Game Thread: Week 14: Seahawks (7-5) @ Cards (6-6) - NFC West on the line...

[Sharkonabicycle]

Apparently DK practiced fully yesterday...

Seattle's defense has been lights out the last few games, let's hope it keeps up.

I know this is a little early to start the game thread, but I couldn't help myself! Go Hawks!

 

[flyerhawk]

Injury report looks about as good as you could hope for..

Seahawks Injury Report | Seattle Seahawks – seahawks.com

I would be surprised if K8 doesn't play. Losing Dickson would suck for sure but if the worst injury you have is your punter, that is great news.

Of course Bradford and Fant are on IR so our weak OL is even weaker. We really can't have any injuries on the OL.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Walker has been ruled out for Sunday game.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

I know I might get some hate here, but IMO do not resign Walker. I love the guy and he can at times make up for a crap OL, but I'd rather fix the OL and not have to deal with a RB that constantly has nagging injuries.

Regardless, I don't consider this that big of a loss with Charbs available. Arizona's DL isn't that great... Charbs should find some room.

 

[MrS]

I know I might get some hate here, but IMO do not resign Walker. I love the guy and he can at times make up for a crap OL, but I'd rather fix the OL and not have to deal with a RB that constantly has nagging injuries.

Regardless, I don't consider this that big of a loss with Charbs available. Arizona's DL isn't that great... Charbs should find some room.

Im against second contracts for Rbs in 99% of cases. I stick to the theory they are a dime a dozen

 

[DJ Fieri]

Huuuuuuge game for NFC West supremacy!!!!

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

Huuuuuuge game for NFC West supremacy!!!!

Christ DJ... if I already didn't need a reason to chug blood pressure meds, now you're showing up and stirring up things!

 

[Anointed One]

Walker has been ruled out for Sunday game.

yep. That stinks… watch us rush the ball 30+ times now.

 

[Battlelyon]

Huuuuuuge game for NFC West supremacy!!!!

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

View attachment 382492

Battle! You go back to the LA forum in the Bills thread. Don't make me tell you twice. Shoo now!

But seriously, I love you ...... course, that could in and of itself prompt you to actually leave... eh fuck it. It's Saturday.

 

[Battlelyon]

We can all agree that it is great having the 49ers in last place.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

We can all agree that it is great having the 49ers in last place.

 

[DJ Fieri]

View attachment 382492

The winner will be in first place....

 

[Battlelyon]

The winner will be in first place....

True, but I'm not trying to hesr that

 

[blstoker]

I'm gonna bring back a little something I used to do, so here's my breakdown.

Key Players:
Offense:
Geno Smith: Geno has been debated to no end on this board for 3 years, but the offense is coming off a three-game stretch where they haven't put up 300 yards. The fact they've won all three is a testament to how well the defense has been playing in this stretch - the last time the Seahawks won 3 strait games without getting 300 yards of total offense was in 1990. The offense has put up just 20 points per game this season, and hasn't had a game where they scored more than 30 this year - which if that continues would be the first time since 1992. As the QB of a pass heavy offense, it's Geno's job to get the ball in the end zone - and this year the team has more rushing tds than passing. Part of the struggles getting the ball in the end zone comes from Geno's ineptitude in the red zone - especially inside the 10 where he's 4 of 21 with 2 interceptions. Geno could go a long way to quieting noise about his performance if he can double his tds by the end of the year and not add to his interception total.

OLine: While I've felt the oline has played better of late, there's still a lot of improvement to be had. Laumea was graded at a 19 by PFF during the last game, and he's in there again. Lucas has stabalized the RT spot, but it's apparant he's still getting back into the swing of things. Olu has been an upgrade at center IMO, and Tomlinson has been present all season. Most importantly, the line needs to get physical and convince Grubb that the run can be effective and set up the pass - as we're throwing less than 5 play actions a game.

DK Metcalf: DK has not been living up to his billing. He's been meh since coming back from injury. JSN has been balling, but DK needs to provide that second target for Geno and get himself open for his QB. The offense needs to play with more physicality and urgency and that includes DK. I know getting him too hyped up can lead to other issues, but he's been downright timid in recent weeks.

Defense:
Leonard Williams: Dude has been an absolute monster the last 2 weeks, and the defense could use that kind of performance from him again, if not the rest of the season. The offense has been inept for a while now, so the defense doesn't have a lot of room for error - I don't think the Hawks win that last game if it was Arizona they playing.

Jordan Love: Love has been a huge player all season. He's been all over the field, arguably the best safety we've had since Thomas broke his leg. He's shown great leadership by playing at a high level and holding players accountable for their play. The team needs a big performance from him this week again.

Derick Hall: Hall started out really strong with 5 sacks in the first 5 games but has had only 1 over the last 7. He, and Mafe both, have still gotten pressure, but have been over pursuing the QB and not finishing off the sacks in the opportunities they have. The Hawks need to see these plays getting finished, especially against a guy who can hurt you if you can't keep him contained. Getting Nwosu may be a good thing as well.

Matchups:
Riq Woolen v Marvin Harrison, Jr: Harrison had only 3 catches in the last matchup, but that was as much because the Cards were getting insane production elsewhere in the passing game. Keeping Harrison from making big plays will go a long way to keeping the Cards off the board.

Ernest Jones v Trey McBride: McBride had a career game two weeks ago. The Cardinals inability to get him the ball in the end zone is a huge headscratcher, but the Seahawks issues with TEs were continued with McBride. Maybe Love will drop in and help with coverage, but McBride was the only weapon Arizona had that was effective last time.

Sataoa Laumea v LJ Collier: I'd heard that Collier was playing well going into the last game and he made some plays during that game and then had another great game against Minnesota. He could be looking to continue with his improved play against an inexperienced rookie who looked overmatched at times last week.

Overview:
The game is the most important matchup of the young McDonald era, with the playoff odds being significantly improved for the winner, and a near statistical elimination for the loser. Seattle not only needs to win this game, but they need to improve over the last matchup - which shouldn't be too hard since the Hawks have played better on the road this year than at home. The next 2 games for Seattle are against likely playoff teams, and they're heading into the part of the season where they will need to show themselves a playoff team if they want any success in January.

 

[JMR]

Walker out, but that probably doesn't hurt us much. He's averaging 3.7 per tote this year and that matches pretty well with how ineffective he's been most games. I think he's a better than avg starting RB, but not having him might actually help us win this game as we may just give up the ghost on trying to run and focus more on explosive passing plays.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

I'm gonna bring back a little something I used to do, so here's my breakdown.

Key Players:
Offense:
Geno Smith: Geno has been debated to no end on this board for 3 years, but the offense is coming off a three-game stretch where they haven't put up 300 yards. The fact they've won all three is a testament to how well the defense has been playing in this stretch - the last time the Seahawks won 3 strait games without getting 300 yards of total offense was in 1990. The offense has put up just 20 points per game this season, and hasn't had a game where they scored more than 30 this year - which if that continues would be the first time since 1992. As the QB of a pass heavy offense, it's Geno's job to get the ball in the end zone - and this year the team has more rushing tds than passing. Part of the struggles getting the ball in the end zone comes from Geno's ineptitude in the red zone - especially inside the 10 where he's 4 of 21 with 2 interceptions. Geno could go a long way to quieting noise about his performance if he can double his tds by the end of the year and not add to his interception total.

OLine: While I've felt the oline has played better of late, there's still a lot of improvement to be had. Laumea was graded at a 19 by PFF during the last game, and he's in there again. Lucas has stabalized the RT spot, but it's apparant he's still getting back into the swing of things. Olu has been an upgrade at center IMO, and Tomlinson has been present all season. Most importantly, the line needs to get physical and convince Grubb that the run can be effective and set up the pass - as we're throwing less than 5 play actions a game.

DK Metcalf: DK has not been living up to his billing. He's been meh since coming back from injury. JSN has been balling, but DK needs to provide that second target for Geno and get himself open for his QB. The offense needs to play with more physicality and urgency and that includes DK. I know getting him too hyped up can lead to other issues, but he's been downright timid in recent weeks.

Defense:
Leonard Williams: Dude has been an absolute monster the last 2 weeks, and the defense could use that kind of performance from him again, if not the rest of the season. The offense has been inept for a while now, so the defense doesn't have a lot of room for error - I don't think the Hawks win that last game if it was Arizona they playing.

Jordan Love: Love has been a huge player all season. He's been all over the field, arguably the best safety we've had since Thomas broke his leg. He's shown great leadership by playing at a high level and holding players accountable for their play. The team needs a big performance from him this week again.

Derick Hall: Hall started out really strong with 5 sacks in the first 5 games but has had only 1 over the last 7. He, and Mafe both, have still gotten pressure, but have been over pursuing the QB and not finishing off the sacks in the opportunities they have. The Hawks need to see these plays getting finished, especially against a guy who can hurt you if you can't keep him contained. Getting Nwosu may be a good thing as well.

Matchups:
Riq Woolen v Marvin Harrison, Jr: Harrison had only 3 catches in the last matchup, but that was as much because the Cards were getting insane production elsewhere in the passing game. Keeping Harrison from making big plays will go a long way to keeping the Cards off the board.

Ernest Jones v Trey McBride: McBride had a career game two weeks ago. The Cardinals inability to get him the ball in the end zone is a huge headscratcher, but the Seahawks issues with TEs were continued with McBride. Maybe Love will drop in and help with coverage, but McBride was the only weapon Arizona had that was effective last time.

Sataoa Laumea v LJ Collier: I'd heard that Collier was playing well going into the last game and he made some plays during that game and then had another great game against Minnesota. He could be looking to continue with his improved play against an inexperienced rookie who looked overmatched at times last week.

Overview:
The game is the most important matchup of the young McDonald era, with the playoff odds being significantly improved for the winner, and a near statistical elimination for the loser. Seattle not only needs to win this game, but they need to improve over the last matchup - which shouldn't be too hard since the Hawks have played better on the road this year than at home. The next 2 games for Seattle are against likely playoff teams, and they're heading into the part of the season where they will need to show themselves a playoff team if they want any success in January.

Excellent post bl, very informative. I enjoyed reading your write up.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

I'm gonna bring back a little something I used to do, so here's my breakdown.

Key Players:
Offense:
Geno Smith: Geno has been debated to no end on this board for 3 years, but the offense is coming off a three-game stretch where they haven't put up 300 yards. The fact they've won all three is a testament to how well the defense has been playing in this stretch - the last time the Seahawks won 3 strait games without getting 300 yards of total offense was in 1990. The offense has put up just 20 points per game this season, and hasn't had a game where they scored more than 30 this year - which if that continues would be the first time since 1992. As the QB of a pass heavy offense, it's Geno's job to get the ball in the end zone - and this year the team has more rushing tds than passing. Part of the struggles getting the ball in the end zone comes from Geno's ineptitude in the red zone - especially inside the 10 where he's 4 of 21 with 2 interceptions. Geno could go a long way to quieting noise about his performance if he can double his tds by the end of the year and not add to his interception total.

OLine: While I've felt the oline has played better of late, there's still a lot of improvement to be had. Laumea was graded at a 19 by PFF during the last game, and he's in there again. Lucas has stabalized the RT spot, but it's apparant he's still getting back into the swing of things. Olu has been an upgrade at center IMO, and Tomlinson has been present all season. Most importantly, the line needs to get physical and convince Grubb that the run can be effective and set up the pass - as we're throwing less than 5 play actions a game.

DK Metcalf: DK has not been living up to his billing. He's been meh since coming back from injury. JSN has been balling, but DK needs to provide that second target for Geno and get himself open for his QB. The offense needs to play with more physicality and urgency and that includes DK. I know getting him too hyped up can lead to other issues, but he's been downright timid in recent weeks.

Defense:
Leonard Williams: Dude has been an absolute monster the last 2 weeks, and the defense could use that kind of performance from him again, if not the rest of the season. The offense has been inept for a while now, so the defense doesn't have a lot of room for error - I don't think the Hawks win that last game if it was Arizona they playing.

Jordan Love: Love has been a huge player all season. He's been all over the field, arguably the best safety we've had since Thomas broke his leg. He's shown great leadership by playing at a high level and holding players accountable for their play. The team needs a big performance from him this week again.

Derick Hall: Hall started out really strong with 5 sacks in the first 5 games but has had only 1 over the last 7. He, and Mafe both, have still gotten pressure, but have been over pursuing the QB and not finishing off the sacks in the opportunities they have. The Hawks need to see these plays getting finished, especially against a guy who can hurt you if you can't keep him contained. Getting Nwosu may be a good thing as well.

Matchups:
Riq Woolen v Marvin Harrison, Jr: Harrison had only 3 catches in the last matchup, but that was as much because the Cards were getting insane production elsewhere in the passing game. Keeping Harrison from making big plays will go a long way to keeping the Cards off the board.

Ernest Jones v Trey McBride: McBride had a career game two weeks ago. The Cardinals inability to get him the ball in the end zone is a huge headscratcher, but the Seahawks issues with TEs were continued with McBride. Maybe Love will drop in and help with coverage, but McBride was the only weapon Arizona had that was effective last time.

Sataoa Laumea v LJ Collier: I'd heard that Collier was playing well going into the last game and he made some plays during that game and then had another great game against Minnesota. He could be looking to continue with his improved play against an inexperienced rookie who looked overmatched at times last week.

Overview:
The game is the most important matchup of the young McDonald era, with the playoff odds being significantly improved for the winner, and a near statistical elimination for the loser. Seattle not only needs to win this game, but they need to improve over the last matchup - which shouldn't be too hard since the Hawks have played better on the road this year than at home. The next 2 games for Seattle are against likely playoff teams, and they're heading into the part of the season where they will need to show themselves a playoff team if they want any success in January.

Really great write up @blstoker. Love it.

 

[Sharkonabicycle]

Really great write up @blstoker. Love it.

 

[Uhsplit]

Bummer about K9, but I like our poise. 20-17 Seattle.