Game Thread: Thursday Night: Seahawks vs Dallas: Week 13

[Tech_God]

This season is over........

 

[Anointed One]

This season is over........

Yep... Looks like it...

 

[flyerhawk]

This season is over........

yup. Has been

 

[Destroydacre]

This season is over........

Worst part is this team should be 9-3. Should have beaten Cincinnati, LA and Dallas.

 

[MrS]

Worst part is this team should be 9-3. Should have beaten Cincinnati, LA and Dallas.

This is not anywhere near a 9-3 team, they should probably have 4-5 wins

 

[Destroydacre]

This is not anywhere near a 9-3 team, they should probably have 4-5 wins

I agree they're not a 9-3 team.

 

[Lineman16]

OC is garbage..

 

[JMR]

Better performance than expected. The team battled and made way more of a game of it than just about everyone expected. I believe Dallas defense was #4 in points allowed coming in, so this may have been the best game of the year for the offense. The fact that it came on the heels of one of the worst is maybe the over-arching problem with this team. You just can't be too confident on what you're going to see from one game to the next. Just when one thing gets cleaned up a bit, something else gets dropped.

At the beginning of the year, I bet most people figured the team would be 7-5 at this point. At least that's what I thought, and I also predicted 10 wins. We are essentially 1 game off that pace thanks to getting swept by the Rams, and 3-2 from here is certainly attainable. Even if we lose the next 2. However, if we see last night's performance vs Philly minus 2 or 3 crushing penalties, I think we have a great shot to win that at home on MNF. Philly has been scraping and is set up for a fall.

So a lot of people are saying the season is over. If that's you, what were your expectations? 12 wins and div title? NFCC? SB?

This team may not be a SB contender (and if that was your expectation going in, I think you were unrealistic), but it's still in the thick of the WC hunt in the NFC. The team will still be in the middle of it even with losses to both Philly and 49ers. Just look at the standings. Right now, the only non-div leader in the NFC with a winning record is Dallas. 9 wins is going to be enough for a WC in the NFC in all likelihood.

I'm just as upset about many of this team's flaws as anyone else, but the season isn't over. If you thought it was gonna be a SB type year, it was over for you before it began.

 

[Anointed One]

Sad thing that overshadows everything is the offense played really well... It was a site for sore eyes...

Positives:

• They scored 5 TD's against one of the best defenses in the league... we hadn't scored a TD in the past 6 quarters...
• We converted on 9 of 14 3rd down attempts (67%)... That's a big jump considering we were 30th in the NFL in converting on 3rd down coming into the game.
• We had 25 - 1st downs - most we've had in any game this season
• Our offense scored TD's in 4 out of 5 attempts in the red zone (80%) clip... They had only converted 26% of their attempts going into last nights game...
• This offense didn't Punt one time during the game... When's the last time we could say that?
• We stayed committed to running the ball - even know the results weren't great.
• Geno Smith with 4 TD's... DK Metcalf was on the receiving end of 3 TD's...
• JSN continues to improve and contribute... That TD that was reversed would've given him 8 catches, 101 yards and a TD...
• The OL played well for the most part with Peters going to RG and Lucas playing LT in his first game back since week 1... Tall task against that Cowboy defense...
• And people don't want to hear this but props to Geno... He balled out and played well... He was under duress quite a bit this game and played pretty good...

Negatives:

• Lockett struggled... He dropped 2 passes that were right in his bread basket... usually do not see that...
• Offense 0-3 on 4th down... That was a big difference in the game imo...
• Parsons... Basically this modern era Lawrence Taylor... How on earth does he come in unaccounted for on the biggest play of the game... 4th down... No one touched him... That's on coaching or what not... That miss assignment/communication shouldn't happen in week 13...
• Defense... No defense... Terrible Defense... What can we say here - this scheme/coaching staff is doing a terrible job putting these guys in position to be successful... We are 2nd in the NFL in terms of investing into the defense... Yet, we are atrocious... No other way to look at it - the coaching staff is letting this defense down... How can we bring L Williams here, who was dominating on a bad NY Giants team and he doesn't have the same success here in Seattle? With all we have invested, we are the bottom 1/4 of the league and that's unacceptable...
• Poor tackling... I think they said last night that Seattle was the 4th worse in the NFL in miss tackles... Woolen and Diggs are huge contributors in that stat... It was nice to finally see Woolen make some tackles last night... The benching last week hopefully lit a fire under him...
• Penalties... When is this going to improve? We lead the league with 91 penalties... Quite a few of these are contributing to our losses... This falls on Pete Carroll, which is another reason I'd like to move on from him...
• Defense didn't force 1 punt all night... Outside the Cowboys last 2 possessions (Basically trying to run out the clock), they scored on 8 of their 10 possessions...
• J. Meyers is 31st in the NFL in FG% at 78.7%... With another miss last night from 42, that would've definitely helped us down the stretch instead of thinking we needed a TD to win the game... Time to move on from him after the season...

The Cowboys out scored the Seahawks 14-0 in the final Quarter... Their talent and defense played up to what we had expected... Our offense couldn't handle their pass rush in the 4th quarter...

I'm not one to give moral victories and I'm not about to start now... We didn't finish the game... We had a chance to win but fell short...

 

[MrS]

nobody thought this was a SB team, but many of us thought this season would be a growth year with a shot at a SB next year.

that clearly is not the case, this team has too much dead weight and a lot of that is the coaching staff.

 

[JMR]

nobody thought this was a SB team, but many of us thought this season would be a growth year with a shot at a SB next year.

that clearly is not the case, this team has too much dead weight and a lot of that is the coaching staff.

Growth year? That's pretty subjective, but nearly 1/3 of the season remains. I think it's possible to finish out with some growth. Until that doesn't happen, I am not going to listen to anyone declaring that it can't.

 

[flyerhawk]

Better performance than expected. The team battled and made way more of a game of it than just about everyone expected. I believe Dallas defense was #4 in points allowed coming in, so this may have been the best game of the year for the offense. The fact that it came on the heels of one of the worst is maybe the over-arching problem with this team. You just can't be too confident on what you're going to see from one game to the next. Just when one thing gets cleaned up a bit, something else gets dropped.

At the beginning of the year, I bet most people figured the team would be 7-5 at this point. At least that's what I thought, and I also predicted 10 wins. We are essentially 1 game off that pace thanks to getting swept by the Rams, and 3-2 from here is certainly attainable. Even if we lose the next 2. However, if we see last night's performance vs Philly minus 2 or 3 crushing penalties, I think we have a great shot to win that at home on MNF. Philly has been scraping and is set up for a fall.

So a lot of people are saying the season is over. If that's you, what were your expectations? 12 wins and div title? NFCC? SB?

This team may not be a SB contender (and if that was your expectation going in, I think you were unrealistic), but it's still in the thick of the WC hunt in the NFC. The team will still be in the middle of it even with losses to both Philly and 49ers. Just look at the standings. Right now, the only non-div leader in the NFC with a winning record is Dallas. 9 wins is going to be enough for a WC in the NFC in all likelihood.

I'm just as upset about many of this team's flaws as anyone else, but the season isn't over. If you thought it was gonna be a SB type year, it was over for you before it began.

It's not about being Super Bowl contenders this year really, although I do think teams can be one or two brilliant moves away from being one.

It's more about how this team has been largely the same for the past 5 or 6 years.

Wildly inconsistent execution especially at the line. Complete lack of discipline.

Is there any reason to think this team will be a Super Bowl contender year? I certainly don't see it.

At some point we have to accept that it is time to move on from Pete.

 

[flyerhawk]

Growth year? That's pretty subjective, but nearly 1/3 of the season remains. I think it's possible to finish out with some growth. Until that doesn't happen, I am not going to listen to anyone declaring that it can't.

I think it is entirely possible that the Seahawks lose the next two and then win the final 3 and maybe even sneak into the playoffs and play the Niners again and get crushed.

And Pete will point to how the team came together at the end of the season when they beat the Titans, Cardinals and Steelers.

But the reality will be that we just played poorer teams

 

[JMR]

Negatives:

• Lockett struggled... He dropped 2 passes that were right in his bread basket... usually do not see that...

I give TL some grace on the 2nd drop because I just think he wasn't ready for the ball. It was on him immediately after he came out of his break and right as he was getting his head turned. I suspect he figured he had at least 1 more step before he would need to make a catch. On the replay, it looked like he wasn't able to see the ball very well. But overall, I think he's for sure on the decline. Still good but not what he was. The good news is JSN is going to be ready to step up into that role sooner than later. Kid looks very promising.

• Offense 0-3 on 4th down... That was a big difference in the game imo...

When Charbonnet got stuff on 4th & short, that's when most of my hopes for a win were dashed. They got the best of us on those critical downs toward the end, which I guess is what you expect when facing a team that's just better.

• Parsons... Basically this modern era Lawrence Taylor... How on earth does he come in unaccounted for on the biggest play of the game... 4th down... No one touched him... That's on coaching or what not... That miss assignment/communication shouldn't happen in week 13...

Definitely do not understand how Parsons was totally ignored on the last gasp 4th down. I look forward to hearing the explanation from PC on that.

• Defense... No defense... Terrible Defense... What can we say here - this scheme/coaching staff is doing a terrible job putting these guys in position to be successful... We are 2nd in the NFL in terms of investing into the defense... Yet, we are atrocious... No other way to look at it - the coaching staff is letting this defense down... How can we bring L Williams here, who was dominating on a bad NY Giants team and he doesn't have the same success here in Seattle? With all we have invested, we are the bottom 1/4 of the league and that's unacceptable...

I am not going to hold it too much against the defense for the last 2 games against top offenses. On the whole, the defense has trended up this year. They haven't been the weak sister in most of the losses.

• Penalties... When is this going to improve? We lead the league with 91 penalties... Quite a few of these are contributing to our losses... This falls on Pete Carroll, which is another reason I'd like to move on from him...

I think it's just what you get with PC. He likes young, aggressive players on defense and doesn't often stand in the way of them "being themselves" or however he might say it. The upside is it gives you a better shot at these diamonds in the rough like Sherm, Chancellor, Browner, Bennett, Woolen, etc., but the downside is usually indiscipline. Indiscipline = penalties.

• Defense didn't force 1 punt all night... Outside the Cowboys last 2 possessions (Basically trying to run out the clock), they scored on 8 of their 10 possessions...

I think this is tied closely to the penalties. On every incomplete pass last night, I was looking for a flag. So many drives get extended by penalties on our DBs. Weren't we also the most penalized team in the league in 2013? It just the cost of doing business on a PC team.

• J. Meyers is 31st in the NFL in FG% at 78.7%... With another miss last night from 42, that would've definitely helped us down the stretch instead of thinking we needed a TD to win the game... Time to move on from him after the season...

Strange season for him. He's kept us in a few games with multiple FGs when the O simply couldn't score a TD, and then you have the occasional shank that seems to be costly. I can't crush him too bad for a 55 yard miss vs Rams that would've won it and have us now sit in the 2nd widlcard slot, but that 42 yarder last night hurt.

I'm not one to give moral victories and I'm not about to start now... We didn't finish the game... We had a chance to win but fell short...

The Hawks gave Dallas a WAY better game than all of my buddies in Fort Worth expected, that's for sure. It gives me at least some hope that we can do the same with Philly and maybe steal that one. It was encouraging to see them show up last night after getting smoked like my turkey on Thanksgiving. They played like they wanted to win against a team that I think is probably the 2nd best in the NFC.

 

[JMR]

It's not about being Super Bowl contenders this year really, although I do think teams can be one or two brilliant moves away from being one.

It's more about how this team has been largely the same for the past 5 or 6 years.

Wildly inconsistent execution especially at the line. Complete lack of discipline.

Is there any reason to think this team will be a Super Bowl contender year? I certainly don't see it.

At some point we have to accept that it is time to move on from Pete.

I think a number of things can happen, and I definitely don't think the team has been the same for the past 5 or 6 years unless you just want to stay at the 35k foot elevation and say something like "1 and done when they've made the playoffs" and leave it at that.

For sure at some point Pete won't be here. Maybe this is his last year, maybe not. I think the next 5 games could go a long way to shape that is my point. Premature to declare the season over. Most of us thought we would suck pretty bad last year. We were wildly wrong.

 

[Niner Outlaw]

Definitely do not understand how Parsons was totally ignored on the last gasp 4th down. I look forward to hearing the explanation from PC on that.

According to Geno...

Seahawks' final play was designed to leave Micah Parsons unblocked

The Seahawks got exactly what they wanted on their last snap of the game.

www.nbcsports.com

 

[JMR]

I think it is entirely possible that the Seahawks lose the next two and then win the final 3 and maybe even sneak into the playoffs and play the Niners again and get crushed.

yeah, entirely possible. Let's see how this matchup with Philly goes. Eagles have been scraping by. They play SF this week and then us on MNF. They also have another meeting with Dallas. I suspect SF will be the top seed, but I guess we'll see. Philly may not even win the east.

And Pete will point to how the team came together at the end of the season when they beat the Titans, Cardinals and Steelers.

But the reality will be that we just played poorer teams

I guess so. When you have 7 teams in the playoffs for each conference, this is what happens. It won't shock me at all if a team with a losing record makes it in for the NFC. If the season ended right now, only 1 NFC wc team would have a winning record.

 

[flyerhawk]

I think a number of things can happen, and I definitely don't think the team has been the same for the past 5 or 6 years unless you just want to stay at the 35k foot elevation and say something like "1 and done when they've made the playoffs" and leave it at that.

For sure at some point Pete won't be here. Maybe this is his last year, maybe not. I think the next 5 games could go a long way to shape that is my point. Premature to declare the season over. Most of us thought we would suck pretty bad last year. We were wildly wrong.

I think our chances of getting past the first round of the playoffs are most likely gone.

But ultimately I think the team has had the same problems for the past 5 or 6 years. Mediocre defense and spotty OL play.

Given how much we have invested on the D, we have to wonder if the problem is Pete

 

[Jordan23]

yeah, entirely possible. Let's see how this matchup with Philly goes. Eagles have been scraping by. They play SF this week and then us on MNF. They also have another meeting with Dallas. I suspect SF will be the top seed, but I guess we'll see. Philly may not even win the east.

I guess so. When you have 7 teams in the playoffs for each conference, this is what happens. It won't shock me at all if a team with a losing record makes it in for the NFC. If the season ended right now, only 1 NFC wc team would have a winning record.

I hope you are right lol

 

[dkmightyhammer]

Sad thing that overshadows everything is the offense played really well... It was a site for sore eyes...

Positives:

• They scored 5 TD's against one of the best defenses in the league... we hadn't scored a TD in the past 6 quarters...
• We converted on 9 of 14 3rd down attempts (67%)... That's a big jump considering we were 30th in the NFL in converting on 3rd down coming into the game.
• We had 25 - 1st downs - most we've had in any game this season
• Our offense scored TD's in 4 out of 5 attempts in the red zone (80%) clip... They had only converted 26% of their attempts going into last nights game...
• This offense didn't Punt one time during the game... When's the last time we could say that?
• We stayed committed to running the ball - even know the results weren't great.
• Geno Smith with 4 TD's... DK Metcalf was on the receiving end of 3 TD's...
• JSN continues to improve and contribute... That TD that was reversed would've given him 8 catches, 101 yards and a TD...
• The OL played well for the most part with Peters going to RG and Lucas playing LT in his first game back since week 1... Tall task against that Cowboy defense...
• And people don't want to hear this but props to Geno... He balled out and played well... He was under duress quite a bit this game and played pretty good...

Negatives:

• Lockett struggled... He dropped 2 passes that were right in his bread basket... usually do not see that...
• Offense 0-3 on 4th down... That was a big difference in the game imo...
• Parsons... Basically this modern era Lawrence Taylor... How on earth does he come in unaccounted for on the biggest play of the game... 4th down... No one touched him... That's on coaching or what not... That miss assignment/communication shouldn't happen in week 13...
• Defense... No defense... Terrible Defense... What can we say here - this scheme/coaching staff is doing a terrible job putting these guys in position to be successful... We are 2nd in the NFL in terms of investing into the defense... Yet, we are atrocious... No other way to look at it - the coaching staff is letting this defense down... How can we bring L Williams here, who was dominating on a bad NY Giants team and he doesn't have the same success here in Seattle? With all we have invested, we are the bottom 1/4 of the league and that's unacceptable...
• Poor tackling... I think they said last night that Seattle was the 4th worse in the NFL in miss tackles... Woolen and Diggs are huge contributors in that stat... It was nice to finally see Woolen make some tackles last night... The benching last week hopefully lit a fire under him...
• Penalties... When is this going to improve? We lead the league with 91 penalties... Quite a few of these are contributing to our losses... This falls on Pete Carroll, which is another reason I'd like to move on from him...
• Defense didn't force 1 punt all night... Outside the Cowboys last 2 possessions (Basically trying to run out the clock), they scored on 8 of their 10 possessions...
• J. Meyers is 31st in the NFL in FG% at 78.7%... With another miss last night from 42, that would've definitely helped us down the stretch instead of thinking we needed a TD to win the game... Time to move on from him after the season...

The Cowboys out scored the Seahawks 14-0 in the final Quarter... Their talent and defense played up to what we had expected... Our offense couldn't handle their pass rush in the 4th quarter...

I'm not one to give moral victories and I'm not about to start now... We didn't finish the game... We had a chance to win but fell short...

That's all fair. The punt thing is a little misleading though. Yes, Dallas never punted, but Seattle stopped them on 3rd down twice where Dallas decided to just go for it on 4th down instead of punting/kicking. A lot of teams are using the analytics and going for it more on 4th down than ever before. Those times where they go for it now would have been punts in the past. Dallas never forced us to punt either. I think I read that that is only the 5th time in NFL history where neither team had a punt.