DW played fairly well and I see him getting better almost every game - he has instincts. What was the Guys name we got from Denver for Big Money??? Haven't heard his named called for anything, curious if he is going to eventually show up? Impressive display by the O-line, missing starters and then at one point for about at least a third of the game only having one starter on field, it was pretty awesome- I'm not worried about the Offense, But the lack of consistent understanding or lack of game plan of D coverage on the middle of the field is VERY concerning-
First, being at the game, I thought that Chark reception was incomplete and wanted replay too. So get the flag. So love the suggestion of replay at home calling it down. Second, J Reed HUGE!!! I said same in first half “very unusual to have a DLine/NT with the most tackles”. He even sent Sanders to sideline more than 10 yards downfield from his line spot coming in body tackling him (no don’t like when players get injured just a 300 Lb man taking down a RB downfield is fun to see. So loved his full sack and scary celebration at end of game. Game ball to Reed.
My bet is Sherm and Spoon have had beers, laughing over the subtle different ways you can set up an interception. I also bet Riq is in on these sessions.
I always say that injuries are the great equalizer in the NFL. I had high hopes for this season as young players continued their development, but several key ones are/or have been injured including Woolen, Witherspoon, O line, Adams, JSN etc. Check out last year’s Rams for further example. Despite that the Hawks are 2-1, have developed a better run defense, scored 37 points in consecutive weeks and seem to be playing with great enthusiasm.
3rd down conversion efficiency on both sides is probably the biggest issue, solve that and all other issues diminish. Their scoring would likely increase while opponent scoring would decrease.
I know Geno didn’t have the greatest day, but the team scored 37 points, had about equal time of possession, had a 17 point lead with under 5 minutes to play. For comparison, Russ had a statistically better game yesterday than Geno!
Before the season began I expected 2-1 after 3 games, but with Rams and Lions results flipped. I’m going to enjoy the win and continue to hope for improvement as the young team matures and gets healthier.
"...though Tyler Lockett doesn’t seem to be playing worse this season by any means, he hasn’t been productive: Lockett had 34 yards on seven targets..."
IMHO, this issue (for at least the Panthers game) should have been wrapped into the Geno Smith consistency discussion. Re-watching the game late last night, I was struck by his targeting of Lockett. There were a lot of would-be yards left on the table by poor accuracy. Not Lockett's "productivity", really.
Smith's first half seemed off. It wasn't clear to me, football Idiot that I am, what adjustment was made at the half, but it was like watching a different guy.
My uneducated take on JSN was that he was, in effect, used as a distraction (this notion was discussed here over the summer). There were a couple of times he was open for good yardage, but I couldn't tell if he was accessible (poor camera angle). A couple of other times he was open, but there was another option that was MORE open (and used to good effect).
Silverback's TD catch was a nice toe-dragger (especially at 2x playback speed!). Also, it looked like he blocked effectively. This could go well.
For the first time in a couple of years, I detected a hint of smashmouth offense. All those daggers are much more effective (and more emotionally devastating) after a few hard shots to the gut. It was just a hint, though. No-K Charbonnet looked really good in there. I'm looking forward to Cerberus when K-Mack gets back, and K9's receiving should get the league's attention, just a little bit.
IMHO (again) I didn't think the writeup was uniformly negative. The first major point was all about good coaching staff. Most of the backend was the other thing. It took me a while to grok that "As I See It" is Ken-speak for "hot take", and I have to remind myself to take the hot take kind of cool, or it will leave me cold. Similarly, it took me a while to understand that "Vision Board" was Ken-speak for "Ungrounded Flight of Fancy", but I'm over it now.
P.S. Was it just me, or did we not Hawk up a couple of successful screens yesterday?
I had an beatifully written essay here that got lost because the app is wonky. You'll never get to read (take my word for it) what was a masterpiece.
Gist: I, like my Seahawks, am trying to get my worrisome mind to perform in a more efficient and hopeful fashion. Self-awareness is key to improving. So far, improving every week is what we're doing. Thanks to SSJ and all y'all for helping with the self-awareness of areas needing more. GO!!... SEAHAWKS!!
Geeesh. I used to look forward to reading about a Seahawks win on Monday mornings, but these days everyone seems to want to pick them apart the day after, win, lose, or draw. I'm not suggesting we should all be fanboys and stick our heads in the sand, but can we focus a little more on the good, while balancing that with what needs to get better.
IMO this negativity is coming from a place of expectation. People seem to expect dominant performances against teams we perceive as weaker. Ok, but is that where this team is at right now? Are they not loaded with youth, trying to find their way to gel and learn each others games, and learning how to communicate in the heat of battle on the football field. Why should we expect them to dominate anybody? Youth yields inconsistent results. We are able to dominate in stretches, and also be dominated. That's how it will be until we see what this group really is.
And BTW, the Rams team that everyone was saying was pitiful hung in there pretty good against San Fran after they whipped our asses. So, perceptions are what they are. It's what folks think, it isn't fact.
All that said, we do need to be better on 3rd downs on both sides of the ball. I think Darrell Taylor needs to get less snaps, and I'm not sure what Love is doing back there. He misses tackles in bunches.
I'm very proud of the o-line, love our 2 RB's, and the front 7 did really well defending the run. Spoon is the real deal. JSN will get going, and I think the coaching staff needs to draw up plays specifically for him so he's the 1st read. Same for Bobo. That'll just make it harder to match up outside with DK and Lockett.
I thought it was a sloppy but highly entertaining game. I think (hope) the sloppiness will improve as the season goes along. Don't expect a dominant performance against the Giants. Hope for one sure, but don't expect it. That's not where we are IMO.
I credit the 12 Noise with changing the late outcome. Carolina gave their Rookie a look at NFL level football in their first 2 games, knowing they'd bring in a healthy (and very good) Dalton to call a game they won last year (in a quieter stadium). Then they experienced Full Volume. Damn near pulled it off. Hat's off to them.
I agree, and would add that winning any game on any field against any team in any week in the NFL is a huge victory. It’s easy to forget just how competitive the NFL is. Cards versus cowboys as an example.
I think your point about measuring the Seahawks from a dominance perspective is spot on. A lot of the criticism comes from an expectation of having a dominant team, which we don’t have. Yet. But we have some good players and are improving.
While I completely agree with Kenneth’s analysis of this game, including the negatives, I will take two and one and improving.
I am very excited about spoon, and found myself focusing on him on a lot of the defensive plays because he’s so fun to watch. He’s a missile, full of passion, a great addition to the team.
I am happy with this win given how many players we have injured, and how competitive the NFL is every week.
Thanks Chris, I appreciate what you're saying, all your points are valid and we should appreciate how amazing it is that an OL full of backups is performing this well. That Panthers front seven was tough, even after suffering their own injuries. It was a very entertaining game, at least in the second half.
It's healthy to have some perspective and enjoy the actual winning because winning is all that really matters. I started this season hoping for bigger improvements on both sides of the ball but I didn't expect this squad to contend for the Super Bowl this year. I'm trying to focus on the positive and not be too negative, they're still a very young team dealing with a ton of injuries.
You got me thinking, and I think a lot of response is being miscategorised as Negative. I think most of what I see here and around is Pragmatic. Merely balancing of the good elements (such as getting the win, the improvements to the Run D, Bobo etc) against the bad (such as shocking drive efficiency, poor run blocking, suspect secondary play etc.)
You are also correct that we probably shouldn't have expected a dominant performance vs the Panthers, and shouldn't eye one up against the Giants. But if we accept the position we're not that good, it must also come with an acknowledgment that making the playoffs will be tough, and winning a playoff game really tough. And as in my comment below, this isn't where I want the team to be, so i will hold them to a higher level of expectation. Winning seasons are great, but really how many non-Steelers/Ravens fans talk about their consistency in winning seasons? Or do we all more talk about the up-and-down Rams and their Superbowl win? Give me some bragging rights, Seahawks, not consolation positive streaks and stats. [Always tempered against the fact I would be far harsher if we were an out-and-out usually bad team like Browns/Jaguars - I do know we have it lucky being a 'Hawks fan]
I guess it's what lens we want to view these games through. I enjoy watching a young developing team play. I don't expect Gino to be perfect. He was good in the 1st half, just not on 3rd downs. I think he was something like 12 of 13 or 13 of 14 in the second half, and they finished some drives. That's very good, by any standards. He adjusted, the coaching staff adjusted, and they played a very good second half.
I can be disappointed at the 3rd down efficiency while also be proud of Gino for being better in the 2nd half. The NFL is hard. Playing QB in the NFL is really hard. Will he become elite? Don't know, but he certainly plays stretches of elite football.
I do not expect this team to get to the Super Bowl this year. I think it's a developmental year. A 2012 year. Playoffs? Sure, I think that's doable again. Might we lose in the first round again? Yep. But maybe not, if we continue to improve throughout the year and can shake off this constant run of injuries that is going to mess up our chemistry.
People can spend more time on the bad if they choose to, I understand that there are criticisms to make. It's just, as a fan, I don't want to read more about those than the fact we won a game.
We should be spending paragraphs on how well Spoon played. Targeted 11 times, gave up 3 catches for 19 yards! Led the team in tackles. And all in his second start as a rookie. I should be reading all about that and what a potential future could look like with him on one side and Woolen on the other.
How about that o-line hanging in there despite be obliterated with injuries. Rookies forced to play, and everyone playing banged up. But they kept Gino mostly clean, and blocked well enough in the running game to give the RB's a chance.
I do appreciate all of the different perspectives on this board, and understand everyone has their own take on things. All good.
Joe, I supported your initial assessment of Geno's play last week and yesterday did nothing to assuage that. The pass pro held up fantastically well, he had all day back there but seemed gunshy at times and made some terrible throws in the first half. Some of it could be the vanilla playcalling or the fact that the inability to run block put them off-schedule so regularly, but I expected better against the Panthers. Obviously his game picked up in the second half but against teams with a better pass rush I don't see him standing tall in there and leading the team to victory - that whelp at an oncoming Aaron Donald in week 1 was not a good omen. Need a statement against the Giants.
On the evidence of the season so far we will get to 9 wins and a winning season. I can't guarantee we'll get a playoff spot, and certainly don't feel we'd win a playoff game.
This needed to be a big, dominant week. It wasn't. It was good, mostly. But like in Wk1, a hot team, a good team, will not lose against us based on these performances. Too negative? Maybe, but as I keep saying I don't just want to be ok and reach 9 wins. So until we really see something exciting I shall remain a relatively downbeat fan.
Fair enough. But there is definitely room for improvement which I’m confident will happen. We’ve got a lot of injuries and new guys that are just getting going. I think there’s signs that we’re gonna be better than expected at this stage. My only real concern is Geno and the OC. Geno’s been only ok, and the IC’s been a bit pedestrian with play calls (though a bit better this week I guess). The D showed improvement this week with players out. That’s a good sign for when players get back. Exposure to typically non-starters is a good thing. Especially given we’re still winning.
The pass rush showed some improvement. We may be seeing growth there and improvement will help the secondary. Hopefully the run D remains good - we’ll see. This is a team with a lot of new parts that hopefully can gel into consistency.
DK was key to that offense but holy shit Colby Parkinson and/or Noah Fant were also on fire. Walker was solid in his work but I actually thought Charbs was more impactful in fewer plays. That dude was running like he was competing in some Squid Game every opportunity but as you noted, he did a lot of his damage late. That’s a physical runner going wild on a stout but very tired defense, basically Pete fully imposing his will on the opponent at a key moment. That was some cold ass, twist-the-knife shit they’re doing and I love it. Also Charbs went full Rawls and it was glorious. He put that dude into the endzone from like 5 yards out. That’s the way I remember it and it may be wrong but gdi let me have this.
Jarran Reed low key had the most dominant Seahawks single player defensive game against an opponent since Clowney turned into Lawrence Taylor that one time vs the Niners, and prior to that Bobby going Bwagzilla mode on the Niners and literally filling out the entire defensive box score with a stat.
Witherspoon needs to tone it down a little after literally every play but he really showed up today. Even when he was a little late to the play, he was trying to lay wood and leave a smoking brand on whichever dude. That I’m-going-to-light-your-ass-on-fire energy reminds me of some Boom.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the highlights, there were some great individual moments, it was a fun game to watch in like the last 20 minutes of regulation. Otherwise it was a slog and its kinda obvious that the 12th Man maybe actually won the game. The fans literally ended an entire offensive drive on their own. I'm still going to enjoy this game but it was such a slog. Injuries are having a huge impact and some dudes have really stepped up, but holy shit, it feels precarious.
To my eye the biggest problem in the 1st half was Geno being uncharacteristically inaccurate, mostly too high. Even converting one of those FG to a TD would have made the game a runaway for the Hawks. Also definitely Dalton was much more effective than Young would have been.
Uncharacteristically? People keep saying he’s super accurate and talking him up, but I keep seeing him passing either too high (this game) or behind the receiver (most games). Im not sold.
He was repeatedly off to his arm side. He almost got intercepted 3 times. Nice to see him throw at JSN, too bad he threw with no anticipation and got picked because of it.
I would like to hope that the defense looks like a much better unit when Riq and Adams come back. Though my hopes on Adams are mostly that he gets through a season. I think about what would need to happen for best case scenario with this team. Reed keeps balling, young guys like Hall and Mafe develop, that guy Dremont living up to his hype, and the secondary being the best in football. And I could paint an even more plausible scenario for the offense’s best case scenario. But currently we’re so far from the LOB we celebrated today, or even the Dolphins offense I watched before the Hawks game. The schedule looks ridiculous later. @Rams, 9ers, Cowboys, @9ers, Eagles.
I was glad to see Lewis come back in, probably with a soft cast on his left wrist. There's playing hurt and playing injured. He went a long way to showing the guys the difference. Same with Jamal Adams, who we are about to see returning fully healthy for the first time.
This defense needs to finish gd third downs. It's actually possible that healthy Riq and Adams added to what they've got right now on defense would be it.
-the panthers offense might be better without young
-our defense incrementally improved. We effectively stopped obvious running scenarios, finally started getting pass break ups, and gave up far fewer easy passes over the middle
-defense still isn't good, but I can be optimistic
-our offense has problems.. There were definitely missed opportunities by geno, but our complete inability to finish drives is more than geno being average..
- we were good enough, but this version of good enough won't be good enough for long
Now the Starters get no time to tune up/adjust in preseason, these first few games reflect that. It's why we are seeing good teams lose. We can expect some damn good football this year.
DW played fairly well and I see him getting better almost every game - he has instincts. What was the Guys name we got from Denver for Big Money??? Haven't heard his named called for anything, curious if he is going to eventually show up? Impressive display by the O-line, missing starters and then at one point for about at least a third of the game only having one starter on field, it was pretty awesome- I'm not worried about the Offense, But the lack of consistent understanding or lack of game plan of D coverage on the middle of the field is VERY concerning-
What convinces me is a 70% completion rate, plus the eye test is often very convincing. Nobody is perfect.
First, being at the game, I thought that Chark reception was incomplete and wanted replay too. So get the flag. So love the suggestion of replay at home calling it down. Second, J Reed HUGE!!! I said same in first half “very unusual to have a DLine/NT with the most tackles”. He even sent Sanders to sideline more than 10 yards downfield from his line spot coming in body tackling him (no don’t like when players get injured just a 300 Lb man taking down a RB downfield is fun to see. So loved his full sack and scary celebration at end of game. Game ball to Reed.
My bet is Sherm and Spoon have had beers, laughing over the subtle different ways you can set up an interception. I also bet Riq is in on these sessions.
I always say that injuries are the great equalizer in the NFL. I had high hopes for this season as young players continued their development, but several key ones are/or have been injured including Woolen, Witherspoon, O line, Adams, JSN etc. Check out last year’s Rams for further example. Despite that the Hawks are 2-1, have developed a better run defense, scored 37 points in consecutive weeks and seem to be playing with great enthusiasm.
3rd down conversion efficiency on both sides is probably the biggest issue, solve that and all other issues diminish. Their scoring would likely increase while opponent scoring would decrease.
I know Geno didn’t have the greatest day, but the team scored 37 points, had about equal time of possession, had a 17 point lead with under 5 minutes to play. For comparison, Russ had a statistically better game yesterday than Geno!
Before the season began I expected 2-1 after 3 games, but with Rams and Lions results flipped. I’m going to enjoy the win and continue to hope for improvement as the young team matures and gets healthier.
"...though Tyler Lockett doesn’t seem to be playing worse this season by any means, he hasn’t been productive: Lockett had 34 yards on seven targets..."
IMHO, this issue (for at least the Panthers game) should have been wrapped into the Geno Smith consistency discussion. Re-watching the game late last night, I was struck by his targeting of Lockett. There were a lot of would-be yards left on the table by poor accuracy. Not Lockett's "productivity", really.
Smith's first half seemed off. It wasn't clear to me, football Idiot that I am, what adjustment was made at the half, but it was like watching a different guy.
My uneducated take on JSN was that he was, in effect, used as a distraction (this notion was discussed here over the summer). There were a couple of times he was open for good yardage, but I couldn't tell if he was accessible (poor camera angle). A couple of other times he was open, but there was another option that was MORE open (and used to good effect).
Silverback's TD catch was a nice toe-dragger (especially at 2x playback speed!). Also, it looked like he blocked effectively. This could go well.
For the first time in a couple of years, I detected a hint of smashmouth offense. All those daggers are much more effective (and more emotionally devastating) after a few hard shots to the gut. It was just a hint, though. No-K Charbonnet looked really good in there. I'm looking forward to Cerberus when K-Mack gets back, and K9's receiving should get the league's attention, just a little bit.
IMHO (again) I didn't think the writeup was uniformly negative. The first major point was all about good coaching staff. Most of the backend was the other thing. It took me a while to grok that "As I See It" is Ken-speak for "hot take", and I have to remind myself to take the hot take kind of cool, or it will leave me cold. Similarly, it took me a while to understand that "Vision Board" was Ken-speak for "Ungrounded Flight of Fancy", but I'm over it now.
P.S. Was it just me, or did we not Hawk up a couple of successful screens yesterday?
I had an beatifully written essay here that got lost because the app is wonky. You'll never get to read (take my word for it) what was a masterpiece.
Gist: I, like my Seahawks, am trying to get my worrisome mind to perform in a more efficient and hopeful fashion. Self-awareness is key to improving. So far, improving every week is what we're doing. Thanks to SSJ and all y'all for helping with the self-awareness of areas needing more. GO!!... SEAHAWKS!!
Geeesh. I used to look forward to reading about a Seahawks win on Monday mornings, but these days everyone seems to want to pick them apart the day after, win, lose, or draw. I'm not suggesting we should all be fanboys and stick our heads in the sand, but can we focus a little more on the good, while balancing that with what needs to get better.
IMO this negativity is coming from a place of expectation. People seem to expect dominant performances against teams we perceive as weaker. Ok, but is that where this team is at right now? Are they not loaded with youth, trying to find their way to gel and learn each others games, and learning how to communicate in the heat of battle on the football field. Why should we expect them to dominate anybody? Youth yields inconsistent results. We are able to dominate in stretches, and also be dominated. That's how it will be until we see what this group really is.
And BTW, the Rams team that everyone was saying was pitiful hung in there pretty good against San Fran after they whipped our asses. So, perceptions are what they are. It's what folks think, it isn't fact.
All that said, we do need to be better on 3rd downs on both sides of the ball. I think Darrell Taylor needs to get less snaps, and I'm not sure what Love is doing back there. He misses tackles in bunches.
I'm very proud of the o-line, love our 2 RB's, and the front 7 did really well defending the run. Spoon is the real deal. JSN will get going, and I think the coaching staff needs to draw up plays specifically for him so he's the 1st read. Same for Bobo. That'll just make it harder to match up outside with DK and Lockett.
I thought it was a sloppy but highly entertaining game. I think (hope) the sloppiness will improve as the season goes along. Don't expect a dominant performance against the Giants. Hope for one sure, but don't expect it. That's not where we are IMO.
I credit the 12 Noise with changing the late outcome. Carolina gave their Rookie a look at NFL level football in their first 2 games, knowing they'd bring in a healthy (and very good) Dalton to call a game they won last year (in a quieter stadium). Then they experienced Full Volume. Damn near pulled it off. Hat's off to them.
I agree, and would add that winning any game on any field against any team in any week in the NFL is a huge victory. It’s easy to forget just how competitive the NFL is. Cards versus cowboys as an example.
I think your point about measuring the Seahawks from a dominance perspective is spot on. A lot of the criticism comes from an expectation of having a dominant team, which we don’t have. Yet. But we have some good players and are improving.
While I completely agree with Kenneth’s analysis of this game, including the negatives, I will take two and one and improving.
I am very excited about spoon, and found myself focusing on him on a lot of the defensive plays because he’s so fun to watch. He’s a missile, full of passion, a great addition to the team.
I am happy with this win given how many players we have injured, and how competitive the NFL is every week.
Thanks Chris, I appreciate what you're saying, all your points are valid and we should appreciate how amazing it is that an OL full of backups is performing this well. That Panthers front seven was tough, even after suffering their own injuries. It was a very entertaining game, at least in the second half.
It's healthy to have some perspective and enjoy the actual winning because winning is all that really matters. I started this season hoping for bigger improvements on both sides of the ball but I didn't expect this squad to contend for the Super Bowl this year. I'm trying to focus on the positive and not be too negative, they're still a very young team dealing with a ton of injuries.
You got me thinking, and I think a lot of response is being miscategorised as Negative. I think most of what I see here and around is Pragmatic. Merely balancing of the good elements (such as getting the win, the improvements to the Run D, Bobo etc) against the bad (such as shocking drive efficiency, poor run blocking, suspect secondary play etc.)
You are also correct that we probably shouldn't have expected a dominant performance vs the Panthers, and shouldn't eye one up against the Giants. But if we accept the position we're not that good, it must also come with an acknowledgment that making the playoffs will be tough, and winning a playoff game really tough. And as in my comment below, this isn't where I want the team to be, so i will hold them to a higher level of expectation. Winning seasons are great, but really how many non-Steelers/Ravens fans talk about their consistency in winning seasons? Or do we all more talk about the up-and-down Rams and their Superbowl win? Give me some bragging rights, Seahawks, not consolation positive streaks and stats. [Always tempered against the fact I would be far harsher if we were an out-and-out usually bad team like Browns/Jaguars - I do know we have it lucky being a 'Hawks fan]
I guess it's what lens we want to view these games through. I enjoy watching a young developing team play. I don't expect Gino to be perfect. He was good in the 1st half, just not on 3rd downs. I think he was something like 12 of 13 or 13 of 14 in the second half, and they finished some drives. That's very good, by any standards. He adjusted, the coaching staff adjusted, and they played a very good second half.
I can be disappointed at the 3rd down efficiency while also be proud of Gino for being better in the 2nd half. The NFL is hard. Playing QB in the NFL is really hard. Will he become elite? Don't know, but he certainly plays stretches of elite football.
I do not expect this team to get to the Super Bowl this year. I think it's a developmental year. A 2012 year. Playoffs? Sure, I think that's doable again. Might we lose in the first round again? Yep. But maybe not, if we continue to improve throughout the year and can shake off this constant run of injuries that is going to mess up our chemistry.
People can spend more time on the bad if they choose to, I understand that there are criticisms to make. It's just, as a fan, I don't want to read more about those than the fact we won a game.
We should be spending paragraphs on how well Spoon played. Targeted 11 times, gave up 3 catches for 19 yards! Led the team in tackles. And all in his second start as a rookie. I should be reading all about that and what a potential future could look like with him on one side and Woolen on the other.
How about that o-line hanging in there despite be obliterated with injuries. Rookies forced to play, and everyone playing banged up. But they kept Gino mostly clean, and blocked well enough in the running game to give the RB's a chance.
I do appreciate all of the different perspectives on this board, and understand everyone has their own take on things. All good.
Joe, I supported your initial assessment of Geno's play last week and yesterday did nothing to assuage that. The pass pro held up fantastically well, he had all day back there but seemed gunshy at times and made some terrible throws in the first half. Some of it could be the vanilla playcalling or the fact that the inability to run block put them off-schedule so regularly, but I expected better against the Panthers. Obviously his game picked up in the second half but against teams with a better pass rush I don't see him standing tall in there and leading the team to victory - that whelp at an oncoming Aaron Donald in week 1 was not a good omen. Need a statement against the Giants.
Just watched Sherm’s podcast. He reckons Geno played well, the OC dominated and Spoon learnt some
Lessons today. Was he watching a different game?
On the evidence of the season so far we will get to 9 wins and a winning season. I can't guarantee we'll get a playoff spot, and certainly don't feel we'd win a playoff game.
This needed to be a big, dominant week. It wasn't. It was good, mostly. But like in Wk1, a hot team, a good team, will not lose against us based on these performances. Too negative? Maybe, but as I keep saying I don't just want to be ok and reach 9 wins. So until we really see something exciting I shall remain a relatively downbeat fan.
Fair enough. But there is definitely room for improvement which I’m confident will happen. We’ve got a lot of injuries and new guys that are just getting going. I think there’s signs that we’re gonna be better than expected at this stage. My only real concern is Geno and the OC. Geno’s been only ok, and the IC’s been a bit pedestrian with play calls (though a bit better this week I guess). The D showed improvement this week with players out. That’s a good sign for when players get back. Exposure to typically non-starters is a good thing. Especially given we’re still winning.
The pass rush showed some improvement. We may be seeing growth there and improvement will help the secondary. Hopefully the run D remains good - we’ll see. This is a team with a lot of new parts that hopefully can gel into consistency.
DK was key to that offense but holy shit Colby Parkinson and/or Noah Fant were also on fire. Walker was solid in his work but I actually thought Charbs was more impactful in fewer plays. That dude was running like he was competing in some Squid Game every opportunity but as you noted, he did a lot of his damage late. That’s a physical runner going wild on a stout but very tired defense, basically Pete fully imposing his will on the opponent at a key moment. That was some cold ass, twist-the-knife shit they’re doing and I love it. Also Charbs went full Rawls and it was glorious. He put that dude into the endzone from like 5 yards out. That’s the way I remember it and it may be wrong but gdi let me have this.
Jarran Reed low key had the most dominant Seahawks single player defensive game against an opponent since Clowney turned into Lawrence Taylor that one time vs the Niners, and prior to that Bobby going Bwagzilla mode on the Niners and literally filling out the entire defensive box score with a stat.
Witherspoon needs to tone it down a little after literally every play but he really showed up today. Even when he was a little late to the play, he was trying to lay wood and leave a smoking brand on whichever dude. That I’m-going-to-light-your-ass-on-fire energy reminds me of some Boom.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the highlights, there were some great individual moments, it was a fun game to watch in like the last 20 minutes of regulation. Otherwise it was a slog and its kinda obvious that the 12th Man maybe actually won the game. The fans literally ended an entire offensive drive on their own. I'm still going to enjoy this game but it was such a slog. Injuries are having a huge impact and some dudes have really stepped up, but holy shit, it feels precarious.
Great break-down Joel. Fully agree.
To my eye the biggest problem in the 1st half was Geno being uncharacteristically inaccurate, mostly too high. Even converting one of those FG to a TD would have made the game a runaway for the Hawks. Also definitely Dalton was much more effective than Young would have been.
Uncharacteristically? People keep saying he’s super accurate and talking him up, but I keep seeing him passing either too high (this game) or behind the receiver (most games). Im not sold.
He was repeatedly off to his arm side. He almost got intercepted 3 times. Nice to see him throw at JSN, too bad he threw with no anticipation and got picked because of it.
I would like to hope that the defense looks like a much better unit when Riq and Adams come back. Though my hopes on Adams are mostly that he gets through a season. I think about what would need to happen for best case scenario with this team. Reed keeps balling, young guys like Hall and Mafe develop, that guy Dremont living up to his hype, and the secondary being the best in football. And I could paint an even more plausible scenario for the offense’s best case scenario. But currently we’re so far from the LOB we celebrated today, or even the Dolphins offense I watched before the Hawks game. The schedule looks ridiculous later. @Rams, 9ers, Cowboys, @9ers, Eagles.
I was glad to see Lewis come back in, probably with a soft cast on his left wrist. There's playing hurt and playing injured. He went a long way to showing the guys the difference. Same with Jamal Adams, who we are about to see returning fully healthy for the first time.
Keep the faith Chuck. We’re improving.
This defense needs to finish gd third downs. It's actually possible that healthy Riq and Adams added to what they've got right now on defense would be it.
TikTock. Next week we see them.
Just a few thoughts of my own
-we won! Which for this week is what matters
-the panthers offense might be better without young
-our defense incrementally improved. We effectively stopped obvious running scenarios, finally started getting pass break ups, and gave up far fewer easy passes over the middle
-defense still isn't good, but I can be optimistic
-our offense has problems.. There were definitely missed opportunities by geno, but our complete inability to finish drives is more than geno being average..
- we were good enough, but this version of good enough won't be good enough for long
Now the Starters get no time to tune up/adjust in preseason, these first few games reflect that. It's why we are seeing good teams lose. We can expect some damn good football this year.