Game Thread: Seattle Seahawks @ Carolina Panthers

[Judge Fudge]

At least we got 2 weeks to clean up....


49ers are next Sunday

then 6-4-1 Vikings

 

[CaptainStubing]

I have to admit that was impressive to go into Carolina and get the win. The Panthers have been playing tough at home all season

 

[dkmightyhammer]

I'm not a basketball fan so I admit I didn't get the significance of the Lockett TD celebration. But someone on Twitter put it side by side with the Allen Iverson play that Lockett was copying. I gotta say they nailed it. They got the timing down almost perfect. lol. Good stuff.

 

[JMR]

Great win, as everyone has said. I thought we were in trouble when Carolina crossed the 50 that last time, but our D finally stiffened up and got us the ball back. And for the 2nd straight week, Russell delivered the game winning drive in the 4th qtr. It was a struggle at times, but that's to be expected in this league when you're on the road against a playoff contending team with the 2nd longest home win streak in the league. Best win of the year.

 

[JMR]

A few other thoughts on the big win:

Fumbles....how did we not get at least 1 of those? On at least 2 of them, we had someone either on the ball or right next to the ball and couldn't come up with even 1? That was frustrating, and had we lost I think we would be looking at that as a huge reason why. I don't think it means too much going forward though, thankfully.

I've been thinking about this for several weeks, but is Doug Baldwin's role on this team shrinking? And is he on the decline? I know he's been nursing some leg injuries this season, but yesterday his receptions looked quite a bit different than all the other WRs' and he made a very small overall impact on the game.....again. However, I will admit that for the 2nd straight game, he lost a TD due to an overthrow in the ez by Russell. Maybe I think of where he is a bit differently had Russell hit those 2 fairly easy passes, so maybe it's too early to tell.

It was cool to see Lockett & Moore 1-2 on the top WR list for most of the afternoon. I can't think of the last time we had 2 WRs with 100+ yards. And how good is David Moore at those 50/50 balls down the sideline?

Not quite sure how good of a day the OL had. The run game was just "ok" and didn't crack 150 (or anywhere close) for the first time in 8 games, and there was some failed blitz pickups in the 1st half that made for some quick possessions and field position issues. But they seemed to rally pretty well after the half and gave Russell enough time for all those big throws. The penalties were also not a big factor -- seems we overcame the few we did have. If I had to pick a letter grade, I probably go with B-. Maybe could be talked into a B.

Somewhat surprised at the lack of touches for Penny. The coaches are not tipping their hand, but I think they have some sort of method or "formula" for lack of a better term for how they are figuring out the RB workload. It could be something as simple as how good Carson feels that week/day leading up to the game, could be something they are looking at in-game, and/or there could also be some other factors that they are not sharing. But with the 100 yard game he had vs Rams that was followed by another 8 carries (including a 30 yarder) vs GB when Carson was back, I figured his usage was on the up-tick. 4 carries yesterday for just 4 yards. I guess maybe we'll see in the next game or 2 if it means anything or if it's just a game they had their reasons for not going to him more?

Looking forward to welcoming these guys back to the home field on Sunday.

 

[dkmightyhammer]

A few other thoughts on the big win:

Fumbles....how did we not get at least 1 of those? On at least 2 of them, we had someone either on the ball or right next to the ball and couldn't come up with even 1? That was frustrating, and had we lost I think we would be looking at that as a huge reason why. I don't think it means too much going forward though, thankfully.

I've been thinking about this for several weeks, but is Doug Baldwin's role on this team shrinking? And is he on the decline? I know he's been nursing some leg injuries this season, but yesterday his receptions looked quite a bit different than all the other WRs' and he made a very small overall impact on the game.....again. However, I will admit that for the 2nd straight game, he lost a TD due to an overthrow in the ez by Russell. Maybe I think of where he is a bit differently had Russell hit those 2 fairly easy passes, so maybe it's too early to tell.

It was cool to see Lockett & Moore 1-2 on the top WR list for most of the afternoon. I can't think of the last time we had 2 WRs with 100+ yards. And how good is David Moore at those 50/50 balls down the sideline?

Not quite sure how good of a day the OL had. The run game was just "ok" and didn't crack 150 (or anywhere close) for the first time in 8 games, and there was some failed blitz pickups in the 1st half that made for some quick possessions and field position issues. But they seemed to rally pretty well after the half and gave Russell enough time for all those big throws. The penalties were also not a big factor -- seems we overcame the few we did have. If I had to pick a letter grade, I probably go with B-. Maybe could be talked into a B.

Somewhat surprised at the lack of touches for Penny. The coaches are not tipping their hand, but I think they have some sort of method or "formula" for lack of a better term for how they are figuring out the RB workload. It could be something as simple as how good Carson feels that week/day leading up to the game, could be something they are looking at in-game, and/or there could also be some other factors that they are not sharing. But with the 100 yard game he had vs Rams that was followed by another 8 carries (including a 30 yarder) vs GB when Carson was back, I figured his usage was on the up-tick. 4 carries yesterday for just 4 yards. I guess maybe we'll see in the next game or 2 if it means anything or if it's just a game they had their reasons for not going to him more?

Looking forward to welcoming these guys back to the home field on Sunday.

The run game wasn't as good as previous weeks, but then again 150+ yards per game was going to be pretty hard to sustain. Plus, Lockett (I think?) said after the game that in the first half the Carolina players were calling out Seattle's plays at the line. So it's like they knew what was coming. Either they are good guessers or our play calling has become very predictable. That's something the team will need to look at before the next game.

 

[JMR]

The run game wasn't as good as previous weeks, but then again 150+ yards per game was going to be pretty hard to sustain. Plus, Lockett (I think?) said after the game that in the first half the Carolina players were calling out Seattle's plays at the line. So it's like they knew what was coming. Either they are good guessers or our play calling has become very predictable. That's something the team will need to look at before the next game.

Yep, 150 is a tough standard, but they had done it 7 straight games (!!). Pretty clear at least early on that Carolina was determined not to let it get to 8.

Interesting on the "tipping our pitches" thing....will have to see if it's a developing story or just something that was said post-game. They have Kuechly and Thomas Davis, so that's a pretty good LB duo who certainly are studied up on opponents' tendencies.

 

[Warden]

A few other thoughts on the big win:

Fumbles....how did we not get at least 1 of those? On at least 2 of them, we had someone either on the ball or right next to the ball and couldn't come up with even 1? That was frustrating, and had we lost I think we would be looking at that as a huge reason why. I don't think it means too much going forward though, thankfully.

I've been thinking about this for several weeks, but is Doug Baldwin's role on this team shrinking? And is he on the decline? I know he's been nursing some leg injuries this season, but yesterday his receptions looked quite a bit different than all the other WRs' and he made a very small overall impact on the game.....again. However, I will admit that for the 2nd straight game, he lost a TD due to an overthrow in the ez by Russell. Maybe I think of where he is a bit differently had Russell hit those 2 fairly easy passes, so maybe it's too early to tell.

It was cool to see Lockett & Moore 1-2 on the top WR list for most of the afternoon. I can't think of the last time we had 2 WRs with 100+ yards. And how good is David Moore at those 50/50 balls down the sideline?

Not quite sure how good of a day the OL had. The run game was just "ok" and didn't crack 150 (or anywhere close) for the first time in 8 games, and there was some failed blitz pickups in the 1st half that made for some quick possessions and field position issues. But they seemed to rally pretty well after the half and gave Russell enough time for all those big throws. The penalties were also not a big factor -- seems we overcame the few we did have. If I had to pick a letter grade, I probably go with B-. Maybe could be talked into a B.

Somewhat surprised at the lack of touches for Penny. The coaches are not tipping their hand, but I think they have some sort of method or "formula" for lack of a better term for how they are figuring out the RB workload. It could be something as simple as how good Carson feels that week/day leading up to the game, could be something they are looking at in-game, and/or there could also be some other factors that they are not sharing. But with the 100 yard game he had vs Rams that was followed by another 8 carries (including a 30 yarder) vs GB when Carson was back, I figured his usage was on the up-tick. 4 carries yesterday for just 4 yards. I guess maybe we'll see in the next game or 2 if it means anything or if it's just a game they had their reasons for not going to him more?

Looking forward to welcoming these guys back to the home field on Sunday.

They where very unsure if Baldwin could even play yesterday

 

[JMR]

They where very unsure if Baldwin could even play yesterday

Yeah, I was tracking him being questionable with a groin injury. It's sort of been the script for his season so far though. Right after the game where he said he felt healthy finally, he's a game time decision? Feels like a bit of a lost season for him.

 

[JMR]

Interesting stat they're talking about on 710 this morning: Russell has a league high 13 TDs with 0 INTs when defenses send 5 or more rushers. Not bad.

 

[dkmightyhammer]

Interesting stat they're talking about on 710 this morning: Russell has a league high 13 TDs with 0 INTs when defenses send 5 or more rushers. Not bad.

I think that's partially due to the fact that Wilson doesn't mind throwing the ball away or taking the sack rather than trying to force a throw under pressure. So he doesn't throw a ton of picks as a result.

 

[JMR]

I think that's partially due to the fact that Wilson doesn't mind throwing the ball away or taking the sack rather than trying to force a throw under pressure. So he doesn't throw a ton of picks as a result.

And I don't think that's a bad thing. I believe he also still has the most 4th qtr TD passes going back to the beginning of last year, and by a pretty wide margin. So his thro-aways and sacks are not keeping him from making lots of big plays in crunch time.

His passer rating is also sitting at 112 now, which is a career best. 25 TDs to 5 INTs. His ypa is also his 2nd most of any season (8.2), just behind the insane 8.3 he put up in 2015. I think a few weeks ago we were not exactly sure what kind of season he was having, but it's turning out to be a pretty good one....and 4 of the last 5 at home will probably not hurt his numbers.

 

[Screamin12th]

his numbers look good but lets be real Russell has been off a LOT this season. Think about the high throws and the turnovers to cost them chances at wins. These are things we normally do not see from him. Heck he got a Pick six against him, when was the last time we saw that?

Like many say stats don't lie but they also don't tell the whole truth. For Russell to be this good and also looking bad just tells you how good he could really be. He says he wants to be the best ever. Well even his bad games are better than all but the best QB's in the league lol.

 

[JMR]

his numbers look good but lets be real Russell has been off a LOT this season. Think about the high throws and the turnovers to cost them chances at wins. These are things we normally do not see from him. Heck he got a Pick six against him, when was the last time we saw that?

Like many say stats don't lie but they also don't tell the whole truth. For Russell to be this good and also looking bad just tells you how good he could really be. He says he wants to be the best ever. Well even his bad games are better than all but the best QB's in the league lol.

He's missed a big throw here and there (a couple easy TDs to Baldwin that weren't the last 2 games), but most of those have been earlier in the season. Only 5 INTs. Yes, 2 INTs returned for TDs. But he still has made relatively few bad mistakes (for example, the kind that Roethlisberger made to lose the game the other day). Just under a 67% completion rate, 5:1 TD to INT, and 8.2 ypa. We've seen a couple occasions where he wasn't able to make the game winning drive at the end when having the chance to do so, but not even Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady does it every time. There are precious few numbers that say anything other than he's having a really good season. I'll check out some if you have any.

 

[blstoker]

his numbers look good but lets be real Russell has been off a LOT this season. Think about the high throws and the turnovers to cost them chances at wins. These are things we normally do not see from him. Heck he got a Pick six against him, when was the last time we saw that?

Like many say stats don't lie but they also don't tell the whole truth. For Russell to be this good and also looking bad just tells you how good he could really be. He says he wants to be the best ever. Well even his bad games are better than all but the best QB's in the league lol.

Russell hadn't thrown a pick 6 since he was a rookie, and the 2 this year brings his career total to 3.

 

[JMR]

Russell hadn't thrown a pick 6 since he was a rookie, and the 2 this year brings his career total to 3.

He's had a few games where he's started off a bit rough, but in most of those he's been able to right the ship as the game went on. Doesn't look like he did in the SD game (which I missed while on a plane), but outside of that game he's had a 109 or better passer rating every time going back to week 3.

 

[blstoker]

He's had a few games where he's started off a bit rough, but in most of those he's been able to right the ship as the game went on. Doesn't look like he did in the SD game (which I missed while on a plane), but outside of that game he's had a 109 or better passer rating every time going back to week 3.

I stated a statistic, nothing more. I'm really not interested in dissecting why Russell is or isn't having as good a season as his statistics would indicate.

 

[flyerhawk]

his numbers look good but lets be real Russell has been off a LOT this season. Think about the high throws and the turnovers to cost them chances at wins. These are things we normally do not see from him. Heck he got a Pick six against him, when was the last time we saw that?

Wilson definitely was off in September. But he has been pretty damn good for the past 7 games or so.

The Seahawks had a new OC and a new OL coach and a bunch of injuries to start the season. IMO, Schottenheimer didn't do Wilson any favors early in the season either. Pick 6s tend to be a function of what sort of pass was thrown. IMO, those passes to the flats are really dangerous when you aren't threatening teams vertically. Way too easy to jump the route.

Like many say stats don't lie but they also don't tell the whole truth. For Russell to be this good and also looking bad just tells you how good he could really be. He says he wants to be the best ever. Well even his bad games are better than all but the best QB's in the league lol.

IMO, I'm not sure that our offensive philosophy or play calling are well suited to getting Wilson to play well to start games, where I think he has struggled. We try to establish the run early which puts Wilson in pressure situations early in games. When Wilson is allowed to hit the gas on the offense he tends to do much better. But of course that is risky when playing from behind.

IMO, the Seahawks need to balance the run/pass better early on so that we aren't as predictable on 1st down and we aren't consistently seeing 3rd and longs early in the game.

 

[JMR]

I stated a statistic, nothing more. I'm really not interested in dissecting why Russell is or isn't having as good a season as his statistics would indicate.

I wasn't disagreeing with you, but allllllrighty then!

 

[MrS]

penny isnt getting carries because he has too many negative runs and he doesnt run with toughness.