Is that repeatable?
Social media is awash with emotive comments today from Pete Carroll, discussing the meaning of a win against Russell Wilson and bringing back certain ex-players who may or may not have had beef with Wilson in the past.
It certainly appears the Seahawks put a lot into winning this game.
After all — it’s not like they can trot out Marshawn Lynch and co. again for the Falcons game. Having the older players hang around during practise was undoubtedly inspiring — but it’s also something that won’t have endless value.
Then there was the crowd — whipped into a frenzy for Wilson’s return, not so subtly nudged along by Carroll and the non-stop media talk of whether booing the returning quarterback was the right thing to do.
People at the game have talked about it being louder than it has been in Lumen Field in years.
All of this contributed to the victory. I do wonder, though, whether that same energy and vibe can stretch into the upcoming home contests against Atlanta, Arizona and the New York Giants.
Can the team play at the same intensity level when there’s less hoopla around the opponent? Can the fans be as vociferous?
At times, yesterday, the Seahawks looked to have found the physical edge they’ve been seeking for years.
It can’t be a flash in the pan saved for Russell Wilson and Denver, though. It has to show up again next week. That might be harder when you’re 1-0. San Francisco, losers in week one to Chicago, can’t afford to overlook Seattle. They’ll be on it. The Seahawks will be taken more seriously in the media, in the bleachers and on the field in week two.
The next two games will be a fascinating study point.
It also has to be said — they’ll need to be better in certain aspects.
As brilliantly as Geno Smith played in the first half, he was 6/10 for 31 yards and a turnover in the second half. Is he capable of reaching the highs of the first half without the lag of the second? Is there, at worst, a happy medium between the two halves to be found against San Francisco?
Can they continue to force turnovers? Or were the two goal-line fumbles — akin to a football lottery win — a freakish occurrence that played as big a part as anything on a night that ended with a one-point win?
Will opposing Head Coaches continue to make totally nonsensical decisions over when to attempt game-winning field goals?
Can you afford to concede a 433-253 yardage split and win many games in the NFL?
Can the running game thrive unless Geno Smith continues to play like he did in the first half to keep the offense honest?
I wish it was Sunday already to start answering some of these questions. I’m eager to learn about this team. I want to know if Monday was a performance for the occasion (and I predicted a Seahawks win against Denver because of the occasion) or was it a sign of a rekindling of the ‘we all we got, we all we need’ attitude that served the team so well in the first go-around?
Was this more about ‘beat Russell Wilson at all costs’ or was it indicative of a team that has found its mojo again?
Don’t overreact to individual college games
I’ve seen some sniffy reviews of Will Levis’ performance against Florida and Bryce Young’s display against Texas on Saturday.
Here’s something to remember…
— In Patrick Mahomes’ final year at Texas Tech he had a run of six straight games with an interception. He lost seven games in total. He had 25 interceptions in his last two seasons in college.
— In Andrew Luck’s final year at Stanford he ended with a run of six straight games with an interception. He lost two games in his final year despite playing on a loaded Stanford team. He had eight games with 256 passing yards or fewer.
— Josh Allen had 21 interceptions in his final two years in college. He had a completion percentage of just 56.3%. He had three games in 2017 with sub-100 passing yards and he started his final season with six picks in his first seven games.
Speaking of Allen — the front-runner to be MVP this year — here’s PFF’s scouting report on him before the 2018 draft:
The first thing usually mentioned about Allen is his size, arm and athleticism, but he needs work on the important things like accuracy and decision-making. His high-end plays are spectacular as he can create downfield opportunities with his arm, but he must improve in the short game and cut down on his turnover-worthy plays. There’s an offense to be built around Allen’s skillset, but his great velocity is overrated unless he improves his accuracy, touch and willingness to work efficiently in the quick game. Allen showed plenty of promise with an 84.7 overall grade in 2016, but he regressed to only 73.1 last season.
— Finally, Russell Wilson. He had 25 interceptions in his final two years at NC State. He never had a completion percentage above 60% at NC State. He had 11 games at Wisconsin where he threw 255 yards or fewer — including six sub-200 yard games. He also lost three games in his final season at Wisconsin.
None of the top quarterbacks eligible for 2023 have to be flawless. They just need to show well in the right areas — physical traits, processing, mechanics, footwork, leadership, an ability to elevate and lift their teams, accuracy and the ability to extend plays when necessary.
And to bring it back to Levis and Young:
— Levis just helped Kentucky record back-to-back wins against Florida for the first time since 1976/77. He’s 12-3 as a starter for the Wildcats. In the 10 seasons before he arrived in Kentucky, they averaged 5.6 wins a season.
— When the game was on the line, Young (the reigning Heisman Trophy winner) had enough about him to pull one out of the bag. Alabama were poor against Texas and for three quarters, so was Young. Until it mattered — and he won them the game.
BYU’s Jaren Hall shows well
I don’t think Hall is destined to be an early pick. People complain about Will Levis’ age but Hall is a year older than Levis. There are some moments where he throws into tighter windows where I just think he lacks that top-level arm strength to really fire it into good coverage. I do think his ceiling is lower than some other quarterbacks in college football.
That said, his performance against Baylor was also very impressive. I watched it on Monday and saw a handful of real quality throws, some good athleticism to extend plays and move around and he clearly lifts and elevates his team.
I like his throwing base, he’s generally accurate and while he lacks great size and traits — he does actually play like a point guard. There were some throws to the sideline where, dare I say it, his throwing velocity, release and touch did look a lot like Russell Wilson at Wisconsin. He can drop the football into difficult areas of the field with great touch at times.
Pete Carroll name-dropping Justin Hebert, Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes earlier today on 710 makes me think this team is going to have its heart set on one of the big, physically impressive QB’s eligible for 2023. I’m not only going to focus on those players, however. Hall — if nothing else — carries some mid-round intrigue and I look forward to watching him play again soon.
If you enjoy the content on Seahawks Draft Blog, why not consider supporting the site via Patreon? (click the tab below)
PC was all in it seems to try and humiliate RW at all costs, it was more than just trying to get a W. I think he’s past his shelf life as a coach, but have always respected him, but now that he brought all those players in and pretty much asked fans to boo RW, I lost all respect for him. So so petty, had to do everything he could to show that they won the trade and don’t need RW, even though RW is the only reason he kept his job for as long as he has.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not the biggest RW fan, but I think this was quite a despicable display.
PC didn’t ask fans to boo Russ. Fans treated Russ as opposition QB which is fair. Yes i would have not boo him but others may have hard feelings.
Yes he did, just not directly but rather with more subtlety. “The 12s know what to do” when asked about how he should be received.
Ross’s next shot at Pete or the Hawks, if it comes, will be in 4 years when he is 37. And Pete or the Hawks will likely have Levis, Young, Richardson, Williams or Ewers at QB.
I don’t see a clear path for Russ to avenge this one.
He can avenge it by achieving something in Denver beyond one regular season win
If Russ has any success beyond first round playoff losses the broncos will be considered to have won the trade, and Russel will be proven to be the solution not the problem in Seattle. Time will tell though, the national media is already trying to say Seattle got out right in time.
Unless Russ wins the Super Bowl with Denver, I don’t see it as any sort of win for the Broncos considering how much capital they gave up. Now, if Seattle turns that capital into the QB of the future and it sets up years of success then I would say they won regardless of what Russ does in Denver this year. Because it’s pretty obvious Seattle wasn’t going to win anything with him this year.
You don’t have to define the success of failure for either team on Super Bowls.
If Denver are far better than they have been over the last few years — the trade improved their team and thus it is a win
If Seattle uses the stock wisely and builds a strong team, then it’s a win
It’s that simple
Rob predicted it. While watching it transpire it felt inevitable. I give that win to the will of the 12s. It was the greatest showing of fans after the renaming to “Lumen” that I have ever witnessed. Some credit is definitely due to Pete and Co. for having a decent looking game plan. The old ass coach might not have the mojo to carry a team to a championship again but somehow he turns real shit into diamonds sometimes. I mean he beat the HOF quarterback he just traded, how many coaches can say that. The pats on the backside end there with me though.
This team is so far away with so many variables I don’t see the quick turnaround, failing a potential godsend quarterback like Levis falling in our lap, Levis looks better than Rodgers did at Cal. I don’t think a game manager quarterback similar to Mac Jones even gives this franchise the boost with ol Pete still coaching. This team needs a completely new identity from the top down. Fans would support it in my opinion
I don’t think the yardage Denver gained last night was a outlier on what to expect going forward with this team. If Denver had even played a half-way decent game and if Hackett didn’t have the yips, Denver could have won by at least 10 points.
It will be interesting to see what the ‘Hawks can do against the DL of SF. Geno might end up on his back often unless the he gets the ball out quickly and accurately. I’m not counting on it. It’s true that PC seems to have SF’s number but that was with RW as QB. We’ll see if the 2 headed snake of Penny and Walker can make an impact and help keep Geno clean.
P.S. I don’t follow college FB too closely. I really enjoy the write-up though…
I think the secondary showed pretty well. I’ll be interested to see if this is a consistent thing throughout the season. Wilson only completed 4 passes beyond 10 yards. He went 4/12 on passes beyond 10 yards. Crazy right? There were a lot of short throws and screens that added a bunch to Wilson’s yards. (I don’t think that this sustainable for the Denver offense). There were also some really well designed long throws to the TEs. I don’t think Denver had much success throwing to our CBs when Russ targeted his WRs.
With that being said. I’m pretty worried about the LB play. Barton is getting a lot of love for sniffing out the screen at the end of the game but he struggled to control passes around the LOS. Same with Brooks.
To add on to this — the pass rush needs to pick it up. Multiple times Russ had a chance to extend the play and found WRs on broken plays or extended plays. Again, I think the secondary for the most part did their jobs.
If we get a mix between 1st half Geno and 2nd half Geno then I think the team will hover closer to .500 than be really bad. The run needs to be implemented. Too much of Geno in this game. Let’s be honest…If we want to sustain winning then having Geno throw 17 times a half is probably too much.
Penny ran for 5.0 YPC and broke one long run but was called back. There were other runs when he was close. Waldron needs to get the run game going. Get Dee on the flies. Get Walker on the stretch. I think there is probably more to this run game. We only ran 13 times…
Oline played well. Continue to develop the young guys. Haynes and Lewis would make interesting guards.
Overall some of this can be sustain and some positions are really worrying to me.
FWIW- oddmakers did not seem too impressed by the Seahawks last night. They are 10 point underdogs against SF, and Trey Lance looks awful. Denver is a 10 point favorite against Houston.
It will be interesting to see how long PC/JS receive goodwill from the fans if they start to pile up ugly losses like Vegas and some of us expect them to. Especially if the Broncos go on to win a lot of games.
I’m not at all a Russ hater, but it was weird how many of Russ’ ex-teammates were smirking (e.g. Sherman obviously, but also Baldwin). This was striking to hear straight from Pete:
“And on this night they realized there was a big opportunity and a big statement to be made,” Carroll said. “The game isn’t about an individual player here or there, it’s about team. This is the ultimate team sport, and it’s been stated so many times before. It takes everybody. And sometimes when so much focus goes (on one person), it just rubbed guys wrong I guess or whatever.”
Can’t wait to see the Championship rings Carroll has made for himself, Sherman and Baldwin
Every day in every way I continue to lose more respect for Pete Carroll. I’m just about out of any.
The way the org as a whole acted in the run up, during the game and after leaves a lot to be desired for sure.
I wrote about the sniping passive aggressive behavior in the watch points and it has continued.
Nothing I saw leading up to the game on official sources about ‘Russ is coming back, thank you again for the great years’ or anything close to that.
Pete’s nudge to fans in the press.
The mass gathering of LOB era Seahawks the week of and before the game. They leaked that KJ was the flag raiser. They traditionally never did that before.
In warmups there was zero attempts to at least acknowledge Russ. No 60 second ‘‘hey Russ thanks for 10 great years and a SB win’ video clip. Instead every few minutes the cameras found Lynch, Sherman, Avril, KJ, even Walter Thurmond and the announcer called for fans to cheer them.
And the post game behavior. The social media team has gone over the top to post memes that are poking fun at Russ.
There’s been a ton of talk about the fans booing and being classless. Why isn’t anyone pointing at the org and holding them to the same standard?
Case in point: Peter King veered off from talking about the Hackett FG call and was tearing up the Seahawks fans for booing and was getting all holier-than-thou about it.
Myles Simmons asked him if the Seahawks did anything to honor Russ. Peter King said “I don’t know.”
This knee-jerk quick media reaction stuff is just too much at times. You would think King after decades of reporting would realize there are angles to this.
There will be a time to cheer for Russ. Booing had the potential to throw him off his game. No harm in it. Especially when Russ was convinced that fans were only coming to watch him by the end of his tenure in Seattle. The bond with the team and fans has not been the same the last few years and it seems to be reignited. As great as Russ was, his corny nature was alienating to blue collar fans, defense and running drain opposing fans and invigorate home fans. Russ wanted to play football for production by the end, not for the team. Its not a coincidence the hardcore fans are back in the stadium and feel more connected. As much as Russ’ return rallied fans, the style of play should continue to aid in home field advantage. The fans that chose russ over the hawks arent the ones going to games.
To Geno’s credit, that turnover was not on him. He did fumble with the strip sack, but that was recovered.
The turnover was on him and the tackle. Cross could’ve done better, Smith could’ve stepped up in the pocket on both of his sacks (Carroll said this too)
But it wasnt a turnover, but I am confused, and thought you were referencing the DK Metcalf turnover.
Even without the fumbles those were still goaline stops that weren’t going to be tds.
Not necessarily
In case you missed it, this is from the Grand Instigator himself who has been coaching up our cornerbacks as a “consultant”, along with his new media gig.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAn-r2bBjfI
You never want to see Richard Sherman with that smirk on his face. Remember, Richard Sherman doesn’t want to get into your head. He wants to build a house there.
The Hawks are playing with house-money at this point for the season.
What if Trey Lance isn’t that good after all, and we get a dud of a SF showing next week, then we start 2-0!
One can dream.
It’s certainly possible
I also get the sense Carroll/Seattle won their SB on Monday and the subsequent reaction has been a little bit too much of a victory lap
I get the sense that Kyle Shanahan won’t abandon the outside zone running like Hackett did.
Rob: I get the sense that this game could be the attitude setting event, similar to Beast Quake, in this next phase of Seattle Seahawks football. There is a danger of too much of a victory lap, but there’s also a danger in not “letting ‘er rip.”
Maybe
But I think you’ll accept there’s a stark difference between one of the greatest runs in NFL history (and what that did for the team) and Brandon McManus being asked to make an improbable 64-yard field goal by an inept coach
But the end result was the same. Both created improbable wins. One helped the team get to two Super Bowls. Who knows where this latest one may go. 3 Super Bowls?
The end result isn’t the same — because one play was NFL history in the making and carried an enormous impact, the other will be forgotten when week two kicks off in 24 hours
I gotta think it helps the players buy in- this is A team, not Russell’s team.
Sent that before finishing the thought-
This year could be completely written off. Moved on from Russ, no heir apparent at QB, no clear leader on the team. We’ve seen teams fall apart, vets stop caring, guys just looking out for their job as the main motivator.
Even if it’s a small spark- Geno is saying look, we can win as a team. I can’t win on my own, everyone needs to bring it. Nobody is gonna bail us out. If that gets guys motivated and the team gets back to being bullies, I think a bit of us against the world is worth it.
Russ shouldn’t have said he was tired of carrying the team. I honestly think that was the bulletin material, no matter how true it was at times the last few years, comes across really bad considering where he came from.
Pete talking lowkey trash is shocking, but it’s just as interesting to see some of the old guard seemingly get closer to the team after divorcing Russ. Little childish out of all parties that this rift truly did tear apart the org the last decade. I always thought it was overblown and bitter grapes but boy did it define the era looking back.
I think it’s time to start scouting some safeties in addition to QBs
Yeah get a safety but hit gold on a 4-5th rounder, don’t waste your high picks on that position. We looked reasonably solid with Josh Jones there.
Speaking of safeties, I hadn’t realized Bears rookie Jaquan Brisker was the grandson of legendary John Brisker. Good luck Jaquan!
I don’t think John Brisker would’ve liked Russell Wilson either.
Piece on Van Dyke if anyone is interested:
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/34541574/miami-football-waiting-two-decades-quarterback-tyler-van-dyke
Dang
https://mobile.twitter.com/NFL/status/1569843369509113860
DK has a quiet days stats wise in respect of yards at least.
Is that a reflection of Smiths limited arm range or the fact DK was up against a good secondary. or a combination of both?
Offense wasn’t able to get the WR’s involved in explosive plays downfield
Which is fine if the TE’s compensate as they did — but let’s see if any trends emerge
From what I’ve read, Denver made it a point to take away the WR’s and bracketed safeties up the field from DK and Lockett. But that opened it up to the TE’s, which Geno took advantage of in the first half.
Rob I believe you’ve mentioned it before, Will Levis needs a better O-line. He won’t last the season at the rate he gets hit. I’m concerned he will develop “happy feet” in the pocket as the season progresses, or start watching the pass rush instead of keeping eyes downfield. He is highly talented but only as good as his protection allows.
I watched Van Dyke twice so far and it seems as though he stares down his primary target. That won’t fly in the NFL. It could just be the level of competition. I’d like to see more progression in his reads as the season moves on.
This victory seems to be vindication of letting Russ walk (not cook). There have been a high volume of reports over the years that Wilson was not very popular in the locker room. I think the Seahawks gave up a lot of team unity to keep Wilson happy, and just got tired of his prima-donna act.
Also, they didn’t think that Geno was a far of a drop from Wilson as many believed. He’s not a “savior” but may be a long-term competent QB in the Carroll system. I think Geno’s presence had something to do with the Wilson trade.
One game isn’t a vindication of anything
It’s a good start though.
Then call it a good start
Not a vindication of letting Russ go
If the Hawks were to use one of thier 2nd round picks to draft a legit left guard then that OL has the potential to be really really good for whatever young QB they draft and need to develop.
RT Lucas
RG Lewis
C Blythe or Vetran FA
LG Early 2023 draft pick
LT Cross
That is a group I could get excited about to grow alongside whomever they draft at QB.
I haven’t heard anyone make this take. I think maybe, maybe, Nathaniel Hackett called the kick instead of the 4th and 5 with Russ because if they don’t make it, then what does that do to the psychology of the Broncos team going forward knowing they just guaranteed Russ $165mil. More important to play the long game there. Take the heat. Chalk it up to my first game. Wouldn’t make that call again, blah, blah, blah. But if Russ gets the shot and doesn’t make it, that makes a whole different dynamic to that team.
I, for one, have not been a fan of Russ for years. He is a selfish player in the ultimate team sport. Still throws the best deep ball maybe ever. TBH. I would rather have hope for the future than know in my heart we are one and done. Good luck to the Broncos. They better get it this year or next before the money gets large and the talent dries up by being in the back of the draft every year.
Just my 2.
The haters were always going to cherry-pick parts of this game that validate their opinion that the Seahawks aren’t a good team. Rob said that he’s waiting for questions to be answered, like whether or not this team can keep up the intensity. It is going to take more than one game to find out the answer, but the Seahawks are chalk full of player’s with something to prove and it’s probable that they continue to play just as hard. I don’t know how many wins that will equate to, but it’ll make the season a hell of a lot more exciting and will at the very least set themselves up for some upsets against opponents looking to coast against a “lesser” opponent.