33 Comments
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Stephen Pitell's avatar

Mone needs more snaps, IMO. He'll eventually replace Woods. I hope he keeps working out in the weight room. We need a replacement for Woods.

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Bret's avatar

Ken, I've been a reader for years and appreciate/enjoy your sports insight and analysis. I've yet to sign up because I hate managing subscriptions and passwords, but your offer has overcome my inertia. I'd like a promotional peek at the subscriber content

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Seaside Joe's avatar

Hell yeah Bret! Thanks for joining the comments. You got it!

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10to80's avatar

Bruce Irvin, Bruce Willis...ah, I get it.

This weekend BI will see Red people.

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Seaside Joe's avatar

hahaha

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PhilippRttr's avatar

If the defense keeps growing Like this we will have a lot of fun the next years. Hope Tre Brown will also stay healthy and contribute again.

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Seaside Joe's avatar

Boom! Thank you Philipp!

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Candy Hughes's avatar

not an analyst, merely a long time football watcher, long time Seaside Joe reader -- in awe of the development of the rookies and delighted with the continuing great play of (most of) the rest of the team -- delighted to see respect peaking for Al Woods who out-refrigerates "Refrigerator" Perry -- have not always agreed with decisions made by coaches (why on earth did John Ursua not wind up on the field much??) but remain a consistent Seahawks fan since long before "the 12s" -- and BTW, how come I don't see The Wave at games? didn't we originate that? -- sure, you can sign me up as a temporary bonus reader if you choose to

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Rozone's avatar

Was the Wave used at football games? I remember it being routine at Mariner games. The Dome was suited to it.

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Seaside Joe's avatar

Boom! Thank you Candy!

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Paul G's avatar

Refrigerator! https://youtu.be/ITeozxHXzVE

Ursua caught one pass—third down on the one-foot line against the Niners. The next play was an incompletion (to Hollister, as I recall), and the hawks lost by less than a touchdown. Pete Carroll was for once unambiguous: Had Ursua run the route correctly, he would have scored. That was pretty much the end for him.

Anyway, Ursua was a 7th-round draft pick. At best in terms of talent, he was a #5 receiver. Those guys don’t get on the field and—when they do—their impact is minimal.

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Dale's avatar

Hey Kenneth, if she likes movies with twists, Seaside Jay might like my favourite movie with a twist - 12 monkeys. An oldie but a goodie. Have you guys seen that one?

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Seaside Joe's avatar

I've seen it a lot, but not in a long time. She hasn't! We will watch it.

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Paul G's avatar

Madeleine Stowe—ay yi yi!

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Dale Roberts's avatar

-Mike Jackson isn't Woolen in pass coverage but his run support as the RCB is crucial.

-Our ILBs don't compliment each other. Both are good tacklers who are poor at pass defense. It would be interesting to see Adams in Barton's spot allowing us to keep Neal on the field. The draft offers some possible solutions. Coverage linebackers likely available after the first round would be Drew Sanders(Arkansas), Justin Flowe(Oregon), Nick Herbig(Wisconsin), and Peyton Wilson(NC State). There are some of big safties that might work as well, JL Skinner (Boise St), Christian Young (Arizona), RJ Moten (Michigan), Otis Reese (Ole Miss), and Jaylon Carlies(Missouri).

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Glassmonkey's avatar

In years of watching Bruce it's always been his excellent run defense that has impressed me most. I'm inclined to think his edge discipline is playing a role in the defensive resurgence of late.

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Grant's avatar

Darrell, Bruce. Bruce, Darrell. Darrell, I want you to follow Bruce around for the rest of the season. Ask him questions. Annoy the hell out of him.

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Paul G's avatar

To hear Dave Wyman talk, Irvin’s run D is textbook.

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Chris Snape's avatar

Wow there is so much to cover, not Jordan Brooks specialty, but I think you hit it spot on like Jordan Brooks.

It is hard to believe how good Woolen is already. I can't remember the exact stat but it was how many games Woolen has played at corner counting college, it was very few for anybody just to make an NFL team. Woolen is so far passed that it is incredible what he has done and is doing. Quarterbacks are already avoiding throwing in his direction. To me Michael Jackson had his best game of the season against the Giants. Count me as one who was disappointed we didn't keep Reed. Last week Jackson played as well as what you would expect from Reed, but he added in three thunderous tackles.. I like you am not worried about Coby Bryant's numbers. He is starting in the NFL at nickel a position he didn't play much if at all in college. Nickel is more complicated than playing on the boundary , as the sideline is your friend outside, there is no safety net for him. Also you are mostly covering the other teams shiftiest player out of the slot. Boye Mafe is showing great promise and punches well above his weight class. He did get a sack last week but that was the easiest play he had. Unblocked he hit Jones from the blind side, and I am quite sure someone alerted Jones he was going to be plastered as he got into a position to amazingly hold the ball. I pretty much concentrated on the young studs. The men upfront have improved dramatically over the last three weeks. Nuwoso is the steal of free agency, what a motor. His coverage play on Barkley showed speed, a perfect angle and the intelligence just to know he had to cover him. There are so many superlatives that could be used, I am going with a real THREAT on every play. I see Ford again like his first 2 years, AL Woods is one of the best at his position in Football. I will end by saying if Bruce Irving stays healthy he will be the straw that stirs the drink.

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Paul G's avatar

FWIW, Sam Gold of The Athletic likes Brooks and says that he has played well all season. What often looked like bad play was usually a function of Brooks having to cover for other players (especially Barton).

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AggieHawk's avatar

I realize that it is shortsighted to base a judgment on a player on a single play, but I remember a game last year where Cody Barton caught a punt inside the five and managed to tumble over his feet into the end zone for a touchback. He wasn't going extremely fast and Dickson's punt was actually bouncing fairly lazily. I realize that's not the whole story with him but my emotional reaction gets in the way of seeing him as anything but a replacement-level player.

There are a lot of ups on D the past two weeks, and a lot of hard decisions to make in the next two years. As amazing as Pete and John have been this year, they will have to have Solomon-esque wisdom to figure out whom they can keep and pay, and whom they should let go.

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Dale Roberts's avatar

Barton is a veteran special teams player but still a rookie starter on defense. It will be interesting next year to see if he has a second year starter breakout. You're right though, currently he's average. We might have to swap him out for a better pass defender to balance Brooks pass liability. It wouldn't surprise me to see Adams play Barton's spot next year so that Neal can stay on the field.

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Chris Snape's avatar

I knew I had missed one player who deserves heaps of praise, Ryan Neal. Barton's snap count has gone down as Neal's has gone up. He is a ball of energy and is is filling a good percentage of what Jamal Adams was meant to do. Neal is fast becoming an integral part of the defense. Thanks for the reminder

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Doug's avatar

Brooks has looked much better with the improvement in the DL play the last 3 weeks. He is looking more like his 2021 self out there.

The rookies man, they just look so good! And they will keep getting better!

Diggs is waiting for the first Rams game to pick off Stafford… he is primed now for a strong 2nd half.

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Dale Roberts's avatar

I'm right with you on Brooks. During the first few games the linebackers were fighting through 2nd level blockers to make plays. However, he does need to get better in pass coverage.

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Paul G's avatar

Another blog has accused Diggs of being “disinterested and unmotivated” (I think those were the words).

I honestly don’t get where anyone gets off writing stuff like this. Diggs has no history that suggests this as a possibility; more likely, he’s still feeling the effects of a broken fibula and dislocated ankle. In any case, Diggs looked much better against the Giants.

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Chris Snape's avatar

Agreed on all your points. Diggs also dealt some punishment, so I think he is over coming his nasty injury

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Cover12's avatar

Forgetting for the moment about Russell Wilson leaving town. With 13 of 22 player positions being different than last year (9 of those new to the team) and a first time Defensive Coordinator changing up the scheme, any expectation for an early season success would have been exaggerated. Yet this team has done so.

The defense has had to replace All Pro and Pro Bowl talent in Bobby Wagner and Jamal Adams - plus has 4 of 5 starting DBs new this year - 2 rookies. 4th and 5th round rookie corners usually ONLY see the field on special teams let alone start and even lead the league in turnover categories. Simply WOW.

Now is time to re-calibrate our hopes and expectations. Using the John Clayton prediction method (that he got from Dick Vermeil), I started the season predicting what most considered an ambitious 8-9 win season. Looking at the remaining schedule, it feels like the Hawks will be on a 6 game win streak when they face the Rams in LA. Call that a Loss as well as the Chiefs in KC (12/24 snow game?).

The Niner's on 12/15 in Seattle will be tough as they are improving but so are Pete Carroll's gladiators. It just feels like we have a minimum of 10 wins this season with 12 being more and more legit to speculate 'Am I wrong, Dude? Am I wrong?'

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Paul G's avatar

As of now, with the exception of the KC game, the Hawks should be favored or no worse than slight underdogs in the remaining contests. In other words, 10-12 wins is a reasonable hope.

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Paul G's avatar

Late in the game, Daniel Jones passed up on dumping off to a seemingly wide open Saquon Barkley. When I watched the replay, I noticed Woolen lurking, practically daring Jones to make the throw. It was the QB version of Michael Crabtree’s alligator arms that showed up any time Kam Chancellor was nearby.

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Chris Snape's avatar

Great analogy, sometimes on a tree lined narrow par 4 I can get the same alligator arms

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Cover12's avatar

Yep - we are already seeing QBs pass on the opportunity to test young Tarig...Pretty cool, huh?

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Rozone's avatar

I've watched "The Sixth Sense" multiple times and am still surprised at the end!! Did Seaside Jay pick up on the color red? I had to learn that from you!

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