Take aways from the loss to the Bengals (Good and Bad)

[Uhsplit]

1. The D scored 7 of those points
2. We ended the game with 6 straight points.

The offense was pathetic in the 2nd half. We got a big lead, Bevell went into the shell that everyone bitches about with the ridiculously predictable play calling. Everyone's to blame but there's obviously one thing that's consistently wrong with this team, and that's the passing offense.

Yes, the D did score a TD. We scored 24 points.
We had a 24-7 lead and our D was looking stellar. If I am the OC, I'm going conservative to limit TO's and eat the clock.
In our 2 possessions of OT, Bevell called 8 pass plays and only 2 run plays.

 

[seattlefan75]

Yes, the D did score a TD. We scored 24 points.
We had a 24-7 lead and our D was looking stellar. If I am the OC, I'm going conservative to limit TO's and eat the clock.
In our 2 possessions of OT, Bevell called 8 pass plays and only 2 run plays.

They did try to go conservative with the play calling and thats what hurt the hawks in the long term. You cant take the foot off the pedal they were running the ball first and second down and not covert the 3rd down. The defense was looking good but if you keep giving the ball to a good offense eventually they will score, they will eventually figure out a way to move the ball on us. Look at the detriot game they kept on giving detriots offense a chance to score and on the very last drive they moved the ball on us and we got away with a great play for Kam to fumble the ball.

 

[Anointed One]

They did try to go conservative with the play calling and thats what hurt the hawks in the long term. You cant take the foot off the pedal they were running the ball first and second down and not covert the 3rd down. The defense was looking good but if you keep giving the ball to a good offense eventually they will score, they will eventually figure out a way to move the ball on us. Look at the detriot game they kept on giving detriots offense a chance to score and on the very last drive they moved the ball on us and we got away with a great play for Kam to fumble the ball.

I'm envious of the Patriots and Cardinals when it comes to this... They continue to keep the pedal to the metal and continue to kick a team when they're down...

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Not making those short and third down is what hurt. Not a bad idea to run time off the clock with running plays, but you got to make a first down.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Good game guys.

Remember, too, that this offense is probably one of the deepest Seattle will see all year long. Not often when you see Sherman shadow a guy, and the offense can then just turn to a big pass-catching TE, or a speedy WR like Jones, or a sure-handed slot guy like Sanu, or dump it off to a RB that can catch and run like Benard.

I thought, offensively for Seattle, things slowed down once the Bengals finally adjusted to the cut-backs that were killing them early on. Once the back-side defense started closing that lane and staying home, Wilson and the RB's didn't have a lot of places to go.

I understand the blocking issues on the OL, but you have to find a way to get Graham the ball. Period. Can't believe they target him as little as they do. As good as the running game was clicking early, Graham should have found some open lanes behind the LB's.

Great game between two very good contenders.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

Good game guys.

Remember, too, that this offense is probably one of the deepest Seattle will see all year long. Not often when you see Sherman shadow a guy, and the offense can then just turn to a big pass-catching TE, or a speedy WR like Jones, or a sure-handed slot guy like Sanu, or dump it off to a RB that can catch and run like Benard.

I thought, offensively for Seattle, things slowed down once the Bengals finally adjusted to the cut-backs that were killing them early on. Once the back-side defense started closing that lane and staying home, Wilson and the RB's didn't have a lot of places to go.

I understand the blocking issues on the OL, but you have to find a way to get Graham the ball. Period. Can't believe they target him as little as they do. As good as the running game was clicking early, Graham should have found some open lanes behind the LB's.

Great game between two very good contenders.

Just do us a favor and beat St. Louis, Arizona, and Santa Clara as well. This team needs all the help they can get right now.

 

[MKHawk]

The overly conservative play calling on offense in the 4th quarter was painful to watch. I am absolutely sick of Bevell. Yes he gets plenty of crap he doesn't deserve as an easy punching bag, but he clearly has learned nothing from the Super Bowl. And I'm not talking about slant passes.

Hawks lost that Super Bowl first because the offense couldn't get a damned first down in the 4th quarter. A steady diet of run run pass play calling did not help. An inability to scheme open anyone on 3rd and short/medium was also fatal.

We had the same two major problems today with the lead in the 4th quarter. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Seattle's coaching staff is insane.

 

[Lineman16]

To be completely honest all the offense needs is to spread the field out more. We ran a lot of plays where the receivers were with in 10yd of each other. They run a number of out routs where we have receivers running a 3..7..&12yd out to the same side of the field. As you all know that congests everything. Just an observation!

 

[Lineman16]

The worst thing to do with a our line right now is to jam pack the line with a shit load of D-line. They are having a hard time trying to figure lane assignments. Spread em out... 5 man front... it will open Wilson to see more of the field

 

[seattlefan75]

I'm envious of the Patriots and Cardinals when it comes to this... They continue to keep the pedal to the metal and continue to kick a team when they're down...

Just a note 6 years ago today the seahawks beat the jaguars 41-0

 

[Anointed One]

Just a note 6 years ago today the seahawks beat the jaguars 41-0

6 years ago?

 

[seattlefan75]

6 years ago?

yup

 

[Anointed One]

What does that have to do with today

 

[WizardHawk]

I didn't expect to win this game. And I had this one as a potential loss at the start of the season. In fact, I predicted we would go 5-3 in the first half of the season with these 3 losses.

You lose a close game we easily could have won at St Louis missing our star Safety and having a shit line. Still could have won it with any one of a number of better things going our way.

You lose another close game to the best offense in the league on the road again and still without Kam with a line that was still garbage and were close late.

Two close wins at home where they still didn't look good on offense, but did just enough.

Now we lose a game on a short week without our heart and soul on offense at 10am against the second best offense in the league. A game that we were one first down short of winning. Or one less brain fart on defense.

The team is clearly a step behind last years version. There is zero doubt about that. They aren't playing well on either side of the ball, at least not up to their own standards. And yet are losing close games, not getting blown out. This is key.

Panthers at home, SF and Dallas on the road. Are all different critters. Get that line working more consistently, get beast mode back to 100%, get Kam back up to the same speed as the rest of the team, and keep working on the timing with Graham and Wilson. Stay healthy in key positions. Work on your holes in the secondary.

Do most of those things and this team will be fine. Those already jumping off the bandwagon do us a favor and stay the fuck off it the rest of the year because the rest of us know this team gets stronger as the year goes on and has done so every year. We aren't giving up, nor even that worried.

Kam's hold out hurt us. Lynch's injury has slowed us a little. The line has frustrated us. And yet the team has been in every game. These things will work out.

The team has less margin of error than had everything gone well and yet after next weeks game vs Carolina at home, they could have the same record as this time last year.

What I take away from this game is the offense needs to keep getting better (and it has) and Carroll needs to figure out fast what the fuck happened to his defense (and he will) because once Lynch is good to go this team needs to take off and start kicking ass.

 

[JMR]

That 4th qtr was just tough to watch. A total team collapse. All 3 road games so far have featured blown 4th quarter leads. We are not finishing games like you would expect of a team coming off 2 straight SBs.

Needed either 1 more stop or 1 more first down to win it in regulation and didn't get either.

 

[MKHawk]

This defense has always had 4th quarter lead holding problems, to be fair.

 

[blstoker]

Thomas Rawls had the most rushing yards for a Seahawk in a game since Shaun Alexander had 201 in November of 2006.

 

[WizardHawk]

Thomas Rawls had the most rushing yards for a Seahawk in a game since Shaun Alexander had 201 in November of 2006.

And yet we couldn't get first downs when we needed them down the stretch.

 

[blstoker]

And yet we couldn't get first downs when we needed them down the stretch.

You can't necessarily say that's Rawls' fault. From when Seattle took their 17 point lead, Rawls carried the ball 10 for 34 yards and 2 first downs. His running gave the Seahawks 3rd & 4, 3rd & 2 and 3rd & 4 in their last 3 drives of regulation. Those should have been easy conversions (or at least 1 of 3 should be converted) and yet we get 2 incompletions and a sack. Rawls ran well.

 

[WizardHawk]

You can't necessarily say that's Rawls' fault. From when Seattle took their 17 point lead, Rawls carried the ball 10 for 34 yards and 2 first downs. His running gave the Seahawks 3rd & 4, 3rd & 2 and 3rd & 4 in their last 3 drives of regulation. Those should have been easy conversions (or at least 1 of 3 should be converted) and yet we get 2 incompletions and a sack. Rawls ran well.

No, but don't you think down the stretch the team/bevell would have a lot more confidence in hanging the balance of a game on Lynch than a rookie? Rawls had a good game and the line was improved in that effort, but he's still a rookie. He was terrible one game and good in another. That kind of inconsistency is to be expected. He really should be just backing up Lynch and not be put in game on the line kind of situations.