Seattle’s season is collapsing before our eyes. They look like a broken shell of a team. There’s no spark, no intensity, no fight.
The Seahawks came into this game trying to calm the masses after the Buffalo beating by pointing to the NFC West standings.
Tonight Seattle is third in the division.
Sadly, Pete Carroll doesn’t seem to have the answers and it’s increasingly hard to have any faith in his ability to rescue this sinking ship.
No doubt some people will point to the fact Seattle are still 6-3 as some kind of reassuring counterpoint.
If you feel that way, you’re kidding yourself. You are absolutely kidding yourself.
There was so much wrong with this game. The usual defensive chaos. The rapidly declining offense. Russell Wilson looks spent, his MVP hopes shattered, under the weight of having to carry this team. The inability to get their best offensive skill player involved happened for the second time in a matter of weeks.
Out-coached and out-played again.
Carroll was hailed as cool and inspiring on 710 ESPN last week for signing a new contract. Yet he is overseeing the collapse of the season.
Between them, Carroll and John Schneider have done an incredibly poor job constructing and developing this roster since the reset in 2018. Yet nobody holds them to account — either in ownership (which is in flux) or an overly-friendly media.
They have put together what could easily be the worst defense in over 100 years of NFL history.
There are no answers, no solutions.
Carroll stands up at the podium every week and says things have to get better. Things aren’t getting better, Pete.
Last week was a total embarrassment and this felt like a continuation.
The only glimmer of hope was the offense but look at it now. It’s absolutely shattered with Wilson giving the ball away 10 times in the three losses.
The Seahawks are now 1-5 against the Rams in the last six and it’d be 0-6 but for a missed field goal.
They get out-coached every time.
Before the bye they were able to beat Atlanta, New England, Dallas, Miami and Minnesota. Three of those teams are dreadful and they relied on nailbiting victories. The Dolphins were yet to truly find their flow and the Vikings blew it.
Since then, they are 1-3. The only win was against the MASH unit that is the San Francisco 49ers.
Everyone acknowledged this was the meat of the season for the Seahawks. The real test. We’d find out a lot about this team during this run.
They have a losing, 1-3 record.
Against proper teams they are being found out. They are a pretender. They can barely function.
It was all so predictable.
We talked about it throughout the off-season. The way they went about building this defense was a shambles.
Despite all the anger and abuse directed at this blog, what exactly was unjust?
They failed to fix the pass rush and made it worse. Thus, they can’t play their scheme. They wasted $50m in free agency. They used their top draft pick on an unnecessary linebacker and their second on an injured pass rusher.
The Jamal Adams trade was a desperate attempt to add a player of note right before the season. The Seahawks have no idea what to do with him other than have him blitz. They traded the house for a blitzing safety.
Players are not being developed or showing progression. Only Poona Ford is elevating his play in 2020.
The defensive plan, week-to-week, is confounding and jumbled. They haven’t established one thing they can hang their hat on.
So many other coaches do less with more. Look at the way Kyle Shanahan is battling with practically a full starting 22 on IR. He took Jimmy Garoppolo to a Super Bowl. Sean McVay inherited a consistently weak Rams team with a floundering #1 pick quarterback and has made them a force (and they too have been to a Super Bowl). It’s taken Kliff Kingsbury a season and a half to transform Arizona from the worst team in the league to an exciting NFC West contender.
The Seahawks aren’t a picture of health at the moment but they have big names on their defense and can’t come up with any solutions.
The whole philosophy of this team is supposed to be to create a complete circle. They’ve taken a shotgun to their identity, with bad team building, and now there’s a tsunami of chaos driving towards the shore.
Carroll is supposed to be a defensive minded Head Coach with a reputation as one of the best in the league. He is the architect of the Legion of Boom era.
Now he’s parenting the ‘Region of Room’. He’s in danger of ruining his legacy by creating a unit as bad as the 2013 Seahawks were good.
Carroll deserves to feel pressure and it will ramp up after this latest loss. The fans are turning now. Every tweet posted by the Seahawks media team is accompanied by a flurry of tweets complaining about the defense or defensive coaches.
Serious, proper questions must be asked by the media, who need to step up to the plate for once and not shirk their responsibility.
And what must Wilson be thinking? He’s been delivered the ultimate hospital pass.
His MVP hopes are up in flames. He is making mistakes he has never made in his career. He is pressing and his play has fallen off a cliff. The offense suddenly looks totally dreadful. As bad as it looked at the end of last season as soon as the running backs got hurt.
Do you think this is on him? Do you think suddenly, he’s decided he fancies becoming a turnover machine? That he doesn’t want to be the prolific saviour?
Of course not. It’s no coincidence. He’s under immense pressure to score, score, score. He has the weight of 11 defensive players resting on his shoulders. It’s impacting him so much that suddenly he is making bonehead mistakes that would make Mark Sanchez blush.
His first interception today, where he had a mile of space in front of him to run for a first down. What on earth was that? When has he ever done anything like that?
I can't believe Russ threw this. pic.twitter.com/7ICIUXczLe
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) November 15, 2020
That isn’t Wilson. He doesn’t do stuff like that.
He’s also seeing ghosts. He’s feeling pressure when it isn’t there. Teams are getting in his head.
That’s not to absolve him of blame. He’s playing stupid, reckless football and it’s costing the team as much as the wretched defense.
And what about the plan, as with the Arizona loss, that involved not having any idea how to get your best skill player involved?
D.K. Metcalf is too good to ignore. How the hell do they justify not involving him at all? That’s ridiculous and it’s happened twice now.
The offense and in particular Wilson don’t get a pass.
But can you blame him/them with the defense broken? You know as well as I do that it would be different with a competent defense and Wilson playing smart football.
The wheels are coming off the season.
It’s not just the bad play of the offense and defense. The team looks disorganised, passive and going through the motions. The Seahawks are low energy. There’s no intensity or discipline. They just look rubbish.
What hope is there for a strong playoff run? If they even make the post-season it won’t last long.
Be honest with yourself. They’re broken.
Unfortunately, I’m starting to think the players sense this too.
A few years ago it was revealed that some veteran players had started to refer to the Seahawks as ‘the Titanic’.
The boat is sinking. Eventually they’ll be staring at an off-season where there are more questions than ever, with hardly any draft picks or money to spend.
Optimism and hope is being drained away, bit by bit.
This is no longer a young, hungry, vibrant group that is pissed off for greatness.
It’s a stale, quarterback-dependant unit that is expensive, slow, lacking any kind of attitude or physicality and just drifting along to a sufficiently disappointing conclusion.
Offense is crumbling
KNew it gonna ignore the defnese stepping up in the second half. Gonna blame everyone but Russell. You made predictable excuses for Russell and you are just sticking to your shitty ignorant perspective.
Example B of the messages I’m getting tonight.
Rob’s been on point since the off season on how they were fumbling away the season before it even started.
I just see one zit popping juvenile being a troll from his mom’s basement. I would ignore the juvenile clown.
Cripes, what was example A?
Your criticisms seem entirely warranted.
Love ya Rob. Your analysis is spot on as always
Thanks Glor
@sunil,
Why are you at this site, exactly?
Clearly you don’t approve. What are you getting out of it?
Rob, the only thing worse than people talking about you is when people aren’t talking about you. Consider the source and shake it off, doesn’t mean jack or shit. Shallow people looking to over compensate for voids in their life. Keep doing you man. I got lots of love & respect for what you do and continue to do. Thank you sir!
I feel ya, man.
Did anyone see this going any other way after the ineptitude of the decisions made the last 3-4 years? This is a marriage that doesn’t end well.
What the hell is wrong with Russ? I have cheered for him since his rookie season. He has looked awful and played like shit. He has not earned his money this year.
Like Rob has said over and over-he’s trying to carry the weight of a super flawed team. End of story. Your 3 top RB missing, 2 starting corners, poor D line that wasn’t fixed in offseason, back up center.
The reality is also Pete and co are getting out coached just as Rob said again. Other flawed and injured teams don’t have the caliber qb we do. Russ is trying to carry 21 other guys. You can’t have this kind of D and NOT have a dominant RB. We don’t right now. This team is honestly getting hard for me to watch.
I’m sorry. for 34 million a year Russ doesn’t get a pass.
Wilson is the highest paid player on this team, at the most important position in pro sports. Yes, Wilson has admirably carried this team the first six games. But given his salary and position I don’t see why this is such an unfair expectation. It is, of course, not fair to expect him to carry us in every game. But the defense did enough this week and some of us want to gloss over how his 3 turnovers killed any chance we had.
Don’t kid yourself that the defense did enough this week. The Rams played super conservatively with the lead and all but shut they’re offense down mid way through the third onward. One bad throw by Goff hits home and it’s 30-13 for instance(the wide open Higbee running past a hopeless KJ with no backend help and a walk in TD awaiting. The Rams could have put up 35 plus points easily if they chose to pursue a bigger win.
Yep
Lmao I love when you delete comments that are against you. It shows your extreme insecurity every single time. You are the type of guy in real life that would run away from a fight. If there was a war you would be the guy that is running away from it. You are a coward, which is why you never will go far.
Only an absolute pussy, deletes comments when they lose.
I have seen you do it so many times its so funny. I live for those times, enjoying it. Love seeing your stupid narrative crumble.
Example D of the messages I’m getting tonight.
Example C of the messages I’m getting tonight.
Trolls. Eff ’em!
Says the keyboard warrior here. Go home, your drunk.
Gosh Rob, this hurts to hear – but it’s so beautifully written. Thank you for pulling no punches.
Agreed
Man I feel for DK, numerous numerous plays he beat his man and was open. Russ just doesn’t have it anymore against good defense’s. WTH was he thinking today. I think this seas is all but done at this point. No energy, no focus, no nothing anymore. Not sure how to correct the ship but it is done for.
I have followed your blog for quite a while. But never post. I just read the above post and found it really disappointing. I think many of your points are valid, but it does come across as a personal almost emotional article. I’ll continue to read your blog as I love the information and your insights for the most part.
Another one. I’m emotional apparently.
Damn. Some people aren’t used to actual criticism in Seattle. And I hear ya, it must be tough to regularly see people critique the style rather than the point of the article.
Also, people are pissed and clearly have no better outlet to release it on than you, Rob.
Lol how many comments you gonna delete today rob. LOLOLOL.
None.
Why the hell do you idiots come on to a blog that you seemingly hate so much? Why not find a place that affirms what you want to be true instead of making ridiculous comments like this? Rob might delete this one, and I wouldn’t blame him one bit, but I would rather people like you shut the fuck up and stop ruining the threads with your drivel.
Rob, I don’t always agree with you, but I appreciate the fact that you refuse to not say what you mean and feel. Thank you for your work.
Serious question. Are we more concerned about our defense or our Quarterback at the point?
I think it’s time to reign-in the “Let Russ Cook” thing. It was good for five games. Defenses are figuring him out.
Ah yes. Run the ball more. Let’s lose every game 27-20. Our 3 best offensive players are Russ, DK, and Lockett. I’m sure shifting to Dallas and Alex Collins is the recipe.
Rob, long time reader…occasional poster. You are spot on as always and I appreciate it. It’s been a long time but I’m again embarrassed by this franchise. The Carroll era is over. Pete is done. This needs blown up. This team resembles the Mora year, it’s just fucking sad.
Yet we just extended Pete. It’s gonna be years before we recover from this wreckage and by then Russell’s prime will be over, or he’ll be lighting it up in another uniform.
I think our Talent evaluation department needs a makeover
Well if the FO gets rids of all the defensive players they have on the roster excluding Collier, Brooks, and Taylor they can have up to 70 million cap space for the next offseason. They won’t be able to do a total revamp, but they can at least get on the right path. Hopefully, PC realizes at this point that he needs help to run the defense. Ken Norton isn’t the answer. Dan Quinn isn’t the answer. Kris Richard isn’t the answer. They need someone from the Belichick, Harbaugh, or Tomlin tree to come in. But it is also on the players. PC needs to go into the locker room and tell everyone that from right now to the end of the season, they are auditioning for their Seahawk lives.
The collapse is underway. 9-7 or 8-8. Loss coming Thursday, another loss to Rams nearly guaranteed, loss to either Giants or Eagles and WFT is possible because they can rush the passer, Plus we make Nick Mullens look like Dan Fouts so a loss there possible as well. Only game that SHOULD be a sure win is Jets.
Pete Carroll, you have FAILED
We will be the only win the Jets have this year.
That is an overreaction and a half. We will not lose to the Jets. Let’s be real here. We didn’t lose to the jags (like the packers almost did) or to the lions (like the cards did) or to the giants (like the rams almost did). Does this loss say a lot about our status as SB contenders? Yes.
But does it mean we are going to lose to a football team that hasn’t won a game? Absolutely not. The future for this team is somewhere between 10-6 or 12-4, first or second round playoff exit. While I don’t think we’ve ever looked quite as bad while underachieving, an L to an excellent team that always gives us fits while being as injury-riddled as we are is not a sign that we are suddenly NFC bottom feeders.
Lol hillarious that you have ignored the tremendous amount of injuries we have right now compared to the Rams. We are literally down like 8-9 starters over them. Nope, you dont talk about that cause it doesnt fit your narrative that the front office fucked up.
Lol our defense literally is down our best pass rusher aquisitions in the off season, all three starting corners (blair), big rotational DT. We held the rams to 23 points after all that. But you dont even mention the injuries. Garbage, literal garbage journalism that does not take account health at all.
OUr team is not good but your perspective does not take into account context at all. We just saw one of the most injured teams in the league play one of the healthiest coming off the bye. And yet you cannot mention that once in your pregame or your post game. Garbage, straight garbage journalism. You just want to be right about the front office.. There is no honesty at all about the cascade of injuries.
Like a huge storyline this year should be the strenght of conditioning, but you dont mention it cause you dont get football. Our injury prevention is horrible, Ivan is a proven bad S&R coach. But nope you just maintain the stupid narrative. You always say “i talk about the issues”, why not talk about the HUGE elephant in the room which is the incredible amount of injuries on defense.
Yep it’s just the injuries.
Jeez louise are people just blind to reality? The 49ers are a walking practice squad and they have a functional defense
Please put your criticism of Ivan the Horrible at the top of your post next time so I know to ignore it completely. Thanks
There’s so many things to take issue with from this game what really boils my piss is the game management.
Not going for it on 4th and inches at midfield. Just can’t wrap my head around how you can justify this.
Not getting the ball in DK Metcalfs hands. Good teams find a way to get the ball in their playmakers hands. Is a screen too much too ask for? Use motion to scheme him open? Obviously too advanced for our staff.
The way the end of the game played out. No urgency. Not using the timeouts. Infuriating to anyone who’s ever played a game of madden.
The gameplan (if there is a plan) is soo conservative. Even when we’re blitzing, the coverage behind it is so soft that you can’t call it an aggressive playcall.
Wilson was crap too. I’m sure people will blame the OL but if there’s free rushers coming off the edge, it’s got to be on Wilson to recognise it and throw hot.
This might be an overreaction but is anyone else feeling like Pete is losing the locker room? There’s no juice, no energy, no fire. Pete himself looks dejected.
While I’m ranting, Diggs is an invisible man too. I miss having safetys always around the ball. What’s so discouraging to me is that not only are players not progressing, but they’re getting worse!
Overall hugely disappointing. It’s embarassing how soft we are. Are we a finesse team now?
they looked intimidated from jump. i swear this version of the seattle seahawks doesn’t have any bark or bite. i felt like i was watching a training camp scrimmage.
Best description ever
Every. Single. Thing. Rob. Said. was spot on.
Agree 100%
Hot take, but extending Pete Carroll will end up being a horrendous move that kills any hope of a deep playoff run for the length of his tenure. Sure you get stability given that ownership is in a holding pattern right now, but at what cost? He legitimately might be the worst coach in our division at this point – I would happily take McVay, Shanahan, and Kingsbury all over him.
What struck me when watching the end of the game today was how young the Rams HC and coordinators are – McVay is not even 35, and their OC/DC’s are younger than 40. Shanahan and Kingsbury are barely 40. This is what you need in this league – fresh faces, new ideas. Instead the Seahawks run arguably one of the most nepotistic coaching staffs in the entire league that rely on out-talenting everyone with a basic Cover 3. News flash Pete, if your scheme relies on having a once in a generation defense & QB to win, it’s not that good.
Wilson does not get a pass at all for his play the past month – he’s looked low-key terrible ever since the 2nd half of the Cardinals game. But as you said Rob, can you blame him? This team needs the offense to score at a league-leading pace to even squeak out a win – anything less than perfection means a loss. I never thought I’d say this, but this game was the first time I’ve seen him legitimately tilted on the field – it was startling and deeply concerning.
As far as I’m concerned, this season is over – there is no way the Seahawks make it to the Super Bowl, and frankly I am getting concerned on whether they can even make it to the playoffs. Defense has already collapsed, offense is in the process of collapsing, and the coaching staff are running around like headless chickens with no ability to make adjustments whatsoever.
For the first time in a long time, I can finally watch Seahawks games going forward stress-free – knowing that there is no hope coming.
Spot on
This is EXACTLY what I was trying to say the day Pete’s extension was announced, only Nate said it better. Amen brother!
Frustrating man. Thought the defense stepped up today. Pete & Russ pissed this 1 away. Terribly managed game offensively. 2 crucial mistakes. The pick when Russ shoulda kept running & not going for it on 4th & inches. Seattle probably kicks a walk off FG instead of trying to recover an onside kick.
What about 3rd down 4 and we get a delay of game next play pick game over
Agree.
In what way did the defense step up, man I know it is a low bar but the defense played terrible. The offense was bad too, but no shot of getting off the field on 3rd down when we needed to.
Nah they weren’t terrible. Made stops, forced a turnover, pressured and got to Goff at times, gave up only 23 points and most importantly gave an offense that averages more then 30 PPG opportunities to win. This defense isn’t good, but we’re good enough to win today and the offense (Wilson) was dreadful and in my eyes the sole reason for the loss today. As bad as the defense is, in their three losses they were all winnable if it weren’t for Wilson’s turnovers. I don’t care what kind of pressure he is under because of a poor defense, he put it on himself with the mvp talk, and he isn’t answering the bell.
I can’t remember a game played by Russ this poor off the top of my head
Can we now ask the ask the difficult questions of Pete. How come yall team stinking. BTW russ what does your God/believe system think now? It only a game.
The defense was bad today, but overall they played well enough for us to win this game. They had so many opportunities to get back into it and they kept blowing it. Before the second pick DK was wide open downfield, why wasnt he looking his way? He’d throw it up to Penny Hart 1on1 against Ramsey but not DK?
Whether Russ is feeling too much pressure to score, or the impact of relentless blitzing shouldn’t matter. He asked for the offense to be put on his shoulders, he wants to be an mvp, one of the greatest players to play the game. Today he was just awful, I love him still, but man, if Russ plays to the standard he capable of, that is expected of him, they win this game.
Snacks Harrison should not be in there. He looked lethargic, no energy, and outright going through the motions. I get we’re down DLineman, but we’re better off getting a younger cat in there. He’s stealing reps.
The scariest thing today was the complete lack of anything offense. No game plan at all, no fight, terrible decision-making by all, and completely writing DK out of the game. I’m legitimately concerned the way Russ and Scotty have ignored DK with these games getting out of hand will permanently weaken his trust in the team. In an effort to prop up Russ, we’ve put the most physically figured player on the offense out in the cold. Again.
First of what happened to jarren reed does he make any plays? Maybe it’s just me a lot of Russell of picks are in other team territory . Maybe not in red zone but close. The defense played overall pretty good in the second half. Although 3rd down conversions brutal. Well hmm positive kicker had a decent game
Reed slanted in the wrong direction when playing “DE”..picked off the DT and it Jed to a 10 yd run. The team is defense is wrong more than 50% of the time by positional alignment alone. Constantly out flanked or down in numbers in halves of the field. It’s discouraging to watch.
I was pissed when the Seahawks resigned Reed. 11 million dollars for a guy who only beats up on the worst lines in the league. Fans pointed to his 10 sacks 2 years ago but look game by game. When he matches up against the awful Drew Samia then he can get 3 sacks. The 10 sack year was a mirage and we could have used that money on a real edge threat. The dude has always been an okay player but he’s overpaid by 5-6 million dollars.
Logging in for the first time ever, just to ask:
Why the *hell* was Pete Carroll given a FIVE-YEAR extension for this?
For fielding the worst defense in NFL history along with the HOF quarterback he lucked into EIGHT YEARS AGO?
He doesn’t adapt to anything. He does not scheme to his players’ strengths. He says “this is our scheme” and puts warm bodies into it. Except he can’t afford the kind of talent he needs to make it work, and he can’t adapt to injuries depleting the top of the depth chart.
Is this all we have to look forward to for the rest of the Russell Wilson era?
WHY THE HELL WAS PETE EXTENDED MIDSEASON?
Nobody wants to say what we all know to be true. Jody Allen does not know football. She’s new at this. Someone can point to the record and say “see? winning record!” and fool the vast majority of casual fans. I don’t blame her for getting tricked. Most people don’t understand the true thing you just said about the scheme vs talent to execute the outdated scheme. It’s a frustrating spot to be in as a fan.
Third place in the west. Same record as Miami. F this.
Wow!! Media asking real questions
Yes I can blame Wilson, and I’ll blame Wilson. This was not a total blowout. Rams scored 23 points. Wilson has to deliver more. This is completely on Wilson.
And even if he’s pushing to hard that is not he’s job. He’s job is to deliver perfect offensive football. If he puts up 30/35, 370 yards, 4 TD zero int, they score like 34 points and lose because the defense sucks that’s not on him. He’s high on mindfulness and stuff like that…well Russ, you need to only look at things you can control.
Yeah OL wasn’t good today, but some sacks were on RW. That awful delay penalty was on him. Not running out of bounds was on him. INTs were on him mostly. Fumble was a bad snap but if he’d just drive on it and not trying to get up and run it wouldn’t be a FR by the Rams. He made a ton of bad decision. And when Carson forced things which resulted in fumbles everyone tried to throw rocks on him (me too). If that’s a mistake then Russ should receive the same. Especially since he thinks he’s the greatest QB ever and wants to be recognized as that and wants to be the face of the franchise.
Defense wasn’t good. 3rd downs and long downs were awful. But apart from those it was a bad-mediocre performance. Offense was awful. Playcall awful (moving the pocket? Screens? Quick passes? Nah, run in the middle into Donald or force long throws), Russ couldn’t read a damn. WRs were OK, but TEs are mostly just to pad the roster.
As for the D: Adams is either the best player or one of the worst in this group. Wagner is non-existent, KJ is slow, Reed is useless, Collier and Green are whatever, Dunlap is mehh. Brooks is green but had 1-2 nice plays, Amadi is OK, Flowers is mediocre bad. Not sure who played the other outside CB (I think Reed played nickel), but that must mean good.
Only highlight of this sh.tshow was Myers, nice 61 yarder.
I’d be ready to tear this org to the ground, fire everyone in the FO, trade and cut almost every player (except DK, Lockett, Myers, Dickson, Brown, Lewis) – yeah Russ too for a really nice compensation – and start over. With this FO and really limited $ and picks for the next couple of years this team very well could just settle into mediocrity
This team is disconnected. Its all russ or lose. Its tear things down time. Not fully, but moving on from vets like wagz, kj and some who are playimg poorly. Id consider trading adams unless you bring in a new system to build around him. But if an offer of recouping some picks comes, take it and run. Blow up this pathetic team without touching some of the key parts, russ, dk, lewis.
We can’t. That trade for Adams was too much. No way we can rebuild at this point.
I think theres room to always reset. But keeping adams requires forming a defense around his ability. Not doing that is a disservice to paying him big money. But if you move him to recoup some of the draft cap, then atleast we save some face. Id prefer to build around him, especially if it recquires a scheme change to better suit his abilities.
Again we wouldnt rebuild offense, just the defense. It will take prove it deals and a full offseason of limited resources to rework the mess they made. The fact this is the talking point for 3 straight offseasons is even more disheartening. But the rams just did it, with the same limited resources.
Hope you are right man… This defense is atrocious. Hopefully we buck the trend this offseason and actually sign some first wave impact players rather than go for retreads.
As bad as our defense is, we still could have had a decent chance to win this game is not for 4-5 completely bone-headed decisions/mistakes:
1) RW’s near end of the first half play. He could have gotten down on his knees and crawled for a first down and more. Arguably one of the worst decisions he’s made as a Seahawk
2) Not going for it on 4th and inches when we absolutely could not stop them on offense. What difference that the Rams had the ball at midfield or at their own ten yard line?
3) Letting the play cock run to zero on 3rd and 4 and taking a delay of game penalty? That was RW making a rookie mistake.
I don’t want to go on…
Point being, as bad as all the things discussed here and mentioned by Rob’s lead post, they made cringe worthy bad decisions/mistakes that could have still given this paper tiger of a football team now a chance to win this game. Bush league stuff.
+1. These were back-breakers if we were going to have any chance.
Total team loss. They all deserve the the heT this week. All we hear is compete every week. They have earned the heat this week and some. Yall stink and are throwing away a another year. But Russell been playing like crap these past two weeks cant even say he not a part of the problem. Worse part is we got to listen to another week we going to figure out out. Blah..
Blah..blah… blah
Hey rob love your work, but dont you think injuries have been a huge problem this year?? Bigger than normal especially compared to the rams. They came into the game almost completely healthy, which is so rare in the NFL.
Meanwhile we have our 1st, 2nd, 3rd, string RBS out.
We made three big DE aquisitions in the offseason: Mayowa, Irvin, Taylor, all injured. Only taylor was Front office fault..
All THREE of our starting corners are out.. Dunbar, Blair, Griffin.
How many teams can survive with 3 starting corners and 3 important rotational DEs out longterm…
WE are not a good team, but i think injury prevention is just as big of a storyline as anything else. Who knows how things would be if we even had half those players this game…. I think Blair especially would have been huge for Run D.
No, the injuries are an excuse.
Rob, these amount of injuries since last year are also on PC’s for keeping Ivan The Terrible Lewis, same as for keeping KNJ.
The injuries along the DL aren’t an excuse because those hurt players sucked anyway.
Injuries are injuries sure. But these seem bigger because I of the terrible job done in the off season.
I honestly don’t think I can watch another game of this uninspired team. Or at least until they fire Norton. I’ve read nearly every blog post here for years and you were so on point this off-season with the teams confounding moves.
Just a fantastic piece Rob and that’s way this blog is the best is you tell how it is and makes so refreshing and also I agree with everything Big Mike and Nate are saying.
Are we seriously going to lose to Arizona on Thursday as well? 1-3 in the last four games. Cardinals look hot, just beat the bills who clobbered us. Arizona always gives it to us at the clink. Just ugh… gross season.
it isn’t only that we keep losing, its the fact that it will be the better part of 2022 season to be able to rebuild. I guess it doesn’t matter that we have limited draft picks, as they don’t seem to pick good players. sad day in our household, is it the end of the Pete Carroll John Snyder era ? It just feels like it will be several years before we legitimate again
Latest Seahawks twitter narrative is that this game was so poor from Russ that we’ll never see it again… ie nothing to worry about going forward. Bad day at the office etc. bullocks.
What else are you supposed to do as a fan? I mean at some point you have to kind of just hope things will get better. Bitching non stop about the same things you have zero control over non stop seems unhealthy to me. Why watch if that is really all you want to focus on? Smacking myself in the nuts with a Roque mallet seems like a better idea to me than only watching football just to pull your hair out over all their mistakes.
I’m an old man. I don’t know if I’ll survive 5 more years of Pete Ball…
Looking across at Miami now, with a hungry defence and a young talented QB, makes me think of the heady days of 2012…
The Fish are a young, hungry, exciting, and most of all well-coached team that are a LOT more fun to watch than the Hawks.
That is a gorgeous stadium though. Can’t wait until it can be filled with people again, and the outside gardens area is finished. Will catch a game there one day for sure.
HHAHAHAHA now you are going to let one comment through to make an example of me. HAHAHAHAHA. The insecurity. You suck at life rob.
I would love to actually be able to respond properly, but know that wont happen. So will continue to enjoy you being wrong. ALso your minions defending you are cute. Lol dumasses that follow the herd.
WAke up, we have one of the most injured defenses in football period. Nobody should be surprised defense is bad. 3 starting corners. 3 important DEs the signed. And you expect them to be good lol.
The reality is we will never know how this team would look healthy this year, cause it never happened. But im glad Rob has this safe space where he can continue to parade his genius in predicting this in the offseason. Lol a monkey could predict this defense being bad with this many injuries lol.
if you don’t like it here, go to another site
We all cope with disappointment in different ways. Some outlets are better than others.
The defense being injured is why Russell was off all day, threw two picks took several terrible sacks, fumbled and kept missing easy throws. Makes sense.
Sorry man, but what’s your blog? I must of missed it in your response above.
This defense was bad before the season started
Dude, I get that you’re frustrated. But why are you here and posting this nonsense and name calling if you think Rob’s site is no good and a waste of time. There are plenty of sites to check out. Save yourself some time and don’t read the content. This safe space as you call it is put together with his own time with no monetary rewards. So he’s entitled to his opinion.
Ugh, still trolling.
Can I just tell this guy to fuck off?
Right so those injuries explain why we are about to set the record in total pass yards per game / season?? You know Quill led the league in pass yards allowed when he got hurt right.
And your kidding yourself Sunill if you think that. The 49ers defense is actually decimated this year. And look. There defense is still capable!! Our injured players are not all-pro players. The best is a pro-bowl ALTERNATE, who was leading the league in pass yards allowed before getting hurt.
For what it’s worth you could just see by body language that Pete and Russ see the writing on the wall. Hopefully that causes some reaction, but yeah, slim chances for anything over than a disappointing wild-card spot this year.
Despite all that I still think this team can be good/great next season provided they get outside help at DC and plug the D-Line with enough manpower to at least be average. There are obviously other issues at play, but those two stick out like a sore thumb and seem to be the root of several other issues.
Sad to see, but not much can be done at this point. Hopefully next season we see some real changes and improvements. Go Hawks!!
Yes. Looking at next year, they do have some opportunities to improve. If Taylor can get healthy – he and Robinson could actually be solid bookend DEs for this defense. That’s a start. Reed and Ford will be back and each will be playing for new contracts, which always happens to bring out the best in players.
Granted, there’s no guarantees Taylor will ever amount to anything. But I’m trying to find some hope that next years defense can rival something worth comparing to an average unit.
If any of those guys can make an impact and/or improve I think the defense will be better, but a change at DC is really needed; without that I only see the defense stuck in inescapable mediocrity.
I could be wrong, but I think next year will be an overall improvement (maybe not a 5-0 start again), I’m just worried necessary changes won’t happen.
To Pete Carroll and John Schneider,
How do you take a bad defense and make it worse?
You raided future drafts to play for NOW. You traded away a 1st and 3rd round pick in 2021 and a 1st round pick in 2022. You also blew $50 million. All of that not only to make the defense WORSE, but you have assembled possibly the worst defense in the history of the NFL. When you use your first two picks on defenders, spend a lot of money in free agency, and mortgage a pair of future 1st rounders away (and a 3rd round pick), how in the hell can you get WORSE?
-A Frustrated 12
He’ll find a way.
PC postgame Press Conference
“Disappointed we didn’t improve from last week. Turnovers, trouble slowing them down. Things similar. Have to not give stuff up, made mistakes to teams that execute well. Hard first half. Second half guys rallied up, they were ahead and in control, but we played better. We improved by the time the game after, but it was too late. Disappointed we couldn’t move the ball. Real big mistake turning momentum with that turnover. 10 pts 12 mins to go, plenty chances to get back. Just didn’t find way. We’ve got work to do. A lot of work to do. Here’s what I told them: I believe we’re gonna make the plays early in the game that we’re doing in practice. I believe we’re not going ot turn the ball over. I believe these guys are gonna hang together. They still want to keep battling. I really believe we have plenty of time to get this thing going. I conveyeed that to them, I hope they want to go along with it. Challenge thursday vs Cardinals. Couple guys banged up. Neko thorpe groin didn’t make it. Adams hurt shoulder. Came back. Homer hurt his hand. Simmons calf tightened up. Fuller high ankle sprain hung in there, finished the game.”
[corbin] #1 ranked scoring offense, 4th and inches, why try catch offside? “Early in the game, so much going on, dont’ want to give them the ball on the 40. That’s a TO or INT. Believing we still have time. Plenty of time to get back and play well. Logic of saying because we’re saying a high scoring team, I don’t agree with that. Really about playing the game, players love to go for it, would do the same again.”
[joe fann] Logic don’t trust offense/defense very bad, Rams marched down field, too much faith in D? “I don’t know, you can say that, I’m just playing the game. Too many opps to give them advantage. They score there, game feels lopsided. Didn’t factor.”
[joe fann] They still scored? “They’re not going to score every time. I don’t blame you for bringing that up. At that time, I might do that again. I might not, just depends.”
[gregg] Have Carson you go for it there? Hamstrung offense in short yardage? “Don’t feel same in the mix. Guys working, fell in love with Chris’ style of play long ago. Might not have been in 4th and inches if he was there. Play with what we got. No reason to feel desperate.”
[gregg] RW fumble snap trying too hard? “Didn’t see that. He’s battling to finish the play. I don’t think that went though his mind.”
[brady] First RW INT? “Bad play. Decision rarely ever seen RW do. Does miraculous things, that wasn’t one of them. Screaming for him to run. Maybe he’s got a TD. He makes the decision to do it, he’s pretty darn good at it.”
[brady] Defensive improvement in 2nd? “Absolutely. Gave us a shot to win the game. Address this week, do some stuff to help us out.”
[art thiel] Why DK not targeted first half? “Intention to do it, stuff called, ball just didn’t go there. Made point at halftime. Didn’t game plan to stay away from him. All kinds of things for him, just didn’t do it.”
[michael shawn] 7 TO’s for RW, concern? “Concerned overall. So against the grain, couldn’t rub against the grain any more. Worried about it’s so loose. one or two, ok but 7? Gonna get our act together.”
[michael] Iupati? “Dont’ know.”
[curtis crab] Carson Hyde eye ahead for Thursday? “Pretty wishful thinking guys could pull it off late week. Hyde not able to go full speed, Chris tried, couldn’t. Won’t know until game time Thursday. Love to have them back.”
[tim booth] 6 sacks, OL protection? RW get ball out sooner? “Had chances, RW tell you more. Couple hots to get the FB out. Got some hot stuff coming up front. Chances to get rid of FB, didn’t do well enough. Snowballed on us late.”
[bob] Collins, Reed starting? “Homer barely made it to gametime. Little more format with Alex as starter in lead, other two guys 3rd down stuff passing stuff together. During week, thought Chris and Carlos how would we do it? Put Alex in there. Didn’t practice much this week, stiff.”
[bob] DJ Reed? “Fantastic burst on kickoff. Just good enough we thought ‘let’s put him out there and see what he could do.’ Thought he had the best background to do what we wanted.”
[dan greenspan] CB injuries changing D play call? “A little different, I’ll leave it at that. Not had DJ with us much, only third week with us. Somebody had to play. Decided to go there. Not a lot of background developing his technique and style.”
[adam jude] Adams post injury, played, plan for him? “He had to man up today, shoulder hurting. Great demo of that. He’s gonna be sore. Very active, need to see all plays to see. Knew he’s on the field. Putting him in situations to utilize talent he has, make it fit together well. Banged up hard, heroic.”
[aj] Alex Collins, isn’t it neat to see him back? “Looked really good in practice, not so much this week, first week. Quickness, suddenness, experienced runner. Looked good today, did fine. Explosive, gave us a chance.”
[aj] Collins blocking? “Saw a couple two, improved from first week, nice job pass pro. Rely on other guys more, chances he had did a nice job.”
[jackie] Special teams 61 FG Myers? “Fantastic kick. Great season. One return worth a darn in 8 or 9 games, placement. Kicking game solid. Flash from DJ solid today. You can see he really hit it today. Maybe a chance next week, we’ll see.”
When you have a historically terrible defense, you have to go for it on 4th and inches. Normally I’d agree with Pete there, but when you have a defense that terrible – you have to do everything you can to keep them off the field and score points.
He’s been doing this the last 3 years thinking there’s some LOB left to actually play defense.
Every once in awhile there is a game-changing decision/play/mistake made. That was one of those times. I looked over at my partner and said…if we lose this game (probably), that will prove to have been a fulcrum point. We couldn’t afford to get down by two scores in the second half. The odds were horribly against us if we did.
Maybe age is getting to him. Might think its still 2013.
Pete doesn’t like to be challenged.
so hillarious rob is letting me through today.
So here is his playbook. He lets the argument continue. Until the person fully owns him. When that happense he deletes. So rn he is trying to make an example of me and its hillarious.
NOt going to respond cause thats what he wants so he can trap me into a response where he will simpley delete my response to his comment and make it look like he owned me. Not falling for that again rob. Im just here to trash on you cause you delte comments like a communist even when they are substantive.
So you finally get your stage bro, and yet here we are…
Didn’t delete this one. Nobody deletes like the Clinton’s though. Not even communists.
no one is keeping you here on this site, so leave. This is Robs site, don’t like it? leave
I mean if you have so many negative remarks about Rob and his blog, you can leave.
Rob, A communist! Ha!
You’re a sad little prick, huh
For starters, its Robs blog and he does this for free, he can do whatever the fuck he wants. I doubt you “owned” him or had substantive comments. You belong on field gulls, we come here for honesty and no BS. Go away, we don’t deal with your shit on this blog
you sound like a 10 year old
Who’s sounding like the insecure one in need of some attention today? Go start your own blog, pal.
Hey Sunil why don’t you go f*(k yourself and cry to momma in your pathetic way to get attention. lol
Still….. trolling….
Fuck off little boy
Sunil-so you won’t respond because he will trap you and delete your comment to make it look like he owned you? But you did respond…and yet if he deleted instead, you are worried he would know that he owned you? How would we know? Seriously who cares about you, maybe your mommy.
You can’t spell and you sound like a complete fucking moron. Keep hitting the bottle buddy.
Rob great work as always. Trolls will be..well trolls. Finally some mildly tough questions from the media tonight ended with a few softballs (which made me cringe as it was actually nice to see Pete visibly uncomfortable). I don’t personally think it is all doom and gloom but this is a classic example of players trying to make up for other deficient players. And the offseason plan to fix the damn D line HAS to start being asked. They are now in no man’s land after the Adams trade. Time to figure it out Pete and make some tough decisions with coaches and personnel. Actually the time has passed. This is a bummer. They are hard to watch on both sides of the ball now. 3 days to get ready for the Cards…
Pete legitimately just said that “there was no reason to feel desperate” when the Seahawks punted on 4th and inches in the 3rd quarter…. this team is doomed aren’t they.
https://twitter.com/bcondotta/status/1328139285157953536
Rob if you were given the opportunity to trade Carroll for one of Shanahan/McVay/Kingsbury straight up, would you do it? In my view that would be an instant accept, but I was hoping you could provide some logical counterpoints if you have any.
Just a bit tilted from this game, this was the most lifeless I’ve seen this team since the 2017 shellacking against the Rams (how convenient).
I’d take Shanahan in a heartbeat.
I dunno Bobby. McVay changed D coordinators from a long time quality guy and the results have been excellent. He’s as sharp offensively as Shanny too. But hey, I’m splitting hairs, give me either one.
Pete is not taking into account the mental part of the game. A three and out to start the second half kills momentum and team energy.
Seattle has been exposed as Rob rightly points out. It isn’t injuries. It isn’t bad luck. It’s reality. They simply aren’t that good. Because of the four game schedule stretch versus non divisional opponents coming up I still think this team will likely end up in the 10-6 or 11-5 range. The defenders will say, see 10-6, 11-5 is still great in “toughest division in football” and on the surface they will look right. But it will be a mirage. This team will lose early in the playoffs if they even make it there in the first place.
And here’s the reality. John Schneider and Pete will need to have their best offseason in Seattle for this team to win a Super Bowl next year. I am a long suffering Seattle sports fan and genuinely thank Pete and John for raising the expectations of this franchise. But the sun is setting on their time here.
Well written Succinctly put Rob. Don’t know how anyone could not see this coming with this defense. I said 9-7 with this defense because of Wilson maybe 10-6. When we were 6-1, I thought maybe I was wrong and we could actually overcome this defense.
The Buffalo game just put reality back in my head. I figured we could go on a losing streak.
I hated the Adams trade when they made it. We had 0 need for a safety, let alone one who would cost two 1sts and a 3rd. Add in being constantly out coached. That I didn’t see coming prior to the season start. As best I can see is they hope they can squeeze into the playoffs. They might need to be hoping it gets expanded to 8 teams in.
The Jets must be thrilled watching us play as the trade just keeps getting better. As a life long Seahawks Fan this has been tough to watch. Easy to see it coming with the offseason, but still hoping they do something in their games to adjust and show quality coaching.
I get so tired of the we do it in practice. This team needs to wake up or they’ll be siiting at home when the playoffs start.
One thing that is clear to me is this team cant function without a running game. We saw it the years after Lynch left, the last few games last year and these last few weeks.
100% spot on Hoggs.
McVay or Shanahan either one would’ve more creative then what we got
Yuck. It felt like the game was over in the second quarter, and the team knew it. I can’t believe the Russel we’re seeing, might be the worst game of his career in my opinion. Staring at the rush with nobody around him, forcing balls, and simply missing wide open deep shots.
I’ve been waiting for someone to step up on this team, show some kind of leadership and fire the way Metcalf and Russ had thus far this season. With the season collapsing and a short week to play a division rival you’d lost to, we’re going to find out a lot about this team. Can Pete settle down Russ and get the offense dominant again? Can one of the two first round picks on defense show some attitude and hunger?
This season will define Pete’s career. If the ship sinks, change needs to happen fast, and potentially extend to the front office. Barring a miraculous turnaround on Thursday, seats should feel warm.
Hey guys btw, I am the one that informed PFF about Rob using numbers.
That was rob’s consequence for deleting a detailed responses I wrote to him once which was fully data driven. He deleted it cause my analysis contradicted his. Made sure to write PFF a nice long email after that.
Lonely, sad little man who gets worked up about a small football blog. One day you will die alone with no wife or kids to love you because you are so miserable. And nobody will miss you.
Being a troll is fun. Bored during Quarantine. Im like 16 years old give me a break. You old fucks suck.
Go be bored somewhere else, please.
That actually seems like a pretty good reason to delete your posts – why clutter up the blog with troll shit?
Go suck on a shotgun
He shouldnt be a pussy and delete my comments. Straigt communism.
I don’t think that word means what you think it means.
Get used to it. It’s his blog, not America.
Go put up your own blog. Waiting for all the “data driven evidence”, that the Seahawks actually were having a great offseason, numerous NFC titles the last few years, one hell of draft success a.s.o
No doubt this guy has a 3 inch dick
Rob, if Sunil keeps this up, I’d be happy to connect you with my friends cyber security company. They can take his IP address stored here on WordPress and cross reference it with other public domain data to get precise geolocation. Not that I wish harm to anyone, but it would be very easy to get his address.
I for one would be happy for Rob to delete every future post from @Sunil and we’d all be a lot smarter.
Trolling 101 over here.
Go huff a tide pod and play in traffic you Gen Z loser.
This site is all about reasonable debate. I’ve seen many people disagree with Rob for the eight years I’ve read this thing. If you keep posting nonsense here I’ll be the first to sign a petition to have Rob ban you. If you want to talk about the game then stick to the game. Anything else, sod yourself.
1. We never play well against the Rams
2. We had 10 players on the injured list/ Rams had 2
3. A few missed calls and a few bad one’s
4. No running game in this offense means Russ has to be super man
5. Need I say more
Wait…who is that Williams guys who had 2 INT’s?
Honestly I am about done with this blog and the negative articles at every corner. I generally check in to see if there is any news or not. Not saying I dislike Rob or anything but being an American I have a bit of optimism in my blood. A bit of half glass full I guess.
Our defense has had a total of 1 game with our legit starters and that was against Atlanta I believe. I agree that we should have done more about our pass rush but even so with all the injuries I think we all we have thought our record would be about the same at this point. I am first and foremost a Seahawks fan and will always look forward to having fun on Sundays, and that’s why I can’t be a part of this blog anymore. It’s having an effect on the simple homegrown fun of the next game every week with all of the negativity.
I really don’t mean to offend or anything but this kind of fandom isn’t for me. I have loved the hawks since the early 80’s and grew up in Seattle so I am a homer but what can I say other than I like..like minded people as myself. Many of you seem intelligent/true fans but it’s just not my scene.
GO HAWKS
I’ve been around here since 2011, but since I don’t post that much the “drama” never really gets to me. That being said I agree with your sentiment and have similar feelings.
I’ve actually found myself reading less of Rob’s analysis over the past year or so; It’s not because I think he’s wrong (I actually agree with a lot), but mainly just his use of language. It seems to have gotten more bitter over the years, and that can be off putting at times. So yeah, I feel ya. I’ll personally stick around though; this site beats the hell out of any other place I’ve been :’)
Go Hawks!!
I just don’t understand why people have to highlight something isn’t for them.
A lot of websites aren’t for me. I just don’t visit them.
Cool Story. Sometimes less is more KingD.
I remember when Rob was flat out darn optimistic in January. Times were much more enjoyable then.
Have to say, it’s not the fact that they lost that is.taking my pleasure away. I could live with successive losing seasons.
It’s the bloodless style this team is playing.
> But can you blame him/them with the defense broken?
I think, to an extent, that we can and should. This is a player that wants to be the best to ever play the position. Anyone worthy of being in that sort of discussion, elevates the play of those around them and overcomes deficiencies. He isn’t doing that.
Keep in mind I missed most of the game, so I don’t know how everything occurred, especially the second half, but trailing by three at the half and with the defense only giving up 7 in the second half, the “feeling like he had to score every time they touch the Ball” sort of argument doesn’t hold up for me.
The defense has been terrible all year, no question, but the common factor in all the losses continues to be interceptions by Wilson.
Obviously Wilson needs to be held accountable as well.
Thursday against Arizona is a must win. Get by that game with a win and we’ll be 7-3, have at minimum a share of 1st place in the division, and get 10 days to rest and heal up. Then we’ll have a slate of weaker opponents that should help Seattle get in a good rhythm.
All that said, things are bad. We gave up 5 drives of 70+ yards. Russ is in his own head right now. Wllson + Wagner + Reed + Wright + Olsen = $78 million or so. We had 16 pts, 3 turnovers, and a defense that gave up 60% third down conversion rate to show for it (many of which were 3rd and long).
Unless the Rams win on Monday then we’re 2nd. Let’s just hope something changes and they do get that win, because they really can’t afford another in division loss
Passions are running a bit too high tonight to engage in sane discussion. That said, this team now looks like downhill momentum has taken hold. Good players and bad are all subject to rapidly advancing negativity from within. The survival rate of organizations that fall into this kind of whirlpool is very low. Hang on folks………………..
Rob is right, his whole article is right. The team did nothing to address their biggest weekness, pass rush. Utterly wasted their cap space with backup offensive lineman and TEs. Their drafts have been bad, predictably wasting high draft capital on non-impact players. And to top it all off, trading for a safety two 1sts. Terrible. Rob is 100% right, and if you were honest with yourself you would think so too.
HOW IS THE ECHO CHAMBER GUYS???
IS IT FUN???????
Is this all you got? Because you’re certainly making yourself look like a clown. Please Rob, keep his comments up so we can revel in the fact that no matter how tough things get for any of us, we won’t be as sad as this guy here.
Still Trolling. Go to bed little man.
Rob, do you ever get the feeling that some people are here to intentionally piss you off. Maybe to try to get under your skin so that you eventually get so frustrated that you say “fuck it, I’m done with this”? I just wonder if there’s a motive as some of these clowns (^^^like this fuggin guy) have no quit. Maybe they hope to end the best damn Seahawks website anywhere in the world so other mediocre sites can get more clicks. I’m just spit balling with conspiracy theories because I just don’t get people like this Sunil fella. I wish his father would have hugged him more when growing up.
Rob I’m all for banning someone who isn’t constructive. This is obnoxious and I don’t think anyone would object since he’s not providing a reasonable perspective, just personal attacks.
Yep – self-admitted trolls should be subject to immediate, permanent ban.
It is possible to disagree with Rob and not be a giant ass wipe. You sad pathetic clown. You ignorant shit head. You low IQ bozo. Your troll game is weak and you are a sad excuse for a human. I feel bad for your family that they raised such a loser.
Lots of issues with personnel, but coaching is costing us big time now too…
Agree with you though – the wheels are coming off and honestly we shouldn’t be surprised… there were cracks that were obvious through the early positive record. See us losing to Arizona on Thursday and fading into irrelevance for the year. Sad thing is, I don’t see a way back for this team right now given our paucity of draft picks and so many aging or serious gaps and issues….
That was painful to watch. May I sum up the coaching battle as follows?: Seahawks score a TD on opening drive; Rams D adjusts to put more pressure on the QB; game over. The Rams offense was weak enough to keep us somewhat in the game with a couple of good plays from our defense (not many more than a couple, mind), but the lack of urgency, composure, and creativity on offense was just dreadful. NFL is a coaches’ league; good teams are figuring out ways to win on a drive-to-drive basis; Seahawks don’t seem to have that capacity at all.
Now I really think Pete Carroll made Legion of Boom underachieved. I mean seriously, he always find a way to drag this team down except 2013. In 2012 it was lack of pass rush, in 2014 it was the INT (actually it should be lack of solid WRs, imagine using Lockette in goal-line situation), 2015 they trade for big bust Jimmy, 2016 it was the OL dumpster fire, 2017…Blair Walsh. I don’t wanna continue for running into Dallas Wildcard Brickwall, etc etc. If your “achievement” was only because of generational talents on both sides of football, why are you even a mediocre coach?
I think the LOB largely ran itself. Now the total disregard of the o-line and the inability to draft/find a solid receiving corps for your superstar QB on a rookie contract….
Pretty sure if we signed clowney we would have won this game. The pressure would be off Russell, and he would have a magical game. Clowney’s inspiration is so great that he would also turn Alex Collins into Derick Henry and we would run all over them. If only we had signed more pass rushers!!!!
Wasted year!!
Man Seahawks are so bad, they cant even overcome the entire secondary and pass rush basically being injured for this game. They were so bad they gave up 23 points and made Russel feel so bad that he played bad too. Man this defense, horrific. Totally why we lost this game. Waht a mess of a franchise, cant overcome trivial injuries to the entire corps of the secondary and the three big pass rushers you got over the off season.
Also man Jamal Adams what a horrible acquisition. It is clear to me from the 3 full games he has played that he is trash!!
Now you’re replying to your own posts… seems a bit desparate.
This has been building far longer than 2018. Terrible coaching, bad drafts and worse Free Agency for years and years. This team has been in steady decline since we won the SB. Carrol is not going to right this shiip, he’s captaining it into the bottom of the sea.
Holy hell.. reading some of the posts above me… wouldn’t blame Rob for shuttering this… I sometimes disagree with his position or even his style of response and reaction, but this is his site and his blog and he generates an insane amount of really excellent content.
I don’t see how anyone who is actually watching us thinks we are anything but a fading force with really troubling asset situation (aging stars, no draft picks, cap situation isn’t great – that is pretty much trifecta of trouble).
Honestly, our division isn’t even that great atm – Arizona is on the rise.. Rams have issues… SF has like 10x the injury issues we do… it is a good but not great division… the elite teams are more in the AFC atm, but even NO or GB – on the road I have zero confidence we can contain those offenses, and that is assuming we get past our own division.
Passions are running high. As they should be. The season is on the line. I.e. it’s the difference between making the playoffs easily or scraping in as bottom seed.
As I can say now is: “thank goodness we didn’t sign Clowney.” He would not have been the answer. I think Rob is generally correct, in that hard questions must be asked of Pete and the FO. This isn’t down to NOT signing Clowney. It’s the drafting, the recruitment decisions in the off season and the coaching (Norton and Pete).
Anyone who thinks injuries is an excuse for nearly a decade of crappy drafts, poor money management in FA, and a trend of keeping old coaches while letting young innovators leave is not paying attention. This is not the worst talent ever fielded on defense, but it IS the worst performing D of the last 100 years BY FAR. Dunbar and Diggs were fine players on bad teams, and the longer they are here the worse they play. That’s coaching and scheme. Adams is useless here, utterly terrible in coverage, but he wasn’t even on a Jets Team that truly sucks in every facet.
Schotty is halfway through the year, and already out of adjustments. This offense is off the cliff, and it’s not just because Carson is hurt and Wilson holds the ball too long.
This is Rob’s blog, and Sunil is an idiot, but Rob deletes too many posts, especially when said post beats him logically or factually. It’s why I don’t lost very often, aside from a busy life. But it’s his blog, and he’s dead flat right about Carrol and the crap off-season. This is the end of Carroll’s Program, unless he brings in new, young blood. And this year will result in no playoff victory.
Lol still so funny rob did not even mention how the RAms were the healthiest team in the league going against a team that easily had 8-9 projected starters from where we were at in the begining of the season. Not to mention the injuries we have are super targeted into three positions, so that even our backups are not good. (DE, RB, CB). There is not a team besides New England that can overcome this on D and produce. The fact that our injuries are not spread out and focused on DE, RB, CB, makes it so much worse because we ahve to play guys that have no business playing. But no one wants to talk about strength and conditioning and firing IVAN, nope instead its all schneider and Carrolls fault for massive injuries at key spots.
We started the season without injuries and after just a few games anyone could see how bad the defense was. Does this team have enough to possibly make the playoffs, yes. No one has argued that. Does this team have the Defense to reach a Superbowl, Not as it has been constructed or performing. Injuries are part of football. This team was constructed poorly and started the season without a legitimate front 4 to generate a pass rush. If you thought Irvin and Mayowa starting as our edges to start the season was Superbowl worthy, I don’t know where your mind is.
The Rams are a young core team playing intelligent low risk football.
The Seahawks is an old pal team playing an unnecessary wannabe-bully style of power football, enforcing enormous risks on certain position players.
Lol still so funny rob did not even mention how the RAms were the healthiest team in the league going against a team that easily had 8-9 projected starters from where we were at in the begining of the season. Not to mention the injuries we have are super targeted into three positions, so that even our backups are not good. (DE, RB, CB). There is not a team besides New England that can overcome this on D and produce. The fact that our injuries are not spread out and focused on DE, RB, CB, makes it so much worse because we ahve to play guys that have no business playing. But no one wants to talk about strength and conditioning and firing IVAN, nope instead its all schneider and Carrolls fault for massive injuries at key spots.
Pete hired Ivan so you can put the blame on Ivan. If you listened to his podcast he talked about the teams injuries.
Purposely ignoring Rob, because once again all he does is bait you into an argument. And once you have a good retort, he locks you out and makes it seem like you couldnt come up with anything good. Total fraud. Responding to him will make me fall in his trap. Not going to ever do that again. Just gonna shit on this blog from the side and enjoy.
Can you start that process ASAP? Time to go to the side.
A troll doesn’t matter if we don’t have to cross their bridge…
love that response!
That’s some bigly awesome posts you’re putting out here. Anyone that disagrees is a total fraud! People are saying Rob’s content is the worst! So sad.
You seem upset that your job as a Trump speech writer is coming to an end.
Now that there’s funny I don’t care who you are.
Kayleigh, is that you?
Too bad Rob blocks you. I’ll write him a personal plea to allow more of your insight and wisdom. What I’ve read so far this evening is incredibly enlightening but perhaps your best stuff is blocked. So sad.
Go to bed Sunil. Start your own blog tomorrow.
Pete Carroll is one stubborn SOB. He’s the coach. He brings in who he wants. This game was a disaster, wasn’t enjoyable in any way. Defense doesn’t attack, they react. Defense doesn’t have any confidence whatsoever. A few players have some pride, that’s it. Clearly, big balls Pete needs to step up, assert himself as the Boss, and make some ballsy decisions. The defense is so obvious, even to me, they don’t disguise anything. I completely agree about getting Metcalf involved. I keep waiting for a jet sweep with him or something like that. Kudos to Myers on that 61 yard field goal, lone bright spot.
Gonna be an interesting offseason. I honestly don’t know what the plan is. This reset hasn’t brought many long-term pieces, many of the players seem injury prone, the old long-term pieces are aging and its evident, and there is very little in way of draft picks to right this ship. What can they realistically do other than start another reset?
I’m not so sure the off season is going to be that interesting. Too many hole to fill, not enough draft picks or $$ to spend on free agency, and a coaching staff that needs some major changes. Neither the current OC or DC give much to hope for and Carroll seems locked into a way that is not current with NFL football in the 2020’s. Also an ownership that is just biding their time till a sale is eventually made and Carroll in charge for 5 more long years.
I haven’t done a deep stat dive on this, but it sure seems that our starters have missed a lot of starts in recent years. I wonder where we stand on average with the rest of the league on this score? Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like the top 25% of the league in missed starts.
when greenbay won their last sb, they had 16 people on I.R. I think its a lack of quality in depth at the very least
Rob your last paragraph in your write up sums things up perfectly for the amount of words presented.
Today’s game? For me the most troubling developments are a rapidly regressing o-line and the poor team speed/intensity aspect that continues unabated. I’ll add what I’ve already stated before – this offense will struggle a lot against teams with good pass rush coupled with solid man coverage corners. This game showed it out demonstrably.
As has been said Wilson is crumbling under the pressures of trying to carry a team to wins with a historically bad defense (and to be clear the Rams let off the gas/played it safe numerous times today or the final score would have been worse) and an offense with an o-line that is starting to show its true below average colors. Add in a chronically injured running back that is counted upon so heavily and it’s no wonder Russ is forcing things so hard and with predictably poor results. If things continue to just get worse I hope he takes a game down the line and just plays it appropriately safe and throws the ball away when there is no play/too much risk – and then Pete and John will see what it’d look like if they had a different qb at the helm when all we could muster would be around 2 field goals against a good defense.
Couple of side notes: Snacks looks slow, like really bad slow even for a big DT and we don’t need to be getting slower anywhere on this roster. I’m going to try to leave Adams talk to others because I did’nt like the trade from the get go and even though he’s certainly capable of big plays there are plenty of others things to be said against him and his fit on the team as well. For the money aspect only Greg Olsen may be the worst pickup of the off-season. How can a front office spend so dang much money on the LB position and the end product looks so slow, in assertive and generally bad in pass coverage?
Rough days ahead. Rough weeks ahead (poor opponents notwithstanding…). Rough years ahead given Pete was extended. Sadness.
I am far from an expert but that doesn’t keep me from having opinions. I Enjoy reading this blog But I do sometimes take exception to Rob’s takes. It’s not that I think he’s wrong or even that he’s being negative as some obviously do. But I often feel like he takes out the heart and soul and playing and coaching and the human element and reduces this to a matter of personnel and player acquisition. After tonight’s game however I feel like in one instance of Seahawks history/culture that approach has been wildly understated. Which brings me to this next thought.
I would like to report a crime. I would like to report the biggest fraud ever perpetrated in the history of the NFL. I would like to point out the epic mountain of bullshit that is the notion of Punt Carroll being a defensive mastermind or the architect of the legion of boom. I just can’t bring myself anymore to pretend that Carrol is anything more than a self promoter and a motivational speaker. I think that Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas both pointed to this on their way out but no one was ready to believe them.
John Schneider became the defacto architect of the legion of boom when he blindly stumbled upon Richard Sherman in a late round. I could argue that without Richard Sherman the Pete Carrol defensive scheme would never have worked, would never have won a Super Bowl, would have been similar to what we’re seeing this year. And Pete would Have been fired before Paul Allen passed away.
If Carroll molded those players into what they were then why has he failed to do it with every other safety or corner draft pick? Why hasn’t he molded Griffin into more interceptions or Tre Flowers into closer coverage? Why didn’t he work his magic on T2 or Lano Hill?
Do you want to know why Dan Quinn isn’t coming back to Seattle? For the same reason that Gus Bradley chose not to after Jacksonville. Because they both know that Seattle is a house of cards built on a sham with Pete Carroll’s make believe legacy at its foundation… Just lurking there. Waiting to take credit for everyone else’s accomplishments.
And one other thing since I’m unloading…
I keep hearing about something called an MVP race. All I can say is that if Russell Wilson is in contention for this thing, the V must stand for vagina.
“If Carroll molded those players into what they were then why has he failed to do it with every other safety or corner draft pick? Why hasn’t he molded Griffin into more interceptions or Tre Flowers into closer coverage? Why didn’t he work his magic on T2 or Lano Hill?”
GREAT question man. Oh, and “Punt Carroll” is genius.
This post wins the night for me! Take a bow
Crazy how sensitive people are to critical comments about a football team, many of which are deserved. Rob I appreciate you giving thoughtful insight to the team and what’s going on behind the scenes. I hope you aren’t taking the hate too personal when it’s just people being immature because they don’t know how to handle a sports team losing.
What a lack of class Sunil. What I see is putting down someone who has put his heart in this blog. Rob is not perfect and he never says he is perfect. He has the courage and fortitude to share his beliefs with truth.
I am sad and angry about the Seahawks. Rob has given me a vision of this team that I did not see at the begging of this year. I would rather have truth that hurts than be being deceived. I congratulate you Rob because I know that you being a strong Seahawk fan that you are hurting. You don’t take great pleasure in being right. So again thank you Rob for sharing your heart and mind with truth and discernment regarding the Seattle Seahawks.
I hate every loss.
And it kills me to write stuff like this.
One thing I think that is being overlooked by everyone posting this evening……….Pete last week said the issues with the defense weren’t a matter of coaching but rather the players not doing their jobs (I’m paraphrasing). That folks is finger pointing and when a Head Coach does that he often loses the locker room. I think that’s happened here. The lack of fire that Rob talked about and others have also mentioned points strongly to that being the case. I also believe not going for it on 4th and 3 inches will just exacerbate the situation. Those “lack of faith” things play on the psychology of the men on the team as well.
I can imagine KNJR telling players over and over, the same things without teaching them the why. Great linebacker coach, terrible teacher when it comes to d coordinator and tackling
All very well said. I wish Russ would’ve just went for it on his own when it was 4th and 3 inches, even Aikman called it when the defense was “soft” after the several attempts to draw them offsides when there was still 15 seconds on the play clock.
PC really did get grilled on that 4th and inches in the light of the fact that they had a historically bad defense. At one point PC said if they failed to make it and the other team scored, that would have really hurt our chances of winning. Then he got the follow-up…but they did go down and score.
Just saying the questions were a little more skeptical and probing than usual tonight.
That call is okay with a one score game and early 3rd.
How did it turn out?
so do we know who’s advising Jodi on team decisions? Is Todd Liewicki still in the front office?
No, he’s running the Kraken.
i may have been thinking peter mcloughlin but after google searching, the new guy is chuck arnold. i havent seen his name since Paul Allen passed. idk, im just surprised that pete even agreed to an extension when there seems to be a lack of guidance from the top.
drunk and looking for any shred of hope
Someone asked earlier if they would trade Pete for any of the other three NFC West coaches. There are SO many progressive head coaches around the league that Hawks fans could only dream about leading our team. Interesting to note that Mike Tomlin has been coaching in Pittsburgh for four years longer than we’ve had PC, yet the Steelers don’t look tired and stale and uninspired.
they may not this year, but there was a stretch when they were beside themselves. winning fixes a lot of shortcomings
I’m a long time reader and now a first time poster. Mr. Staton, I’ve not always agreed you, but your website has been my go to for an honest appraisal of the state of the Seahawks for years. I truly respect the work that you do and the time you commit to this website. But more importantly, the Seahawks have a dire need for a man of your talents. Their current General Manager has been failing this team for years. Based on your year to year draft analysis, if you had been the Seahawks GM for the last 2-3 years I have no doubt they would strongly be in contention for a super bowl this year! So Mr. Staton, I implore you to please submit your resume for General Manager to the Seahawks, they are in desperate need of your services.
seriously. i have no idea what those soccer videos are about on his youtube channel but imagine the results if Rob only had to focus on the hawks’ scouting/drafts?
I think Russell Wilson needs to change his diet, less meat and more fresh fruits and vegetables. It does wonders for brain fog.
Or just eat meat…
Time to stop wasting time watching this trainwreck of a team…
We’ll see what happens from here on out. Everything hinges upon getting healthier, mostly on D, and then seeing if this unit can gain any kind of contagious fire, efficiency, consistency, and identity. Maybe they can get adequate enough. But it’s got to start happening fast.
That’s the hope, anyway. What else?
Best to all fellow fans.
Goodnight.
Aristotle said “There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, be nothing”.
I’d never seen that quote before, thanks for sharing. It resonated.
Rob
Been following the blog, year round for what seems a lifetime. Your mostly year round work on the draft, the podcasts, the Hawks and the blog are exceptional. All your regular readers are more informed because of your insights. You’ve attracted an excellent team of followers, many of whom are able to add content and considered opinion to the topics. It is your blog that has given them the chance to be not just Looky Loos but serious contributors to the significant community you’ve assembled.
Personally, as I’ve said before, thank you for letting me read your excellent reporting and for being able to actually engage with you and so many of your followers. At the end of the day, I believe, this is your Blog. Your work, your ownership. Do what you think you have to do to maintain order, maturity and civility.
As for trolls, they were made to be ignored and or deleted. Ignore and delete at your leisure.
Thank you, appreciate it Roger
heard that Gordon Ramsey is trying to get a hold of Russ for all the stuff he has been cooking
The podcast is now live and posted at the top of the article.
Adam Nathan joined Robbie and I this week and it was great to have him with us.
Goodnight all.
Wow, for the first time in 15 years I contemplated walking away and doing something other than watching the Hawks game. The Hawks just had no excitement to them, at one point it looked like Russ was staring up praying for some help from above. Pete looked bewildered and unhappy. And I see people saying all these different things are the reason for the poor play and no one seems to agree. Could it maybe be that, yes, all of these different things are the problem, not just one of them? Russ played like shit today. Russ has been getting worse and worse the last few games. All true. Defense is hot garbage. Also true. Defense has a shit ton of injuries. Also true. Our top 3 rbs injured. Also true. Our coaches getting out-coached. Also true. Norton is not a great defensive coordinator. Also true. Hopefully something changes. That was so hard to watch and I just have a feeling the season is already gone.
Well…that was not unexpected but still sucked, badly. This team…is completely broken. Even more broken that the last years of the LOB, which is saying something. I don’t know what they do…but I’m getting close to “blow it all up.” I mean everything but…DK and Damien Lewis.
Pete Carroll…there is no value to him right now. None. His defense is the worst ever, literally. His vaunted “culture” building is nowhere to be found. His in-game management is still atrocious. Literally not a single positive and I don’t think that’s hyperbole.
Easily the worst defense I have ever seen…ever. This is a different level of bad. Opposing offenses, no matter the talent level, face zero level of difficulty. Every throw is easy. Every run is easy. It’s embarrassing.
Russell Wilson…holy cow has he been terrible lately. Yes…he’s facing a lot of pressure to carry the team, but he is playing terribly. He is making the worst mistakes he has ever made. He is regressing at an alarming rate.
DK Metcalf…GET HIM THE GD BALL! He’s one of the elite playmakers in the league – force the ball to him.
Schottenheimer…beautiful opening drive then completely changes the style after that. I have a radical idea…if something works – continue to do it until the other team shows they can stop it. There’s no reason to get cute.
John Schneider…he has taken the most valuable commodity in all of sports and has managed to surround said player with the worst roster construction I’ve ever seen.
Time to get rid of John and Pete…sorry – they are living off 2013-2014. It’s been over 6 years…and they have managed to simply ride the coat tails of a QB to drag them into a wild card position and now they have managed to spoil that QB. Pathetic.
You hit on some good points. Well said
Kyler stole Russ’s mojo.
RW mvp race is over, I just can’t see him taking votes from the young guys. I didn’t think this team could win a Super Bowl but at the very least, I was hoping for a career year for Russ.
I just don’t know what to say about this team that hasn’t been said.
Not a very good team
This defense bothers me. Almost to a point where I don’t want to watch anymore. What bothers me more is RW not taking care of the ball and making poor decisions. Granted he’s the only reason they really have a shot at winning, I really believe he’s cost us the two division games.
A franchise best 5-0 start is all for not. It’s time for a serious discussion about the future for Carroll and Schneider. They don’t draft well, they make head scratching trades, less than helpful FA moves, and are constantly being out coached by young aggressive staffs. Not having the cajones to go for it on 4th and 2 inches is the perfect play to highlight this season. And now, because of their seeming ineptness, they’ve turned their HOF caliber QB into Johnny Manziel.
1st time commenter! First of all you beat the Rams by running the football! They needed to focus on running the football & add a 6 OL because TE Olsen can’t block good enough, he has never been a great blocker. The offensive game plan was not good but at least RW has his limitations glaring in front of him, “let Russ Cook” is nonsense! The Rams have a good defense, again your asking for trouble if you pass too much against them. Moving forward the only way Seattle can improve from last year is to focus on the run, keep the OL moving forward. If they do not improve from last season after starting 6-1 a whole lot of people in the Seahawk organization will be in a world of hurt, the criticism from Rob today will be nothing compared to the back lash Seattle will receive if they don’t make the NFC championship game. Rams & AZ have yet to play & both have to go to Seattle so it’s not over yet. RW has not been good & DK got shut down, they have to turn that reality into a positive, run the football!
Welcome! All good points.
Hey Rob, i`ve been following the blog for 3 years now, and started to comment more this year. I’m from Brasil and enjoy so much to reading your blog and recommend to all my friends. Just want to send this message of support to the work you put into this blog and to say that you will always have a good public. Don`t let this idiots ruin your work
Can we just steal Kevin Steele from Auburn?
RW is not a gunslinger! Josh Allen & Tom Brady are gunslingers! The Seahawks don’t have the personal or coaches to be an air raid team, it’s shocking that Pete Carroll let things get out of hand. RW needs to follow Payton Manning’s style and run the football a lot! Hopefully RW won’t have to have a season ending injury to learn he has to focus on the run game to have success in the NFL. DK wasn’t open today so he can’t say squat & Lockett I’m sure he gets it.
Except
1. DK *was* open… several times. They even pointed it out on the broadcast.
2. There are ways to scheme plays to get the ball into the hands of your playmakers, even if they aren’t getting open downfield
3. DK is good enough that you throw him the ball, even if he appears to be covered. Aikman said as much on the broadcast. He compared DK to T.O., and said he made sure to throw to T.O., no matter what.
DK may have been open – eventually. Open only counts for the quarterback if the receiver is open during his progression of reads and I fully trust that if DK was open at the split second Russ looked his way then Russ would have thrown it to him. DK got largely handled by the best cornerback in the universe and him being a second year receiver that’s not really a terribly bad thing. Sherman used to handle top receivers and shut down sides of the field just like Ramsey is doing now.
Yuck, what an ugly performance…
That said, I think 2020 and the months of quarantine has some strange effect which causes some overreaction – moreso than usual after a few beers and a crappy game.
This team has had a truly unwatchable offense at times over the past few years. This year, they have, until this game had the #1 offense in football. Russ just had perhaps his worst game as a pro and wasn’t good last week either. I’m not betting against the guy to come back soon with a great performance. He’s earned that trust.
The defense is awful. No excuse or explanation can get around it. It will lose them some more games but I also think that it will improve in small ways by the end of the season and we’ll find our way into the playoffs with a chance. Do I wish we were better and do I expect better – yes – but, we are where we are and I refuse to assume we don’t still have a shot at a championship. We are not a well oiled machine – but we have RW and the horses to win any game if we can get our running game back.
Hey QUACK QUACK, the dawgs suck but I really like your post here oN the Seahawks lOl.
Ive seen some improvement on the defensive side throughout the season and would like to see how the unit does when healthier.
Other teams have done more with depleted units but they dont have KNJ as the DC.
Positivity has been a staple of the Carroll era but I suspect its kinda blinding them and preventing improvements in growth.
I think Pete knows the defense is horrible but KNJ seems oblivious and delusional about it.
We still got time to right the ship but the team needs to hold themselves to a higher standard and be accountable and that starts with the coaches first, who are suppose to teaching the players
What the absolute fuck is going on around here?
You’re right in saying we’ve had worse offensive performances in days past – even pretty consistently for spells. The problem is right now our defense is historically bad so even a slightly off day from being the number 1 offense puts us in serious danger of losing a game.
MR ROB STATON
Im not a frequent poster but I have read every article for the last 6 or 7 years. I dont know you personally but I love you and you are more often right then you are wrong.
I was mildly critical a couple weeks back because I am hopelessly optimistic when it comes to the Hawks. It rains enough here in the Pacific Northwest that I try to avoid the doom and gloom, but your pessimism has been totally warranted.
I remember preseason I had hopes of this defense succeeding. It was a lot of misplaced hope that was heavy on guys having progressed and turning the corner and that hope has long dissipated.
Our defense looks gutless. Our scheme has been reliant on discipline for a decade and we trade two firsts a 3rd and McDougald for a guy that creates as many negatives as positives and its frustrating to no end. If the QBs dont want to find whichever other DB blew their assignment, they know a checkdown or opening is their to be had on Adams side.
The rest of the secondary doesnt have the talents that allowed the LOB to succeed but we keep asking them to do the same things and then not fixing these problems.
There is no hope left. Today was the first time since the Mora era that i turned the game off at halftime and went about my day.
With that being said, Id like to apologize on behalf of these other so called fans. These guys harping on you are too much in their feelings.
There are other bloggers i explored recently where the comment section turns into a “Rob bash party” and I seen that stuff and didnt go back.
We all grieve and are own way but these cowards who are choosing to insult other fans are pathetic.
I hope you dont let any of these mfers get you down Rob.
Legit worried about future of the team, not just this season or next. Pete is riding to sunset while thinking he is not. Team is being run to ground. Does Pete have time for a major rebuild not just another reset that does not go anywhere. Is Russ content to be another Rodgers.
If the season ended today we’d be the 7th seed in the NFC. We lose next week and we won’t even be there. How some still choose not to see how bad the defense has been, (Historically Bad) & out coached amazes me. It’s obviously taken It’s toll on Wilson. Hopefully he can turn himself around somehow by Thursday. As for the coaches, they need to look in the mirror. If they want to even make the playoffs; it’s time to make changes, and get a real game plan together.
Without a win against Arizona this not only could look like a wasted opportunity to build a team for the Superbowl, but a no post season team as well. Here’s hoping for changes and a good game plan for Thursday Night Football.
Hey Rob, haven’t posted in a while. I couldn’t stand idly by and not post something today. I’ll be brief…
Today was a moment of clarity for me. Simply put, Pete Carroll and John Schneider don’t have the answers, the coaches around them including Ken Norton, don’t have the answers. The Hawks are staring down another rebuild but with less to hang your hat on and fewer picks to make it happen. Lastly, this second rebuild since 2017 cannot continue under current leadership. Pete and John should exit with dignity while they still can.
Thanks Rob for all you do.
Lot of emotion tonight. I didn’t exactly think it would go down this way – but I (and lots of others on here) – did expect a loss tonight.
I think what it sets up is our first must-win of the year on Thursday. 7-3 is a world better than 6-4.
Not sure what to make of Russ’ performance the last few games – I personally am not buying the ‘he’s got too much pressure on him’ line of reasoning – some of his bad decisions have been from trying to do too much – but not all of them. If he’s not great, we’re sunk, we all know that – so all we can do is hope he plays like the best version of himself.
What’s real clear is that we need Carson, or somebody better than off-the-street Collins at RB1 for that part of our team to hum. Our offense has looked very figured-out lately.
I’m not giving up all hope – Rams are not a patsy, the NFC West is good – and if Russell is 90% of his normal self I think we actually win this game.
But our margin of error, already small, has shrunk even further. Got to win on Thursday.
I probably won’t be too focused on the Seahawks for the foreseeable future. I was gonna call out of work so I could watch the Seahawks play on Thursday night but now? It’s not worth sitting through a game where I just hope and pray the Seahawks can get stops.
Rob is correct on all fronts and quite frankly, there’s nothing that suggests they can beat the good teams in the NFL, including the two in their division.
Props to Jamal Adams. Clearly playing through pain today and he (and Brooks) was one of the only guys to show up. Need 11 guys with the heart of one Adams.
It’s going to take a lot more than that
Adams plays like a 3rd round rookie who’s everybody is excited about because plays like a first round rookie.
He has skills and talent and heart but…
1, He looks totally lost on coverage…like almost always
2, Sometimes he doesn’t put himself into hits…maybe the injuries, maybe other thing
3, Other times he launches too soon, take a bad angle and completely miss the tackle
4, He can be stonewalled in passrush
5, He can also be brilliant in passrush (he can win by speed or leverage)
6, He can be a relentless passrusher, never quits
7, He can be a really sure tackler, making one-on-one open field tackles
8, He can be a really good TFL guy sniffing out screens or runs too
9, He can force fumbles
All in all good addition, but awful trade. He’s piling up injuries (wth, he was pretty clean before he came here afaik), and either bumps up the defense by a mile or pushes it down. I think he could be an all pro cornerstone in this defense if a great DC would run this show. He has amazing talents, clearly skilled at some things but either still rough or just not good at others. KNJ/PC cannot use him always the way he should be used.
To me he has three posts:
1, deep safety where he can read and react (not covering, just running to stop guys when the cover guys weren’t able to). Not an FS, more like a big nickel
2, around the LBs where he’s duties would be: spying the QB, reading the plays and blow up any screens, sweeps, stuff like that. Also help in the run D, and zone defense
3, on the LoS/close to it for passrush and run blitzing.
I wouldn’t blitz him (in the traditional sense). Pull out a DE/DT when he’ll go for the passrush so you can also stay in coverage. So with him in play, I’d play:
4-2-5 (big nickel)
4-3-4 (LB)
3-4-4 (rush LB)
I gotta say I am starting to question the humbleness and politically correct mindset of Russ. While it shows he is a great person, I dont know if it is conducive for being the best.
Specifically, does Russ have the killer instinct that the “best” sports figures ave? For example, TB12 would be pissed after playing like this and losing. So would MJ and Kobe. Even the L.O.B. would object to this. I wonder if Russ truly has the best sports psychologists in his ear teaching him what mindset the best have.
What exactly was politically correct about campaigning for Antonio Brown??
Very good point there. I guess politically correct isnt the right word but consistently positive and the good guy. I want to see Russ like destroy a team without mercy and/or express some frustration for not being the best. Im not convinced that remaining neutral is the best mindset in sports.
I see where you’re coming from. I’m more concerned about the seemingly neutral attitude of the defense.
Somebody lay a hit. Hammer someone. Get things go. Play pissed off.
They look passive AF.
The defense looked like it quit on KNJ. PC has to make a change at DC. The players don’t believe in the defensive game plan and it’s obvious. The lack of energy to start the game was evident. I still believe personnel on defense is less of an issue than the coordination.
Play recognition is piss poor which tells me that game plan prep is the culprit. Fire KNJ now!
If they’ve quite on KNJ they’ve quit on Pete
I think this effect infected RW as well. Not to defend RW, but if you have to be perfect to win then that is too much to ask of him. For a very long time now that nobody is accountable for anything from top to bottom, then I think the best solution is to sell the team to a new owner willing to held JS & PC accountable.
It’s a shambles. In the off-season, I argued that improvement in the secondary could mask the problems on the d-line. Turns out nobody in the secondary can cover and the Hawks have one of the worst defensive coordinators in the league, potentially in history. Jadeveon Clowney whimpered out this year, no impact at all, but the Seahawks had plenty of money to spend and got nothing for it.
The Seahawks haven’t been developing players, and their schemes on offense and defense have been lousy. Some fresh coaching talent needs to be brought in.
I don’t understand why you guys are saying that Russell’s turnovers are on the defense. Had Russell played how we have come to expect him to play today (not even necessarily carrying the team on his back), we could have won this game. The D is still scary, but they played well enough today to give us a chance.
Nobody is saying they are ‘on the defense’.
We’re saying the sheer amount of pressure that has grown on Wilson this season is impacting him. The pressure to prop up the defense. To prop up the franchise.
You’re welcome to think it’s just a coincidence that this is the season where he’s developed into a turnover machine but that would be a mistake.
I understand the thought process I just think it’s a stretch to make that argument for his pick to Dissly today. I don’t think he threw that ball cuz of an unconscious anxiety from our wet paper bag of a defense.
Of course not but you’re conflating the intense pressure that is on Wilson with ‘one’ decision in isolation, as if in that moment he’s worrying about the defense.
This is a mindset he’s probably been in since the summer. ‘I need to be great every week or else’.
That impacts your play. It impacts your decision making. Especially when you play like you did in Buffalo on defense.
It’s broken Wilson. That isn’t excusing him but it is not a coincidence that it’s THIS season where he’s making these mistakes — the kind he never made before previously.
Fair enough. Thanks for the reply. He will rebound from this. And hopefully the couple of stops the D managed to get can give them some confidence to improve. Go Hawks.
I for one don’t think it’s a stretch on the Dissly pick. Russ is behind in points yet again after watching his historically bad defense get utterly run over in the first half. Wanting to win so bad and knowing the teams only chance to win is in his hands to outscore the opponent – he thusly knows he has to go for a touchdown in the red zone at all costs – he is literally thinking I don’t want a field goal here or we will lose because they are going to go down and get a td when they get the ball and they are already two scores ahead of us in points.
Is there any chance they fire PCJS in the offseason? Like any at all? If they’d go 2-5 and finish 8-8? If the lockerroom would start to rumble? Or will any change depend on PCJS?
Because that is the only option, I think we’re in for a sad 5 years.
I highly doubt PC will fire KNJ or even if he does, bring a really good DC in and let him take over the defense. I doubt they’ll burn down the D (trade Bobby, Adams, Reed, cut guys, etc) and try to rebuild it completely. They’ll sign Adams to a massive contract to mask their stupid decision to trade the house for him. They might extend KJ. They might restructure Bobby’s contract, they might extend Reed to lower next year’s CAP hit. They’ll say that count Taylor as our next year’s 1st round pick and they really trust he’ll deliver. That it’s not the coaches, not the roster but execution, and they need to get better and they’ll be better (at least that’s what they’ll say). They’ll add 2-3 vet defenders and overpay them. They’ll trade back from R2 draft a bunch of “great special teams players”. I have almost zero confidence Pete can turn this around
None.
I’ve been saying it since she took over. This is a placeholder ownership structure. Jody Allen just extended Pete Carroll to a timeframe that will coincide with the likely sale of the team.
The offense has been pretty bad the last couple of weeks. Two questions come to mind.
1) Is the Carson injury a big part of that? Does Russ rely on those rushing yards more than we think? If so, what does that mean in the offseason when he’s a free agent?
2) Have DCs figured Russ out? Ever since the second half of the AZ game it feels like DCs are finding reliable ways of disguising pressures and coverages in a way that seems to really impact Russ’s abilities. Is this something that can be fixed within the season? Are the coaching staff up to it?
Part of it is Carson being out and the offense becoming one dimensional.
But a bigger part of it is teams are teeing off against a desperate QB who feels like he has to be amazing every week for this team to win. He’s pressing, forcing and making terrible, atrocious mistakes.
Very sad to see that some fans start turning against Russ on social media. He made very bad mistakes recently, I know, but without him where the Seahawks stand in this league ? Honestly we can say at 0-9… The guy his probably the only thing right now who make people stand in front of their TV to watch a Seahawks game. It’s not the defense, it’s not the innovative ideas of the coaching staff, it’s Russel fuking Wilson !
We will see in the coming weeks but the annonce of PC renewal at the start of the week feel like a very bad timing. He seems empty of any ideas right now, lost. It’s never a good sign when the captain of the ship appear this lost… I hope I’m wrong but I feel like this is maybe the end of something at Seattle. Without the draft capital and the cap space next season, how will PC et JS will reset this disaster ?
And when I see how some fans start turning against Russ and completely forget the disastrous defense we have and where the team stand without him, I more and more think that the Rob theory about a potential trade request by our quaterback next year will be right if nothing change. And unfortunatly, it’s doesn”t seem like something will change in a near / distant future…
It’s disappointing to see venom tossed around after the Seahawks tank. Rob called it months ago and now we’re seeing it play out. There are plenty of news outlets in town that will happily cover Pete’s shoes. I’m happy this is not one of them. Thanks, Rob.
The Seahawks have to make major changes now if there’s any thought about saving this season. Ken Norton Jr, despite being a loved and respected team favorite, simply has to go. It likely won’t matter, but they have to at least act as if the problem is being addressed. If the defense doesn’t want to play for the new guy, how would we ever know? Seriously. Unfortunately, because of the Thursday game, this same staff will likely take the field. And more unfortunately, I can’t see Pete throwing one of his guys under the bus. It is what it is.
Stunning how quickly the seemingly sunny future for this team that everyone envisioned a couple of years ago has collapsed into a sub-mediocre slag of poor and wasted draft picks, head-scratchingly awful free agent signings, and a final desperation heave of a trade that absolutely kills the next couple of drafts, unless they can find someone who would be stupid enough to pay a couple of very high picks for Adams. (Hello, Jerry Jones?) There is no longer a simple path forward and any path probably involves decisions likely to be unpopular. I think we terribly underestimated the loss of Paul Allen.
Has any team ever started 5-0 and missed the playoffs?
https://twitter.com/DavePHanna/status/1328142425962008576
Jesus.
Wow…that lack of effort is alarming to say the least. That wasn’t the only play yesterday where I saw that from Adams. There was a running play in the first half where it was like he was trying to keep himself socially distant from the running back.
Wasn’t a fan of the trade and likely never will be, but he was gettin his arm held pretty good there.
https://mobile.twitter.com/davidfucillo/status/1328339859447156736/photo/1
Wrong link. Look at david fucillo reply
In addition to the hold he was also playing with an injured shoulder. I watched his post game interview. I like the fact that he was accountable and said he should do better. He still may not fit our system, but I like him as a player who is accountable and has a fire for the game.
Hate to say I told you so. Anytime I argued getting value for players, it was “youre out of your mind! You want to trade earl thomas (or Sherman, or player X). Resistance to hold onto the past and boneheaded aggressive trades (see Percy Harvin, or Jimmy Graham) doomed this team. Add on top of that bad draft selections like LJ Colliar, or a fifth LB. and what were they trying to do at LB?? Could they not make up their mind about the type of player they wanted at the position? One way or the other, this team is screwed without cash or draft picks. Plus they can’t develop players like they used to. It’s going to get worse before it gets better, and that might be two years out. Rid will be 33 by that point, working with a developing, young team. Watch, all you will say I’m crazy just like last time, but this team needs to start over, blow it up. It just going to be the same for next two years. And as Rob said, it took Cardinals 1.5 years, Rams and 49ers 2 years to rebuild. They tried to salvage this team, with the last 3 players from that era. They’re out of time and options, blow it up and start new – get the value needed to rebuild now vs in 2 years. They could have a team that is (possibly) rebuilt by then vs just beginning that process.
Are these conversations you had with your friends offline Mario? Because I don’t recall you telling anyone this, or receiving any pushback, on this blog.
Mostly with friends offline, wasn’t directed at you necessarily rob. I’ve been reading mostly, not commenting. I know it’s an aggressive move, and hawks won’t do it. Just find it unsurprising the seasons unfolding like I thought they would over past few years. It’s been a long and increasingly desperate attempt to recreate the same magic with the band that won the Super Bowl (down to last 3), then trying to replace them (Adams).
To be perfectly honest, I EXPECTED Seattle to lose. That being said, in spite of allowing the Rams to score the first 3 times they had the ball the defense actually made a couple of stops and got a T.O. as well.
The Hawks were keeping it close and for that reason I am so pissed at PC for punting the ball away with a mere 3 inches to go for an EXTREMELY important game changing first down. It was at that very moment I knew the game was over……He doesn’t even trust his team to get 3 fucking inches. And at mid field. The Rams immediately drove the length of the field for a TD….BRILLIANT coaching there Pete…..Right now you suck, as in when a vacuum cleaner sees you coming it runs the other way to avoid being sucked up.
Wilson, WTF are you doing?….with a mile of green grass right in front of you and an easy 1st down you lob a pass to a guy that wasn’t even looking….Problem was, the defender was. You are pill bugging on practically every play. You look like David Carr……When Lockett and Metcalf were separating, you horrendously over threw them…..Then you throw the ball away for a intentional grounding…..Horrific play by you for 3 weeks in a row.
Ok give the Rams defense credit, they are rated #2 (Right…who have they played) Fuck that narrative. But still, plays were there to be had that were squandered.
No accountability again, and I can hear the Pete Carroll show right now…..The Excuse Machine rolls on
Danny, “thanks for being here after such a terrible game”…..”how do you turn it around?”……Pete “we’ve got to be better and we will”……We have to forget about it and get ready for Thursday…… Blech, I will not waste my time with that drivel.
It makes one appreciate what Lynch did and what he brought to the team. Played hurt all the time and was affective. Carson has some of that but he gets hurt and misses games every year. Hell he’s missed 3 in a row and guess what?…all LOSSES……Oy Vay or should I say McVay?
Good morning Rob,
Like politics, when you give an opinion half the people are going to love you and half the people are going to hate you. You are well over half the people loving you on this sight so keep up the good work.
I’ve seen the handwriting on the wall with this team for the last 4 years and don’t get to worked up anymore while watching. With that said I thought with a solid offseason and draft this year had a clear path towards a SB. Obviously that didn’t happen and now I don’t see a clear path to getting back to SB.
If things stay rocky I think there will be pressure on Pete to do something similar to when Bevell and Cable were moved on from. It’s probably not time yet as it’s mid-season but at some point it might be good to spitball ideas on how to move forward.
Adams reminds me of Polamalu and if we are keeping him moving forward is their someone from former seahawk/current steeler DC Keith Butlers tree that might know how to use him?
Thanks for your time Rob.
Thank you. It’s a good shout, re:Keith Butler. Anyone got any suggestions?
Learning from Pete here on the “just will it into existence” school of thought…?
Meh, what do I know? I’m sure his sports psychologist is earning his paycheck rn…
We have a Hulk… maybe we should have thrown it up for him too…
I’m utterly hopeless right now. I have 0 confidence in PC, the problem is that there’s no one above him. Do you expect Jodie Allen to have a talk with Pete, after resigning him for 5 more years?
The only solution would be to sell the franchise to an involved owner. If this owner were me, I’d get rid of: PC, JS, KNJ, Ivan Lewis, all scouts, …. well, everyone but Schotty, Solari and the new ST coach, trade most of the players (I wouldn’t trade Russ … well, he can’t be traded), and start from scratch.
I know it’s not happening. Russ, as bad as he’s played the last month, would anyway have a chance: tell the ownership: “It’s Pete or me”. I know this is also not happening (that’s why I’m hopeless).
Dark Ages in front of us …