Seahawks @ Rams

[jerseyhawksfan79]

I don't need it to be like LAR's, I'd just like to think that we could get our splits a little more respectable. There's more ways to combat 70% passing that we had in week 1 & 2 than to flip the script and go 70% run.

Would also be nice if RW used his legs a bit more to keep the D off balanced

 

[blstoker]

Would also be nice if RW used his legs a bit more to keep the D off balanced

he did that today, with a great deal of success, so I'm not gonna complain - since it was his 5th best rushing game of his career. I would just like him to not keep running into the minute 5/6 of the 4th curse he's working on right now.

 

[Screamin12th]

You just did by predicting them to finish out 5-2..

Not really. I can see this team win the games vs the 49ers ( 2 ) and Cards in Seattle, that's 3 wins. I also believe after two loses they pull off a win this Thursday against a 4-4-1 packers team that is also struggling because it's in Seattle and they should be the Favorite against the Vikings in Seattle if it happens this way. If i went with my Heart i say they go 7-0 or 6-1, Wouldn't that be great. Loses to KC and Panthers.

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

he did that today, with a great deal of success, so I'm not gonna complain - since it was his 5th best rushing game of his career. I would just like him to not keep running into the minute 5/6 of the 4th curse he's working on right now.

I guess I mean some of those sacks he takes he could of stepped up and had open field to run. This has been throughout the season. Yesterday, he took advantage of that and we need more of it.

 

[BSUSeahawk]

Thoughts:

- I am so jealous of the Rams offense. I know the Hawks ran it well (YPC wise) yesterday, but it's infuriating watching a rival team with an exciting, innovative offense while Carroll and Schottenheimer are trying to bring us back to 1970.

- Romo did a good job of pointing this out yesterday, but the Schottenheimer is electing to go with philosophy over common sense in a lot of his play calls. There were times where LA had zero safeties and each receiver was 1-1 on 1st or 2nd down plays and they'd run right into it. The results may have worked out overall, but the process is terrible.

- Russell needs to keep using his running ability. He's so much more dangerous when that's an option. I don't know why he's been hesitant to use it. I'd like to see them mix in a few more designed runs too.

- Penny looked really good and explosive. As expected when you use a 1st round pick on a running back, there's a real surplus of backs on this team now. I'm not really sure how the carry breakout will go when everyone is healthy, but Penny has definitely earned some more carries. I like Davis, but Penny and Carson are far more explosive.

- Defensively there's not much to say - yuck. They did nothing well. Gurley ran all over them, they couldn't cover anybody. I guess the one positive is they kept everything in front of them and didn't get beat deep, like they have the last couple weeks. Gurley pretty much had a guaranteed 10 yards every time he took a handoff.

- The linebackers are good, but this team severely needs a talent boost on the line and in the secondary. McDougald and Griffin are good, not great players, but I don't see much else in the secondary that's starting material. They need more high end talent on the line too. Reed, Jefferson, etc. are good players but they don't have enough. They got absolutely demolished by LA's O-line.

 

[MrS]

It's just frustrating to see McVay's offense fly while our offense gets stale too many times

Goff had ALL DAY to throw, Wilson was getting creamed all day.

rams just have a better pass protecting OL than we do, by about a mile.

However, Wilson could stop pulling the Chris Everett routine on every 3rd down.

 

[JMR]

Hard for me to be too upset or discouraged about yesterday's game. It sucks to lose (though in this case it was certainly expected), and thought it was a gritty performance that gave us a decent shot at it in the end. We went in without our starting RB, no DJ Fluker, and we were still able to run the ball extremely well. You want to see RW make that 4th down throw, but the degree of difficulty was up there due to where the defender was and Russell being on the move. Up until that down, I felt pretty good about our chance to pull out a very improbably win. Sometimes you come up short, especially against the better teams in their house and/or when you have such a young team.

I think this team is really close. 2 games against the Rams that could have gone either way. I can definitely see a very strong finishing push to the playoffs.

 

[Anointed One]

Can’t be too disappointed with the 63 points we put up on the Rams and two games this year. That is huge improvement. Especially with all of the resources they put into their defense this off-season

 

[Anointed One]

So do they go 6-1 in their last 7 to reach the 10-6 that people were saying? i just don't know if half of us are watching the same team out there on Sunday in the Seahawks jersey. Or they just don't understand football?.

Not much difference between 10 or 9 wins... Hard to take your statement seriously... You're talking about a difference of 1 win... I could see if you make that statement for those that may have predicted 12 wins but to say that when you predicted 9 wins is being short sighted from my view...

 

[JMR]

Not much difference between 10 or 9 wins... Hard to take your statement seriously... You're talking about a difference of 1 win... I could see if you make that statement for those that may have predicted 12 wins but to say that when you predicted 9 wins is being short sighted from my view...

I would be doubtful about this team's chances for a good stretch run if we were not so competitive with these good teams that we've barely lost to. The record says 4-5, but the most recent 3 losses are against 2 teams with a combined 16-3 record, and total point differential in those 3 losses is 15. 1 play away in each game. When we are facing inferior teams, for the most part we're handling them the way you expect a playoff type team to do in the NFL. And this aint college -- the good teams don't blow everyone out by 30 every week.

I still see at least 9-7. The only thing that pushes me off that is if we drop this game vs GB, which would be a shock to me based on how well we can run and how dominant home teams have been on TNF. Of the 4 toughest remaining games (GB, CAR, KC, MINN), 3 of them are at home. 10 wins will certainly be tough to do, but we'll see how it looks in a couple weeks.

 

[Anointed One]

I would be doubtful about this team's chances for a good stretch run if we were not so competitive with these good teams that we've barely lost to. The record says 4-5, but the most recent 3 losses are against 2 teams with a combined 16-3 record, and total point differential in those 3 losses is 15. 1 play away in each game. When we are facing inferior teams, for the most part we're handling them the way you expect a playoff type team to do in the NFL. And this aint college -- the good teams don't blow everyone out by 30 every week.

I still see at least 9-7. The only thing that pushes me off that is if we drop this game vs GB, which would be a shock to me based on how well we can run and how dominant home teams have been on TNF. Of the 4 toughest remaining games (GB, CAR, KC, MINN), 3 of them are at home. 10 wins will certainly be tough to do, but we'll see how it looks in a couple weeks.

I'm just excited to see that we've been competitive in almost every game we've played... The team is playing w/ heart and does not give up... If we could do a better job finishing, we'll be pulling out a few more wins... I think we're 1-5 in one score games...

 

[BSUSeahawk]

Thoughts:

- I am so jealous of the Rams offense. I know the Hawks ran it well (YPC wise) yesterday, but it's infuriating watching a rival team with an exciting, innovative offense while Carroll and Schottenheimer are trying to bring us back to 1970.

- Romo did a good job of pointing this out yesterday, but the Schottenheimer is electing to go with philosophy over common sense in a lot of his play calls. There were times where LA had zero safeties and each receiver was 1-1 on 1st or 2nd down plays and they'd run right into it. The results may have worked out overall, but the process is terrible.

- Russell needs to keep using his running ability. He's so much more dangerous when that's an option. I don't know why he's been hesitant to use it. I'd like to see them mix in a few more designed runs too.

- Penny looked really good and explosive. As expected when you use a 1st round pick on a running back, there's a real surplus of backs on this team now. I'm not really sure how the carry breakout will go when everyone is healthy, but Penny has definitely earned some more carries. I like Davis, but Penny and Carson are far more explosive.

- Defensively there's not much to say - yuck. They did nothing well. Gurley ran all over them, they couldn't cover anybody. I guess the one positive is they kept everything in front of them and didn't get beat deep, like they have the last couple weeks. Gurley pretty much had a guaranteed 10 yards every time he took a handoff.

- The linebackers are good, but this team severely needs a talent boost on the line and in the secondary. McDougald and Griffin are good, not great players, but I don't see much else in the secondary that's starting material. They need more high end talent on the line too. Reed, Jefferson, etc. are good players but they don't have enough. They got absolutely demolished by LA's O-line.

Random thought: but another issue I have with the Seahawks offense in regards to run v. pass is how they handle late game situations when they're trailing. This was the second straight week where they were in a situation that required massive urgency (< 5 minutes to go, down 2 scores) and they were running the ball. I get that the defense is set up for the pass there, but if you take less time getting down the field, they would have more time on that last drive.

That's the second straight week where they've been in a hurry-up situation and refused to stop running the ball. I guess you could make the argument that it wasn't a factor in the Chargers game in the end, but in general, the more time you leave for yourself when you're trailing, the better.

 

[JMR]

Random thought: but another issue I have with the Seahawks offense in regards to run v. pass is how they handle late game situations when they're trailing. This was the second straight week where they were in a situation that required massive urgency (< 5 minutes to go, down 2 scores) and they were running the ball. I get that the defense is set up for the pass there, but if you take less time getting down the field, they would have more time on that last drive.

That's the second straight week where they've been in a hurry-up situation and refused to stop running the ball. I guess you could make the argument that it wasn't a factor in the Chargers game in the end, but in general, the more time you leave for yourself when you're trailing, the better.

But against an offense like the Rams (and maybe even against Rivers), you don't want to leave them with enough time to come back on you either. I thought the clock management was nails yesterday. Everything they did after the unfortunate strip-sack was dead on perfect.

 

[Uhsplit]

In the offseason I hoped and expected to see an improved running game due to that being Pete's main focus.
Mid season, it sure looks like that has been very successful.
I hoped and expected improved OL play due to replacing Cable.
Another positive grade, and being fairly healthy has provided benefits along with continuity. I expected to see more of Posic though. More time needed I guess. Simmons was a real nice fill in for Fluker.
I felt our WR's would not downgrade after losing PRich. Moore has evened that out easily.
I thought our RB's would be better with a healthy Carson and adding Penny. I wanted a killer FB. Looking good.
I believed we would improve at TE. Done, but sad to see Disley IR'd.
Kicking should improve as anyone >Walsh. SeaBass has been ok as a low cost replacement. Any chance Dickson could learn to kick? Imagine having an extra roster spot next year.
I had faith Dickson>Ryan due to his college career and that our FO thought enough of him to trade up to get him.
My concern was the D, and as hard as they have played, it is the teams achilles this year. We have been spoiled by the D Pete built. We lost almost all of it and I am good with the reasons why. The youngun's have played well but we are still lacking in a few things. A stronger pass rush will help out the DB's. Gotta stop the run too. So, I would like to see the team add a new starting DT along side Reed and a DE opposite Clark. It is a challenge to find a couple good ones in the off season.
I think we beat GB.

 

[Screamin12th]

Yeah i expected a drop off at WR play and we have seen a pretty good drop off BUT that's because they run so much and DON'T USE PLAY ACTION! wtf. PR vs Moore is a push if you go by Head to head stats from this season but PR has regressed this season and that was expected on a new team and with Smith as the QB. Smith is a fine QB but he gets EVERYONE involved. If you want a QB that spreads the ball around A LOT then Alex is your guy. If PR was on this team still i have a strong feeling he would lead the team in Catches and TD rec.

Baldwin is at what 60%? he is just a shell of his former self. Lockette is doing what he does but he is not a #1 WR. He makes a solid #2 i guess but is more a Probowl type #3 WR. If Lockette was a little bigger say 6 foot 200 pounds i think he would be a fine #2 He is The guy that can help pull the top off the defense ( PR was that guy also ). Moore has had flashes but that's really all he has had. It's not like this team has a #1 WR or really has EVER had one since say D Jack? Blades?

I feel they wanted to prove so much that they could run that now they are now not using it to set up the pass. It was upsetting to see the Rams putting 8, 9 and some times 10 men in the box and the Hawks still would run something like 80% of the time against that front only to end up in 3rd and longs. This offense has some issues that can be fixed if they just FIX the play calling lol. They have went from 1 extreme to the other.

I would like to see this team use more RPO's also. Also maybe use bootleg screens like the Hawks used in the 80's.

 

[uwdawgfan]

What has happened to Doug Baldwin this year? Still injured? For fuck sakes step it up on Thursday Dougie! With out a doubt a must win, and we need him to play big.

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

In the offseason I hoped and expected to see an improved running game due to that being Pete's main focus.
Mid season, it sure looks like that has been very successful.
I hoped and expected improved OL play due to replacing Cable.
Another positive grade, and being fairly healthy has provided benefits along with continuity. I expected to see more of Posic though. More time needed I guess. Simmons was a real nice fill in for Fluker.
I felt our WR's would not downgrade after losing PRich. Moore has evened that out easily.
I thought our RB's would be better with a healthy Carson and adding Penny. I wanted a killer FB. Looking good.
I believed we would improve at TE. Done, but sad to see Disley IR'd.
Kicking should improve as anyone >Walsh. SeaBass has been ok as a low cost replacement. Any chance Dickson could learn to kick? Imagine having an extra roster spot next year.
I had faith Dickson>Ryan due to his college career and that our FO thought enough of him to trade up to get him.
My concern was the D, and as hard as they have played, it is the teams achilles this year. We have been spoiled by the D Pete built. We lost almost all of it and I am good with the reasons why. The youngun's have played well but we are still lacking in a few things. A stronger pass rush will help out the DB's. Gotta stop the run too. So, I would like to see the team add a new starting DT along side Reed and a DE opposite Clark. It is a challenge to find a couple good ones in the off season.
I think we beat GB.

A good amount of cap space next year and our top draft pick could fix those defensive woes.

 

[dkmightyhammer]

I hate to ruin everyone's doom and gloom fest, but I think this year's team has actually surpassed expectations. I'm not sure why there are so many on here complaining that the team is terrible or Russ is playing awful or the coaching sucks, etc. etc.....

Wilson isn't throwing for a ton of yards, but that's never really been his thing anyway. But he's currently tied for 4th in TD passes and he's the 6th highest rated passer right now, plus he's only thrown 5 picks all year. He could improve in getting the ball out quicker and taking less sacks but overall there isn't much to complain about with his play this year. He overthrew Lockett on that last play and that sucks, but that wan't a gimme throw, on the run, being chased, and he had to put the ball over a defender. I'm not going to eat his lunch for that one. It was just disappointing that he missed.

As for the team? Look at who our 5 losses are too. Denver is the only bad loss in there. The rest were against the 6-3 Bears, the 7-2 Chargers, and the 9-1 Rams. And we lost all 5 games by a combined 25 points. So that means we were in every game right until the end. We aren't getting stomped, even by some of the best teams in the league. So that tells me the team is doing alright. Honestly if Earl doesn't get hurt there is a very good chance we could have beat the Rams x2 and the Chargers because where they killed us was deep over the middle all day long. And that is exactly where our future HOF Safety usually would be. Those games were close enough that having Thomas in them could have been the difference we needed.

So ya, it sucks that we are 4-5. But on a rebuilt team with as many personnel changes as we had? We haven't done too bad in my opinion.

Oh, and we should probably temper our expectations for the rest of this season too. We still have some extremely tough teams on the schedule. Green Bay, Minny, Carolina (early game in Carolina) and the Chiefs. If we go 2-2 against those teams I'll consider it a win. We should beat the Niners x 2 and the Cards. My guess is we finish the season 9-7. Probably no playoffs. But that's better than I thought this team would do this year so I'll take it.

 

[BSUSeahawk]

But against an offense like the Rams (and maybe even against Rivers), you don't want to leave them with enough time to come back on you either. I thought the clock management was nails yesterday. Everything they did after the unfortunate strip-sack was dead on perfect.

I'm not talking about the last drive - I'm talking about the second to last drive. Down 2 scores, you aren't trying to play keep away - you're trying to extend the game as long as possible for a chance at a comeback.

It was 36-24 with under 5 minutes. They had 3 designed runs (handoffs) on that drive and took 4 minutes off the clock. If they had more time at the end of the game, that game might have turned out differently. At a minimum, it would have been nice to not burn 1st down on a spike.

I'm fine with Russell keeping the ball and running in those situations, even if it keeps the clock running, but 3 designed runs on that drive is clock mismanagement, plain and simple.

 

[JMR]

I'm not talking about the last drive - I'm talking about the second to last drive. Down 2 scores, you aren't trying to play keep away - you're trying to extend the game as long as possible for a chance at a comeback.

It was 36-24 with under 5 minutes. They had 3 designed runs (handoffs) on that drive and took 4 minutes off the clock. If they had more time at the end of the game, that game might have turned out differently. At a minimum, it would have been nice to not burn 1st down on a spike.

I'm fine with Russell keeping the ball and running in those situations, even if it keeps the clock running, but 3 designed runs on that drive is clock mismanagement, plain and simple.

Extend the game as long as possible? Not sure I agree there. What you're trying to do -- especially with a team like the Rams -- is get 2 possessions to their 1. And on their 1, you need to make a stop. It's exactly the way it worked out. It could have certainly not worked out that way (is there a fail safe strategy??), but I think it's awfully tough to say it was mismanagement when it went exactly as planned with us having a decent chance to win the game at the end....and the clock isn't what killed us.