"Three takeaways Sunday certainly bolstered the bulwark that has been that side of the ball (Defense) for Seattle. And though stinginess has come against relatively weak offenses — it’s still the NFL. The Seahawks have delivered. " - Matt Calkins Seattle Times
It's to the level of comedy the Seattle sports writers talk about the Seahawks. The defense playing against bad opponents? Meh "is still the NFL". Geno Smith playing against the number 1 defense in the NFL and the best defensive player in the NFL? Doesn't even get mentioned. Smith's two turnovers and the great plays made by the Browns defenders? Nope doesn't make the article. The pick 6 because the rookie ran the wrong route? You guessed it ... Geno's fault and highlighted in the article.
Narrative: Geno has turnover problems and therefore can't win a Super Bowl. Took me less than 2 minutes to look up the interceptions (per game) this year:
Mahomes 1
Josh Allen 1
Hurts 1
Tua 0.88
Stafford 0.88
(14) Geno 0.86
So, no one can win a Super Bowl?
So, what's the deal? Why is Geno held to a higher standard than everyone else? Do Seattle Sports commentators just not watch or understand any other football players and teams in the NFL?
And here we are, 7 or 8 games into the season (depending on when each team has their bye week) with no undefeated teams, and only 1 with a single loss.
And the Seahawks have only 2 losses, as good as all but 1 team in the league.
Yesterday’s game had tremendous highs and horror inducing lows. But at the end, a 4th quarter comeback against the best D in the league. I’ll take it.
Welcome to the NFL ... Where almost every game is a grind. Just win baby.
When playing against another good team and good defense ... It almost always comes down to the end. Which is exactly what Pete Carroll preaches. These types of games and wins are exactly what teams need to build towards the playoffs when things get more difficult and more pressure.
Uncharacteristically, Geno missed some throws. The one to DK on the second to last drive comes to mind. I am not as concerned about the picks. I want Geno to play aggressively and confidently. The Browns made a couple great plays and that is what you would expect out of a quality defense. For Geno to bounce back and shred them on the final drive is the most important thing.
The Browns are good team with a good coach. Don't think I have ever seen so many screen plays. The Browns are handicapped at QB so they have to grind out drives and try to manufacture points. They did that behind a good offensive line (running) and screen plays. They also have a great defense.
This game went about as expected overall. Would it be different if the Hawks scored TDs in the third quarter instead of the first 2 drives? That is probably more random noise than anything.
Ultimately, the Hawks beat a good team, overcoming some suspect calls, Geno remained confident and diced up a good defense to win the game. Also, if you want to talk about poor decision making ... how about pointing out good decision making? The last play to JSN was an RPO where Geno read the corner blitz and got it to the right guy, JSN, on time and in rhythm. Great read, great throw, great play, with the game on the line.
The gap between the Niners and Hawks has .... closed?
Go Hawks. We can win a SB with Geno at the helm, no question about it. Oh and great play for the most part from the O-line. This team is winning and still has room to get better. Great to see.
I agree completely. What encourages me the most is the contributions from the young core. JSN and Bobo both made plays and made them when they mattered. The RPO was not just Geno but also JSN recognizing what was happening and then using elite lateral quickness to get the side line and take it to the house. The first TD was Bobo seeing the flow and cutting back like a running back. Mafe looking more like Garrett than Garrett, which is not just a testament to Mafe but to Cross as well. Chardonnet and Walker did not just make the most of their opportunities, they also both pass blocked pretty well. Also contributing was Reed on special teams, along with Bradford and Olu. Last year there is little doubt in my mind that Seahawks loose against this years browns even with a health Adams and Nwosu. This year they needed a little luck, but then turned good fortune into the game winner. That is what good teams do. The next six weeks will tell us whether they can make the toughest step of all this year and go from good to great.
Very exciting stuff from the rookies. I have been concerned that we were trying to force the action a little bit to JSN. But this game looked very controlled and in rhythm. Great call on the final play - elite skills to get the TD.
- The scripted part of the game was fantastic. The non-scripted part of the game (for the offense) was pretty ugly. What to make of this? Adjustments by defenses are ahead of adjustments by the Seahawks offense. On Geno's second interception, that was a great defensive call. Blitz pressure up the middle, and then drop a defensive tackle into the hot read. Geno needs to see that though. The Browns adjusted well on defense, and we need to improve our in-game adjustments. It's shown up in a number of games.
- The defense had just enough cracks to keep the Browns alive offensively. Pete said they knew they were going to run screens so they prepared for them. But it didn't look like that during the game. It always worries me when teams get to do what they want to do even though we know what they are going to do. Some of it was tackling and angles, and some of it was the defense not seeing it quickly enough.
- Why not run the ball more, given the two guys we have in the backfield? We don't have the right balance consistently right now. Too pass heavy, and we're making ourselves one-dimensional when the defense hasn't. Making Geno win games on his own is not the recipe we should be running with. The snap counts and time of possession were pretty ugly by the end of the game because of this.
- But enough negativity. If you would have said we'd be 5-2 seven games into the season I would have been delighted at the start of the season. I've always thought we would improve throughout the year as the young players improved, and I still think that. The fact that we're playing far from our best and still winning is really good. When you can win while learning, that's not bad at all.
- QB's are already gun shy with Spoon. Word's out.
- Charbonnet is in fact awesome. More of this please.
- As has been noted below by others, DK is getting too many fruitless targets. We have 4 solid options at WR, so no need to 'feed' DK. It just helps the defense. DK will get more when they have to come off of him because of success elsewhere.
- We're in 1st place in the NFC West, and nobody looks unbeatable across the league. The Eagles barely squeaked past the Commanders, and KC lost to Denver (good grief), so we'll have a chance in every game we play, not matter who that's against.
I'm with you 100% on your comments Chris H. Especially questioning why we didn't run more? Both K9 and Charb had great days (9.15 average YPC for both players combined) with VERY limited carries...and the limited running plays definitely put more on Geno's plate unnecessarily. Curious why we didn't run more given the success we were having. Articles say much of that was Geno calling audibles out of runs to passes.
Also agree force feeding Metcalf is a bad idea. It seemed like every throw to Lockett was a texbook completion and many throws to Metcalf felt forced or scary or both, and not many completions. Some of that is on Geno of course.
I'm very glad for the win and excited where we stand at this point...even though this game was painful from Q2 to the last two minutes.
I'm going to start by banging on again about Waldron. Our RBs were having good days against a D who's relative weakness was the Run. So why oh why did we jump out to a 14-0 lead and proceed to run the ball a measly 11 times afterwards (vs 6 on those two TD series). I'm going to be nice to Geno here for a change, but of course he's going to throw bad passes when you're asking him to throw 37 times against a Pass D as good as the Browns. It's just awful awful Offensive game planning. If Geno is "the guy" he should still play a lot better (outside of the 1st Qtr), but Waldron did not help him last night. We need a new young QB and a new good OC.
Onto the good things. Can we just make these jerseys our normal ones? OMG DID THEY LOOK SO GOOD IN PLAY!!! And all the themed stadium dressing, painted markings etc. So so so good! I love it. I want more of it! More of the theming and colors please! I'm also enjoying the D which looked good again. Run D at the LoS is a bit suspect, we gave up too many soft first hits, possibly at the expense of putting as much pressure on PJ as we did. Something to better balance that (i.e. draft a proper class IDT/NT with out 1st, maybe say Leonard Taylor) would be good longer term.
Also have to join the praise for Dickson, who should be locking in for the Pro Bowl, he's so good. And Eskridge did have a good return. Bobo is such a feel good. There was a lot to like this week, but we need to keep pressuring Waldron to do better, and Geno to do better.
My take slightly different: Geno is not our ideal long-term QB, but we can win a SB with Geno at QB. I still believe the other pieces paid for with savings from a relatively inexpensive Geno can get it done.
This, from the AP write up on ESPN, quote from Geno:
“Our team is such a scrappy team. We find ways to win no matter what,” Smith said. “I feel like if I can play up to my capabilities, play up to my standard, who knows where we can be. Because we're one of the best teams in football if we play right.”
Geno is not wrong, the problem is why he can't play "up to my capabilities" for half the game at a time. The Seahawks do have the weapons to be "one of the best teams in football" but require +/+ play from the QB to get there. Too often (every game, really) Geno is +/-.
To be clear, +/+ doesn't require Geno to be Mahomes; just manage the game, run the offense as designed, hit the open receiver, throw the ball AWAY and don't turn it over. The weapons he has to work with are good enough the team will be exceptional if he can just do that.
Heart-stopping nail biter games were common with Russell Wilson, but they were still packed with action and optimism. That changed during his final season here, and the optimism in games like today (of which we've had some) doesn't seem to exist. These games aren't heart-stopping nail biters, instead it's a shock that they managed to pull off a win and there's nothing particularly thrilling about it. Reaction is more "well, a win is a win, we'll take what we can get." It's probably because I knew Wilson to be a second half pressure player, and Geno comes across as a 1st quarter then fizzle kind of QB. JUST HOW I FEEL, not speaking for anyone else.
Trade DK he is the most overpriced player on the Seahawks and the biggest problem with the offense that is suppose to go through him. The Seahawks were lucky he was not called for a hold on the scoring play. Two of the interceptions are on him for running the wrong route. I like being contrarian.
It wouldn't hurt my feelings if we traded him. He was a feel good story when he was drafted late and cried...etc. It was cool when he ran track against olympians. He's a physical freak and wants to be great. He is well spoken and likable off the field. That's all well and good, but I don't see him developing into a consistent top 5-10 receiver. I just don't see the evidence of that. Additionally, he has way too many penalties, is perceived as pouty if he's not thrown to enough (maybe explaining the forced Geno throws to him yesterday), and has too many games where he 'almost' catches the ball. Meanwhile Tyler is consistent, and all about the team not himself. Bobo is just glad to be out there, and JSN is patiently filling his growing role one step at a time.
If we can get good value...trading DK would be fine with me. I'm with you Charlie.
Adams has a contract that will be hard to get out of as will Diggs. That leaves Smith a player that was lucky to not have had a 3rd pick. He may well be the odd man out as IMO as he is replacement level since the Germany game last year. The caveat is if he takes a pay cut next year
Geno probably isn't taking a pay cut no matter how this season turns out and I really doubt Pete/John are going to ask him to, that's just not realistic. Either he plays out this two-year deal while the team preps his successor-in-waiting (a raw draft pick) or they cut him and he goes elsewhere.
They willing chose to extend Adams before he'd actually played, that's 100% on John and Pete. That ship has sailed. Diggs is likely getting replaced in the draft, they can't afford to keep relying on him long-term.
Oct 30, 2023·edited Oct 30, 2023Liked by Seaside Joe
Jerrick Reed II... is going to make the case for moving on from Diggs, who will save over 10 mil against the cap if he is cut after the season. JRII's hit to open the game was fantastic! He is cutting his teeth on STs but he will be ready for prime time by the end of the season.
Adams... unless his play falls into the crapper and/or he loses his head... won't save enough vs the cap to cut next year.
First off, the defense has made lots of mistakes. But this defense has swagger and punch. Too many penalties, yeah, and I guess some plays got away from them. I didn't expect to win and somehow we did. All I know is that I like this team. Geno is Geno, and Pete has an interesting history with starting QB's. I bet he's thinking about would it be cool to see Drew for a play or 2.
When has Pete benched a QB and started his back-up for performance issues? I'm asking, I don't remember when it's happened, if ever in Seattle. That's not Pete's MO in my opinion, and it's worth pointing out that reportedly Pete made the decision to name Geno the starter last year without the FO's input. I kinda doubt he's enthusiastic to put Drew out there, regardless of what people want to assume.
I vaguely recall the was some question of who the starter was during the Whitehurst tenure. Anyway, he always deferred to Russ during that era and fired Schotty for how 2020 ended up when Russ was really the problem.
If Geno has shown any insecurity at all I doubt Pete would risk benching him and leaving the team with a broken QB should Lock not work out. Lock showed a great performance in preseason, though, and I think he deserves a chance. Sadly, it will take Geno being injured or getting too sick to play for us to see Lock on the field, IMHO.
1. Dickson is a BEAST, perhaps the best punter in the NFL. Multiple HUGE punts, he really helps the defense out a lot when the offense stalls (which is often)
2. For the first time in forever, we actually possibly have a legitimate screen game. Bobo and the TEs are legitimately great blockers, and DK is big and physical enough to block well as long as he's avoiding holding penalties. Add in JSN and Walker being quick and shifty out in space, and that's a recipe for success.
3. Both our O-line and D-line (for the most part) were fantastic today, Myles Garrett still got a sack but that was more of a great effort play by him than a failing by the O-line. It felt like Geno had more than enough time to sit in the pocket and scan the field (more on that later). On the other side it felt like PJ Walker was being hit every other dropback, yet he did a great job scrambling and making good throws with big hits coming. Our run game felt great all game long, though I'm not sure why we didn't continue to stick with it even as our offense struggled. Wonder if it was the Jason Peters effect....?
4. I'm not gonna call for Geno to be benched, but he really needs to clean up his decision-making. 2 picks (one of which was a great play by the browns lineman), another shoulda-been-pick six, another couple really dangerous throws. Also multiple off-target throws.
5. Witherspoon and Jamal Adams were suspiciously quiet all day long. It feels to me like the Browns avoided Witherspoon, but that Jamal simply wasn't out there that much. Is he still feeling the injury a little? If that's the case hopefully he'll be fully back for next week. We'll need him against the Ravens.
6. A win's a win, onto the Ravens. The defense was good enough today, let's see how they do against the Ravens offense.
I wonder if DK is also still feeling the ribs. He got landed on really early in the game which may have something to do with him being quiet. May be still a bit sore.
Wish I could say this win means we're a good team. The defense is a work in progress but it's been improving. I don't see us beating any good teams, however, as long as Geno Smith is under center. I agree that there's no way Carroll will start Lock but I wish he would. May as well find out what we've got. We'll need to draft a QB in 2024 and either resign Geno to a lower contract or cut him. He'd be fine as a backup but he's not a viable starter.
The Browns have a good defense and ours is getting pretty good too. We were playing at home. I don't think Seattle stinks like the Bears. I think we're right in the middle, mediocre overall, and it's hard to get excited about this team when it's not possible to become something more because our quarterback has an obvious ceiling.
If Drew Lock were under center, I'd get excited for the rest of this season. Win or lose. If by the end of the year it was clear he wasn't the guy, I'd get excited about the draft and developing someone new. Did you watch Howell play last night? I was shocked because he's gotten quite good. Pinpoint throws. Some real mobility. Held his own against Hurts, and I disagree with Kenneth, who has asserted Hurts is about as talented as Geno. I think Jalen is significantly better.
Frankly, we should have lost, but the football is oblong and takes crazy bounces. We should have won in Cincinatti. We should have won in Cincinatti because of all the opportunities we had to win that game, but did not take advantage of them. In this game, we gave the Browns every opportunity to beat us, and it was they who self-destructed. We were a Jamal heads-up assisted INT away from a loss today.
The key for me in assessing how good/bad Geno was running the offense today was in the 4 minutes before/after the half. As pointed out by Ken in the chat, that was "make or break" time, and not only did the Seahawks score 0 points on three possessions but they let the Browns tie them up. After taking a 14-0 lead, the Seahawks were outscored 20-3. The blame for that falls the execution of the offense, and that is on Geno.
But hey, we won! And my Week 8 dinner in honor of the Browns game was a major hit--one of the best meals I have made in a long time. So there's that!
Aren't you in Australia? Peanut Butter, sweet potato, walla walla onions? None of those items were available when we lived there. Then, it's been a long time, so perhaps these things have become more available.
"Three takeaways Sunday certainly bolstered the bulwark that has been that side of the ball (Defense) for Seattle. And though stinginess has come against relatively weak offenses — it’s still the NFL. The Seahawks have delivered. " - Matt Calkins Seattle Times
https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/seahawks/yes-the-seahawks-are-lucky-yes-the-seahawks-are-good/?utm_source=marketingcloud&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TSA_103023175923+These+Seahawks+might+just+be+both+lucky+and+good_10_30_2023&utm_term=Active%20subscriber
It's to the level of comedy the Seattle sports writers talk about the Seahawks. The defense playing against bad opponents? Meh "is still the NFL". Geno Smith playing against the number 1 defense in the NFL and the best defensive player in the NFL? Doesn't even get mentioned. Smith's two turnovers and the great plays made by the Browns defenders? Nope doesn't make the article. The pick 6 because the rookie ran the wrong route? You guessed it ... Geno's fault and highlighted in the article.
Narrative: Geno has turnover problems and therefore can't win a Super Bowl. Took me less than 2 minutes to look up the interceptions (per game) this year:
Mahomes 1
Josh Allen 1
Hurts 1
Tua 0.88
Stafford 0.88
(14) Geno 0.86
So, no one can win a Super Bowl?
So, what's the deal? Why is Geno held to a higher standard than everyone else? Do Seattle Sports commentators just not watch or understand any other football players and teams in the NFL?
Hard to believe but here we are.
And here we are, 7 or 8 games into the season (depending on when each team has their bye week) with no undefeated teams, and only 1 with a single loss.
And the Seahawks have only 2 losses, as good as all but 1 team in the league.
Yesterday’s game had tremendous highs and horror inducing lows. But at the end, a 4th quarter comeback against the best D in the league. I’ll take it.
Welcome to the NFL ... Where almost every game is a grind. Just win baby.
When playing against another good team and good defense ... It almost always comes down to the end. Which is exactly what Pete Carroll preaches. These types of games and wins are exactly what teams need to build towards the playoffs when things get more difficult and more pressure.
Uncharacteristically, Geno missed some throws. The one to DK on the second to last drive comes to mind. I am not as concerned about the picks. I want Geno to play aggressively and confidently. The Browns made a couple great plays and that is what you would expect out of a quality defense. For Geno to bounce back and shred them on the final drive is the most important thing.
The Browns are good team with a good coach. Don't think I have ever seen so many screen plays. The Browns are handicapped at QB so they have to grind out drives and try to manufacture points. They did that behind a good offensive line (running) and screen plays. They also have a great defense.
This game went about as expected overall. Would it be different if the Hawks scored TDs in the third quarter instead of the first 2 drives? That is probably more random noise than anything.
Ultimately, the Hawks beat a good team, overcoming some suspect calls, Geno remained confident and diced up a good defense to win the game. Also, if you want to talk about poor decision making ... how about pointing out good decision making? The last play to JSN was an RPO where Geno read the corner blitz and got it to the right guy, JSN, on time and in rhythm. Great read, great throw, great play, with the game on the line.
The gap between the Niners and Hawks has .... closed?
Go Hawks. We can win a SB with Geno at the helm, no question about it. Oh and great play for the most part from the O-line. This team is winning and still has room to get better. Great to see.
I agree completely. What encourages me the most is the contributions from the young core. JSN and Bobo both made plays and made them when they mattered. The RPO was not just Geno but also JSN recognizing what was happening and then using elite lateral quickness to get the side line and take it to the house. The first TD was Bobo seeing the flow and cutting back like a running back. Mafe looking more like Garrett than Garrett, which is not just a testament to Mafe but to Cross as well. Chardonnet and Walker did not just make the most of their opportunities, they also both pass blocked pretty well. Also contributing was Reed on special teams, along with Bradford and Olu. Last year there is little doubt in my mind that Seahawks loose against this years browns even with a health Adams and Nwosu. This year they needed a little luck, but then turned good fortune into the game winner. That is what good teams do. The next six weeks will tell us whether they can make the toughest step of all this year and go from good to great.
100% ... Well said.
Very exciting stuff from the rookies. I have been concerned that we were trying to force the action a little bit to JSN. But this game looked very controlled and in rhythm. Great call on the final play - elite skills to get the TD.
And at the end of the day, the Seahawks are 5-2 and in first place.
My thoughts FWIW.
- The scripted part of the game was fantastic. The non-scripted part of the game (for the offense) was pretty ugly. What to make of this? Adjustments by defenses are ahead of adjustments by the Seahawks offense. On Geno's second interception, that was a great defensive call. Blitz pressure up the middle, and then drop a defensive tackle into the hot read. Geno needs to see that though. The Browns adjusted well on defense, and we need to improve our in-game adjustments. It's shown up in a number of games.
- The defense had just enough cracks to keep the Browns alive offensively. Pete said they knew they were going to run screens so they prepared for them. But it didn't look like that during the game. It always worries me when teams get to do what they want to do even though we know what they are going to do. Some of it was tackling and angles, and some of it was the defense not seeing it quickly enough.
- Why not run the ball more, given the two guys we have in the backfield? We don't have the right balance consistently right now. Too pass heavy, and we're making ourselves one-dimensional when the defense hasn't. Making Geno win games on his own is not the recipe we should be running with. The snap counts and time of possession were pretty ugly by the end of the game because of this.
- But enough negativity. If you would have said we'd be 5-2 seven games into the season I would have been delighted at the start of the season. I've always thought we would improve throughout the year as the young players improved, and I still think that. The fact that we're playing far from our best and still winning is really good. When you can win while learning, that's not bad at all.
- QB's are already gun shy with Spoon. Word's out.
- Charbonnet is in fact awesome. More of this please.
- As has been noted below by others, DK is getting too many fruitless targets. We have 4 solid options at WR, so no need to 'feed' DK. It just helps the defense. DK will get more when they have to come off of him because of success elsewhere.
- We're in 1st place in the NFC West, and nobody looks unbeatable across the league. The Eagles barely squeaked past the Commanders, and KC lost to Denver (good grief), so we'll have a chance in every game we play, not matter who that's against.
I'm with you 100% on your comments Chris H. Especially questioning why we didn't run more? Both K9 and Charb had great days (9.15 average YPC for both players combined) with VERY limited carries...and the limited running plays definitely put more on Geno's plate unnecessarily. Curious why we didn't run more given the success we were having. Articles say much of that was Geno calling audibles out of runs to passes.
Also agree force feeding Metcalf is a bad idea. It seemed like every throw to Lockett was a texbook completion and many throws to Metcalf felt forced or scary or both, and not many completions. Some of that is on Geno of course.
I'm very glad for the win and excited where we stand at this point...even though this game was painful from Q2 to the last two minutes.
I'm going to start by banging on again about Waldron. Our RBs were having good days against a D who's relative weakness was the Run. So why oh why did we jump out to a 14-0 lead and proceed to run the ball a measly 11 times afterwards (vs 6 on those two TD series). I'm going to be nice to Geno here for a change, but of course he's going to throw bad passes when you're asking him to throw 37 times against a Pass D as good as the Browns. It's just awful awful Offensive game planning. If Geno is "the guy" he should still play a lot better (outside of the 1st Qtr), but Waldron did not help him last night. We need a new young QB and a new good OC.
Onto the good things. Can we just make these jerseys our normal ones? OMG DID THEY LOOK SO GOOD IN PLAY!!! And all the themed stadium dressing, painted markings etc. So so so good! I love it. I want more of it! More of the theming and colors please! I'm also enjoying the D which looked good again. Run D at the LoS is a bit suspect, we gave up too many soft first hits, possibly at the expense of putting as much pressure on PJ as we did. Something to better balance that (i.e. draft a proper class IDT/NT with out 1st, maybe say Leonard Taylor) would be good longer term.
Also have to join the praise for Dickson, who should be locking in for the Pro Bowl, he's so good. And Eskridge did have a good return. Bobo is such a feel good. There was a lot to like this week, but we need to keep pressuring Waldron to do better, and Geno to do better.
Hawks are a good young team getting better. Unfortunately, Geno is not a SB QB. Geno is a career back-up for a resson.
My take slightly different: Geno is not our ideal long-term QB, but we can win a SB with Geno at QB. I still believe the other pieces paid for with savings from a relatively inexpensive Geno can get it done.
We will see both Lock and Ahlers at QB this season. The direction of next year's Draft demands it.
This, from the AP write up on ESPN, quote from Geno:
“Our team is such a scrappy team. We find ways to win no matter what,” Smith said. “I feel like if I can play up to my capabilities, play up to my standard, who knows where we can be. Because we're one of the best teams in football if we play right.”
Geno is not wrong, the problem is why he can't play "up to my capabilities" for half the game at a time. The Seahawks do have the weapons to be "one of the best teams in football" but require +/+ play from the QB to get there. Too often (every game, really) Geno is +/-.
To be clear, +/+ doesn't require Geno to be Mahomes; just manage the game, run the offense as designed, hit the open receiver, throw the ball AWAY and don't turn it over. The weapons he has to work with are good enough the team will be exceptional if he can just do that.
Heart-stopping nail biter games were common with Russell Wilson, but they were still packed with action and optimism. That changed during his final season here, and the optimism in games like today (of which we've had some) doesn't seem to exist. These games aren't heart-stopping nail biters, instead it's a shock that they managed to pull off a win and there's nothing particularly thrilling about it. Reaction is more "well, a win is a win, we'll take what we can get." It's probably because I knew Wilson to be a second half pressure player, and Geno comes across as a 1st quarter then fizzle kind of QB. JUST HOW I FEEL, not speaking for anyone else.
It's not so much the picks he throws, but when and where he throws them. In the red zone again today.
Trade DK he is the most overpriced player on the Seahawks and the biggest problem with the offense that is suppose to go through him. The Seahawks were lucky he was not called for a hold on the scoring play. Two of the interceptions are on him for running the wrong route. I like being contrarian.
It wouldn't hurt my feelings if we traded him. He was a feel good story when he was drafted late and cried...etc. It was cool when he ran track against olympians. He's a physical freak and wants to be great. He is well spoken and likable off the field. That's all well and good, but I don't see him developing into a consistent top 5-10 receiver. I just don't see the evidence of that. Additionally, he has way too many penalties, is perceived as pouty if he's not thrown to enough (maybe explaining the forced Geno throws to him yesterday), and has too many games where he 'almost' catches the ball. Meanwhile Tyler is consistent, and all about the team not himself. Bobo is just glad to be out there, and JSN is patiently filling his growing role one step at a time.
If we can get good value...trading DK would be fine with me. I'm with you Charlie.
Adams has a contract that will be hard to get out of as will Diggs. That leaves Smith a player that was lucky to not have had a 3rd pick. He may well be the odd man out as IMO as he is replacement level since the Germany game last year. The caveat is if he takes a pay cut next year
Geno probably isn't taking a pay cut no matter how this season turns out and I really doubt Pete/John are going to ask him to, that's just not realistic. Either he plays out this two-year deal while the team preps his successor-in-waiting (a raw draft pick) or they cut him and he goes elsewhere.
They willing chose to extend Adams before he'd actually played, that's 100% on John and Pete. That ship has sailed. Diggs is likely getting replaced in the draft, they can't afford to keep relying on him long-term.
Jerrick Reed II... is going to make the case for moving on from Diggs, who will save over 10 mil against the cap if he is cut after the season. JRII's hit to open the game was fantastic! He is cutting his teeth on STs but he will be ready for prime time by the end of the season.
Adams... unless his play falls into the crapper and/or he loses his head... won't save enough vs the cap to cut next year.
Chuckled at Jamal’s postgame interview; “I just jumped as high as I could”!
First off, the defense has made lots of mistakes. But this defense has swagger and punch. Too many penalties, yeah, and I guess some plays got away from them. I didn't expect to win and somehow we did. All I know is that I like this team. Geno is Geno, and Pete has an interesting history with starting QB's. I bet he's thinking about would it be cool to see Drew for a play or 2.
When has Pete benched a QB and started his back-up for performance issues? I'm asking, I don't remember when it's happened, if ever in Seattle. That's not Pete's MO in my opinion, and it's worth pointing out that reportedly Pete made the decision to name Geno the starter last year without the FO's input. I kinda doubt he's enthusiastic to put Drew out there, regardless of what people want to assume.
Until now, has Pete ever been faced with the question?
I vaguely recall the was some question of who the starter was during the Whitehurst tenure. Anyway, he always deferred to Russ during that era and fired Schotty for how 2020 ended up when Russ was really the problem.
If Geno has shown any insecurity at all I doubt Pete would risk benching him and leaving the team with a broken QB should Lock not work out. Lock showed a great performance in preseason, though, and I think he deserves a chance. Sadly, it will take Geno being injured or getting too sick to play for us to see Lock on the field, IMHO.
I doubt he’s thinking that if Lock. If he was, we would have seen Lock more by now.
My random thoughts and takeaways from the game:
1. Dickson is a BEAST, perhaps the best punter in the NFL. Multiple HUGE punts, he really helps the defense out a lot when the offense stalls (which is often)
2. For the first time in forever, we actually possibly have a legitimate screen game. Bobo and the TEs are legitimately great blockers, and DK is big and physical enough to block well as long as he's avoiding holding penalties. Add in JSN and Walker being quick and shifty out in space, and that's a recipe for success.
3. Both our O-line and D-line (for the most part) were fantastic today, Myles Garrett still got a sack but that was more of a great effort play by him than a failing by the O-line. It felt like Geno had more than enough time to sit in the pocket and scan the field (more on that later). On the other side it felt like PJ Walker was being hit every other dropback, yet he did a great job scrambling and making good throws with big hits coming. Our run game felt great all game long, though I'm not sure why we didn't continue to stick with it even as our offense struggled. Wonder if it was the Jason Peters effect....?
4. I'm not gonna call for Geno to be benched, but he really needs to clean up his decision-making. 2 picks (one of which was a great play by the browns lineman), another shoulda-been-pick six, another couple really dangerous throws. Also multiple off-target throws.
5. Witherspoon and Jamal Adams were suspiciously quiet all day long. It feels to me like the Browns avoided Witherspoon, but that Jamal simply wasn't out there that much. Is he still feeling the injury a little? If that's the case hopefully he'll be fully back for next week. We'll need him against the Ravens.
6. A win's a win, onto the Ravens. The defense was good enough today, let's see how they do against the Ravens offense.
I wonder if DK is also still feeling the ribs. He got landed on really early in the game which may have something to do with him being quiet. May be still a bit sore.
Rib injuries do take months to fully heal...at least my experience said so.
Peters effect: that last drive might not have went as well if Curhan played instead of Peters.
Wish I could say this win means we're a good team. The defense is a work in progress but it's been improving. I don't see us beating any good teams, however, as long as Geno Smith is under center. I agree that there's no way Carroll will start Lock but I wish he would. May as well find out what we've got. We'll need to draft a QB in 2024 and either resign Geno to a lower contract or cut him. He'd be fine as a backup but he's not a viable starter.
I agree with you but would argue the Browns are a good team or if not that, a very good defense.
The Browns have a good defense and ours is getting pretty good too. We were playing at home. I don't think Seattle stinks like the Bears. I think we're right in the middle, mediocre overall, and it's hard to get excited about this team when it's not possible to become something more because our quarterback has an obvious ceiling.
If Drew Lock were under center, I'd get excited for the rest of this season. Win or lose. If by the end of the year it was clear he wasn't the guy, I'd get excited about the draft and developing someone new. Did you watch Howell play last night? I was shocked because he's gotten quite good. Pinpoint throws. Some real mobility. Held his own against Hurts, and I disagree with Kenneth, who has asserted Hurts is about as talented as Geno. I think Jalen is significantly better.
We won, yay!
Frankly, we should have lost, but the football is oblong and takes crazy bounces. We should have won in Cincinatti. We should have won in Cincinatti because of all the opportunities we had to win that game, but did not take advantage of them. In this game, we gave the Browns every opportunity to beat us, and it was they who self-destructed. We were a Jamal heads-up assisted INT away from a loss today.
The key for me in assessing how good/bad Geno was running the offense today was in the 4 minutes before/after the half. As pointed out by Ken in the chat, that was "make or break" time, and not only did the Seahawks score 0 points on three possessions but they let the Browns tie them up. After taking a 14-0 lead, the Seahawks were outscored 20-3. The blame for that falls the execution of the offense, and that is on Geno.
But hey, we won! And my Week 8 dinner in honor of the Browns game was a major hit--one of the best meals I have made in a long time. So there's that!
https://open.substack.com/pub/dougflet/p/nfl-week-8-dinner?r=fjrpt&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Aren't you in Australia? Peanut Butter, sweet potato, walla walla onions? None of those items were available when we lived there. Then, it's been a long time, so perhaps these things have become more available.
Nah, I live 2 hours from Seattle---in the "other" former colony lol, Canada.
LOL - so, now I have to try to remember who the Aussie in Melbourne is!!
I think it is Dale?