Game Thread: Panthers at Seahawks Week 3

[flyerhawk]

Huge props to essentially our 2nd string OL. They played well today. Got dicey when Lewis went down for a bit but they were actually pretty darn good in the 2nd half.

Geno had a good game for the most part but was pressing too hard in the 2nd quarter. K9 and Charbonet looked awesome together. JSN still trying to find his spot on the offense which isn't surprising. Only so many targets for the receivers and DK has been a monster the past couple of weeks.

Witherspoon looked good today. Stats probably flatter him more than he deserves but you can tell he is going to be disruptor. Big shout out to Artie Burns who stepped up and had some nice plays today.

The DL played reasonably well. Still need more consistent pass rush but the run defense has been looking vastly improved.

 

[Screamin12th]

Huge props to essentially our 2nd string OL. They played well today. Got dicey when Lewis went down for a bit but they were actually pretty darn good in the 2nd half.

Geno had a good game for the most part but was pressing too hard in the 2nd quarter. K9 and Charbonet looked awesome together. JSN still trying to find his spot on the offense which isn't surprising. Only so many targets for the receivers and DK has been a monster the past couple of weeks.

Witherspoon looked good today. Stats probably flatter him more than he deserves but you can tell he is going to be disruptor. Big shout out to Artie Burns who stepped up and had some nice plays today.

The DL played reasonably well. Still need more consistent pass rush but the run defense has been looking vastly improved.

Run Defense does look better but the sad truth is when a team needs to run against the Hawks for a big first down they seem to be able to do it. Hell it's like 3rd and short in that 2 to 4 yard range and teams get the first down running every time. Then again it could be 3rd and 15 to 20 and they get the first down passing. Sad truth is the Hawks have the most 3rd downs converted against in the NFL even though they have not had the most 3rd downs against. Teams are converting at almost 60% against the Hawks defense and i don't think that includes todays game which was a little better at 52%. League average is in that 33-36% range.

 

[MrS]

C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS	QBR	RTG
23/38	306	8.1	1	1	1-12	67.6	83.9

C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	SACKS	QBR	RTG
23/36	296	8.2	1	1	2-17	60.8	87.3

I think these two QB's played almost like mirror images of each other don't you? Wilson wasn't the reason they lost and Geno wasn't the reason we won today. Neither one did much to help their teams win or lose.

When was the last time a NFL team scored 70 points in a game that's just disgusting. Did Miami just continue to run up the score or something? Or is Denver's Defense just THAT bad?

It was one of the all time great trades and its amazing watching the broncos collapse completely

JSN still trying to find his spot on the offense which isn't surprising.

His spot is bubble screens apparently. The TEs are soaking up all the metcalf and locket leftovers, almost like maybe we didnt need a wR in round 1.

Oh and bobo, dont forget he got a TD today

 

[blstoker]

One of the most ridiculous losses in NFL history.

70 points!? The Redskins I believe scored 72 which is the NFL record in 66' which was pre Super Bowl era (or the 1st Super Bowl season).

I can shake my head in disbelief at the Rams loss in week 1, but losing by 50 points and allowing a team to score 70!? Jesus Christ, the entire team quit.

Then Sean Payton basically throwing Wilson under the bus, Hackett under the bus, his defense under the bus.. dude that entire team at this point has to be like, "Dude FUCK this guy." Payton has 100% lost the locker room. Well good for us I guess. Hopefully we'll get the number 1 3rd round pick (late 2nd basically).

Yeah, glad I'm not a Broncos fan this week.

 

[flyerhawk]

His spot is bubble screens apparently. The TEs are soaking up all the metcalf and locket leftovers, almost like maybe we didnt need a wR in round 1.

Oh and bobo, dont forget he got a TD today

And who should we have drafted instead of JSN?

 

[flyerhawk]

Run Defense does look better but the sad truth is when a team needs to run against the Hawks for a big first down they seem to be able to do it. Hell it's like 3rd and short in that 2 to 4 yard range and teams get the first down running every time. Then again it could be 3rd and 15 to 20 and they get the first down passing. Sad truth is the Hawks have the most 3rd downs converted against in the NFL even though they have not had the most 3rd downs against. Teams are converting at almost 60% against the Hawks defense and i don't think that includes todays game which was a little better at 52%. League average is in that 33-36% range.

I'm not sure I agree that teams are able to convert 3rd downs on running plays all that well. Seems to me that it is almost ALWAYS a passing play that we give up.

Pete's defenses always were built to give up a few 3rd downs in order to prevent the big play. But now teams are just marching up and down the field on us unless they shoot themselves in the foot with a penalty or turnover.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Getting off the field on 3rd downs has been a problem for this team for a few seasons now. Every now and then, they make big plays when they get pressure but it's too few and far between and inconsistent. I don't know the answer but it is frustrating as hell.
And the offense still doesn't seem to convert 3rd downs, especially early in games. If they don't move the chains on 1st or 2nd down, they seem to sputter. And red zone early in the game drives me nuts. They should have put up 50 points in this game. Don't get me wrong here. 37 pts is a really good Sunday but damn, this didn't need to be nearly as close as it was. They left a lot of points out there. At least Myers didn't miss any.
Oh well, on to the Giants. Hope the RBS repeat what we saw this week and we start getting healthy. Hope the beat up Oline can keep hanging on. Really impressed with their mettle out there. Can't overlook Jones and the Giants but we should go in there and take them out. We need to get some wins under our belt before the schedule gets really tough. Still a shitload to work on but saw some steps in the right direction, at least. Most notably, the running game and play calling. At least Clint is willing to bring some pressures, unlike Norton.

 

[JMR]

I was pretty worried about this one for most of the first half, but relieved to get the win. A few of my takeaways:

• Another one-off bad play by Geno (the INT), but overall another pretty strong game. It wasn't as good as last week (especially 3rd down performance), but so far through 3 games he's holding up to be right about what he was last season. In fact, the 2 stat lines are almost identical. It seemed the biggest naysayers were talking about how there was no way he would touch last year's comp % of 69.8. He's at 68.9 right now. We'll see how it goes from here, but the data points are lining up to say that last year was not a fluke.
• Why are we so bad on 3rd downs? Both sides of the ball had trouble yesterday, and of course on defense it is a continuing problem. I didn't expect all of the offense's first 5 scoring drives to all be field goals, and I thought it was going to end up costing the game, but they did get slightly better in the 2nd half. Or they were just picking up the 1st before they even got to 3rd down, but at one point we had converted 1 of 8.
• Witherspoon!!! I thought he was great yesterday. Dalton through a career high number of passes, many at Spoon, and the rookie held up really well. In fact, with Woolen out and Tre Brown going down in-game, Witherspoon looked like the only CB out there who could cover anyone for more than 2 seconds. He was blasting dudes too. I wished we would have picked Jalen Carter, but that doesn't mean I won't be excited for Spoon to turn out to be studly. So far, I'm impressed.
• The lack of an "extra meeting" guy on the DL is apparent every game. Carolina's gameplan was pretty interesting for this one: as soon as injuries mounted in our secondary, they just ditched the run and passed almost exclusively. And that gave them a chance with how soft this defense tends to be between the 2nd and 3rd levels. Pressure on the QB is how you solve that, and we struggle to do it with 4, 5, or even 6 rushers.
• Why does Pete love terrible challenges? It was obvious Chark caught that ball on the sideline, so it was just a complete waste of a TO in the 3rd qtr. Would have been maddening if we had needed that at the end of the game, but it didn't kill us this time.
• Another game where the starting OTs were inactive, another game with 1 more starter going down in-game (returned later), and another pretty admirable job by the fill-ins. Forsythe got beat badly a couple times, but on the whole it was acceptable.

It gets interesting from here. We *should* have Jamal Adams back for MNF @ NYG, and hopefully Woolen & Cross as well. I really want to see what the secondary looks like with Spoon & Woolen. Giants have not been impressive so far, and they may not have Barkley.

 

[flyerhawk]

One guy that I haven't seen talked about at all is Anthony Bradford. Came in and played pretty darn well today. Just pushing people around on run players. Curious to see how PFF grades them out. IMO, this was one of the best performances by OL in recent memory against a good Panthers front 7. Given that 3 of the starters were out, that's impressive.

 

[Anointed One]

And who should we have drafted instead of JSN?

He wanted the DL who hasn't played this year due to injuries this season...

 

[flyerhawk]

He wanted the DL who hasn't played this year due to injuries this season...

Murphy? Not exactly the player this team was looking for.

But pretty on brand for him to want a guy who hasn't played because the guy who has been playing hasn't been a huge impact guy in his first 3 games.

 

[MrS]

I havent said who I would have picked, but any defender would have made more sense. taking a WR, especially seeing how he is being used, makes no sense.

this team needed DL help and watching andy dalton easily convert 3rd and 14+ makes it more mind boggling.

 

[flyerhawk]

I havent said who I would have picked, but any defender would have made more sense. taking a WR, especially seeing how he is being used, makes no sense.

this team needed DL help and watching andy dalton easily convert 3rd and 14+ makes it more mind boggling.

You think taking Myles Murphy, who hasn't played yet, or Mazi Smith, who has had little to no impact yet, or Brian Bresee who has 2 tackles for the season, would have changed that?

Your argument is for the Seahawks to go back to drafting based on need versus BPA. How did that work out when we took Collier?

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

I was pretty worried about this one for most of the first half, but relieved to get the win. A few of my takeaways:

• Another one-off bad play by Geno (the INT), but overall another pretty strong game. It wasn't as good as last week (especially 3rd down performance), but so far through 3 games he's holding up to be right about what he was last season. In fact, the 2 stat lines are almost identical. It seemed the biggest naysayers were talking about how there was no way he would touch last year's comp % of 69.8. He's at 68.9 right now. We'll see how it goes from here, but the data points are lining up to say that last year was not a fluke.
• Why are we so bad on 3rd downs? Both sides of the ball had trouble yesterday, and of course on defense it is a continuing problem. I didn't expect all of the offense's first 5 scoring drives to all be field goals, and I thought it was going to end up costing the game, but they did get slightly better in the 2nd half. Or they were just picking up the 1st before they even got to 3rd down, but at one point we had converted 1 of 8.
• Witherspoon!!! I thought he was great yesterday. Dalton through a career high number of passes, many at Spoon, and the rookie held up really well. In fact, with Woolen out and Tre Brown going down in-game, Witherspoon looked like the only CB out there who could cover anyone for more than 2 seconds. He was blasting dudes too. I wished we would have picked Jalen Carter, but that doesn't mean I won't be excited for Spoon to turn out to be studly. So far, I'm impressed.
• The lack of an "extra meeting" guy on the DL is apparent every game. Carolina's gameplan was pretty interesting for this one: as soon as injuries mounted in our secondary, they just ditched the run and passed almost exclusively. And that gave them a chance with how soft this defense tends to be between the 2nd and 3rd levels. Pressure on the QB is how you solve that, and we struggle to do it with 4, 5, or even 6 rushers.
• Why does Pete love terrible challenges? It was obvious Chark caught that ball on the sideline, so it was just a complete waste of a TO in the 3rd qtr. Would have been maddening if we had needed that at the end of the game, but it didn't kill us this time.
• Another game where the starting OTs were inactive, another game with 1 more starter going down in-game (returned later), and another pretty admirable job by the fill-ins. Forsythe got beat badly a couple times, but on the whole it was acceptable.

It gets interesting from here. We *should* have Jamal Adams back for MNF @ NYG, and hopefully Woolen & Cross as well. I really want to see what the secondary looks like with Spoon & Woolen. Giants have not been impressive so far, and they may not have Barkley.

Good notes.

As for Cross. It'd be great if we get him back next week, but if it's turf toe (even a mild case of it) I'm willing to bet he's out until after the bye. Turf toe sounds like not a big thing, but it usually sidelines guys for 6-8 weeks it seems.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

One guy that I haven't seen talked about at all is Anthony Bradford. Came in and played pretty darn well today. Just pushing people around on run players. Curious to see how PFF grades them out. IMO, this was one of the best performances by OL in recent memory against a good Panthers front 7. Given that 3 of the starters were out, that's impressive.

I loved Seattle's depth going into this season at OL. Every position was shored up. Stone Forsythe IMO is underrated, he's always been a great pass blocker, just a little weak against the run. Curhan was a pleasant surprise granted but then we got Bradford and Oluwatimi both IMO who fell in the draft because I think 7 or 8 interior lineman were taken in the 2nd lol.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

I havent said who I would have picked, but any defender would have made more sense. taking a WR, especially seeing how he is being used, makes no sense.

this team needed DL help and watching andy dalton easily convert 3rd and 14+ makes it more mind boggling.

Eh, Lockett is getting older and when he and Metcalf went down a couple times last season, along with Goodwin going down, Seattle had absolutely NOTHING. JSN still has the 3rd most targets on the team, just need to get him in space a bit more, but it will materialize.

And if Lockett goes down (which I'm counting on at some point) guess who replaces him?

 

[JMR]

Eh, Lockett is getting older and when he and Metcalf went down a couple times last season, along with Goodwin going down, Seattle had absolutely NOTHING. JSN still has the 3rd most targets on the team, just need to get him in space a bit more, but it will materialize.

And if Lockett goes down (which I'm counting on at some point) guess who replaces him?

Plus, in 2 years from now when JSN has grown into his NFL skin, he's going to be either WR1 or WR2 on this team because TL will have either moved on or come down the pecking order due to age. As *almost* all of us understand, the draft is less about this season than the ones after.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

Plus, in 2 years from now when JSN has grown into his NFL skin, he's going to be either WR1 or WR2 on this team because TL will have either moved on or come down the pecking order due to age. As *almost* all of us understand, the draft is less about this season than the ones after.

I still love the JSN pick. There's a good chance Lockett or Metcalf will get banged up this year and JSN will be all that's left. Geno loves to spread the ball around (hell look at Walker yesterday, almost 60 yards out of nowhere). I also found it amusing that as soon as Seattle picked JSN there was like a panic in every war room, because there was like 3-4 WRs that went immediately after lol.

Again, he'll have his time to shine.

I gotta eat a LITTLE bit of crow, Witherspoon looks the part. Targeted 11 times and only gave up 3 receptions for a measly 20 yards... meanwhile probably the best tackler the secondary has seen in years. It's one game, against the PANTHERS lol.. but still. Gotta give him some props.

 

[JMR]

Good notes.

As for Cross. It'd be great if we get him back next week, but if it's turf toe (even a mild case of it) I'm willing to bet he's out until after the bye. Turf toe sounds like not a big thing, but it usually sidelines guys for 6-8 weeks it seems.

Yeah, for sure Cross may not play until after the bye. I guess I'll listen to Pete here on 710 later this morning and see if he mentions anything about that. It will be great if we can start getting these players back on the field and not lose anyone else significant.

 

[JMR]

I still love the JSN pick. There's a good chance Lockett or Metcalf will get banged up this year and JSN will be all that's left. Geno loves to spread the ball around (hell look at Walker yesterday, almost 60 yards out of nowhere). I also found it amusing that as soon as Seattle picked JSN there was like a panic in every war room, because there was like 3-4 WRs that went immediately after lol.

Again, he'll have his time to shine.

I totally agree. Almost every team plays 3 WRs every snap anyway. He's a starter out of the gate, and he's only going to get better from here. With DK and TL both healthy and very productive, there are only so many receptions to go around even with Geno spreading the love. TEs are getting more looks than usual as well.

I gotta eat a LITTLE bit of crow, Witherspoon looks the part. Targeted 11 times and only gave up 3 receptions for a measly 20 yards... meanwhile probably the best tackler the secondary has seen in years. It's one game, against the PANTHERS lol.. but still. Gotta give him some props.

Like was just said on B&S a moment ago, at times yesterday he looked like the best player on the field. If he develops into a game changing corner, I think we'll start peeking over the fence at what Jalen Carter is doing quite a bit less. I am already getting to the point where if I see a blue flash come into the screen and smack someone, I expect to see a 21 on the jersey when he gets up after the play.