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

[blstoker]

Earl Thomas says he wasn't fully prepared for Cincinnati game

There was plenty of blame to go around when the Seattle Seahawks blew a 17-point fourth quarter lead in their loss against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, and on Thursday, safety Earl Thomas put some of that blame on himself.

While speaking with the media on Thursday, Thomas discussed what the defense needs to do in order to get to where they want to be as a unit, and along the way he pointed the finger at himself for not being as prepared as he could have been against the Bengals.

"We need to prepare as well as possible," Thomas said. "That's the only way we're going to give ourselves a chance to be our best. I learned first-hand last game I didn't give our defense a chance because I was playing a little timid because I wasn't fully prepared. I think just the discipline and everything, we're all connected and we need to keep going in that facet."

Thomas wasn't quite sure how he let his preparation slip, suggesting that maybe he got too caught up last week in thinking about trying to stop Cincinnati on seam routes.

"I don't know. I don't know," Thomas said. "Maybe I got up here talking about the seams and I probably got distracted about that last week, so I gotta watch what I say to y'all."

Thomas added that being fully prepared is what puts him at the top of his game.

"I feel like when you're prepared you're fully confident," Thomas said. "You can challenge everything. You're your best and you really trust what you're doing out there."

The Seahawks still weren't far away from winning the game despite allowing the 4th quarter comeback, but Thomas said even if they had won, it wouldn't have changed his outlook on how he played.

"When you're out there, you know the truth deep down inside," Thomas said. "It's an ongoing battle. But if you trust yourself, it's straight peace out there. You can give your energy to everybody else on the defense. So you know. When you look in the mirror, you know."

Thomas was far from the only one who may have played a part in allowing the Bengals to rally late in the game. The defense in general took a turn in the wrong direction from how they had been playing earlier in the game, allowing Cincinnati to score on three 4th quarter possessions.

What was the difference in the fourth quarter compared to the rest of the game?

"I think the most important thing was just body language," Thomas said. "We weren't really relentless like we've been in the past. We weren't fighting for everything. We weren't just giving everything we have in my eye."

Thomas also said that being on the road may have hurt the team's communication on Sunday.

"When you're on the road, the time difference, we can get in our own little bubbles," Thomas said. "We're not as talkative to each other as we need to be. I felt that early on in the locker room. But it's great, great lessons to learn, but we've got to learn from it because it happened."

The good news is that in spite of what happened on Sunday, Thomas says the defense still has their swagger.

"Yes. Of course," Thomas said. "Nothing's changed."

* On his interception:

Thomas made the first interception of the season for both himself and the defense when he picked off Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton near the end of the first half to stop a potential scoring drive. Thomas returned the ball deep into Bengals territory, only to have his return called back due to defensive end Michael Bennett getting called for unnecessary roughness while blocking Dalton.

When asked about what the team's protocol on interception returns is, Thomas made a bit of a light-hearted jab at Bennett.

"Of course, you need to block," Thomas said. "But Michael Bennett, he doesn't block. If he does block, he goes straight for the quarterback. He did it yesterday in practice, so we've got to get him out of that habit."

Thomas wasn't angry at Bennett's penalty, however. Instead, he was surprised at the play he just made.

"I was in awe," Thomas said. "I was surprised. I wasn't mad at anybody. I was just in a daze."

 

[Cloud]

Earl Thomas says he wasn't fully prepared for Cincinnati game

There was plenty of blame to go around when the Seattle Seahawks blew a 17-point fourth quarter lead in their loss against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, and on Thursday, safety Earl Thomas put some of that blame on himself.

While speaking with the media on Thursday, Thomas discussed what the defense needs to do in order to get to where they want to be as a unit, and along the way he pointed the finger at himself for not being as prepared as he could have been against the Bengals.

"We need to prepare as well as possible," Thomas said. "That's the only way we're going to give ourselves a chance to be our best. I learned first-hand last game I didn't give our defense a chance because I was playing a little timid because I wasn't fully prepared. I think just the discipline and everything, we're all connected and we need to keep going in that facet."

Thomas wasn't quite sure how he let his preparation slip, suggesting that maybe he got too caught up last week in thinking about trying to stop Cincinnati on seam routes.

"I don't know. I don't know," Thomas said. "Maybe I got up here talking about the seams and I probably got distracted about that last week, so I gotta watch what I say to y'all."

Thomas added that being fully prepared is what puts him at the top of his game.

"I feel like when you're prepared you're fully confident," Thomas said. "You can challenge everything. You're your best and you really trust what you're doing out there."

The Seahawks still weren't far away from winning the game despite allowing the 4th quarter comeback, but Thomas said even if they had won, it wouldn't have changed his outlook on how he played.

"When you're out there, you know the truth deep down inside," Thomas said. "It's an ongoing battle. But if you trust yourself, it's straight peace out there. You can give your energy to everybody else on the defense. So you know. When you look in the mirror, you know."

Thomas was far from the only one who may have played a part in allowing the Bengals to rally late in the game. The defense in general took a turn in the wrong direction from how they had been playing earlier in the game, allowing Cincinnati to score on three 4th quarter possessions.

What was the difference in the fourth quarter compared to the rest of the game?

"I think the most important thing was just body language," Thomas said. "We weren't really relentless like we've been in the past. We weren't fighting for everything. We weren't just giving everything we have in my eye."

Thomas also said that being on the road may have hurt the team's communication on Sunday.

"When you're on the road, the time difference, we can get in our own little bubbles," Thomas said. "We're not as talkative to each other as we need to be. I felt that early on in the locker room. But it's great, great lessons to learn, but we've got to learn from it because it happened."

The good news is that in spite of what happened on Sunday, Thomas says the defense still has their swagger.

"Yes. Of course," Thomas said. "Nothing's changed."

* On his interception:

Thomas made the first interception of the season for both himself and the defense when he picked off Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton near the end of the first half to stop a potential scoring drive. Thomas returned the ball deep into Bengals territory, only to have his return called back due to defensive end Michael Bennett getting called for unnecessary roughness while blocking Dalton.

When asked about what the team's protocol on interception returns is, Thomas made a bit of a light-hearted jab at Bennett.

"Of course, you need to block," Thomas said. "But Michael Bennett, he doesn't block. If he does block, he goes straight for the quarterback. He did it yesterday in practice, so we've got to get him out of that habit."

Thomas wasn't angry at Bennett's penalty, however. Instead, he was surprised at the play he just made.

"I was in awe," Thomas said. "I was surprised. I wasn't mad at anybody. I was just in a daze."

From the secondary perspective.
I still put a lot of the blame on Chancellor, he was completely unprepared. So was Carey Williams, both of those guys had a great MNF game then to come out and performed like they did was inexcusable.

Sherman on the hand continues to dazzle like always, his performance should shut the critics up about him only being able to play one side of the field, once they stuck him on AJ Green the rest of the way, he didn't really do much.

Thomas also had a decent game but not great, if he said he was unprepared then he was unprepared, so did the rest of the LOB outside of Sherman.

 

[MKHawk]

I feel like Earl said something similar last year around this time. Was hoping we could avoid the kick in the arse this year to get everyone to focus.