Game Thread: Seahawks @ Lions (12PM CST)

[blstoker]

typical 2nd Half from Pete, and it has ALWAYS drove me crazy. They start sitting on 10 to 14 point leads After halftime.

Yeah, the imbalance of games 1 and 2 drove me nuts. The imbalance of games 3-7 has also driven me nuts - even though we're winning. There is a way to run and pass close to 50% and make the offense viable. Not every defense is as bad a Detroit, and we abandoned the pass so fully that we were over a yard per carry less than what Detroit has been giving up on the season (despite being right there at half time).

 

[Anointed One]

Great weekend! Hawks Win... Cougs Win... Huskies Lose...

 

[WizardHawk]

Great weekend! Hawks Win... Cougs Win... Huskies Lose...

Sure, but since Oregon also lost UW still sits in the driver seat even a game back of the cougs.

Crazy damned Pac12 this year. If UW wins out their last 3 they take the North. Won't deserve it IMO, but they take it anyway.

 

[MrS]

this team is a lot of fun to watch again, and i wanted add we are the top red zone offense in the league right now. or we were going into the game.

 

[Warden]

1 and 7 for Richard Sherman. With all his crap talk about the Hawks after he left, well Karma is a bitch Richard

 

[FirebreathingMonkey]

article about the punt, it looks like it was supposed to be a safety.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/seahaw...ces-win-impromptu-run-end-zone-201440330.html

Seahawks rookie punter Michael Dickson ices win with impromptu run from his own end zone

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

Solid win on the road with a ton of home games on the back half of the schedule. O-line looks good from what little I saw on redzone. Overall, seems like a well balanced game and victory.

 

[flyerhawk]

So apparently the Dickson run was all on Dickson. He was supposed to just run out of the end zone for a safety. But he saw a wide open field and seized the moment. That is some serious balls for a punter.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

So apparently the Dickson run was all on Dickson. He was supposed to just run out of the end zone for a safety. But he saw a wide open field and seized the moment. That is some serious balls for a punter.

That did take some guts, It was a dangerous gamble, but it paid off...

 

[blstoker]

So apparently the Dickson run was all on Dickson. He was supposed to just run out of the end zone for a safety. But he saw a wide open field and seized the moment. That is some serious balls for a punter.

Serious balls for a rookie.....

 

[JMR]

Some fairly predictable grumbling about "letting up" in the 2nd half, but a 14 point road win in the NFL is always good enough. Especially when you go into it as the underdog. Gold stars in this one for Russell Wilson (perfect passer rating, and an insane ypa -- 250 yds and 3 TDs on only 17 passes), Chris Carson (3rd 100 yd game), David Moore (hooray for the changed catch rule!), Hawks Run D (K Johnson barely outrushed our punter), the OL (it sure has come a long way), and M Dickson (the stones on that guy!). Honorable mention to Bobby Wagner for doing what appeared to be settling some sort of personal score with Golden Tate....abused him all day.

My thoughts on the controversial plays/calls:

- PC challenging the David Moore catch. At first I didn't think it was a good move, but then on the replay I saw the 3rd foot hit with control of the ball, and that made me think we had a chance since the "surviving the ground" part of the catch rule was removed this off-season. Still a bit surprised we got it, but big play because it was chunk yardage on 3rd down that flipped the field.

- Patricia challenging the Vannett catch. I thought this was a dumb challenge. Since there was already a penalty on the D there that would result in a 1st down, the only thing you're gaining is a couple yards for the difference in where the ball is spotted. I guess you sort of get a TO there w/o having to get charged for it, but it doesn't seem like that was worth risking the TO and also only having 1 challenge left for the rest of the game.

- Going for it on 4th & G. I didn't mind it. If you don't make it, Detroit has to go 99 yards for a TD and gobble up all sorts of time in the process. Your D was playing well, especially when the Lions got close to midfield. A FG makes it a 3 score game, but I think all that clock time Detroit would have had to use on a 99 yard drive was more valuable than a FG. And Doug Baldwin just has to get that 2nd foot down, especially if he wants to be the guy running around criticizing his QB behind his back.

- The fake punt that really wasn't. I was wondering before it was snapped if we would try to waste as much time in the ez as possible and then take the safety....becomes a 12 point game and then you get to pin them with the free kick, and there is probably not enough time left for 2 TD drives. By taking the safety instead of punting, you also remove the chance of the punt being blocked (easier to do when backed up at the goal line) and recovered for a TD. I am not sure Dickson's choice to run it out is one PC wants him to repeat, but fortunately for us it worked this time.

- PI call on McDougald. Awful. I cannot understand why the competition committee has yet to re-work the PI rule. I think there should be a spot foul option for flagrant violations, but the garden variety should just be 10 or 15 yards. I hate that teams can just do a chuck and pray and be rewarded the same as if the receiver had made the catch.

- Tate fumble at the end. Maybe it was, but if the refs blew the whistle then the best we could have had was the recovery. Wouldn't have been given the return yardage/TD since it happened after the whistle. Same thing happened on the ET INT vs Dallas in the 1st home game.

I might be over Doug Baldwin pretty soon. He's good and all, and he's been a great Seahawk, but he isn't what makes this offense go, and now we've paid Lockett and may have stumbled on a serious talent in David Moore. I wouldn't even mind seeing more Jaron Brown. It'll also be the least shocking development of the season if Doug starts complaining for only getting a couple catches a game. I am not quite there yet with him, but the process of turning over the team has already meant cutting ties with all the other louder personalities of the old guard....only 1 remains.

Great win. On to SD!

 

[MKHawk]

Did I miss reports outing Baldwin as a source for the Russell hit pieces?

 

[JMR]

Did I miss reports outing Baldwin as a source for the Russell hit pieces?

It's widely speculated that he is one of the guys feeding the story behind the scenes.

 

[BSUSeahawk]

Did I miss reports outing Baldwin as a source for the Russell hit pieces?

It's widely speculated that he is one of the guys feeding the story behind the scenes.

In general, or has there been anything posted about this? I'm curious as well, I hadn't heard that.

 

[BSUSeahawk]

Thoughts on yesterday's game:

- Wilson is playing absolutely lights out right now. When he slumps, it can be rough, but when he's on, he just doesn't miss. A couple really nice catches by Moore and Dickson helped out too. The Hawks are saying his hamstring is a non-issue, but on that edge run he was getting chased down by a DL. Never seen that before.

- Once the Seahawks took a 14-7 lead, the game never felt in doubt at any point. The defense had full control.

- Chris Carson is incredible. Going to keep it positive here, so I won't mention the frustrating side of that fact, but he has definitely earned the carry share that he's getting. He is so tough to bring down.

- David Moore is a player and fits a huge need with his size. I'm not really sure what Marshall's purpose is anymore. I wouldn't be surprised to see him cut soon.

- The secondary is really playing well. Thompson flubbed up that first touchdown to Jones, but I expect some growing pains. He's not ET. Outside of that, I thought Flowers played tremendously. Golladay did nothing all day, and even Tate was held in check for the most part.

- Nice to get KJ back and have a mostly healthy front 7. Kerryon is a monster and was shut down. For all the accolades the LOB got, my favorite part of those 2012 - 2016 Seahawks defenses was knowing they could stop the run. They're looking tougher to run on each week.

- Tough stretch coming up. LAC feels like a game you kind of have to have, with some of the opponents coming up. It'll be nice to not face Bosa, I figured he'd be back after the bye.

 

[JMR]

In general, or has there been anything posted about this? I'm curious as well, I hadn't heard that.

There's no big story per se outing Baldwin, but Mike Salk definitely feels Baldwin is one of the guys anonymously being critical of Russell based on his interaction with the journalists he talks to with the access to know. I've heard him discuss it a couple times, and he's pretty convinced about it. Maybe he's wrong, but I don't think he's got that opinion for shock effect. Even if Baldwin is openly/publicly critical of a teammate vs doing it behind his back, I don't think that's much better in the context of a team environment.

 

[BSUSeahawk]

There's no big story per se outing Baldwin, but Mike Salk definitely feels Baldwin is one of the guys anonymously being critical of Russell based on his interaction with the journalists he talks to with the access to know. I've heard him discuss it a couple times, and he's pretty convinced about it. Maybe he's wrong, but I don't think he's got that opinion for shock effect. Even if Baldwin is openly/publicly critical of a teammate vs doing it behind his back, I don't think that's much better in the context of a team environment.

Makes sense, and I agree with your assessment of Salk as well.

I was curious because the Baldwin/Wilson dynamic has always been an interesting one. It's always seemed to be a bit rocky.

 

[JMR]

Makes sense, and I agree with your assessment of Salk as well.

I was curious because the Baldwin/Wilson dynamic has always been an interesting one. It's always seemed to be a bit rocky.

Yeah, agree on the rockiness....seems Doug has always been a bit chilly with him. I am not trying to make Baldwin out to be the antagonist here as much as it may seem, but I have seen behaviors over the years that give me pause with him. Each one by itself may not be a huge deal, but when you put them all together (heated sideline encounters, pooping out the football in the SB, being critical of the coaching, flipping off the sideline) it starts to paint a certain picture and makes me wonder how much longer he fits here.

 

[BSUSeahawk]

Yeah, agree on the rockiness....seems Doug has always been a bit chilly with him. I am not trying to make Baldwin out to be the antagonist here as much as it may seem, but I have seen behaviors over the years that give me pause with him. Each one by itself may not be a huge deal, but when you put them all together (heated sideline encounters, pooping out the football in the SB, being critical of the coaching, flipping off the sideline) it starts to paint a certain picture and makes me wonder how much longer he fits here.

The ultimate issue might be the production. He's been a virtual non-factor all year. I know he's fought injuries, but his cap number is really high. Not saying he'll necessarily be a cut candidate next year, but it would be nice to see something.

 

[JMR]

The ultimate issue might be the production. He's been a virtual non-factor all year. I know he's fought injuries, but his cap number is really high. Not saying he'll necessarily be a cut candidate next year, but it would be nice to see something.

Yeah, and that's the other part of it that makes me think there's a good chance this is his last season here. He's 30 years old, and his 2019 cap number is north of $13M. Even with the new deal, this is 2x what Lockett's is. We may be needing to make room for some combo of Frank Clark, KJ Wright, DJ Fluker, JR Sweezy, etc. 2019 is also the final year for the contracts of RW and Bobby Wagner. The emergence of David Moore probably doesn't help make anyone in the FO think $13M for Baldwin is any better of a deal, either.