The Seattle Seahawks entered their Week 15 contest against the San Francisco 49ers without many people giving them very good odds of winning in spite of the fact that the Seahawks were at home and facing a seventh round rookie at quarterback throwing to a receivers group sans the best player. Not even Seahawks fans were especially hopeful.
There's a rumor that Brady will be playing for the Niners next year. Can you imagine the team that we played tonight plus Deebo Samuel and Tom Brady. Whoa. The 49ers will be the NFC Super Bowl representative and will likely play the AFC champ, who we happen to play next week. Oh boy.
Tonight, we put up a better fight than Tampa Bay did last week. McCaffery had 108 yards rushing and only 30 yds receiving; a slow day for McCaffery. The corners held up, Diggs didn't. We play a 3/4 and had no nose tackle for most of the game. Considering the huge difference in talent, I thought the Hawks gave a good effort.
With Jamal Adams on IR, we don't have a defensive player that would start for San Francisco. SF plays a 4/3 because they have Bosa, Ekuban, Armstead, and Kinlaw. We use five players who produce less than they get from four. Their linebacker are fast, aggressive, and cover the middle zone like paint. They have two really good defensive backs. It's the only chink in their armor. San Francisco only needs two good defensive backs because opposing QB have no time to throw and teams can't run against them.
There were times that San Francisco was in the backfield before Geno even got to his pass set. I don't recall Geno ever having time to go through his progression. K9 doesn't look like the hard-nosed, aggressive runner he did a few weeks ago. Both rookies linemen look like they need a Loching break. With the exception of Lockett, none of our wide receivers create separation. Finally, Waldron is not Shanahan and I'll be shocked if he is offered a head coaching gig except maybe in Denver since he was rumored to be hand picked by Wilson as OC.
If you hoped for a victory tonight, good for you. If thought we would win, you might wanna ease up on the Jack Daniels. The 49ers have created this team over a period of eight years starting with Jimmy Ward who blanketed Metcalf all night was drafted in 2014 and Arik Armstead in 2015. BTW, 2014 was a terrible draft for San Fran with Ward and Carlos Hyde the only real hits. The Niners spent several years in obscurity getting very high draft picks. They bought Trent Williams and Christian Macaffery. It's their time and we'll have ours but we need time to build. Accept that.
At the start of the season I said I wanted to see a couple things - a team that plays hard and a team that improves throughout the season. Being a person who thinks stopping the run is mostly a matter of effort and will I have been disappointed by the last 4 games because the Hawks were flat out getting pushed around... in my eyes a matter of will. But tonight was different, granted they busted off that late run to put the game away but for most of the night the run defense was adequate. If they'd played that way for the prior 4 games they'd have won them all. So anyway, I saw improvement tonight and I want to see how things go these last 3 games.
As for the offense I don't think the line is performing well. No run game to speak of for 5 games now and that's disturbing. Geno was under heavy pressure every dropback tonight. Frankly I think the situation with the O-line is worse than the run defense because they had been opening holes earlier in the year and now nothing. Is it scheme? personnel? I don't know. But it's got me pretty worried.
Where to begin. First, like Kenneth, I'm not down on our program. We have a ton of draft capital and our guys are super young. With time, the rookies should all improve. I'd not be surprised if several wind up among the best at their positions eventually. Watched Cross against Bosa and was impressed, though I wasn't expecting perfection or anything close.
The line struggled all night against the fierce 49ers but were better at pass than run blocking. Hopefully that will improve, as it will allow Walker to shine.
I've been skeptical that this year's team is good from the beginning. They've far exceeded my expectations (which were probably the lowest of anyone's). Geno has far surpassed and yet I hope that this game puts to rest any possibility of shelling out some ungodly sum to keep him. $40M per year? No thanks. $30M per year. Uh uh. I think he should fairly slot in at around $15M, maybe $20M tops. Better than backup money but not premier starter territory.
If some other team is willing to commit $30M to Geno or $100M guaranteed over 4 years, I'd be delighted if Schneider and Carroll let him walk. We'll take the comp pick and then give other guys a chance. Lock has a way higher ceiling if he can stop making dumb errors. I'm not thinking Purdy is the 49ers QB of the future either (small with limited arm strength and ability to scramble), but it's clear one doesn't have to draft a guy in the top of the first round to have a chance at developing someone.
I think the defense needs rebuilding from top to bottom. The offense needs experience and maybe upgrades at C (why didn't we take Hujmphrey, he was right there) and a guard spot. Plus depth pieces. Defense needs almost everything. Woolen will be great. Bryant will be adequate. Maybe one day the Adams deal will pay dividends but I'm not holding my breath. Everyone else is mediocre to not-ready-for-prime-time.
It was bad. They aren’t a good team. But it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. So there’s that.
It’s better than a short span in 2010. Halloween in Oakland. Beaten. Injuries. The next week, fans knew it would be ugly (just like this week.) They hosted the Giants without Hasselbeck, their 2nd string left tackle, and Red Bryant, who had been key to stopping the run. That game was much worse. 41-(garbage)7 worse.
Yet, that team recovered, snuck into the playoffs, gave us BeastQuake, and started building the foundation for the 2013 SB team.
Sorry, I’ll keep defending the defense in that last play. Any 1st down would have ended the game. Most other RBs would stop the play as soon as they were sure they had passed the sticks. There was no need to defend beyond the sticks. They deserve all criticism for letting that run go 2 yards, but no criticism at all for any yard beyond that.
To be fair, the D allowed 14 points. It would be really hard for any D in the league to stop that drive that started on 1st and goal. But oh boy, how ugly they looked allowing those 14 points.
I loved PC/JS commitment to not saying they are in a re-build and sticking to their convictions earlier in the year, showing faith in their players & staff. And heck, it really almost payed off thanks to schedule luck and Geno "Wow, did we really call for him to be MVP?" Smith's revelation.
But now we need to be honest. This team looks like the one we expected post-RW trade = Not Good. I hope PC/JS and the Ownership and Staff are taking proper reviews of this season with a willingness to admit to their mistakes. This team is in prime position on the back of a strong '22 Draft and with great '23 Draft capital to build, as you keep saying here on Seaside Joe, to a really good 2024/5 team.
No sentimentality can be afforded on either side of the ball. We're still carrying dead cap into '23 from various former players, i say commit to it. Lets move on from a range of players, put a handful more still on Rookie deals on notice they have one-year to prove themselves. Embrace the phrase "rebuild" and the pain that will come in the final weeks of this season, and probably all of next.
But, 2024! With two good drafts with NFL experience, clear direction and coaching, and smart decisive FA/trade moves, there really could be no stopping the 'Hawks!
I think that the middle of the O-line is holding the offense back and that upgrades, paired with the ongoing development of Cross and Lucas, will have an impact. But if you don’t think that’s significant, what’s the case for paying Geno?
Is it just me or is Darrell Taylor playing like a bust and should see the field far less than he's been playing? 6 or 7 sacks a season mean jack if you make bonehead penalties and can't set the edge on run plays. He's a liability at this point and I understand why Darryl Johnson was ahead of him on the depth chart.
SF is much better than the Hawks right now, and yet two plays in the final 2 minutes of the first half were the real difference makers. Digg’s non interception and Homer’s fumble gave SF an 11 point lead instead of 4. I’m not saying Hawks would have won, but protect the ball like Pete preaches and there was a chance for a monumental upset.
There’s not much chance against KC, but without completing possible turnovers like Digg’s opportunity there is no chance. Beating a better team requires a little luck and then capitalizing on those opportunities.
The 5 stages of grief are fickle! Was very girded in my optimism coming into the season for what this team might do. Then some really cool stuff happened and wasn’t so grounded in that discipline much anymore. I maybe intentionally or not, chose not to acknowledge that defenses get better as the season goes on because teams watch film and find schemes. Film is encompassing of every position and every trait and habit good or bad out there and Hawks are victim to being exposed for it- everywhere. That crashes down that giddy feeling we had back in week 8/9.
The reality is the defense stinks. We have rookie OTs and a QB which has a pile of film on now. The DL is not able to soak up much and the LBs are blown out- Exhibit A your honor: Trent Williams crushing the LBs springing loose the game sealing run at the end.
I’m for picking whoever’s best on the board that is not a QB at this point. I stan for Carter but this team needs talent most everywhere.
SF right now is a juggernaut. They have won 7 games in a row. They are probably only the second team right now to have done that. They could very easily run the table and go into the playoffs with a 10 game streak.
During the streak they scored over 30 4 times. Twice they were in the 20s and once in the teens. The margins of victory have been 17, 6, 28, 13, 16, 28, and 8. Only twice has the margin been below double digits. The Seahawks were one on the teams that kept the margin low. Yeah I know they left points on the field. That probably happened in some of their other games.
This game we held them to the second lowest point output and the second lowest margin. If we are as bad as everyone says we are I think they would have put up more points and had a bigger margin. Who knows what could have happened if we got the interception and didn't have the fumble.
They are a really good team and I think we didn't do to badly against them. We'll see how good we are when we play KC next but I think SF is the better team. Luckily we get some extra rest for that game.
Unfortunately reality sucks just like the Hawks. Both lines need help, the secondary is a confused mess and with a once in a decade # 2 draft , pick QB must be the choice.
The 3/4 D doesn't have the personnel it needs and what the draft doesn't bring in , FAs must be signed especially D linemen and interior O line.
Good point about the easy early schedule. It gave rise to unwarranted optimism.
The bad drafts over the years have finally caught up to the team. It happens.
Another good, honest and truthful commentary Kenneth.
First, the officiating. This group is SO INCOMPETENT. The calls were horrible both ways. This group should be fired and never allowed on a field again.
D, SO DAMMED BAD, AGAIN.
O line, great day for Cross and Lucas to learn what REALLY good D rushers are all about. This was a game to learn for them. Totally agree, Blyth and Gabe are so damn bad.
Woolen. Nobody will throw at him. Tells us a lot.
Geno. I have said this before, let another team pay him $30M. He is NOT WORTH THAT KIND OF MONEY. Having said that, if he continues to play this way, nobody will pay him anywhere close to $30M.
Sure would have been nice to have Penny and K9 share the backfield. But as has become the norm, Penny is again hurt. This is too much of a trend.
DK. STOP IT WITH THE BONE HEADED PENALTIEA. BE A PROFESSIONAL BUDDY
As I predicted before the season, the seahawks are a 4-13 team that got fortunate to win 3 extra games. Pete and John have a lot of work ahead of them.
There's a rumor that Brady will be playing for the Niners next year. Can you imagine the team that we played tonight plus Deebo Samuel and Tom Brady. Whoa. The 49ers will be the NFC Super Bowl representative and will likely play the AFC champ, who we happen to play next week. Oh boy.
Tonight, we put up a better fight than Tampa Bay did last week. McCaffery had 108 yards rushing and only 30 yds receiving; a slow day for McCaffery. The corners held up, Diggs didn't. We play a 3/4 and had no nose tackle for most of the game. Considering the huge difference in talent, I thought the Hawks gave a good effort.
With Jamal Adams on IR, we don't have a defensive player that would start for San Francisco. SF plays a 4/3 because they have Bosa, Ekuban, Armstead, and Kinlaw. We use five players who produce less than they get from four. Their linebacker are fast, aggressive, and cover the middle zone like paint. They have two really good defensive backs. It's the only chink in their armor. San Francisco only needs two good defensive backs because opposing QB have no time to throw and teams can't run against them.
There were times that San Francisco was in the backfield before Geno even got to his pass set. I don't recall Geno ever having time to go through his progression. K9 doesn't look like the hard-nosed, aggressive runner he did a few weeks ago. Both rookies linemen look like they need a Loching break. With the exception of Lockett, none of our wide receivers create separation. Finally, Waldron is not Shanahan and I'll be shocked if he is offered a head coaching gig except maybe in Denver since he was rumored to be hand picked by Wilson as OC.
If you hoped for a victory tonight, good for you. If thought we would win, you might wanna ease up on the Jack Daniels. The 49ers have created this team over a period of eight years starting with Jimmy Ward who blanketed Metcalf all night was drafted in 2014 and Arik Armstead in 2015. BTW, 2014 was a terrible draft for San Fran with Ward and Carlos Hyde the only real hits. The Niners spent several years in obscurity getting very high draft picks. They bought Trent Williams and Christian Macaffery. It's their time and we'll have ours but we need time to build. Accept that.
At the start of the season I said I wanted to see a couple things - a team that plays hard and a team that improves throughout the season. Being a person who thinks stopping the run is mostly a matter of effort and will I have been disappointed by the last 4 games because the Hawks were flat out getting pushed around... in my eyes a matter of will. But tonight was different, granted they busted off that late run to put the game away but for most of the night the run defense was adequate. If they'd played that way for the prior 4 games they'd have won them all. So anyway, I saw improvement tonight and I want to see how things go these last 3 games.
As for the offense I don't think the line is performing well. No run game to speak of for 5 games now and that's disturbing. Geno was under heavy pressure every dropback tonight. Frankly I think the situation with the O-line is worse than the run defense because they had been opening holes earlier in the year and now nothing. Is it scheme? personnel? I don't know. But it's got me pretty worried.
Where to begin. First, like Kenneth, I'm not down on our program. We have a ton of draft capital and our guys are super young. With time, the rookies should all improve. I'd not be surprised if several wind up among the best at their positions eventually. Watched Cross against Bosa and was impressed, though I wasn't expecting perfection or anything close.
The line struggled all night against the fierce 49ers but were better at pass than run blocking. Hopefully that will improve, as it will allow Walker to shine.
I've been skeptical that this year's team is good from the beginning. They've far exceeded my expectations (which were probably the lowest of anyone's). Geno has far surpassed and yet I hope that this game puts to rest any possibility of shelling out some ungodly sum to keep him. $40M per year? No thanks. $30M per year. Uh uh. I think he should fairly slot in at around $15M, maybe $20M tops. Better than backup money but not premier starter territory.
If some other team is willing to commit $30M to Geno or $100M guaranteed over 4 years, I'd be delighted if Schneider and Carroll let him walk. We'll take the comp pick and then give other guys a chance. Lock has a way higher ceiling if he can stop making dumb errors. I'm not thinking Purdy is the 49ers QB of the future either (small with limited arm strength and ability to scramble), but it's clear one doesn't have to draft a guy in the top of the first round to have a chance at developing someone.
I think the defense needs rebuilding from top to bottom. The offense needs experience and maybe upgrades at C (why didn't we take Hujmphrey, he was right there) and a guard spot. Plus depth pieces. Defense needs almost everything. Woolen will be great. Bryant will be adequate. Maybe one day the Adams deal will pay dividends but I'm not holding my breath. Everyone else is mediocre to not-ready-for-prime-time.
It was bad. They aren’t a good team. But it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. So there’s that.
It’s better than a short span in 2010. Halloween in Oakland. Beaten. Injuries. The next week, fans knew it would be ugly (just like this week.) They hosted the Giants without Hasselbeck, their 2nd string left tackle, and Red Bryant, who had been key to stopping the run. That game was much worse. 41-(garbage)7 worse.
Yet, that team recovered, snuck into the playoffs, gave us BeastQuake, and started building the foundation for the 2013 SB team.
So, tonight was bad, but not 7-Nov-2010 bad.
Sorry, I’ll keep defending the defense in that last play. Any 1st down would have ended the game. Most other RBs would stop the play as soon as they were sure they had passed the sticks. There was no need to defend beyond the sticks. They deserve all criticism for letting that run go 2 yards, but no criticism at all for any yard beyond that.
To be fair, the D allowed 14 points. It would be really hard for any D in the league to stop that drive that started on 1st and goal. But oh boy, how ugly they looked allowing those 14 points.
I loved PC/JS commitment to not saying they are in a re-build and sticking to their convictions earlier in the year, showing faith in their players & staff. And heck, it really almost payed off thanks to schedule luck and Geno "Wow, did we really call for him to be MVP?" Smith's revelation.
But now we need to be honest. This team looks like the one we expected post-RW trade = Not Good. I hope PC/JS and the Ownership and Staff are taking proper reviews of this season with a willingness to admit to their mistakes. This team is in prime position on the back of a strong '22 Draft and with great '23 Draft capital to build, as you keep saying here on Seaside Joe, to a really good 2024/5 team.
No sentimentality can be afforded on either side of the ball. We're still carrying dead cap into '23 from various former players, i say commit to it. Lets move on from a range of players, put a handful more still on Rookie deals on notice they have one-year to prove themselves. Embrace the phrase "rebuild" and the pain that will come in the final weeks of this season, and probably all of next.
But, 2024! With two good drafts with NFL experience, clear direction and coaching, and smart decisive FA/trade moves, there really could be no stopping the 'Hawks!
SF is going to win the SB.
I think that the middle of the O-line is holding the offense back and that upgrades, paired with the ongoing development of Cross and Lucas, will have an impact. But if you don’t think that’s significant, what’s the case for paying Geno?
Is it just me or is Darrell Taylor playing like a bust and should see the field far less than he's been playing? 6 or 7 sacks a season mean jack if you make bonehead penalties and can't set the edge on run plays. He's a liability at this point and I understand why Darryl Johnson was ahead of him on the depth chart.
SF is much better than the Hawks right now, and yet two plays in the final 2 minutes of the first half were the real difference makers. Digg’s non interception and Homer’s fumble gave SF an 11 point lead instead of 4. I’m not saying Hawks would have won, but protect the ball like Pete preaches and there was a chance for a monumental upset.
There’s not much chance against KC, but without completing possible turnovers like Digg’s opportunity there is no chance. Beating a better team requires a little luck and then capitalizing on those opportunities.
The 5 stages of grief are fickle! Was very girded in my optimism coming into the season for what this team might do. Then some really cool stuff happened and wasn’t so grounded in that discipline much anymore. I maybe intentionally or not, chose not to acknowledge that defenses get better as the season goes on because teams watch film and find schemes. Film is encompassing of every position and every trait and habit good or bad out there and Hawks are victim to being exposed for it- everywhere. That crashes down that giddy feeling we had back in week 8/9.
The reality is the defense stinks. We have rookie OTs and a QB which has a pile of film on now. The DL is not able to soak up much and the LBs are blown out- Exhibit A your honor: Trent Williams crushing the LBs springing loose the game sealing run at the end.
I’m for picking whoever’s best on the board that is not a QB at this point. I stan for Carter but this team needs talent most everywhere.
SF right now is a juggernaut. They have won 7 games in a row. They are probably only the second team right now to have done that. They could very easily run the table and go into the playoffs with a 10 game streak.
During the streak they scored over 30 4 times. Twice they were in the 20s and once in the teens. The margins of victory have been 17, 6, 28, 13, 16, 28, and 8. Only twice has the margin been below double digits. The Seahawks were one on the teams that kept the margin low. Yeah I know they left points on the field. That probably happened in some of their other games.
This game we held them to the second lowest point output and the second lowest margin. If we are as bad as everyone says we are I think they would have put up more points and had a bigger margin. Who knows what could have happened if we got the interception and didn't have the fumble.
They are a really good team and I think we didn't do to badly against them. We'll see how good we are when we play KC next but I think SF is the better team. Luckily we get some extra rest for that game.
Unfortunately reality sucks just like the Hawks. Both lines need help, the secondary is a confused mess and with a once in a decade # 2 draft , pick QB must be the choice.
The 3/4 D doesn't have the personnel it needs and what the draft doesn't bring in , FAs must be signed especially D linemen and interior O line.
Good point about the easy early schedule. It gave rise to unwarranted optimism.
The bad drafts over the years have finally caught up to the team. It happens.
Another good, honest and truthful commentary Kenneth.
First, the officiating. This group is SO INCOMPETENT. The calls were horrible both ways. This group should be fired and never allowed on a field again.
D, SO DAMMED BAD, AGAIN.
O line, great day for Cross and Lucas to learn what REALLY good D rushers are all about. This was a game to learn for them. Totally agree, Blyth and Gabe are so damn bad.
Woolen. Nobody will throw at him. Tells us a lot.
Geno. I have said this before, let another team pay him $30M. He is NOT WORTH THAT KIND OF MONEY. Having said that, if he continues to play this way, nobody will pay him anywhere close to $30M.
Sure would have been nice to have Penny and K9 share the backfield. But as has become the norm, Penny is again hurt. This is too much of a trend.
DK. STOP IT WITH THE BONE HEADED PENALTIEA. BE A PROFESSIONAL BUDDY
As I predicted before the season, the seahawks are a 4-13 team that got fortunate to win 3 extra games. Pete and John have a lot of work ahead of them.