Marshawn Lynch had just ten carries in Sunday’s defeat to the Cowboys
Perspective and constructive criticism is the order of the day.
In truth this was a pummelling by a better Dallas team who are playing some excellent football right now. And yet the perspective tells you Seattle had two drives at the end to a.) win the game and b.) tie the game.
Last year’s Super Bowl run included four games that felt like a loss pretty much from the start: Houston (A), St. Louis (A), Tampa Bay (H), Arizona (H). Seattle won three of those, somehow.
After five weeks the Seahawks have already had two similar games. They’re 0-2 this time against San Diego (A) and Dallas (H).
It’s difficult to read too much into that at this early stage. Seattle’s three wins have all been relatively accomplished. Had they sneaked a win against the Cowboys the performance would be easily forgotten. The Seahawks would be complimented for their ability to win ugly, just like last season.
Is an 0-2 record in sloppy games an indicator of a lost edge? A decrease in quality or depth? A lack of fortune? Injuries taking their toll? Or is it just one of those things?
Are the Seahawks destined for a 9, 10 or 11 win season this year — still no mean feat and something no other recent defending Champion has managed?
I suspect we’ll learn quite a lot about the 2014 Seahawks over the next two weeks. A double road trip to St. Louis and Carolina will be tough. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if they return home to face Oakland at 3-4. Come out of those games with a winning record (by splitting the games or winning both) and they’ll have an opportunity, with five NFC West games remaining, to win the division. And that has to be the ultimate goal every year, as much as everyone wants home field advantage.
This is an unpredictable NFL season. Who expected Dallas to not only play as well as they did today, but share the leagues best record after week six? There were no unbeaten teams remaining after week five. I suspect Dallas, San Diego and Philadelphia will lose games going forward. The home field advantage total this year might rest at 12 wins. It’s a very competitive NFC.
Sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward. Look at the Patriots and the way they responded after being destroyed by Kansas City. Today might help the Seahawks in the long run.
And with that we’ve got the perspective out of the way, now onto the constructive criticism.
Seattle is losing its identity on offense
Marshawn Lynch carried the ball twice in the first half, an unacceptable number even with Dallas dominating time of possession. Lynch started the game with a solid 4-5 yard gain and was immediately withdrawn. This was a game to challenge Dallas. They were going to run the ball and play ball-control against the masters on their own patch. Seattle needed to show them how it’s done. Instead, the Cowboys were the only ones teaching any lessons.
Russell Wilson is a terrific quarterback. Percy Harvin is a dynamic playmaker. Yet neither player is more critical to this team than Lynch. To leave a close game having given him just 10 carries is inexcusable.
Perhaps it’s an attempt to stay ahead of the curve? With teams around the league striving to emulate the Seahawks, Seattle has started to be too imaginative. It’s a strange way of putting it, but ultimately the cap fits. Jet sweeps, triple option, receivers at running back. If there was one play that summed up the offense today it was a broken pitch to Bryan Walters. Not only did the entire offense look confused trying to execute the play — why on earth were they pitching it to Walters anyway?
Dallas was so concerned about containing Wilson, Lynch made some key gains running out of the read option. That had to be the staple, particularly in the second half. And yet still we saw that bizarre pitch play, Percy Harvin in the backfield and what seemed like endless empty backfields.
Dallas entered week six with the NFL’s worst run defense. #32. And Seattle chose not to exploit it.
Pete Carroll walked into Seattle saying they were going to run the ball. Pete Carroll won a Super Bowl running the ball and using play action.
It’s time to recommit to the run at the expense of all the trickery.
Why can’t they get a stop?
Dallas converted on 3rd and 5-10 yards three times. They also converted on 3rd and 14 with a checkdown by Tony Romo and had the back-breaking 3rd and 20 conversion late on — the play of the game. Earl Thomas made reference afterwards that if they want to be the defense they talk about — that has to improve.
So what’s going on?
It’s no excuse, but injuries have to take some responsibility here. Kam Chancellor looked like an injured player today. He’s carrying hip and ankle injuries and it shows. Seattle’s corner depth has been obliterated. A strong looking group lost Jeremy Lane and Tharold Simon. Now Byron Maxwell is out indefinitely.
Seattle lined up Marcus Burley at starting corner and Steven Tyrell in the slot. In other words, a player who spent an entire training camp and pre-season with the Colts and a safety taken off the practise squad only yesterday. This is more legion of doomed than legion of boom.
Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas are perennial All-Pro talents, but they aren’t miracle workers. They’re not going to be able to compensate for an injured Chancellor and a dearth of talent at corner. The situation is becoming so desperate you almost wonder how resistant the Seahawks are to calling Bill Belichick and enquiring about Brandon Browner’s availability.
There are issues up front too. Seattle found a diamond last year in Clinton McDonald. His ability to rush from the inside even on early downs made life easier for the edge rushers. Seattle’s interior pressure appears to have travelled to Tampa Bay with him.
Several times today Romo didn’t even have to move to make his reads. The Seahawks aren’t collapsing the pocket. It’s forcing the DE’s to make plays off the edge against a quarterback who can see the whole field. Edge pressure works best when the QB is moving and trying to make a decision on his feet. More often than not they’ll scramble into trouble.
Even without the brilliant Chris Clemons, the Seahawks should have enough edge pressure with Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril and Bruce Irvin. Without someone collapsing the pocket from the inside, however, you can’t help but feel they’re fighting a losing battle.
Seattle force-feeding Harvin
When the Seahawks traded for Percy Harvin, they acquired the most explosive slot receiver in the NFL. Yes he was multi-faceted. Yes he found numerous ways to make big gains. Yet the Seahawks don’t use him as a slot receiver.
Against Dallas he had six touches for -1 yards. Every touch was a run, a sweep, a WR screen or a bubble. They have to find ways to get Harvin the ball because he is such an explosive talent. The point being lost though is that Harvin, fundamentally, is a fantastic receiver.
On one third down play they had Ricardo Lockette lined up in the slot for a short gain on a Wilson quick-hitter. On another third down one of the two tight ends appeared in the slot as Wilson tried to jam a redzone pass into double coverage to Doug Baldwin. Not for the first time this season it seemed like the Lockette, Willson and Walters collection were trusted in the money downs more than Harvin.
He can be Welker. He can be Sanders. He can be Maclin. Harvin is superior to all three of those players and yet while he’s only getting carries in the backfield, it just feels like a total waste.
Harvin has 133 receiving yards from 22 catches after five games. They need to get more out of him. They absolutely must.
Teams have found a way to contain the trick plays. With the Seahawks hopefully re-committing to the run going forward, this will present an opportunity to use Harvin as a more orthodox weapon in the slot and downfield. They have to take that opportunity.
As a football fan, a loss like this is so hard to swallow because all that will be said by any major media outlet will be how ‘The champs were dethroned and dominated in their own buidling’. Especially being thst it was Dallas and the NFL loves to have Dallas being a major player. While we played poorly in many phases of the game, this was just a loss. I enjoy watching and listening to football talk shows but this loss will be all that is discussed for the next 2 weeks, making it nearly unwatchable. I also want to say that the officiating was sketchy at best for a 2ND week in a row. Once is a coincidence, twice is a trend. This may bear discussion at this point. And also, Bevell needs a reality check. He called a bad game no matter what his apologists will say. Harvin is a great weapon but nothing they sent his way was working. Dallas was keyed on him. I would have liked to see Lynch featured more. He became an afterthought. This one was tough. I haven’t felt like this as a fan in a lomg time. This season defintely has a 2013 feel without a great pass rush and really poor 3rd Down play. Hawks have a lot of work to do
Whoops, when I said 2013 I meant 2012.
It looks to me that they are falling in love too much with Harvin and seem to be out of synch on offense. It’s like RW has lost his chemistry with Kearse, Baldwin, etc. I wonder if Baldwin screaming at him on the sideline was something akin to, “I’m open throw it to me, don’t just focus on Percy all the time.” I know tomorrow Salk will bring this up and Brock will answer with, “When you have the most explosive player in the NFL, you get the ball in his hands.” But it was just too obvious today. Dallas shut down what Washington was giving, and we didn’t adjust.
Also. that pass rush is broke and I’m not sure it can be fixed. Where is the pressure from Avril? Bennett? Perhaps we miss the third leg, Clemons, more than we imagined. As far as the secondary goes, looks like Patrick Peterson will get his wish. I can’t see them playing the same defense with Maxwell out. Sherman will have to cover the #1 and frankly, Sherman was the only guy out there balling. I can’t figure out what’s wrong with Earl. You never hear his name called anymore.
Clearly, the depth issues have caught up with us. Not sure this can be fixed if the rash of injuries keep coming.
I definitely saw Earl flying around making tackles. And you know what? Romo never really tried the deep middle, from my memory.
Sherman got his job because if injuries. Maxwell himself started first when Browner was suspended. There is a next man up mentality on this team.
Even if you’re worried, I choose to believe Pete Carroll is not.
Do we even know for how long ByMax is out?
Our pass rush had less impact in one because they were so concerned about the running game of Dallas
The pass rush has been a problem all season, not just Dallas because they were concerned about the run. I don’t know what you’ve been watching all season defensively.
I would be shocked if Maxwell is not out for 6 weeks. He rolled the ankle to the inside. I did that three years ago and I wasn’t leaping into the air and landing on it with full weight. It took two months till I had full mobility. Max nailed it with full force. It would be shocking if he isn’t out for an extended period. Be prepared for bad news on this after his MRI. I pray I’m wrong but the replay gives me little hope.
We got beat, period.
Our OLine was just not up to the task neither was our DLine. Despite some good flashes on occasion by our guys in the trenches. Russell was run ragged. Uncharacteristically, wee Russell threw a few bad passes. The umps missed some penalties that we could have gotten.
We might get it back together and make it to the playoffs – but – our OLine in particular is just not a “Champioship quality unit” as it wasn’t last year as well – this year karma has come to CLink – our chickens aren’t just roosting on our shoulders their shitting all over us.
Dallas, kinda nice to have three first round picks on your OLine.
Rob, keep studying those Uni OLine and DLine types, not to mention a DB or two, we’re gonna need that batch of extra picks we’ll get in 2015 and man had we ever better make them count.
In all fairness, Russell had a horrible game. His accuracy seemed off whereas against Washington he was lights out. While the oline had its usual sucky game, there were times Russell had plenty of time to throw and he looked out of it. The worst point for me was when we were tied 20-20 and they showed both qb’s on the sideline looking at slides. Honestly, RW’s body language looked confused and uncertain, while Romo looked like he was dialed in and was seeing what he needed to see. I said at that point, “We’re going to lose this one.”
Jeffc I agree.
ML.. ? Lynch had good yards on few carries. Wilson while I agree was lost, think he’s show unsolved issues in the pocket and inability to get second level reads from the pocket well since we drafted him.
Looks like after 5 games we are not making the playoffs? Our O-line is as bad as last year (injuries)? And bad karma is having a effect on the aves in the pacific north west?
umps always miss, for both teams……
I don’t know what to make of this team going forward except that it’s definitely not the same team as last year. Is it RW’s identity of Lynch? Is it jet sweep, misdirection, fool your ass or is it pound it and dominate you physically with Lynch?
All of this in short;
First things first, the sky is not falling.
Having said that, the pass rush needs to be figured out, ths is when we miss Clem.
The run D needs to be better, although at some point you need to tip your cap to what is a top tier run game in the NFL which makes for one of the more balanced offenses in the league in DAL.
I expected this SEA offense to gash the Cowboys but between Unger being out and growing sense that we misuse Harvin in the offense, things need to change before this offense takes the next step.
On to StL
Where have the rest of our rushers been besides Irvn the last two games? This one especially. Irvin gave one of the better LT’s in the game fits most the game when Dallas had to pass.
Also repeatedly being put out on the field to stop a good offense with little to no time for a break will wear on any D and thats exactly what happened the second and forth quarters …an some of the third.
It’s time to set aside the gimmick plays and get back to fundamental football. Work on the passing game. Work on running fundamental offensive plays.
Bevell was awful today. I don’t like to blame him but he just would not relent on the gimmicky plays. You can’t run these long-developing plays if you can’t pass protect long enough in the first place! Not real happy.
Couldn’t agree more.
Yup…
Run the ball and play action passing off the run. Period.
Dallas was on every bubble screen and quick out to Harvin! Hello Bevell – make adjustments! And how on earth don’t you run the ball more to Marshawn. He’s probably the only guy yesterday who can say that he can’t be blamed for the loss – because they didn’t give him the damn ball!
Well said. Run the rock. Stick with our identity.
I’m not worried. Frustrated perhaps, but not worried. There were games last year that were equally frustrating. There’s a boatload of talent on this team. There are top-level coaches. They’ll figure it out.
I’d love to get Rob’s feelings on the passing game. There were times today where Wilson had all day to throw and seemingly had no one open.
Except that last year we probably pull this out. The depth issues of losing FA’s is biting us hard.
There wasn’t anyone open because they do not run any one deep very often to clear out the underneath area, so Baldwi , Miller, and Willson are always doubled covered.
it would be cool to see our offense run a normal combo of the route tree. tired of fake bubble screen this way, rb screen that way.
what the hell was that play to brian walters? and why is brian walters getting more use in this offense than Richardson or Norwood? heck even Michael.
just irritates me we have so much talent but can to jack sh*t and thats just on offense.
definitely not the depth we used to have. if bmax was in the whole game, i can almost guarantee we would have won..
6 offensive touches and 1 yard. What seattle is doing with Harvin isn’t working. They are paying him too much to not make this work.
Bevell was horrible imo today. I’m usually an apologist for him but hated his play calling today. Give Lynch the ball and set up the vertical passing game that Wilson does best. Lynch got 10 carries and everything Wilson threw was behind the line of scrimmage. I think we will be fine but Bevell has to do a better job. He has the weird ability to call brilliant games and terrible games…I don’t really get it. I know it doesn’t help that the line was so bad but still.
Rob does Britt have potential? He was considered a huge reach where we took him and he looked to get destroyed today at times.
Looking forward to reading your thoughts on the game. I’m at a loss.
On Britt if I may, he has very solid potential. He was rarely the issue today. But as a player he seems to get better every week. Needs to still get a bit stronger but his mobility is a real strength.
10 carries against the worst run def in the league. snap out of it bevell trickery doesnt work in the nfl!!!
This offense has limitations. They are not built for deep passing, they are built for play action passing. I get the feeling this offense will forever be stagnated as long they cannot pass protect and are over committed to throwing the ball behind the LOS. The obsession with deception must end.
It’s time to start thinking about life after Bevell. He’s done well here but all good things must come to an end.
I completely agree on the obsession with deception or as i call them “cute plays” and Bevell. Though we do have multiple ways and players at their positions who can get deep. Its more a mater of knowing how to use what you have.
The O line is not built for pass protecting, yet they ran lynch 2 times in the first half. OK, fine if you’re going to basically ignore pass blocking skills relative to run blocking. But don’t kid yourself into thinking you’re going to have an NFL level offense with 2 rushing attempts to lynch in the first half when you do that.
My question is why do we keep seeing Walters, Lockette and Willson on important third downs late in games? You don’t see this much on any other team (I.e. Dez, demaryius with welker, etc). Why not throw the guy you traded a first round pick for and signed him to a big chunk of change in along with Baldwin? Pass rush does worry me, but something seems different with this defense this year. Teams aren’t afraid of us, and the swagger isn’t as prevalent. Might just be me.
Totally agree with you! Why wasn’t Harvin out there on that 4th down??? Walters? I love our guys, but if Harvin isn’t going to be a deep threat at WR, we have no vertical passing game!
I think Lockett should get more use. If Harvin is the fastest guy on the team than Lockett is the second, aas shown by his gunner speed on special geams. why we arent lining up Harvin on one side and Lockett on the othdr beats me. Lockett has shown good hands in the past. Put them both on deep runs so the defense cant l;oad the box.
RW had a few throws that he missed but every QB in every game misses a few throws. Nobody is perfect. This is the kind of close game where the lack of receivers who win one-on-one matchups on a regular basis show up. Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse are receivers who get open via the scheme but when tough catches are needed to be made, they don’t get open on a consistent basis.
Another thing of note is when you throw as little as RW does (about 20-26 times a game), sometimes you fail to get in rhythm and it puts a premium on every single passing play. 3rd downs throws are magnified and the last couple of games we have failed to convert those.
How much of this is dictated by the game plan obsession with Harvin? RW and his receivers don’t seem to have any chemistry. I would like to know what Doug Baldwin was screaming at him about. Even on that long throw to Luke Willson that wasn’t called for PI, I thought RW was a half second late on the throw. If he throws that earlier, he hits Willson in stride before the defender catches up.
It’s not the reason we lost, but it’s part of it…Bill Leavy is terrible. He made up penalties for fouls that weren’t there (sherman tripping…Maxwell getting blocked by Bryant and getting called for holding or some other bs) and was all around horrible at his job. As expected.
Somebody buy that crew Lasik…group discount.
Apologizes to anyone if I restate what has already been stated, I like to say what I have before reading anyone’s previous posts.
Right now its hard to avoid some of the jokes the team “holding back the real play book”.
I know I’m being redundant right now but, Bevell either doesn’t know his own personal or has no clue about the oppositions. So far this year I dont see us getting much of a rhythm this is a issue that carries over from last year. Funny how a avalanche in the SB will make you forget the little things.
Wilson is still struggling to find his second targets or see the second level read. This isn’t all on his but at the same time hes not helping as it seems a lot of the time he has his first read then “panics” and looks to scramble early. I counted at least 4 times he did that alone tonight on my re-watching of the game tonight and a handful last week as well. He has little trust in the O-line (and the same goes for the coaches as evident of the quick passes). The thing is a lot of the problems of our pass protection is due to his inability to step around in the pocket. People are saying Wilson is the best or one of the best Qb’s. He has shown that unlike top QB’s such as Rodgers or Rivers, guys with less athletic abilities but more height he is having trouble seeing lanes. One thing that can effect that is not trusting himself in knowing where the D will be or where is receivers will be.
We seem to have become predictable in only a month on how we are going to use Harvin.
After a horrendous second quarter our D played their ass’s off. Though you can’t blame them wholly for their struggles as our offense struggled to do anything during that time period. We are not as deep this year and when they are left out to dry like that it will show in our defenses play.
I know we were in the game till the end and Rob you stated the same thing about the San Diego game, but a 2 to 1 time ratio on the time of possession is not “Seahawks ball”.
In all Dallas made some plays. but with the exception of one forth quarter drive the second half our D shut down Dallas’s run game. That probably had a lot to do with the return of Bobby Wagner. I don’t think we were beat by a better team exactly, taking nothing from them our offense is completely lost. A good team will have a factor in that but so have mediocre ad bad teams (Chargers and The D.C.s)
Offense needs to be fixed. The college style playbook is not working. Talent is abundant, but none of it is being utilized properly.
Defense also needs to wake up. They look OK, but they need some work, especially Pass-Rush.
Special Teams meanwhile is phenomenal in all phases.
As long as the Pass-Rush and Offense get oriented, they’ll start winning games with fashion. The Secondary will be fine, but Kam needs to be 100%, and Tharold needs to return soon because of Maxwell. The offense needs to actually use Harvin, and maybe even try using Norwood and Richardson. Just balance running and throwing equally…and throw deep more often (Harvin).
Agreed, plus were are the “scare you” down the field shots with Harvin or anyone … Has anyone seen Avril or Bennett on third down? Our Dbacks are fine but anyone apparently even Oh no Romo can have a good day with all day to throw…
The two deep balls that were thrown in Washington to Helfet and Harvin looked beautiful, we need more of that and less college bs.
I think the key to the D-Line is less rotation. Have a run unit and a pass unit, maybe a hybrid for certain situations.
Honestly the O-Line is my biggest concern. Britt looks like the best one of the group on the field half the time.
Carp and sweez looked like their usual sub par selves, Okung….just not elite lately.
While Dallas has drafted o lineman in the first round several years – and they now have a kick ass line. We have problems and even RW can’t scramble his way out of them.
just not elite lately? okung has been sht all year! what does he have 10 penalties so far? no excuses go hawks
There were 3 or 4 oSs plays where Russell had a bunch of time in the pocket and he ended up running or throwing it away. On TV they don’t show downfield just the pocket….so are our recievers not getting any separation at all or is it Russell not making a throw?
*pass
I had a good view of the whole field yesterday, and it appeared the WR’s were struggling to get open.
It looked like Dallas played a lot of man coverage and our guys can’t get separation. Again, why isn’t Harvin being used as a deep threat???
When you don’t run to set up the pass, and go away from your identity, and play into Dallas’ defensive strength (pass defense), it’s going to be tough to get guys open no matter who is out there.
I would like to see more out of players who are ready. I get the “redshirt year” philosophy. But that is when you have otherworldly depth and I’m not sure we are as loaded as we think. If the team is insistent on using Brian Walters on key, game deciding drives, then shouldn’t they be trying to get their best athletes out there? Do they have to make Prich and Norwood inactive? If Kearse is a goner next year from FA, shouldn’t we see at least one of Norwood or PRich getting some reps? I’d feel a lot more confident of one of those two than Walters. I understand he’s our punt returner, but is that position such a handicap that you are using him consistently as your #4 and he really should be a practice squad guy, nothing more.
Poor coaching, poor game plan, poor execution, poor tackling, poor offense, poor defense – BUT punt team showed up and kept them in the game.
Every week the teams are going to want to punch the defending SB champs in the mouth – so what are you going to do 2014 Seahawks? Are you going to be ready to play or what? This is why it is hard to repeat.
And where is Earl Thomas??? He has had no impact on the last few games.
Hawkblogger (great site) wrote this morning that Earl has been a shadow of his former self thus far.
It almost seems like that punt returner thing made him lose his focus, and he hasn’t been the same since that muffed punt. Not good for us.
Not sure I agree with that. Teams are not throwing deep against Seattle. Thomas has always been liable for the odd missed tackle. Dallas and San Diego beat us running the ball and playing high percentage short passes.
In fairness it couldn’t have helped that Kam was probably playing at 50% yesterday. he probably needs to sit and get healthy, and they need to next man up for a week or two with Jeron Johnson.
I agree with hawkblogger. Seeing Earl fly past Murray and over pursue was a common theme. He reverted to his younger self yesterday.
Maybe he’s trying to compensate for Kam. Maybe he’s just getting frustrated. But regressed a bit, at least yesterday.
Very easy to say great players are regressing after a defeat. Simply put, if Seattle runs the ball more and if Irvin completes that sack on 3rd and 20 — Seattle beats a 4-1 team and sits at 4-1 themselves. I don’t think anyone is regressing. They just have to rediscover their identity.
I don’t know if seattle beats dallas even if irvin makes that sack. It makes the game more winnable, but our offense in the second half wasn’t exactly scintillating. It could have just of easily been a three and out, punt back to Dallas, Romo drives the field and gets into Bailey’s field goal range which is what, 75, 80 yards and he’s money?
also easy to say a great player didn’t have a gad game. We’ll see how he looks at the end of the season, but yesterday and weeks prior I see a lot of the younger ET3 than I saw last year. Over eager and over pursuit.
Although I use Kam as an excuse, I disagree with Rob about ET’s level of play. It is not dominant, and it is nothing like last year. And we have been getting nailed deep (wheel routes against Washington and Denver, and Romo spanked us with Williams and one shot to Whitten. Whether that is on ET or not, it didn’t happen much last year – only TY Hilton comes to mind. Also, ET is not a good safety, he’s a great safety. He shouldn’t be there only for the deep pass. He’s a guy we expect somewhere near the ball all the time. Last year, the dude was everywhere. This year? I don’t see him much. Is this scheme or ET? They better figure it out.
On the wheel route vs Washington we know why we got beat. Sherman lined up at safety, passed off to Kam covering Desean Jackson. Game over. Maxwell and K.J. Wright had a similar issue vs the Broncos for the Tamme TD. Teams are deliberately keeping things short vs Seattle and they aren’t testing them over the middle at even really an intermediate level. Quite rightly teams are staying away from Sherman/Thomas and sadly they’ve found ways to manipulate the defense anyway. It’s up to Seattle to adjust.
I understand, I’m just pointing out that we are being thrown at deep from time to time.
Possibly, but Seattle would’ve probably run the ball. And given themselves a real chance to get at least three, forcing Dallas to do what Peyton did.
I haven’t seen the hard hits from our safeties that used to scare receivers. Also noticed that the secondary is tackling high instead of tackling at the knees. Hard to stop Murray with a high tackle.
The defensive performance was not all bad. After a weak first half, they mostly bottled up Dallas from the start of Q3 until the drive that led to the go-behind TD. At one stage Murray had 20 carries for 61 yards, which I think we would all have accepted in advance of the game, and they were only getting the occasional first down. In the final five minutes or so, it was back to where we started? One up for the Dallas OC or just too tired to sustain the level of performance?
The Seahawks are not getting contributions from recent draft picks. Trading down for Michael and Richardson is starting to kill us. You have to be nailing some of those picks and when you don’t it catches up to you. We all were excited about Kelvin Benjamin and what he could be but the Hawks refuse to move up a couple of spots to address a major need instead moving down yet again and getting another player who is not ready to contribute.
The last four WRs drafted are Richardson, Norwood, Chris Harper and Kris Durham. That is terrible. The Cowboys had an easy time blanketing our WRs yesterday. It was painful to watch.
Jordon Matthews is playing well – Davonte Adams playing well for GB… and Richardson inactive…
I have to agree with you. Key draft picks are not on the field contributing. How long will we carry CMichaels and Turbin? Where are receivers like Richardson and Norwood? When will we dump our two failing first round offensive linemen? How desperate are you when you pick a 7th rounder and convert them to offensive line? The results should not surprise us.
This team should be getting better. Instead the offense looks exactly the same as the beginning of last year, mixed in with a defense that has injuries in the secondary.
Turbin may be a good practice guy, but he does nothing on the field. And he is no replacement for Marshawn! If we don’t keep Marshawn next year, we’ll have to sign/draft a back to replace him- Turbin/Michael are not that back.
Agreed that Turbin won’t be on the team next year. So the question is, why not dump them now and start evaluating the many backs that aren’t starting somewhere?
Cmike might be the guy but he better get his ass healthy. Then again, will they ever give him any reps? I swear they have a willy for Turbin, and I just don’t get it. As far as preseason, his stats were fine, but looking at the games, he made all his big runs with wide open holes that my mother could have run thru.
Let’s bring in the overreactions. Now the Sweezy conversion is “desperate”?
I didn’t say anything about Sweezy. I said we are not getting contributions from our early picks the last two years and it’s hurting us.
2013 appears to have been a terrible draft IMO. The Hawks traded down wanting a RB and and in doing so didn’t draft Eddie Lacy. Instead they got Michael who has done nothing. In fact he’s usually not active.
Then in 2014 they trade down again and in doing so miss out on Lee and Jordan Matthews and instead get Richardson who like Michael isn’t on the field contributing.
I admit I liked the Michael pick when it happened, but I thought last year they got too cute to get a fast undersized yet again receiver. And the lack of draft capital to the oline has caught up with us. 7th round picks? Phooey. At least Britt was a start.
I was responding to Alaska Hawk RE: Sweezy.
We keep on wondering why it’s tough to predict the Hawks first pick. Maybe it’s because they aren’t good with those picks. The guys that were on our radars the last two years are playing way better than the guys the Hawks have drafted.
I think certainly it’s not unfair for fans to ask whether they’re overthinking things looking for ‘their guys’ who fit into the competitive locker room. Talent must come first. Although it’s too early to judge the 2014 group.
Your right in that having a 7th round pick like Sweezy starting is a steal. My point is – why couldn’t they find a guard in rounds 1-6? Were they all that bad? For that matter why can’t they find a sub for Okung? They knew he was injured going into the season…..
Is it worth pondering why they couldn’t find a guard in round five, for example? Sweezy is not a problem here.
We got out coached, out hustled, out excuted, on offense and Defense it was a horrible TEAM effort at home none the less. We made excuses as we got man handled in SD, no excuses this time, just got are asses whipped.
I thought the SD game was a weak excuse. If you know the advanced weather report, and it’s 85 degrees up here, pull the team indoors and crank the heat on and get them conditioned for it.
Anticipate your environment.
I sincerely hope Bevell gets a HC gig somewhere, anywhere, at the end of this season. His play calling is so atrociously inconsistent it boggles the mind. In fact, his scheme (does he even have one anymore?) is so antithetical to the identity of this team, the identity established by PC, that I wonder if it’s really even Carroll’s team anymore.
Go on, start bashing. But the proof is on the field – 3 of the most talented offensive weapons in the NFL and it’s our special teams (and to a lesser extent) D that keep us in games.
Aikman said it best at the end of the telecast: “The fact is, this game was not as close as the score indicated.”
I said the same thing to my friend – let’s hope the Jets take him!
But this was a meltdown in all phases of the offense – coaching, blocking, passing…
Why didn’t we run more against a team that was 32nd against the run? Because the coaches know (as the game showed) that our OLine is NOT good.
Why was Bevell not calling more “vertical” plays, why so many 1 yard passes, does Bevell need a “reality check”? Almost all the plays were for 1 yard BECAUSE that is how long our OLine was able to protect Russell.
Why is the OLine playing so poorly? THINK ABOUT IT – BEFORE this game our OLine was OK with the run but clearly a failure defending on pass plays. Unger was out (Schilling is fast and athletic but not a Championship quality center). Miller was out. Willson’s a nice guy, a Canadian and a good forth (fourth – being a Canadian like he is) at bridge – BUT he is not a blocker like Miller. Okung is really hurting (I`m actually very proud of the effort he`s showing but his upper body has some problem – they get outside on him – even by a bit and his upper body strength just can`t reign them back in.
Why was the DLine playing so poorly, why didn`t they rush better – SIMPLE – their OLine IS fantastic. They have youth, size, power and THREE first round picks in the heart of the OLine. Our present DLine 8 man rotation is not as good as last years DLine 7 man rotation was.
Last year we were a 53 man deep (actually even deeper than 53 man) 100% coordinated, 100% co-operating, talented killing machine. This year not so much. We are NOT anywhere near the team we were last year . The `Cap`has already done a serious job on us.
Can we still get to the play-offs this year – YES! However, for a serious of reasons – worse players, injuries, scheme -we are no longer a dominate team.
NOW – Carroll, Bevell and the brain trust are going to have to FIND ways to SCHEME success while playing around our numerous weak areas.
The juggernaut is dead – lets see what the team can do as mere mortals. This could still be a very interesting year – perhaps even a SB team – BUT – we are no longer favorites, we have become underdogs.
Lets see what we can do with these dogs – come on Carroll – lets unleash our dogs and get our street cred back!
If the offensive line isn’t good enough to run the ball, why did Lynch get 6 YPC from his ten carries?
The O-line issues are over blown. They ran well enough for it to be a factor and should’ve used it more against a very poor run D.
Rob – I agree that even without Unger and Miller the OLine is best suited to “run.” Mostly, because it was horrid protecting Russell when he was passing. Damning with faint praise.
However, Lynch had a 6 YPC because he broke one for 30+ – take that one out and redo the math. The OLine issues may appear “over blown” at times but only because Wilson is a magician. I also remember someone saying that Cable was so convinced of his zone blocking system that he didn’t need stars to make it work. picture his system with the OLine Dallas has – then we’d see domination.
However, However – (I’m doubling down) I also agree we should have run more – we need Lynch’s running threat to stall the rush on Wilson to give him the time he needs to pass before he is overwhelmed – or running for his life.
My key point is that for several reasons: the Cap (we couldn’t sign some guys we wanted and who wanted to be here), injuries, shortsighted schemes, lack of impact draft choices last year combined with an OLine that just is not a “Championship quality” unit (and wasn’t last year either), we’re just a bit too far from being dominating to be a serious contender.
Why would you take that one play out though? It is significant. I don’t understand that. He had ten carries and one went for 30-odd yards. That doesn’t mean the run wasn’t working. It means if you run 20 times maybe he has a couple more like that.
I KNEW there was something seriously wrong with Okung – FOX is reporting he has a “torn labrum in his shoulder.” Considering that I’m even more proud of how he fought. He’s a warrior.
That would explain his bad play, but the penalties are still a conundrum
anyone see the adb quote? “We have to quit BS-ing ourselves. We’ve got to be real with ourselves,” Baldwin said. “When we get in the meeting room, we’ve got to actually pay attention to things and not blow smoke up our tails that everything’s going to be all right. Things aren’t going right. Pay attention to things that we’re not doing right and correct them.” not a good sign. it would seem our always compete mantra has been kicked to the curb. has fame and big deals got the better of us? its like we expect to win by just showing up. sd and dallas are great examples. bevell has to do a better job with the playcallin! 10 carries for lynch against the worst run d in the league!!!!!!!! really bevell? and the d givin up those long third downs especially the 3 and 14 that they got with a checkdown to the tail back wtf where was everyone the 3 and 20 was just a fabulous catch but again if irving can tackle a qb that play doesnt happen. time to step up go hawks
the quote is from espn
I wonder if any of that is directed toward Irvin. Salk was saying today that he’s tired of seeing Irvin joking around and not engaged when the defensive team is huddled on the sidelines of practice, going over various plays/fundamentals/etc
Harvin is a complementary player, not a first option. You don’t lead with him. You counter with him.
Maybe it’s somewhat forgotten, but when he arrived in the league, he joined a team that featured younger Adrian Peterson, Brett Favre and Sidney Rice with good knees. Put those four together, and Harvin becomes a devastating tempo-changer and OROY. But his best use has never been as first option.
I think this is a great point.
I also note that the big difference made between Patterson and Harvin was Patterson was very raw as a WR whereas Percy was more polished as a catcher and route runner.
Patterson now has more receiving yards than Percy. Given their respective offenses/qbs, that’s hard to accept. Given their salaries, it’s hard to swallow.
If they’re going to use Percy like Patterson, then they should’ve just drafted Patterson and saved tens of millions of cap space and a few draft picks.
Why can’t we use Harvin as a second option deep ball receiver? He will take a lot less hits running deep routes then running screens and sweeps.
I’d like to see them use percy as a regular old WR more often. Of course, seeing them run lynch more than 2 times in the first half would be nice.
I think the O line struggles are a real issue. I am thoroughly unimpressed with Cable’s body of work in this regard.
This loss feels like a perfect tonic for a team that needs to re-focus. It can be a character-building stretch on a run to a repeat title or the beginning of a return to the pack.
What seems to be the over-arching message this year is this team simply needs to execute just a little bit better at key moments. Like a championship team does. Those simple moments that can turn the game and change the opponent’s strategy.
Maxwell making that interception with 100 yards of daylight. Baldwin making a drive sustaining third down catch.
The Hawks just have so much talent they can overcome the occasional mind-bending Bevell game plan. Sure, they shouldn’t have to, and sure everyone in the known universe but Bevell last week can figure out you run Marshawn against the worst ranked rush D until they stop him.
But a couple more plays here and there and this game is easily in hand. This isn’t the Patriots getting their rear ends getting handed to them on national TV and benching Tom Brady because the game is so far out of hand.
This is a team that is still very talented and is in every game they play. Now it’s up to them from the top down to recommit to focus and execution.
I may be the only person who thinks the defensive line played well. In comparison to the rest of the team they were the best unit on the field. Secondary has too many injuries but Sherman and Thomas still hanging in there. Linebackers couldn’t plug the holes in the line and everyone got worn out by the end of the game.
Offense has been bad all year. They got away with it for awhile, but the good teams have found ways to shut us down. I blame it on not sticking to the fundamentals. Not enough runs. Not our best receivers out there running good routes. RW having to hold onto the ball to long behind a bad offensive line. It’s time to say it – the offensive line stinks. Bad play calling. When will we start using Harvin as a receiver? They look exactly the same as last year – and the offense sucked last year until the playoffs.
It’s also time to ask why our draft picks aren’t playing. We were supposed to have running back by committee this year. Instead it is Lynch and Harvin. Where are Richardson and Norwood are two rookie receivers? Where are Michaels and Turbin – why are they even on the team? If you won’t play them – get rid of them and find players who can perform. Carrying unproductive players isn’t working.
The Seahawks don’t pass the eye test – they need to fix themselves fast. The schedule only gets worse in the second half of the season.
I agree with a lot of this. The defense didn’t dominate, but they were the better unit all night. They gave the offense multiple chances to seal the game early and win it late.
I’m not ready to say the O-line stinks, but I think they’re better at run-blocking than pass blocking right now. I share the roster questions about Richardson, Norwood and Michael.
At the moment, the Hawks have no vertical threat whatsoever. No passing game worth mentioning. That’s why not having Richardson active and not having Harvin go downfield is so perplexing to me. If you don’t have those two, who do you have? Who is the #1 receiver on this team?
You don’t have to be a pass-happy team. But if you can’t make defenses respect the threat of downfield strikes, they’ll do what Dallas did, bunch up close and swarm the edges.
No vertical threats? We have Percy Harvin who has a 5th gear unlike many of even the “fast” players have. Also there is Lockette and Richardson who are both burners. Just because the team is not using them on go routes and such does not mean they do not have them. I would say we have one of the best combination of stretching the field vertically and horizontally receiving corps in the NFL. The one hole in the group is a big possession reciever that we can use in the red zone and on screens.
I think he means that there are no vertical threats because we don’t use them that way. We stick them all at the line, throw to them, and expect them to break tackles and turn 1 yard games into beastquake runs.
Congratulations to Dallas for a well played game on their part. They have read the Seahawk manual on how to build a young, smash mouth football team. They look a lot like the Seahawks have in the last 3 years and that’s has me wondering why Seattle looks so different this year.
OFFENSE: Bevelles problem is if its working, he’ll continue the same play calling until a game like this happens. The gimmick plays worked to begin with because no one expected it from us but now teams have seen enough to counter them. 0/10 on 3rd down conversions in the 1st half is proof enough for me. I want to see more smash mouth football with the power I formation that unleashes the beast mode and opens up the play action pass down field to a Harvins who should be playing in the slot. I want that personnel foul penalty for a scuffle after the play instead of the pre snap ones which tells me their rolling backwards before the play. I don’t see the Breno nasty attitude in this line at all. Bottom line is, its time to go back to the basics, the meat and potatoes or the bread and butter and physically take it to their defense and wear them down like Dallas did to us. After all we were doing long before Dallas and San Diego was.
DEFENSE: Mebane and McDaniels isn’t that force they were last year and to be quite honest the interior of this line looked old which they are. I’m hoping Simon will be ready to be the next man up. Its evident we need line help here and what’s even scarier is next year what will the LB core look like. These guys need the offense to sustain drives to help them get their breath and a little beast mode to help inspire them.
The season isn’t over but they need a reality check now because it isn’t going to get easier latter in the season when we take on the rivals in our division. We are in a physical, smash mouth football division and in both categories we seem to be lacking them at this time.
iagree with most your points except: They have read the Seahawk manual on how to build a young, smash mouth football team.
they have drafted a olineman in the first round for the last 3 years. wonder why murray is doin so well?
wonder why we couldnt touch romo?
wonder why they are 5-1
it starts in the trenches
Murray doing good because he has been healthy so far. Always been a good running back who couldn’t stay healthy for the last few years. The young no name defense of Dallas took it to our offense to.
im surprised C Mike dosnt ask to be traded. I sure would, and im surprised no teams have inquired for him. every game he is inactive..
I don’t care what his attitude is, that man has talent on the field. I watched him at A&M and he is impressive.
also, Wilson pisses me off. he will have a nice pocket, and for whatever reason, he decides to scramble, and whenever this happens, there is 99% chance he has a receiver wide open down filed, but he is to busy running circles to notice them. I know not every snap he has a nice pocket, and I love when scrambles for 1st down, but the plays where he does have a nice pocket and scrambles just drives me up the wall
Can only offer my own take on yesterday… the receivers had a real problem getting open all day.
I was at the game watching this and I can tell you the Cowboys had a very easy time covering the Haws WRs and they were doing it without help in one on one match ups.
My impression is that we don’t have any quick slants into the middle, so RW doesn’t have any quick throws to make. When he holds onto the ball the pocket collapses and he gets gun shy, so he looks for ways to scramble and extend the play. It’s funny that one of his longest throws was to a tight end down the right side, you would think that would be a wide receiver. I am going to blame the pass play designs on not having any quick passes in the middle. This also shows up on third down conversions where the bread and butter pass is either slant in the middle or wide receiver out routes. It is all about timing.
It would help if we were more like Denver’s offense. Manning holds onto the ball an average of 2 seconds and then passes. We should be looking at all their passing plays and scheming something similar. Then practice and find out what works. Cause what we got isn’t working against good defenses.
Russell can’t see a quick slant and at his height the quick slant isn’t going anywhere. Befell play calling isn’t good at all but some plays like the quick slant are out of our playbook and that gives defenders the upper hand in my opinion.
That is bunk.
Another thing that seems weird to me is why the Seahawks didn’t improve over the bye. I know it’s early but we look worse now then before the layoff.
Rob, would you mind looking at Tyriq McCord from Miami as a Leo prospect? Had a big game this past week vs Cincinnati but isn’t getting much publicity. Might make a nice mid round pick to help the pass rush. Thanks!
One more on Harvin – apologies for beating this point to death.
The article below – best I’ve seen on the Harvin issue this week – breaks it down nicely. The writer pulls some stats from PFF and alludes to how Harvin has been used historically. Bottom line: the Hawks aren’t using him for midfield throws:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2230464-how-the-seattle-seahawks-can-fix-their-percy-harvin-problem
It seems to me that we’re arguing about the nature Harvin’s receptions, as in where they occur. The linked article describes his aborted 2012 season, when he was on pace for an MVP year before he got hurt. Here, I’ll just quote it:
“30 of his 62 receptions came from behind the line of scrimmage. But he also recorded 11 catches 10 or more yards downfield for 218 receiving yards.”
The writer goes on to say that the Hawks haven’t targeted Harvin deep AT ALL, while saying it’s no biggie – but he adds that Harvin isn’t getting midfield routes either – only 4 of his 22 targets so far have gone past 10 yards.
I just fiddled around with some career stats. Over his career (303 games), Harvin is good for about 129 total yards per game. Looks like this:
A TYPICAL HARVIN GAME (CAREER)
Receiving – 5/58
Rush – 2/13
Returns – 2/58
Total – 129 yds per game
So far this year, Harvin is hitting about 93 total yards per game. The season is young, the sample is small, but look at the breakdown:
Receiving – 4/27
Rush – 2/18
Returns – 2/48
The discrepancy isn’t hard to see.
Yes, Bevell has been bad.
Yes, our oline has been subpar.
Yes, our pass rush has been subpar.
Yes, we have a plethora of injuries.
And yet, both loses we have had the ball with a chance to win/tie. Had Irvin made the sack and/or our 5th corner didn’t give up the 3 and 20, different outcome. The records of the teams we have faced are a combined (18-5) not including Washington.
GIVE LYNCH THE BALL and take some shots deep. That simple
In other words, “Go back to what you did last season when you won a super bowl.”
My takeaways from the Seahawks thus far:
OFFENSIVE GAME PLANNING
Chargers and Cowboys are key lessons for the Seahawks. Same pattern, early big plays and easy scores and then…those teams responded with a ball control offense while the Seahawks continued to look for the trick, big or cool play leading to 3 and outs. When the time of possession becomes that lopsided, Seahawks will struggle to win. Kind of amazing they had a chance to win both games…
INTENSITY
Maybe it’s just me, but the Seahawks seem to lose their edge and intensity once they have a lead or come up with a key TD. They clearly outplayed Denver and Washington and could have blown both teams out but at key moments gave up…
BIG PLAYS
Pete Carroll’s point of emphasis and the Seahawks are on the wrong end of it. How many big plays did they give up in the Cowboys game? At least 6-7 big plays and many of them at key junctures. Going back to Denver and Washington–big plays kept them in the game.
THE GOOD NEWS
Seahawks had some similarly bad (maybe worse) stretches last year when they played the Texans, Colts and Bucs but really came together in the second half and post-season. The schedule gets relatively easier from here on in and their talent level is second to none.
THE BAD NEWS
Injuries. With Okung, Chancellor and now possibly Wagner limited, Unger and Miller out and a severely depleted secondary, it may not be that easy to rebound when teams are consistently bringing their A game.
Bottom line, this was a tough early schedule and the Seahawks should rebound well but there are definitely key areas that need to get fixed.
They better win against the rams. Mentally, can you imagine what must go in their heads if they lose to the rams and cowboys after SF beat them both?