened before, and discouraging at the same time because it might never happen again. I don’t think Bevell is going to change.
I do think it’s a problem when the other team is trying to score for 4 quarters and we’re only really trying for 2. Perhaps the conservative approach helps us keep every game close. It’s “well guys, let’s try this one again, they know it’s coming but worst case scenario, they get the ball back and have to move it against our legendary defense.” And every third down ends in the worst case scenario.
Unfortunately, Pete on the radio today said that’s the way it goes. They aren’t going to change.
He shouldn’t. It works. Why fix what ain’t broke? Because we don’t thump teams like late in 2013? That wasn’t the standard, rather an anomaly.
Does it really matter how much we beat teams by or how well we play in the first half when we get a W? In the grand scheme of things, come play-off time we aren’t going to look back and say ‘boy I sure am glad we played well in the 1st half against Chicago. Or, wow beating such and such team by more than 3-7 points really helped us out here.’
The last 2 Super Bowls are a great example, especially since our team was in both.
SEA beat DEN on the opening series. And they lost to NE on the final play.
And yet, all that matters is the first was a win, and the second wasn’t.
Those are great examples, and so was the Atlanta playoff game, where we were down 20-0 going into the second half and lost by only 2 points despite a phenomenal fourth quarter RW comeback, end of season.
The team as a whole was getting the wins, but they largely came from the defense, plus Marshawn and Russell. What happens when Marshawn goes out, Russell slumps or the defense has a drop off? This offense isn’t good enough.
We got the winds last year despite special teams issues, and we corrected special teams. The third down offense is every bit as broken as the return game was last year, and we’re winning despite this. It drives me crazy every week.
Good to see the defense get an A today. I was one critizing K Richard for the ( as I sae it} vanilla defense the first two weeks. Glad to see some blitz’s and aggression, have to give him his due for that. However it is easy to call blitz’s on Clauson, let’s see how things shake out the next two weeks. With the o line still struggling the defense will have to come up big against Stafford, Johnson, and Tate, then Dalton and Green. I think the next two weeks will give us a realistic idea if the playoff’s are in the Hawks future this year.
They blitzed LB’s vs the Rams and were gashed often by Foles quickly dumping off the ball to RB and TE. I believe that was 3 or 4 of the 8 20+ yard plays that ultimately cost us the game every bit as much as Bailey’s failure to use sound technique in coverage.
“Even so, it’s clear the Seahawks are still trying to find a rhythm on offense. And that’s fine. New England, Atlanta and one or two others have hit the ground running. The rest of the league are still working to find their true identity, Seattle included.” Rob
True we are not alone in stumbling on offense a bit out of the gate. Denver is last in the NFL in yards and points per game going into tonights Detroit matchup. The second half we played what I remember our offense looking like 2-3 years ago. Downhill running with Russell under center, and working the play action. Our Oline actually opened up holes for Rawls, who showed good burst and finish, by firing out and bringing the action to the D. Blocking for the read option is a different art-one that we haven’t looked good at. Watching the first 3 games Bevell has called less and less shotgun, and I hope this is a continuing trend. Being more of a power running team should be more of our identity. IMO
It was awesome to see Jimmy get going and get some emotion out! Lockett keeps showing up and making plays. He was open in the end zone, but Wilson couldn’t get him the ball on a tough throw. I was calling for us to take Lockett at #63 in the draft, so it’s extra sweet to see him make huge plays!
Yeah the Bears are weak and were hit with injuries, but a win is a win. Glad we got #1 out of the way!
Baby steps – actually – better than baby steps…
The OLine – Cable molds (mostly unheralded) athletes to his scheme. Doesn’t always work. BUT – it always takes time. Usually – he finally has them going on at least 4 cylinders by year end and the team lets two or three walk to save $15 and a moldy jockstrap. Cable then reloads and trains again…it’s getting a bit tiresome.
Cary Williams – is not – and never will be – good enough to be mentioned in the same breath as any of the past or present – LOB. The guy is almost always a step too far away or a step too slow – or both.
Jimmy “Da pass catcher” Graham – It is downright embarrassing to watch a 6′ 7″ 270 pound agile fast guy try to pretend he can block. He cannot. If Willson is not available I’d VASTLY prefer to see Will Tukuafu (or even Coleman) as a blocking TE. Let Jimmy pretend he’s an end by putting him as the wide guy, or let him replace Kearse or Baldwin in the slot…BUT…please get that million dollar receiver out of the sewer of blocking TE – Jimmy can’t block sh*t. END THE EXPERIMENT!
I’m still far from impressed with our offensive play calling. There are bursts of innovation – but they are too infrequent, too short, and only tend to expose the three quarters of the game when any coherence, vitality or originality is clearly not present. Any injury to Lynch could turn our offense into a dead end alley. Thankfully, Rawls showed some seriously solid BeastMode Jr. Part of me thinks I’d like to see Wee DangeRuss make his own game plan – modified by the coaches based on what they see watching from the sky. At the very least in next year’s pre-season. I think Russell has more to offer than we might think – we could plump his depths by running an offense HE thinks might be the best for his strengths and weaknesses. Just a thought.
Our first half today was more than just borderline embarrassing. But – we really do have a lot of talent – IF (when) it all comes together. Go Hawks!
I suppose I’m magnifying it, but to me, the only worthwhile measure in this game was Hawks O vs Bears D in the first half, and that just didn’t look too hot. Line play was spotty. Lockett’s gorgeous return tilted the game after that, and the dynamic changed.
One particular play from the first half stands out to me:
Score: 3-0
4th and 1, 26 seconds left in Q2. RW improvises on a bust, and flips it to Lynch, who saves the drive after that spectacular bobble. Lynch makes that catch. Rawls doesn’t.
Lynch had career highs last year in catches, TD catches and yards per catch. Rawls can run, but had the big drop today. Jackson can catch, but he’s going to be limited on the run. Lynch matters because he goes both ways and the defense has to account for both – by that measure, he’s a third of the offense. Without him, the threat dissipates. If he’s hurt in a significant way, the Detroit game looks tougher.
Here is the takeaway from todays game.
They have some plays for Graham.. and looked to get him involved early and often. I liked it. It was limited, but effective. He got touches and produced.
Why teams are still kicking it to Lockett boggles my mind. He has shown that he is dangerous as a KR or PR. Let’s get him into the WR flow a bit…. but very satisfied with the pick so far.
I liked the play calling selection in the second half. They opened it up a bit and showed some imagination. Not that many bubble screens or screen passes in general… I’m ok with that.
I think going forward I would like to see Graham lined up as WR in 11 personnel and have Luke lined up on the line as TE. Also thought the fullbacks played well today, might be cool to see Graham in the slot as WR in 20 personnel,
Even though a shutout was nice, I’m not thinking super bowl with this team yet. I do see improvements each week which is encouraging. I’m at the point where I just want to make the playoffs. There’s just that magic with this team. I can see them catching fire late. I don’t see them being that overwhelming dominant team. But they don’t get blown out. It still takes an impressive performance to beat us, and some mistakes from us. But seeing all the other teams weekly, even our bad games aren’t that bad. We just have higher expectations than 30 other teams, minus NE.
I just want us to stay healthy. That’s it. Even a down year probably gets us a playoff berth. And this team usually plays better in the spotlight. So I’m not worried yet. Oline should get better, Russ will continue to grow, Jimmy will get used more, lynch should eventually beast, our d will boom on. If not, then we will figure it out. We’ve shown the ability to make moves when shit doesn’t work, a la percy.
-Glad we ran a lot of plays with a FB. Rawls looked good. I think he could replace the Beast. Bevell still needs to go
-Still feel we need to change the philosophy for drafting and developing OL. It’s been our biggest weakness since PC/JS got here.
-Need an inside push, or change how the inside rush is applied. Too many times Clausen was able to extend plays by stepping up. Just like Rogers and so many QB’s do to them.
1st OL/DT
2nd DT/OL
For the Fire Bevell crowd: remember the lesson to “be careful what you wish for”–we don’t know who the replacement might be but I have a cruel premonition.
If there happened to be an experienced (college and pros) but still youngish coach with strong ties to PC serving as OC at an elite college program, wouldn’t that guy seem like a shoe-in as a Bevell replacement? Unfortunately I just described Lane Kiffin.
Don’t even think it. Not even for a second.
Maybe someone green is what we need. The Andy Reid, Greg Kubiak style philosophy is what we should be. Pound the ball out of regular formations, play action, some reverses to Lockett and feed the TE. Wrinkle in some read option and learn to take what a defense is giving you (if they are blitzing, quit 5-7 step drop plays).
I am real happy about Rawls. It’s only one game, but let’s use him for about 2 or 3, let Lynch rest and have Wilson do what he is paid to do (it’s what I said would happen more and more, Wilson passing).
Maybe but not Kiffin. Anyone but Kiffin. That man is cursed. This from a decades long Trojan fan.
Everywhere he goes, failure follows.
I would be fine with the end of 2012 offensive playcalling. Explosive. Consistent. Confused defenses. You didn’t know what to expect next, yet they kept the dominant aspect of the run game foremost as the underlying theme while keeping the opposing defenses in shock and awe.
Id take him over Beavell in a minute
At some point Pete Carrolls kids will get promoted.
Bevell isn’t out there dropping passes or not executing.
The plays being run are not useable against a good defense. The Seahawks need better designed passing plays, like New England and Denver runs. They need to acknowledge that their line can’t run block in the early part of the season, and compensate. They need to get off to a fast start on offense. They need to adjust their playing style at the end of the first quarter instead of half time. Most of all they need to quit farting around in preseason with their starters sitting on the sidelines and give them enough playing time that they can play together. All of this is curable with a different offensive coach.
Errr… Maybe the fact Denver and New England have Manning and Brady plays into why they run the plays they do?
It’s astonishing to me that people are still questioning this teams plan after two super bowl appearances.
I agree with you to a degree Rob. Look at what Cassel did when he replaced Brady. QB is very important, but the scheme and passing tree can make a good QB great and an average QB good. And you know it’s been our defense that got us to those SB. When Wilson has to wing it, that’s when our offense succeeds, not when Bevell is in control for the first 3 quarters.
I’m not questioning the team effort and spirit. But these slow starts are totally a coaching issue. Conservative play calling, passing to the side instead of down field, a few predictable runs that get stuffed. How many points have we scored in three first halfs? Is it 12?
And why is it that every season we go from a superbowl team to an offense that is starting at square one again? The easy answer is the offensive line woes, and it looks like that will be an issue again next year when the Seahawks will try again for RT and LT.
Our competition is New England and Green Bay. They haven’t missed a beat since last year. We can only play catch up so many times before the whole thing comes crashing down.
They really didn’t play well in the playoffs and were a second half team in all three games including the sb. Really, in all honesty, the packers should have won that game. Bruce Irvin said it right. And this offense isn’t as good as 2013, nowhere near.
People including myself see this talent, you have a star qb, a hall of fame rb, an all pro TE, and one of the great possession receivers in football in DB, and you can’t get going until the second half for the sixth straight game?
I suppose once the oline gels then the spoon fed running game will likely correct the slow starts in this intent to force the run. They won’t change, as PC said this morning on the radio. Even complainers like me will have to live with it.
“It’s astonishing to me that people are still questioning this teams plan after two super bowl appearances.” Rob
Dilfer won a title with Jamal Lewis, Jonathon Ogden and one of the best defenses of all time. Our D the last 2 years has been right on par with that Ravens D. I’m not comparing Dilfer to Wilson. Just saying elite defenses win titles. Hell even Eli has 2 rings.
I do question the offensive play calling. We are searching for our identity and I feel like our identity should be more power running. The zone read leaves a DE or OLB unblocked by design. When our OL misses a block or 2 then Lynch or Wilson with 2 or 3 guys in their face. Not a recipe for success. Using Wilson under center leaves the D guessing more. IMO Moving the pocket on PA or a designed rollout makes it easier for our Oline-they know where Russel is going to be. Shotgun formation is typically zone read or short pass. Our Oline can’t protect Wilson long enough for a throw downfield, especially on 5WR. That is easy to scheme for as a D coordinator. When we got a 2 score lead after Lockett’s TD Bevell’s calling became less cute, and our O consistently moved the ball. I’m not calling for Bevells head or anything. Would like to see our O have more an attitude from the outset of each game. Bevell tends to give multiple looks to feel the D out, then make-usually fantastic-adjustments at the half. I’m confident that we will be running on all 8 cylinders by mid Nov. How the Cards have looked is leaving me nervous that we won’t be able to secure home field, which as we all know is a huge advantage.
Can they not sustain blocks for shots downfield or are we missing a true deep threat with raw speed? RW is always going to take sacks due to his style and height disadvantage.
We have taken 2 shots to my memory with Lockett being the target. Yesterday’s game he beat the coverage but Wilson threw it behind him on a difficult throw under duress.
LOL. Someone had to say it. Why would PC change it? It’s what he does and it works. For those wanting or hoping for different gameplans or whatever, ya’ll might have to wait out PC’s tenure. And I’m personally dreading the day he isn’t our HC.
People are trying to figure out the slow starts. Maybe it’s playcalling, maybe it’s execution. What I noticed watching the game that it seems in the first half always someone seems to mess up somehow to kill a drive. Someone drops a pass, Okung gets a false start. There’s a blown assignment, a missed block. They seem unprepared.
Why is wanting continuous improvement a bad thing?
They know games aren’t won or lost in the 1st half. When it’s halftime and that clock isn’t running, the game is 0-0. Let me ask you this. Would you rather be a first half team or a second half? It’s not how you start man, it’s all about how you finish.
And I know the answer is going to be ‘we didn’t finish the last 3 games before Chicago.’ 3 games is a very small sample size considering what this team has accompished in 2-3 years.
I’d rather be a full game team and in 2013 and for most of 2014, that’s what this team was.
They haven’t had good first halves in 6 straight games, not 3. The playoffs and sb were the same pattern. People are looking at the pattern of the past 6 games, not the past two years. You and Rob are looking at it from a bigger window than people who are looking at a present 6 game pattern. The present 6 game pattern is the aberration from the past two years, not the other way around.
I would caveat this by saying I don’t “hate” the seahawks, I don’t hate Darrel Bevel, I don’t hate the idea of establishing the run. I don’t like Bevel, but that is more from my viking fandom days than what he’s done here. People seem to think criticism automatically means hate, and that’s probably not the case for any poster here.
Rob, can you- with a straight face- say that offensive gameplan and scheme was what took us to two straight Super Bowls? Or can you at least admit that our boon of incredible talent made those pedestrian play calls and scheme work. Where talent overwhelms mediocre planning? I think the most alarming thing is the lack of creativity in “game-on-the-line” plays. Where there doesn’t seem to even be a semblance of razzle dazzle or scheming to get the defense on their heels. When the game is truly on the line and it is do or die. Yeah execution is a part of it- but our game plans are dreadful often. Look at our first half stats. We almost ALWAYS score on the last drive of the first half but look dreadful up to that point. We have become slaves to a boring vanilla scheme and I think some new blood could get our offense to the next level. Without all the frustratingly slow starts
So far this year we’re something like 13th in the NFL in first qtr scoring, second from the bottom in 2nd qtr scoring, 3rd in the NFL in 3rd qtr scoring, and something like 17th in the NFL in 4th qtr scoring. St Louis is a great defense, GB is marginal, and the Bears are horrific.
This includes special teams TDs.
Work needs to be done but fortunately it’s early.
I think it’s the same formula yes. Not much has changed. Now they have Jimmy Graham. I have no qualms about any perceived lack of creativity on offense. There’s nothing too creative in Green Bay’s scheme either. Seattle has a formula that works and wins.
Good point Rob. Two things really bother me about our offense. The fact that we can’t run block competently makes it difficult for us to execute on the formula of pounding the ball and playing great D. This is the second time the Hawks have paid a high price in draft picks and cash for potential #1 receiver and it frustrates me that we’re still figuring out how to use Graham effectively. If these two things improve, I have no problem with continuing with the formula but if not, we may need to adjust strategy to win this year.
The 1st game I watched this Sunday was the Atlanta vs. Dallas game. In the 1st half of that game the OL for Dallas made Randle, McFadden, and Dunbar look great with 21 attempts, 127 yds, and 6.0avg. I mention this because if you don’t have a top tier RB a good OL can make up for it. To be honest in the last 3 games it just looks like that Lynch’s gas pump light on the dash has popped on. If we can’t replace him we will need a better OL for the next guy who replaces him. This is actually a good year to draft for Offense, not just the Line but RBs also. I’m not so sure Seattle can afford to keep Okung and Sweezy next year and to be honest I’d like to get younger so this line can grow together without changing a whole lot. I don’t want to be grabbing guys I will have to coach up for 2 years I want talent and that means going big to start the draft. I see 4 LT that I believe could start in the NFL going in round 1.
Laremy Tunsil Ole Miss
Ronnie Stanley ND
Taylor Decker Ohio St.
Jake Conklin Michigan St. (my favorite) not flashy but rock solid and nasty.
If we are still looking for a center this is a good year for it and I can see quite a few of these guys falling to 3rd round comp pick.
Dan Voltz Wisconsin
Nick Martin ND
Jack Allen Michigan St.
Evan Boehm Mizzou
Mike Mathews Texas A&M
Kyle Friend Temple
Joe Dahl WSU ( He plays LT but has the right size 6’4″ 303Ibs. for a move inside and in the late 4th or 5th round)
We may already have Sweezy replacement in Mark Glowinski but I would draft a Connor McGovern Mizzou hoping for a RT and I’d be sure I at least got a Stud RG if it didn’t work out at RT. If he was to slip to the 4th round I’d run to the podium. A RB in the 2nd who is not a CM.
Rawls was my 7th round pick this year and I think He’ll fit just fine as the number 2 back and as for the drop he’ll figure out how to look the ball into his hands before he starts to run. We been paying so much attention to defense that the OL has become the weak link on this team and you need talent in the trenchs. Its just the beginning of the year and I understand that but we’ve been in the playoffs contention for the last 3 years and I just don’t want to be like the 49er’s who woke up one year and their team had gotten old.
Agreed. We can’t get another Lynch. We spent money on Wilson, time to stop with all the projects and get some top talent on the Oline.
1st OL/DT
2nd DT/OL
3rd WR/CB
3rd CB/WR
If by December this oline hasn’t gotten it together, then yeah, use some early picks on oline. But if the Cable experiment works and all the accolades we’ve heard all preseason are true about their upside, then I’m for resigning sweezy and Okung providing they aren’t too overpriced and keep the unit together.
If we’re seeing consistent 100 yard games in December from Lynch or Rawls, then I’ll bow to Cable’s genius. Early returns ain’t looking good.
What difference does it make if the offensive line goes back to zero over the off season? It always starts bad and they get better by mid season. I’m just tired of watching it. And it really isn’t cost effective for protecting a 23 million dollar quarterback.
I guess I’m tired of the revolving turnstile of olinemen and would like to see some stability. Every year except at the end of 2013 it seems a new guy has been the weak link that either gives up too many sacks or can’t run block, or too many penalties, etc.
Glazer reports that CAR just agreed to trade with CHI for DE Jared Allen.
And CHI eats the $11.5mm roster bonus. Nice pick up for CAR.
I sure wonder if anyone else is missing Breno Giacomini?
You know, I did start really falling in love with the guy as a right tackle once he managed to be just barely enough of a jerk to NOT pull an unnecessary roughness call while goading the other guy into one. He won the hawks at least once game that way, I remember.
And no, he got tooled a few times but not quite like this I think.
I’ve hopes for Gary, but man… that was bad.
I do. I said at the time it was a mistake to trade Giacomini. He was the enforcer the ” kam” of the O line, and we could afford to give him a raise at the time. I am afraid Lynch has reached the end of his run. I expect him to be in and out of the line up all year with recurring injurise. That’s what happens to OLD guys. Now we are thin at running back. I wish they had kept turbo on ir. I always thought Turbo did a good job. He was dependable and has good hands. Don’t remembef him fumbling to many. High ankle sprains only take about 5 weeks to heal. Does any body on this blobg know if Turbo was picked up by anoyher team?
Yep, it was the Browns I read or watched somewhere.
Not that every rookie will make the team, 5-6 with 1-2 UDFA, but does Seattle have 9 or 10 picks at this point? I thought I remembered seeing getting a comp for Obi.
Rob, what do you think of Michigan’s HB De’Veon Smith? I know he doesn’t have great long speed, but damn this cat is a gritty runner with the right size-5’10-5’11, 225-228 lbs.
Everything starts with the trenches, dominant offenses always have a great oline, if the team wants to be dangerous it starts there, if wilson wants to develope into a more balanced offense, and into a better or more consistent passer, he needs an oline, even the running game is suffering due to this oline shuffling. The key is oline for this offense., I’ve always wanted to see what russ can do with a good oline, but there is no draft anytime soon so they gotta make due with the bed they made, I’m sure they will get it right, that is why they have 16 games to get it right. GO Hawk’s! ;). Some how the coaches and players seem to find a way, but wouldn’t it be nice to not have to worry about it year after year?.