I’m not really worried about any, but if I had to pick, it would be Shaheed, Lucas or Bradford right now. I am not as down on Shaheed as most. I’m willing to give him two more weeks. I have also been higher on Horton than almost anyone since I saw him at the VMAC last year in camp. He impressed me so much I knew early on that MVS was gone. I saw him as WR2 back then and still do. He’s tall, has long arms, a great catch radius, and moves to the ball when the throw is not perfect. Add great hands and the ability to get in the end zone and score… I’d have him on the field much more often, especially in the red zone where we have not been great/
Exactly I want to force people to pick someone haha. I put myself out there with a couple of names and it would be unrealistic I think to assume every starter is playing well.
If instead of using the term worried about, and said disappointed, I would say Lucas. Bradford I’m worried about because he’s on IR. So I’ll narrow it down to Bradford I’m worried about, Lucas I’m disappointed in.
Words are important so I can understand where you are coming from. I probably even chose the headline because it sounds better than “disappointed, not disappointed”. However I’m not disappointed in Shaheed because I never thought it was a good signing at that number.
Yeah I felt that way, but I am going to support the move because JS knows better than anyone I know, and gets it right more than anyone else who might make decisions for the Seahawks. Plus three Super Bowls and two trophies speaks for sticking by him. If I were making decisions, it would be JSN, Horton, Shaheed and Kupp. I had Horton to be number 2 in yards behind JSN. He only had 15 routes with three targets and 3 catches for 16 yards a catch. For comparison Shheed had more than 3 times the routes and fewer catches on more targets. I’m hoping it’s just a matter of time and they’re ramping him up. In the redzone you can’t take the top off the D, there’s the endline at the back of the endzone as another defender. Horton was outstanding last year getting in the endzone. If he’s healthy, use him!
Just to the left of Sam's throw that was intercepted, he had Cupp wide open to the endzone. Maybe Sam isn't looking deep often? Maybe the defender was blocking his view? Maybe Fleury isn't designing/calling much for Sheed?
Actually, I worry not so much about our starters but that our depth pieces aren’t as strong. Dante Fowler? The whole RB room. In fairness, third string safeties don’t help. But name for me one emerging player who is a difference maker. Arroyo…
Witherspoon is a safety who can cover, and I amongst others predicted he would start getting major criticism after signing this deal. He doesn’t cover #1 receivers bc he can’t, regularly anyway. Marvin Harrison lit him up last year. Not going to change. He’s a fantastic football player, and a great and versatile DB. He’s not a 1 on 1 cover guy. Our most talented one of those from last year is in Philadelphia.
The thing that’s worrying me though about this team isn’t any of those things, it’s the seemingly very poor special teams play outside of Myers. Not a hige worry but would love to see it fixed.
In last night's loss to the Bears, Woolen leveled 2 penalites that halted the Bears having to punt, giving them 1st downs in Philly territory. TDs resulted. Sound familiar?
I guess I watched a completely different game than many.
I thought the Hawks D really didn’t start to play well until the team was down 2 scores. In the first quarter, in particular, there was some less than awesome defense by the guys in the white uniforms.
I thought the offensive play calling was pretty good, like how Fleury is managing the O.
It just seemed like the game flow was a bit off all day for the Hawks. Little things here and there.
I don’t expect to see continuing problems.
If there is one starter I’m worried about, it’s likely Lucas. He hasn’t been as consistent as last season. And deep down, I wonder if it’s his knee. Sure hope not.
No need to panic yet but, I'm hoping this wakes the team up a litte. They may need to forget about being the "reigning SB champs" and revert to the team that was predicted to win 7 games. Forget about repeating. Just focus on the new reality: They aren't going to be overlooked this year, they're EVERYONE'S target, ALL opponents are going to be focused on taking them down. Winning any, and every game this year is going to be harder than last year. They don't have to be as good as they were last year, they're going to have to be better than that. I'm not saying that they are slacking, or resting on their laurels, but I'm not seeing 'more'. Sometimes a punch in the nose is just the thing to sharpen the focus.
This is the silver lining. It's going to be 17 consecutive bare knuckle challengers for the belt, 5 round fights to the death. We're either ready or we're not. But the other guys are coming. Good to realize this now.
Horton scored 2 TDs in Washington last season before he was injured. I expected him to get a bigger role this game and it did not materialize. Maybe he’s still on a snap count. I would love to see his usage as a receiver increase going forward. He’s tall with long arms, has a great catch radius, and moves to the ball when it’s not thrown perfect. I’m not ready to give up on Shaheed, but I always felt Horton could have been a 2nd round pick if not injured. He has three 1000 yard seasons in college, and I don’t understand why he’s not on the field in the redzone. It was a small sample last year, and I’m not a stats guy so I can’t quote them for you, but on film it sure does seem that he gets into the end zone often given his targets. I think the defensive backfield for the Hawks was sorely missing Okada and Love this week. It is not an easy system to play and requires the ability to know and get to your assignments rapidly based on real time happenings on the field. Maybe the new pieces have not yet mastered this system. I have faith in Price getting better, and I’m sure Stephens will improve with each series he’s out there. He is a rookie O-lineman.
Would we be bemoaning the Seahawks as much if they’d won? Consider this…. Going into that last series where the Moons ran out the clock, they were 1 of 11 converting third downs. They converted two in a row on that series to run out the clock. Both plays were well designed and got the best of MM and the Seahawks defense. If they had managed to stop the first one (a 3rd and long) they would have gotten the ball back with plenty of time to get in field goal range to win it. If they’d stopped the 2nd 3rd and long on that drive, they’d have gotten the ball back with time to potentially try a game winning field goal. I know MM will do better with his call on the next 3rd and long they need a stop, and I am also sure the players out there will execute better as well. We are home for 5 out of the next 6 weeks, I believe. We will right the ship, and we could have Charbs back by the end of this extended home stretch.
MM is not afraid to kick our way to a Win unless he feels the other guys are going to be scoring TDs. Was he seeing/hearing this happen yesterday? On another note, our Defense must find it tougher to synchronize due to the noise level at our Home Games. Hard on our rookies.
I agree that Horton must be on a snap-count. In both weeks 2 & 3 he played about half as many snaps as Shaheed. Yesterday, Horton had 3-targets/3-catches for 48 yards (on 15 routes), while Shaheed was 2/3 for 17 yards (on 46 routes). Horton needs to see more snaps.
This was a game that the Offense could have, and should have, won, knowing that the Defense was under-staffed.
Shaheed is not responsible for the play calling, Fluery is. The play calling yesterday was very questionable. For Lucas and the Olines benefit, they need consitency at RG. Stick with one soon or trade for a reliable one. By the way, the Lambs lost yesterday.
It is definitely not time to panic. Last year we lost game one to the Whiners, then 4th game to Bucs. We definitely missed Julian Love (and Okada) yesterday. Sam was a little rusty for a while, and Jadarian Price has a fumbling problem that HAS TO GET CORRECTED.
We were not going to go undefeated, so getting a loss early will help MM re-focus team. As the year wears on, we will have incredibly experienced depth, which is the key to another SB run. The only potential fly in this ointment is more critical injuries, which can happen to anyone. The Rams being 1-2, and the Niners injuries and aging core set us up nicely for taking the Division and getting a bye. There are no great teams in the NFC at this point, with possible exception of Seahawks. I like our chances.
I'm seeing rookie errors in runs up the middle. In Az he allowed an edge to get both hands on the ball and begin yanking. Had to be standing for that. Veterans must find different angles/grips which don't leave the ball open to straight punching from LBs. Who is a leftie? Who is a rightie? Lean which way?
Thank you for those Defensive stats SJ. I was calling that out yesterday. Defensive, especially Williams, Murphy and Drake, were super solid. As well as our OLB (DEs) that many seemed to be calling out yesterday. They were holding their edge assignments ac they are to do. I don’t need a Parsons multiple sacks if we’re giving up big runs or letting QBs kill us. Yes sacks are awesome, but those were incredible advanced stats. Too many people look at basic stats. Folks 20 points off TOs. And as someone pointed out, a FG because bad kickoff. So, 23 points not attributable to bad defense (if only Witherspoon could actually cover…). Had Drake not crashed down as he did, likely we get that needed 3rd down stop. Saving TO. Giving SD a chance. Drake great great game. One bad play. He hold that edge, White likely doesn’t get FD. Way SD played that prior series. I’d put my money on a win with under 2 minutes to go.
Yeah I was impressed. And if we had the DBs fully there I also think it ends differently. Again thanks for finding those additional stats. Shows what and why so much potential there.
Sorry for prior long post. On other note, I didn’t think we go undefeated, but boy I wanted Danno prediction, and sorry can’t remember who said a perfect season. I really dreamt of how great that be. I just watched Coach Mac on 710. We’ve got the perfect coach.
As one Shaheeds biggest fans I feel an urge to come to his defense. Is he currently delivering any kind of value? No. But I don't blame him. It's not like he's getting chances and dropping them, he's just not getting chances. 15+ air yard throws are not common, so we shouldn't expect half a dozen of them, but he's getting nothing thrown to put him into a gap in the defence. He's also not being used as any kind of motion of sweep threat, which we have all talked about. It leaves it all a little baffling what's going on... Although none of this is unique to Shaheed, the Hawks have had a #2 WR issue for a while (issue is a strong word, but we've been very much a 1WR team for ages), and consistent WR2's are a relative rarity in the league. I believe (hope) it'll get turned around, and our tune will change rapidly if he pulls off another two/three key returns in crucial situations.
Something is definitely up with Lucas. I'm wondering if it's just a confidence issue with the changes inside him on the Line. To some it'll sound ridiculous but continuity on the OLine is unbelievably important, where half-yard differences in movement lead to open wholes. Neither Haynes nor Stephens play RG in the same way as AB and i'm thinking it's throwing him off. They also don't quite play like each other, so the rotation doesn't help Lucas get settled. It's just a theory, but it's something i'm watching, as the alternative is that knee issue and then we're just kinda boned as it seems like that ain't gonna get fixed if it is still busted.
If only it were that simple, but it seems like the big swing factor for KW3 was also star RB1 status. On this team he wasn't going to get that, whilst in KC he's second only to Mahomes. (And we'll revisit the KW3 situation if he can last all season at this level of physicality).
Right now that money could definitely have been better spent than Rashid, and that's frustrating.
I am admittedly not one of Shaheed's biggest fans, not even by a little. I seem to remember that he did have at least one dropped pass yesterday, but so did JSN, and Kupp might have, too. I was more irked by the ball Shaheed turned away from. Late in the game, 3rd-(or 4th?)-down, Moons bring a shitload at Darnold, who steps and rips a pass to the sideline that lands on the chalk one yard past the first-down-marker... with no one there. Replay shows Shaheed trying to fight thru the cornerback that has inside leverage on him. If ever there was a hot-read in-or-out pattern, that was it. If Shaheed takes what the corner is giving (and what Sam saw) and turns out, he's there to make the catch at the sideline, and the Hawks keep the drive alive.
Shaheed is a very good kick returner, but he's not cut out to be a WR2. He's a go-route specialist. Line him up on the sideline and have him run sprints. If the corner stumbles, he wins. Otherwise, use him to exhaust the defensive backs, so that they stumble when facing a wide receiver (JSN or Kupp). As only a go-router, he's vastly over-paid.
In my mind I’ve always felt Horton could be WR2A and Shaheed could be WR2B. Horton is working his way back and he caught all three of his targets yesterday (I think) and not all of those throws were great.
I’ve been a Witherspoon truther. He has some elite football playing skills, but I don’t see him as an elite corner. His aggression is his strength, but it can also take him out of a play here and there. Fortunately, Macdonald knows how to use him to the team’s advantage. I appreciate Witherspoon, but sometimes his praise is overblown. And I want him to play great ball! My modest expectations leave room for him to impress me!
On the OL, we miss Bradford’s strength. When he makes the right first move, he dominates. (When his first move is wrong, he’s not quick enough to recover. Zabel, on the other hand, gets second chances. This makes it easy to turd pick AB’s worst plays for the sake of a narrative.)
Why did the Moons’ DL dominate against the run? Because they outmuscled our interior OL. Why didn’t we barnyard? Because AB was out, and that play is won by outmuscling the opponent. Having quick athletes on the OL is great, but it’s good to have a power guy as well. For whatever reason, Lucas doesn’t look to be 100% either.
Walker was so darn good at the end of last season. When AB and company made the right moves, K9 would see it and follow it. When the OL got beat, Walker didn’t hesitate to sprint to the edge for yards. Yesterday, the OL wasn’t getting wins, and the only guy who can win to the edge is inexperienced and has been fumbling. Wilson and Holani depend on OL success, and we weren’t getting much without AB’s strength.
Without AB, our runners get stopped at and near the LOS. Breaking open runs will defuse any pass rushing. AB's power is in run blocking. Fleury' job is to know what to run and when. Then it's up to Field Command. Who is the better Batter Upper?: Drew or Sam?
And let’s all recall that K9 danced a lot and would take a lot of lost yards when hit behind LOS. He didn’t always get to the outside. New OC. Replacement at RG. New RBs (Wilson new, Holani “new” Price a rookie). We’ve seen some great runs early from Price. Need to be consistent.
K9 doesn't dance anymore, clearly our coaches were not doing their jobs with him. Need to use him as an every down back, that's his strength. He will be a back-2-back Superbowl MVP winner!
Regarding K9 dancing, he was absolutely great late last season.
Rookie RBs in zone systems desperately need good, consistent OLs. For many seasons, our young RBs would learn the play from the chalkboard, it would blow up in the real world, and the RBs would learn one thing: survival mode. Let’s dance.
K9 faced the same problem. And then, at the end of the season, K9 and the OL clicked. When blocked well, go forward. When blown up, go outside. That’s the goal.
Yesterday, Wilson ran like it was drawn up. It got blown up. 2 yards. He doesn’t have the juice to go outside. Either does Charbs. Holani has some juice. Price can win to the sideline as well as anyone. Hopefully, he’ll get enough good looks to know when to attack and when to hit the edge. It all comes down to having the OL win most of the battles.
Our run game was lousy in the beginning of the season last year as well. It didn’t come together until the second half. Charbs could easily be back week 9 or soon thereafter. I’m sure that will also bring improvement to our run game.
I know people often forget. Which is why I tried to note that we effectively have 3 new RBs. Yes probably the easiest position to learn but still takes time. And I’m not fully worried about Price. His “first” fumble was in a scrum that just as easily, and in “older” days, could’ve been called dead “forward momentum stopped”.
We lost 2 of our first 5 games last year and won 14 of our last 15 games. The starters don’t play in the preseason and real football in real games is different. The first few games are like preseason to many players. Especially new players and new coaches. This was basically Darnold’s first game under Fleury, unless you want to count 5 snaps from week one.
Feels to me like MM has been moving his pieces around in these first 3 Season Games. Like he's finishing preparing. Taking a hard look at our Ready Guys.
I said about SD starting just that. I actually more worried about the Chargers and thus, with no preseason warm up, SD had to play. And 400 yards, and bad mistake, hopefully something learned and back to “feel for the game”.
I can only go by what I heard from Raible on the radio while driving back from a fishing trip, but I would say Special Teams in general haven’t been that impressive. Myers kick outside the landing zone giving WA the ball at the 40 was the worst, leading to the winning FG, but kickoffs in general were rough yesterday, never gained any field position advantage.
Our D thrives when the opposing offense is pinned back, and ST helped a lot with that last year. This year, not so much.
I'll give special teams a little bit more slack than some other areas, as they have the fewest snaps per game. So it's still a small sample size and maybe 10-12 games in we'll be back to amazed by special teams.
We're missing Bobo's Voice. i hope that gets corrected. For those saying "We're better than this", i think MM would ask "How do you know that?" This is a new outfit, with different dragons to slay. New year. New quest.
I hope it doesn’t take 10-12 games, but I hear ya. Still, I point to Myers and the coverage team who only put the Commies inside the 30 once on 5 chances. Run backs on 2 kickoffs let them start at the 34 and 44 plus the final kickoff start at the 40 where Myers missed the landing zone. It’s a small sample size for sure, but it was part of our advantage as the best special teams unit in the league last year. Nothing special so far.
I’m less worried about Jobe bc I saw what he did last year, and bc he’s prob more secure when Love is out there with him. That may be a cop-out bc he shouldn’t need a running mate but it’s my theory
Shaheed on the other hand I’m super worried as I was when I was praying we not extend him (exactly for the reasons you said) and then praying for a miracle after we signed him.
Regarding Rashid how much of this is OC??? Rashids routes are based on play calls. Last I checked, he’s not calling the plays. Little like we didn’t see any TE plays in first 2 games. No Rashid razzle dazzle run calls like with Coach K. No downfield.
Why wasn’t play calling part of this review?
Im also not worried about Jobe. But I called it last year and preseason, Pritchett is up and coming player. (Not to toot my own horn but during preseason many wanted Pritchett cut).
Jobe seemed to hold his own against the Pats, and no one complained about his interception. If he got beat by McBride in Week-2, ok, but there are A LOT of DB's beaten by Trey McBride. I think the Moons caught him alone against McLauren because the Seahawks were very weak at Safety, and therefore limited in what adjustments they could make. MM will coach him up, and he'll improve as the season goes on.
I was surprised by Shaheed's extension, but thought JS was worried about Horton's availability. I hoped that Fleury would be able to find ways for him to contribute on offense, but that does not seem to be the case. I think JS has to find a way to ship him to Vegas, even if it's at a discount.
I'm thinking these last 3 games are MM throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. NOW the Season begins. We found a strong challenge from a flailing team Sunday. Expect it will heat up this weekend. At Home. It's time for Big Boy Pants.
If you had to pick a starter to be worried about, who would you pick and why?
I’m not really worried about any, but if I had to pick, it would be Shaheed, Lucas or Bradford right now. I am not as down on Shaheed as most. I’m willing to give him two more weeks. I have also been higher on Horton than almost anyone since I saw him at the VMAC last year in camp. He impressed me so much I knew early on that MVS was gone. I saw him as WR2 back then and still do. He’s tall, has long arms, a great catch radius, and moves to the ball when the throw is not perfect. Add great hands and the ability to get in the end zone and score… I’d have him on the field much more often, especially in the red zone where we have not been great/
Exactly I want to force people to pick someone haha. I put myself out there with a couple of names and it would be unrealistic I think to assume every starter is playing well.
If instead of using the term worried about, and said disappointed, I would say Lucas. Bradford I’m worried about because he’s on IR. So I’ll narrow it down to Bradford I’m worried about, Lucas I’m disappointed in.
Words are important so I can understand where you are coming from. I probably even chose the headline because it sounds better than “disappointed, not disappointed”. However I’m not disappointed in Shaheed because I never thought it was a good signing at that number.
Yeah I felt that way, but I am going to support the move because JS knows better than anyone I know, and gets it right more than anyone else who might make decisions for the Seahawks. Plus three Super Bowls and two trophies speaks for sticking by him. If I were making decisions, it would be JSN, Horton, Shaheed and Kupp. I had Horton to be number 2 in yards behind JSN. He only had 15 routes with three targets and 3 catches for 16 yards a catch. For comparison Shheed had more than 3 times the routes and fewer catches on more targets. I’m hoping it’s just a matter of time and they’re ramping him up. In the redzone you can’t take the top off the D, there’s the endline at the back of the endzone as another defender. Horton was outstanding last year getting in the endzone. If he’s healthy, use him!
Just to the left of Sam's throw that was intercepted, he had Cupp wide open to the endzone. Maybe Sam isn't looking deep often? Maybe the defender was blocking his view? Maybe Fleury isn't designing/calling much for Sheed?
Something's not right with Abe Lucas. I'm worried that he's going to appear on the DNP list at least once this week.
Actually, I worry not so much about our starters but that our depth pieces aren’t as strong. Dante Fowler? The whole RB room. In fairness, third string safeties don’t help. But name for me one emerging player who is a difference maker. Arroyo…
Thanks for talking me off the ledge Joe.
Witherspoon is a safety who can cover, and I amongst others predicted he would start getting major criticism after signing this deal. He doesn’t cover #1 receivers bc he can’t, regularly anyway. Marvin Harrison lit him up last year. Not going to change. He’s a fantastic football player, and a great and versatile DB. He’s not a 1 on 1 cover guy. Our most talented one of those from last year is in Philadelphia.
The thing that’s worrying me though about this team isn’t any of those things, it’s the seemingly very poor special teams play outside of Myers. Not a hige worry but would love to see it fixed.
In last night's loss to the Bears, Woolen leveled 2 penalites that halted the Bears having to punt, giving them 1st downs in Philly territory. TDs resulted. Sound familiar?
That <most talented one> hurt the Eagles with two drive-extending penalties tonight.
I guess I watched a completely different game than many.
I thought the Hawks D really didn’t start to play well until the team was down 2 scores. In the first quarter, in particular, there was some less than awesome defense by the guys in the white uniforms.
I thought the offensive play calling was pretty good, like how Fleury is managing the O.
It just seemed like the game flow was a bit off all day for the Hawks. Little things here and there.
I don’t expect to see continuing problems.
If there is one starter I’m worried about, it’s likely Lucas. He hasn’t been as consistent as last season. And deep down, I wonder if it’s his knee. Sure hope not.
And I was hugely frustrated yesterday that the Hawks game the Moons GREAT starting position on nearly every drive.
Turnovers and noticeably poor special teams play
No need to panic yet but, I'm hoping this wakes the team up a litte. They may need to forget about being the "reigning SB champs" and revert to the team that was predicted to win 7 games. Forget about repeating. Just focus on the new reality: They aren't going to be overlooked this year, they're EVERYONE'S target, ALL opponents are going to be focused on taking them down. Winning any, and every game this year is going to be harder than last year. They don't have to be as good as they were last year, they're going to have to be better than that. I'm not saying that they are slacking, or resting on their laurels, but I'm not seeing 'more'. Sometimes a punch in the nose is just the thing to sharpen the focus.
Yeah, a loss can be very good for a good team.
This is the silver lining. It's going to be 17 consecutive bare knuckle challengers for the belt, 5 round fights to the death. We're either ready or we're not. But the other guys are coming. Good to realize this now.
Horton scored 2 TDs in Washington last season before he was injured. I expected him to get a bigger role this game and it did not materialize. Maybe he’s still on a snap count. I would love to see his usage as a receiver increase going forward. He’s tall with long arms, has a great catch radius, and moves to the ball when it’s not thrown perfect. I’m not ready to give up on Shaheed, but I always felt Horton could have been a 2nd round pick if not injured. He has three 1000 yard seasons in college, and I don’t understand why he’s not on the field in the redzone. It was a small sample last year, and I’m not a stats guy so I can’t quote them for you, but on film it sure does seem that he gets into the end zone often given his targets. I think the defensive backfield for the Hawks was sorely missing Okada and Love this week. It is not an easy system to play and requires the ability to know and get to your assignments rapidly based on real time happenings on the field. Maybe the new pieces have not yet mastered this system. I have faith in Price getting better, and I’m sure Stephens will improve with each series he’s out there. He is a rookie O-lineman.
Would we be bemoaning the Seahawks as much if they’d won? Consider this…. Going into that last series where the Moons ran out the clock, they were 1 of 11 converting third downs. They converted two in a row on that series to run out the clock. Both plays were well designed and got the best of MM and the Seahawks defense. If they had managed to stop the first one (a 3rd and long) they would have gotten the ball back with plenty of time to get in field goal range to win it. If they’d stopped the 2nd 3rd and long on that drive, they’d have gotten the ball back with time to potentially try a game winning field goal. I know MM will do better with his call on the next 3rd and long they need a stop, and I am also sure the players out there will execute better as well. We are home for 5 out of the next 6 weeks, I believe. We will right the ship, and we could have Charbs back by the end of this extended home stretch.
Go Hawks!
MM is not afraid to kick our way to a Win unless he feels the other guys are going to be scoring TDs. Was he seeing/hearing this happen yesterday? On another note, our Defense must find it tougher to synchronize due to the noise level at our Home Games. Hard on our rookies.
I agree that Horton must be on a snap-count. In both weeks 2 & 3 he played about half as many snaps as Shaheed. Yesterday, Horton had 3-targets/3-catches for 48 yards (on 15 routes), while Shaheed was 2/3 for 17 yards (on 46 routes). Horton needs to see more snaps.
This was a game that the Offense could have, and should have, won, knowing that the Defense was under-staffed.
Shaheed is not responsible for the play calling, Fluery is. The play calling yesterday was very questionable. For Lucas and the Olines benefit, they need consitency at RG. Stick with one soon or trade for a reliable one. By the way, the Lambs lost yesterday.
It is definitely not time to panic. Last year we lost game one to the Whiners, then 4th game to Bucs. We definitely missed Julian Love (and Okada) yesterday. Sam was a little rusty for a while, and Jadarian Price has a fumbling problem that HAS TO GET CORRECTED.
We were not going to go undefeated, so getting a loss early will help MM re-focus team. As the year wears on, we will have incredibly experienced depth, which is the key to another SB run. The only potential fly in this ointment is more critical injuries, which can happen to anyone. The Rams being 1-2, and the Niners injuries and aging core set us up nicely for taking the Division and getting a bye. There are no great teams in the NFC at this point, with possible exception of Seahawks. I like our chances.
I'm seeing rookie errors in runs up the middle. In Az he allowed an edge to get both hands on the ball and begin yanking. Had to be standing for that. Veterans must find different angles/grips which don't leave the ball open to straight punching from LBs. Who is a leftie? Who is a rightie? Lean which way?
Thank you for those Defensive stats SJ. I was calling that out yesterday. Defensive, especially Williams, Murphy and Drake, were super solid. As well as our OLB (DEs) that many seemed to be calling out yesterday. They were holding their edge assignments ac they are to do. I don’t need a Parsons multiple sacks if we’re giving up big runs or letting QBs kill us. Yes sacks are awesome, but those were incredible advanced stats. Too many people look at basic stats. Folks 20 points off TOs. And as someone pointed out, a FG because bad kickoff. So, 23 points not attributable to bad defense (if only Witherspoon could actually cover…). Had Drake not crashed down as he did, likely we get that needed 3rd down stop. Saving TO. Giving SD a chance. Drake great great game. One bad play. He hold that edge, White likely doesn’t get FD. Way SD played that prior series. I’d put my money on a win with under 2 minutes to go.
I like how the defense played. If Uchenna Nwosu had just caught that pass, this game ends differently.
Yeah I was impressed. And if we had the DBs fully there I also think it ends differently. Again thanks for finding those additional stats. Shows what and why so much potential there.
Sorry for prior long post. On other note, I didn’t think we go undefeated, but boy I wanted Danno prediction, and sorry can’t remember who said a perfect season. I really dreamt of how great that be. I just watched Coach Mac on 710. We’ve got the perfect coach.
He was 15-2 until we all got some Spirit going. I choose to keep the faith in 15-2.
Commanders have a pretty stout run defense, particularly when Kinlaw is playing, so I’m less worried about that than some folx
I was not familiar with how good their run defense is but yeah definitely stepped up. And my lord Sonny Styles is good too.
As one Shaheeds biggest fans I feel an urge to come to his defense. Is he currently delivering any kind of value? No. But I don't blame him. It's not like he's getting chances and dropping them, he's just not getting chances. 15+ air yard throws are not common, so we shouldn't expect half a dozen of them, but he's getting nothing thrown to put him into a gap in the defence. He's also not being used as any kind of motion of sweep threat, which we have all talked about. It leaves it all a little baffling what's going on... Although none of this is unique to Shaheed, the Hawks have had a #2 WR issue for a while (issue is a strong word, but we've been very much a 1WR team for ages), and consistent WR2's are a relative rarity in the league. I believe (hope) it'll get turned around, and our tune will change rapidly if he pulls off another two/three key returns in crucial situations.
Something is definitely up with Lucas. I'm wondering if it's just a confidence issue with the changes inside him on the Line. To some it'll sound ridiculous but continuity on the OLine is unbelievably important, where half-yard differences in movement lead to open wholes. Neither Haynes nor Stephens play RG in the same way as AB and i'm thinking it's throwing him off. They also don't quite play like each other, so the rotation doesn't help Lucas get settled. It's just a theory, but it's something i'm watching, as the alternative is that knee issue and then we're just kinda boned as it seems like that ain't gonna get fixed if it is still busted.
We know Jones backs both Tackles up, often playing hurt. No doubt Abe feels he can play hurt, too.
Perhaps, we could have used that $34M guaranteed and $17M / year on K9 instead of Sheed? Huge mistake by JS, K9 winning the MVP this year!
If only it were that simple, but it seems like the big swing factor for KW3 was also star RB1 status. On this team he wasn't going to get that, whilst in KC he's second only to Mahomes. (And we'll revisit the KW3 situation if he can last all season at this level of physicality).
Right now that money could definitely have been better spent than Rashid, and that's frustrating.
I am inclined to agree with you.
I am admittedly not one of Shaheed's biggest fans, not even by a little. I seem to remember that he did have at least one dropped pass yesterday, but so did JSN, and Kupp might have, too. I was more irked by the ball Shaheed turned away from. Late in the game, 3rd-(or 4th?)-down, Moons bring a shitload at Darnold, who steps and rips a pass to the sideline that lands on the chalk one yard past the first-down-marker... with no one there. Replay shows Shaheed trying to fight thru the cornerback that has inside leverage on him. If ever there was a hot-read in-or-out pattern, that was it. If Shaheed takes what the corner is giving (and what Sam saw) and turns out, he's there to make the catch at the sideline, and the Hawks keep the drive alive.
Shaheed is a very good kick returner, but he's not cut out to be a WR2. He's a go-route specialist. Line him up on the sideline and have him run sprints. If the corner stumbles, he wins. Otherwise, use him to exhaust the defensive backs, so that they stumble when facing a wide receiver (JSN or Kupp). As only a go-router, he's vastly over-paid.
In my mind I’ve always felt Horton could be WR2A and Shaheed could be WR2B. Horton is working his way back and he caught all three of his targets yesterday (I think) and not all of those throws were great.
Horton's contested catching leaped out at me after the DK Days. Speed and body control was a bonus.
i agree and that;s the problem - can we afford a $50m WR2b when there are such great talents available at 3/$50.
I’m not disagreeing with you, but I support JS signing choices, even if they are not looking good right now.
Hard to argue with that. In Schneider We Trust
I’ve been a Witherspoon truther. He has some elite football playing skills, but I don’t see him as an elite corner. His aggression is his strength, but it can also take him out of a play here and there. Fortunately, Macdonald knows how to use him to the team’s advantage. I appreciate Witherspoon, but sometimes his praise is overblown. And I want him to play great ball! My modest expectations leave room for him to impress me!
On the OL, we miss Bradford’s strength. When he makes the right first move, he dominates. (When his first move is wrong, he’s not quick enough to recover. Zabel, on the other hand, gets second chances. This makes it easy to turd pick AB’s worst plays for the sake of a narrative.)
Why did the Moons’ DL dominate against the run? Because they outmuscled our interior OL. Why didn’t we barnyard? Because AB was out, and that play is won by outmuscling the opponent. Having quick athletes on the OL is great, but it’s good to have a power guy as well. For whatever reason, Lucas doesn’t look to be 100% either.
Walker was so darn good at the end of last season. When AB and company made the right moves, K9 would see it and follow it. When the OL got beat, Walker didn’t hesitate to sprint to the edge for yards. Yesterday, the OL wasn’t getting wins, and the only guy who can win to the edge is inexperienced and has been fumbling. Wilson and Holani depend on OL success, and we weren’t getting much without AB’s strength.
Without AB, our runners get stopped at and near the LOS. Breaking open runs will defuse any pass rushing. AB's power is in run blocking. Fleury' job is to know what to run and when. Then it's up to Field Command. Who is the better Batter Upper?: Drew or Sam?
And let’s all recall that K9 danced a lot and would take a lot of lost yards when hit behind LOS. He didn’t always get to the outside. New OC. Replacement at RG. New RBs (Wilson new, Holani “new” Price a rookie). We’ve seen some great runs early from Price. Need to be consistent.
K9 doesn't dance anymore, clearly our coaches were not doing their jobs with him. Need to use him as an every down back, that's his strength. He will be a back-2-back Superbowl MVP winner!
Regarding K9 dancing, he was absolutely great late last season.
Rookie RBs in zone systems desperately need good, consistent OLs. For many seasons, our young RBs would learn the play from the chalkboard, it would blow up in the real world, and the RBs would learn one thing: survival mode. Let’s dance.
K9 faced the same problem. And then, at the end of the season, K9 and the OL clicked. When blocked well, go forward. When blown up, go outside. That’s the goal.
Yesterday, Wilson ran like it was drawn up. It got blown up. 2 yards. He doesn’t have the juice to go outside. Either does Charbs. Holani has some juice. Price can win to the sideline as well as anyone. Hopefully, he’ll get enough good looks to know when to attack and when to hit the edge. It all comes down to having the OL win most of the battles.
I think we’ve seen that Price can hit those outside runs. He follows his blocks and can adjust. You’re right about it took even K9 time.
That’s a stretch to imply that KC is SB champions. Rams SB Champions remember?
Chiefs haven’t played any tough defense yet. Dolphins held K9 to only 3.9 YPC yesterday. 70 yards rushing. Broncos 5.1 and Colts 4.9.
A little early to anoint KC as champs.
Our run game was lousy in the beginning of the season last year as well. It didn’t come together until the second half. Charbs could easily be back week 9 or soon thereafter. I’m sure that will also bring improvement to our run game.
I know people often forget. Which is why I tried to note that we effectively have 3 new RBs. Yes probably the easiest position to learn but still takes time. And I’m not fully worried about Price. His “first” fumble was in a scrum that just as easily, and in “older” days, could’ve been called dead “forward momentum stopped”.
We lost 2 of our first 5 games last year and won 14 of our last 15 games. The starters don’t play in the preseason and real football in real games is different. The first few games are like preseason to many players. Especially new players and new coaches. This was basically Darnold’s first game under Fleury, unless you want to count 5 snaps from week one.
Feels to me like MM has been moving his pieces around in these first 3 Season Games. Like he's finishing preparing. Taking a hard look at our Ready Guys.
I said about SD starting just that. I actually more worried about the Chargers and thus, with no preseason warm up, SD had to play. And 400 yards, and bad mistake, hopefully something learned and back to “feel for the game”.
Yes, I hope this week we get the W
I can only go by what I heard from Raible on the radio while driving back from a fishing trip, but I would say Special Teams in general haven’t been that impressive. Myers kick outside the landing zone giving WA the ball at the 40 was the worst, leading to the winning FG, but kickoffs in general were rough yesterday, never gained any field position advantage.
Our D thrives when the opposing offense is pinned back, and ST helped a lot with that last year. This year, not so much.
No Bobo. Yet.
I'll give special teams a little bit more slack than some other areas, as they have the fewest snaps per game. So it's still a small sample size and maybe 10-12 games in we'll be back to amazed by special teams.
We're missing Bobo's Voice. i hope that gets corrected. For those saying "We're better than this", i think MM would ask "How do you know that?" This is a new outfit, with different dragons to slay. New year. New quest.
I hope it doesn’t take 10-12 games, but I hear ya. Still, I point to Myers and the coverage team who only put the Commies inside the 30 once on 5 chances. Run backs on 2 kickoffs let them start at the 34 and 44 plus the final kickoff start at the 40 where Myers missed the landing zone. It’s a small sample size for sure, but it was part of our advantage as the best special teams unit in the league last year. Nothing special so far.
I’m less worried about Jobe bc I saw what he did last year, and bc he’s prob more secure when Love is out there with him. That may be a cop-out bc he shouldn’t need a running mate but it’s my theory
Shaheed on the other hand I’m super worried as I was when I was praying we not extend him (exactly for the reasons you said) and then praying for a miracle after we signed him.
Still praying for a miracle.
Regarding Rashid how much of this is OC??? Rashids routes are based on play calls. Last I checked, he’s not calling the plays. Little like we didn’t see any TE plays in first 2 games. No Rashid razzle dazzle run calls like with Coach K. No downfield.
Why wasn’t play calling part of this review?
Im also not worried about Jobe. But I called it last year and preseason, Pritchett is up and coming player. (Not to toot my own horn but during preseason many wanted Pritchett cut).
I'd like to see an analysis of missed opportunites from Sam. From Drew. No doubt they are doing it to themselves.
I agree on both counts, zez.
Jobe seemed to hold his own against the Pats, and no one complained about his interception. If he got beat by McBride in Week-2, ok, but there are A LOT of DB's beaten by Trey McBride. I think the Moons caught him alone against McLauren because the Seahawks were very weak at Safety, and therefore limited in what adjustments they could make. MM will coach him up, and he'll improve as the season goes on.
I was surprised by Shaheed's extension, but thought JS was worried about Horton's availability. I hoped that Fleury would be able to find ways for him to contribute on offense, but that does not seem to be the case. I think JS has to find a way to ship him to Vegas, even if it's at a discount.
I'm thinking these last 3 games are MM throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. NOW the Season begins. We found a strong challenge from a flailing team Sunday. Expect it will heat up this weekend. At Home. It's time for Big Boy Pants.