I was the 41st heart for this article. I want to forward it to a friend in Hawaii. Can't figure out how to do that. He might decide to subscribe. You never know.
Great article. I agree with you. The fricking Rams are our biggest obstacle to winning a SB. And, as you say, the NFC winner will likely be the SB winner since the AFC sucks this year. Seems odd to count out the Buffalos and the Ravens and most especially the Chefs.
Congrats on a thorough and well-reasoned analysis. I cannot fault this effort because it is so easy to introduce bias in the myriad subjective choices that precede this type of analysis.
Thanks for doing the heavy lifting. I'm worried that the Rams will figure a few things out since our last contest. Nonetheless, there's so much for Seahawks fans to be proud and optimistic about
“I’d rank A.J. Barner as Seattle’s second best skill player this season…”
I find this alarming because (a) Barner’s numbers are not appreciably better than Noah Fant’s, and (b) the Barnyard aside, AJ is a Guy+. (I’ve seen a lot of Seahawks TEs. He’s fine but nothing special.) BTW, do you not consider QB to be a skill position?
Re Coach of the Year, the national press has already anointed Vrabel. It’s a shame. As you say, any of MM, McVey, and Payton deserve equal consideration.
Love the analysis Ken. Makes one feel a bit more confident in the team. However, I just can't shake the feeling that those 4 turnovers against the Rams represent a flaw that isn't really being addressed and isn't really represented by the stats. If the Hawks can't correct whatever caused them, it seems possible that another team might be able to replicate it.
If they call pass interference that negates two, and if Sam jump pass to walker instead it's a touchdown maybe. The other just don't force it or take the short pass to I think again walker, you get the one yard for the first at least. I'm confident we're going to beat the rams and I actually think we could beat them good if we play clean ball.
Luckily the Teams will settle this on the field. Paper match-ups are fun, and I enjoyed reading through this, but ultimately who's better on any given day will prevail. Bad day, and you're out. Good day and you keep going. It ain't easy to get to the Super Bowl. A lot of things need to fall your way. But I like how Mike Macdonald handles the team. Control the controllables, and hope the results are there at the end.
This is a tight team that will play their hearts out for each other, and for the coaches. Perhaps that's our biggest advantage going into the last 4 games and the playoffs.
That’s exactly what I was thinking Chris H. The stats don’t matter on game day. In the end, any team can beat any team depending on multiple factors on the day.
However, I’ve always had a gut feeling for a while now (I’m not a stats person - eye test for me) that the Hawks and Rams are the best 2 teams this year. I think this is due to the playing lists, coaches and team attitudes.
Even with this though, anything could happen on game day. We’ve just gotta keep bringing it!
I go back to the 2014 NFC Championship game against the Packers. We stumbled all over ourselves for 55 mins. Played really well for 5 mins in regulation, and 3 minutes in OT and won. There many paths to victory, and we only need to find one.
I think we're the most well rounded team in the NFL. The only crack in the armor has been turnovers on offense. Other than that, we are super solid everywhere. So I'm highly confident in our ability to beat anyone. There are no guarantees in football though, so to the football gods we pray.
It will be an absolute point of Pride that the Colts keep him standing. No doubt the Officials will be exceptionally touchy-feely as regards roughing him. Our guys will respect him, possibly to a fault.
But which George Foreman? There are like 5 of them.
I wouldn't write-off Rivers either, but the degree of difficulty of what he's about to attempt is very, very high. Winning any NFL game at 44 years of age is amazing. Doing it without any offseason, and without playing any football at all during the season, and without playing with any of these players before? And doing it against the Seahawks? It's a lot to ask. Not impossible, but a high, high degree of difficulty.
Phil Sims said yesterday that he too (like Rivers) could still throw but the first time he was hit, he’d simply crumple and hope someone called time out.
Getting hit by Leonard Williams or Demarcus Lawrence could send Rivers to the hospital.
Who am I to tell either Sims or Rivers they're wrong, but I think they're both delusional. I don't think either of them could make two, and certainly not three or four NFL-quality throws, especially after getting smacked by Leonard Williams a time or two.
I will add one other distinction that applies to the Seahawks/Rams argument in determining who wins the division and a potential playoff meeting between them. Not necessarily who’s better in a vacuum. I watched the Rams lose to the Panthers. Twice, actually. One thing that never seems to gets mentioned when discussing this outlier poor performance by Stafford, (he played poorly against the Hawks as well) is the weather conditions. There was constant rain and gusty winds all game.
The Rams play in a covered stadium, Stafford, when with Detroit played in a covered stadium. He practices in LA which rarely provides the opportunity to practice in poor weather conditions. I live in Seattle, and for what seems like forever now it’s been raining and windy. The current storm system is supposed to break after today, but another group of systems hit again this Sunday and run through the following Saturday. There is a good chance of poor weather conditions for Thursday’s game against the Rams.
Two storm systems are converging on Stafford and the Rams. The Seahawks defense in which Stafford played his worst game of the year in a covered stadium, and the Seattle weather, similar to the conditions in Carolina, in which Stafford played his worst game of the year. The Perfect Storm is about to change the narrative of who is the best team in the NFL.
BTW, It’ll be raining this Sunday and the Colts play in a covered stadium…
Stafford has obviously played a handful of recent games in Seattle due to the NFC West. He has played decently there. Last year is the latest in the season that a game has happened, which was early November. So this is certainly different. He wasn't as good in that game. The Rams are also 6-0 vs the Seahawks with Stafford. That record is also probably more influenced by Seattle's inability to score against the Rams than Stafford. And looking at the last game what happened? The game had almost nothing to do with Stafford...it was the 4 turnovers by Seattle and the inability to make a crazy long FG.
This game is not really "Stafford vs the Seahawks" to me. Can the Seahawks stop beating themselves against the Rams? That's the question. Sean McVay has had their number long before Stafford got there.
I hear you, but in the last game it was 14 points gifted to the Rams on early drives that they only needed to go 3 yards and 24 yards to get TDs (off of INTs) If Darnold had just taken a sack on any one of three of those turnovers, it’s hard for me to see the Rams winning. Likewise, had that punt hit the pylon for a touchback, that field goal would have been inside 45 yards. After those first two scores by the Rams, the Seahawks dominated on offense AND defense. Yes Darnold threw 2 more INTs, but the Hawks offense in the last three quarters outgained the Rams 2 to 1. The Rams offense didn’t exist on their last three drives. I just think when you add poor weather into the mix, and the fact that I expect Darnold to take some sacks if nothing is there, (everyone talks about why the sack numbers are up significantly the past few games being the O-line, but in reality it is Darnold not risking a throw into coverage to avoid the sacks) the Rams won’t have drives basically starting in the red zone. I can’t see anything less than a 2 score win by the Seahawks. They won’t beat themselves because they’ll take the sack or throw it out of bounds vs hoping for the best on a risky pass.
It sounds like you're trying to convince me that the Seahawks can win which isn't necessary; I do not lack any confidence in the Seahawks and the article states that Seattle could beat the Rams "soundly".
I am sorry, I just usually post about how good the Seahawks are on YouTube chats and I’m use to such negativity. I am sorry for coming actors as argumentative. It’s just that it has become a requirement in most forums.
People believer what they hear and read, and for a great part of this year, that’s been the Seahawks are the third best team in the division. Two weeks ago the 49ers were given a better chance to win the division than the Seahawks. I know we have a harder schedule, but I kept arguing we were better than everyone we were going to play. I’m still on track for hitting my bye week prediction of going 9 wins 1 loss Sheree the bye, only losing away to the Rams. I think Carolina will be the toughest win left for us. I think we’ll take care of the Rams by at least 2 scores.
I understand the "switch". We log onto websites and want to add a point and we flip on our defense "switches" because that's so common during online discourse. I really want everyone to keep their switches off as much as possible and feel comfortable here because sometimes when the switch is on, we assume we're in constant debate mode.
I know you have supreme confidence in the Seahawks and that's awesome. I fully agree with you and I felt like today's article, above all others, would show how confident I am in the Seahawks. This article would not have been on Seaside Joe in Week 1. Maybe not even in Week 10. Seattle has ascended. It's deserved now.
So when you say that the Seahawks can beat the Rams and that Stafford won't be as good in December in Seattle, I say great, I agree. Makes sense to me. My reply simply emphasized that I don't think Stafford is necessarily even the focal point and that McVay has managed to dominate Seattle for 8.5 years even without Stafford and even without Aaron Donald. Maybe I'm more open to being impressed by non-Seahawks teams, even rival Seahawks teams. I knew I was opening a can of worms by not emphatically stating at the end of the article that the Seahawks are better than the Rams...that's just how I feel. I'm willing to give L.A. credit for the season they're having and for beating Seattle. Non-Seahawks fans would say it's crazy to even suggest the two teams are tied in the rankings. I'm willing to say Seattle could actually be a lot better...but it's pointless to even put one team over the other...
Because what happens in 1 week will be the decider. (Until it isn't and then the only thing that matters is the playoffs.)
Yeah, those are the points I was making too. There's no "but" necessary. We agree. You were making the argument about Stafford's struggles and I was simply saying that it doesn't seem to matter in the series of Stafford struggles or not.
I don't want the Seahawks to win because the Rams are at their worst. I want the Seahawks to beat the Rams when they're at their best.
I agree. My wife desperately wants the Lions to win on Sunday, but I'm cheering for the Rams. I must admit, though, I don't care how poorly Stafford or the Rams play on Thursday night.
Broncos have all the hallmarks of a team that disappoints their fans by getting absolutely creamed in the playoffs before reaching the Super Bowl despite a great record in the regular season.
How fun would it be to have the most unexpected Super Bowl rematch of all time, though? Seahawks vs. Broncos 2025
It's hard for me to not get excited about any Super Bowl matchup featuring the Seahawks. I think that the winner of the NFC could win the Super Bowl by 14+ points this year no matter who is in it. I think the Lions might even be better than the AFC and they're not even in the playoffs right now.
that's true! that would also be a fun, probably equally-unexpected rematch. That one would have higher stakes in terms of how the fans feel--a Seahawks victory would feel way sweeter than beating the Broncos again, but a defeat would feel that much more bitter
Wow, lots of analysis here, almost too much. Two things I think add to overall team performance are the coaching style and the team peer approval effect. Seahawks have these things going for them. This coaching group gets the credit for high performance of our players. The team looks like they also raise the performance level by cheering on the each other’s achievements, judging by what I see during the game. Some of these intangibles are hard to identify, but the Hawks have them. The challenge will be keeping this group, both coaches and players together going forward.
It’s ironic that the Rams beat the Seahawks with special teams. They kicked the greatest punt ever punted. Two inches longer and it’s a touchback. The Seahawks then faced a nearly impossible FG attempt.
Sometimes results are totally unaware of the stats.
It's there with "Statistics mean nothing to the individual". What might be 1000-1 odds for 999 people, is 1-1 odds for someone. Same with sports, and it's why sports are awesome. For as much as a team can be so heavily dominant or favored, in that one moment anything can happen. It's beautiful chaos which reminds us all we don't live in a simulation.
In fact, we’ve had some big wins where the yardage numbers were (cue Angry Doug) “pedestrian.” But if we hit some explosives, gain enough first downs and score, we don’t need many yards to win. When the opponent punts, turns the ball over, and gets their kicks blocked, their yards are meaningless.
This year especially, if you opened the box score without knowing who won, you'd probably guess wrong if the box score was all the info you had. They're have been a bunch of games where I've looked at the box score and asked myself 'how in the hell did you manage to lose this game?'.
So what do you make of MacDonald's recent stement that Bradford was graded out by the staff as the best OL in the Atlanta game.? To me, he still looks heavy-footed, and prone to lunging and resultant bad balance, but...
I agree with the assessment. Zabel is athletic enough to recover from mistakes. Bradford is strong enough that if he doesn’t make a mistake, he’s dominant.
What changed recently? Bradford is making fewer mistakes.
There was a recent play where the opposing defender had a free shot at Darnold, right up the middle. Olu blocked the wrong guy. Either Olu made an error, or Kubiak’s blocking rules allowed the RG to read one cue and the center to read a different one.
BTW, that famous photo of Sam looking at AB? He had just been pounded to the ground, there was no flag, and Sam was looking at the ref. But AB was in the foreground of that image. Long ago I came up with this quote: “Propaganda is told through a zoom lens.” This is yet another example. (“Portland on fire” fits too.)
I can only assess how a player does up until the present moment so for Bradford you know, most of the evidence we have points to a bad player. Does not mean that this week couldn't be the week where the evidence changes.
If you look at tape from the last two games, Cross got beaten up badly on some snaps, Zabel made mistakes but recovered on some and was lucky that his losses didn’t foil plays. Olu had some bad errors. Lucas might have been second best with AB playing surprisingly well. That’s what I saw anyway. He still leaves effort off the table late in some plays though.
So when MM says AB graded out best, he’s not blowing smoke. AB has been improving. That’s the good news. The bad news is the other guys on the line got beat at times, so the bar isn’t as high as it should be. Charbs has some negative reps as well.
Here’s an excellent interview with film that shows examples…
My attitude is to avoid piling on Bradford this season. Anyone can cherry pick bad examples when a player is down. In the offseason, I’m happy to look for better options.
The challenge for Bradford is that he’s not quick. He needs to play his first steps perfectly. When he does he’s stout. When he doesn’t, he’s toast. It’s unfair to ask him to be more fleet of foot. It can’t happen. But if he plays smart, he can get good results. Lately, he’s been playing very smart.
Hopefully, he continues to do so. We need our other blockers to start playing better too. Recently, there’s blame to spread around.
Not article related: can someone tell me the name of the book about non-negotiable habits?
I was the 41st heart for this article. I want to forward it to a friend in Hawaii. Can't figure out how to do that. He might decide to subscribe. You never know.
Great article. I agree with you. The fricking Rams are our biggest obstacle to winning a SB. And, as you say, the NFC winner will likely be the SB winner since the AFC sucks this year. Seems odd to count out the Buffalos and the Ravens and most especially the Chefs.
The Chief's refs aren't as good this year.....🤣
Congrats on a thorough and well-reasoned analysis. I cannot fault this effort because it is so easy to introduce bias in the myriad subjective choices that precede this type of analysis.
Thanks for doing the heavy lifting. I'm worried that the Rams will figure a few things out since our last contest. Nonetheless, there's so much for Seahawks fans to be proud and optimistic about
“I’d rank A.J. Barner as Seattle’s second best skill player this season…”
I find this alarming because (a) Barner’s numbers are not appreciably better than Noah Fant’s, and (b) the Barnyard aside, AJ is a Guy+. (I’ve seen a lot of Seahawks TEs. He’s fine but nothing special.) BTW, do you not consider QB to be a skill position?
Re Coach of the Year, the national press has already anointed Vrabel. It’s a shame. As you say, any of MM, McVey, and Payton deserve equal consideration.
Just incase we lose to the Rams next week and meet them in the playoffs. https://grok.com/share/c2hhcmQtNQ_2d5e5c5f-f6d7-43cb-bc2f-c752ef39e39d
Love the analysis Ken. Makes one feel a bit more confident in the team. However, I just can't shake the feeling that those 4 turnovers against the Rams represent a flaw that isn't really being addressed and isn't really represented by the stats. If the Hawks can't correct whatever caused them, it seems possible that another team might be able to replicate it.
If they call pass interference that negates two, and if Sam jump pass to walker instead it's a touchdown maybe. The other just don't force it or take the short pass to I think again walker, you get the one yard for the first at least. I'm confident we're going to beat the rams and I actually think we could beat them good if we play clean ball.
I like your optimism! Lets hope it goes our way in a few weeks.
Sean McVay has always known how to get under Seattle's skin. Macdonald needs to fix that problem even if he doesn't call offense.
indeed!
Luckily the Teams will settle this on the field. Paper match-ups are fun, and I enjoyed reading through this, but ultimately who's better on any given day will prevail. Bad day, and you're out. Good day and you keep going. It ain't easy to get to the Super Bowl. A lot of things need to fall your way. But I like how Mike Macdonald handles the team. Control the controllables, and hope the results are there at the end.
This is a tight team that will play their hearts out for each other, and for the coaches. Perhaps that's our biggest advantage going into the last 4 games and the playoffs.
That’s exactly what I was thinking Chris H. The stats don’t matter on game day. In the end, any team can beat any team depending on multiple factors on the day.
However, I’ve always had a gut feeling for a while now (I’m not a stats person - eye test for me) that the Hawks and Rams are the best 2 teams this year. I think this is due to the playing lists, coaches and team attitudes.
Even with this though, anything could happen on game day. We’ve just gotta keep bringing it!
I go back to the 2014 NFC Championship game against the Packers. We stumbled all over ourselves for 55 mins. Played really well for 5 mins in regulation, and 3 minutes in OT and won. There many paths to victory, and we only need to find one.
Correct.
On the the hand, there are many ways to lose as well, and you only need to find one :(.
And correct.
That's all I want too, Chris. The game decided on the field.
I think we're the most well rounded team in the NFL. The only crack in the armor has been turnovers on offense. Other than that, we are super solid everywhere. So I'm highly confident in our ability to beat anyone. There are no guarantees in football though, so to the football gods we pray.
If we had a reliable running game, game over.
I'm thinking MM just addressed that with new coaching at RBs.
100%. I want the offensive line to be a bit more consistent also and consistently run the ball better in the second half to put teams away.
Thinking about yesterday and Phillip Rivers. Hmm. George Foreman won the heavyweight championship at 45.
I wouldn’t write off older athletes so quickly. It is obvious Rivers wasn’t sitting on the couch all this time.
It will be an absolute point of Pride that the Colts keep him standing. No doubt the Officials will be exceptionally touchy-feely as regards roughing him. Our guys will respect him, possibly to a fault.
But which George Foreman? There are like 5 of them.
I wouldn't write-off Rivers either, but the degree of difficulty of what he's about to attempt is very, very high. Winning any NFL game at 44 years of age is amazing. Doing it without any offseason, and without playing any football at all during the season, and without playing with any of these players before? And doing it against the Seahawks? It's a lot to ask. Not impossible, but a high, high degree of difficulty.
Phil Sims said yesterday that he too (like Rivers) could still throw but the first time he was hit, he’d simply crumple and hope someone called time out.
Getting hit by Leonard Williams or Demarcus Lawrence could send Rivers to the hospital.
Watching Cousins’ first half tonight, that’s what the Colts are hoping for. But, man, the Falcons love flags…
Who am I to tell either Sims or Rivers they're wrong, but I think they're both delusional. I don't think either of them could make two, and certainly not three or four NFL-quality throws, especially after getting smacked by Leonard Williams a time or two.
He should definitely hug his grandkid one last time before the game.
👍
Which George Foreman? Gotta be the grill salesman right?
George Probably made more selling grills, etc, than boxing.
Always loved his interviews, funny guy.
Well, he’d hit you in the grill…
🤣
Indeed.
I will add one other distinction that applies to the Seahawks/Rams argument in determining who wins the division and a potential playoff meeting between them. Not necessarily who’s better in a vacuum. I watched the Rams lose to the Panthers. Twice, actually. One thing that never seems to gets mentioned when discussing this outlier poor performance by Stafford, (he played poorly against the Hawks as well) is the weather conditions. There was constant rain and gusty winds all game.
The Rams play in a covered stadium, Stafford, when with Detroit played in a covered stadium. He practices in LA which rarely provides the opportunity to practice in poor weather conditions. I live in Seattle, and for what seems like forever now it’s been raining and windy. The current storm system is supposed to break after today, but another group of systems hit again this Sunday and run through the following Saturday. There is a good chance of poor weather conditions for Thursday’s game against the Rams.
Two storm systems are converging on Stafford and the Rams. The Seahawks defense in which Stafford played his worst game of the year in a covered stadium, and the Seattle weather, similar to the conditions in Carolina, in which Stafford played his worst game of the year. The Perfect Storm is about to change the narrative of who is the best team in the NFL.
BTW, It’ll be raining this Sunday and the Colts play in a covered stadium…
Stafford has obviously played a handful of recent games in Seattle due to the NFC West. He has played decently there. Last year is the latest in the season that a game has happened, which was early November. So this is certainly different. He wasn't as good in that game. The Rams are also 6-0 vs the Seahawks with Stafford. That record is also probably more influenced by Seattle's inability to score against the Rams than Stafford. And looking at the last game what happened? The game had almost nothing to do with Stafford...it was the 4 turnovers by Seattle and the inability to make a crazy long FG.
This game is not really "Stafford vs the Seahawks" to me. Can the Seahawks stop beating themselves against the Rams? That's the question. Sean McVay has had their number long before Stafford got there.
I hear you, but in the last game it was 14 points gifted to the Rams on early drives that they only needed to go 3 yards and 24 yards to get TDs (off of INTs) If Darnold had just taken a sack on any one of three of those turnovers, it’s hard for me to see the Rams winning. Likewise, had that punt hit the pylon for a touchback, that field goal would have been inside 45 yards. After those first two scores by the Rams, the Seahawks dominated on offense AND defense. Yes Darnold threw 2 more INTs, but the Hawks offense in the last three quarters outgained the Rams 2 to 1. The Rams offense didn’t exist on their last three drives. I just think when you add poor weather into the mix, and the fact that I expect Darnold to take some sacks if nothing is there, (everyone talks about why the sack numbers are up significantly the past few games being the O-line, but in reality it is Darnold not risking a throw into coverage to avoid the sacks) the Rams won’t have drives basically starting in the red zone. I can’t see anything less than a 2 score win by the Seahawks. They won’t beat themselves because they’ll take the sack or throw it out of bounds vs hoping for the best on a risky pass.
It sounds like you're trying to convince me that the Seahawks can win which isn't necessary; I do not lack any confidence in the Seahawks and the article states that Seattle could beat the Rams "soundly".
I am sorry, I just usually post about how good the Seahawks are on YouTube chats and I’m use to such negativity. I am sorry for coming actors as argumentative. It’s just that it has become a requirement in most forums.
How in the world would some respond negatively to DANNO???
That seems crazy to me.
No one has more accurately predicted the Hawks in the world (hyperbolic? maybe ... but I would take Danno over just about anyone)
People believer what they hear and read, and for a great part of this year, that’s been the Seahawks are the third best team in the division. Two weeks ago the 49ers were given a better chance to win the division than the Seahawks. I know we have a harder schedule, but I kept arguing we were better than everyone we were going to play. I’m still on track for hitting my bye week prediction of going 9 wins 1 loss Sheree the bye, only losing away to the Rams. I think Carolina will be the toughest win left for us. I think we’ll take care of the Rams by at least 2 scores.
I understand the "switch". We log onto websites and want to add a point and we flip on our defense "switches" because that's so common during online discourse. I really want everyone to keep their switches off as much as possible and feel comfortable here because sometimes when the switch is on, we assume we're in constant debate mode.
I know you have supreme confidence in the Seahawks and that's awesome. I fully agree with you and I felt like today's article, above all others, would show how confident I am in the Seahawks. This article would not have been on Seaside Joe in Week 1. Maybe not even in Week 10. Seattle has ascended. It's deserved now.
So when you say that the Seahawks can beat the Rams and that Stafford won't be as good in December in Seattle, I say great, I agree. Makes sense to me. My reply simply emphasized that I don't think Stafford is necessarily even the focal point and that McVay has managed to dominate Seattle for 8.5 years even without Stafford and even without Aaron Donald. Maybe I'm more open to being impressed by non-Seahawks teams, even rival Seahawks teams. I knew I was opening a can of worms by not emphatically stating at the end of the article that the Seahawks are better than the Rams...that's just how I feel. I'm willing to give L.A. credit for the season they're having and for beating Seattle. Non-Seahawks fans would say it's crazy to even suggest the two teams are tied in the rankings. I'm willing to say Seattle could actually be a lot better...but it's pointless to even put one team over the other...
Because what happens in 1 week will be the decider. (Until it isn't and then the only thing that matters is the playoffs.)
Yes, there is a world of difference between piston on here and YouTube or SBNation team sites. I’ll try to temper my defensive stance in the future.
Yeah, those are the points I was making too. There's no "but" necessary. We agree. You were making the argument about Stafford's struggles and I was simply saying that it doesn't seem to matter in the series of Stafford struggles or not.
I don't want the Seahawks to win because the Rams are at their worst. I want the Seahawks to beat the Rams when they're at their best.
We agree there. I would rather beat a team at their best.
I agree. My wife desperately wants the Lions to win on Sunday, but I'm cheering for the Rams. I must admit, though, I don't care how poorly Stafford or the Rams play on Thursday night.
It’d be sweeter if they played poorly due to the play of the Seahawks overwhelming them
Broncos have all the hallmarks of a team that disappoints their fans by getting absolutely creamed in the playoffs before reaching the Super Bowl despite a great record in the regular season.
How fun would it be to have the most unexpected Super Bowl rematch of all time, though? Seahawks vs. Broncos 2025
It's hard for me to not get excited about any Super Bowl matchup featuring the Seahawks. I think that the winner of the NFC could win the Super Bowl by 14+ points this year no matter who is in it. I think the Lions might even be better than the AFC and they're not even in the playoffs right now.
What about Seahawks vs Patriots?
that's true! that would also be a fun, probably equally-unexpected rematch. That one would have higher stakes in terms of how the fans feel--a Seahawks victory would feel way sweeter than beating the Broncos again, but a defeat would feel that much more bitter
Wow, lots of analysis here, almost too much. Two things I think add to overall team performance are the coaching style and the team peer approval effect. Seahawks have these things going for them. This coaching group gets the credit for high performance of our players. The team looks like they also raise the performance level by cheering on the each other’s achievements, judging by what I see during the game. Some of these intangibles are hard to identify, but the Hawks have them. The challenge will be keeping this group, both coaches and players together going forward.
"Almost too much"
I can actually agree with that.
I loved this post and would encourage you to repeat next year at the same time. Maybe compare 25 to 26? I love to read summary with data backup!
It’s ironic that the Rams beat the Seahawks with special teams. They kicked the greatest punt ever punted. Two inches longer and it’s a touchback. The Seahawks then faced a nearly impossible FG attempt.
Sometimes results are totally unaware of the stats.
Yeah that one punt is by far LA's special teams highlight of the year.
"Sometimes results are totally unaware of the stats."
Brilliant. I'm totally stealing this, bro.
It's there with "Statistics mean nothing to the individual". What might be 1000-1 odds for 999 people, is 1-1 odds for someone. Same with sports, and it's why sports are awesome. For as much as a team can be so heavily dominant or favored, in that one moment anything can happen. It's beautiful chaos which reminds us all we don't live in a simulation.
Just picture Mutombo laying on the Key Arena floor with the ball over his head for proof anything can happen.
https://www.nba.com/news/history-top-moments-nuggets-stun-sonics-1994
In fact, we’ve had some big wins where the yardage numbers were (cue Angry Doug) “pedestrian.” But if we hit some explosives, gain enough first downs and score, we don’t need many yards to win. When the opponent punts, turns the ball over, and gets their kicks blocked, their yards are meaningless.
This year especially, if you opened the box score without knowing who won, you'd probably guess wrong if the box score was all the info you had. They're have been a bunch of games where I've looked at the box score and asked myself 'how in the hell did you manage to lose this game?'.
So what do you make of MacDonald's recent stement that Bradford was graded out by the staff as the best OL in the Atlanta game.? To me, he still looks heavy-footed, and prone to lunging and resultant bad balance, but...
I agree with the assessment. Zabel is athletic enough to recover from mistakes. Bradford is strong enough that if he doesn’t make a mistake, he’s dominant.
What changed recently? Bradford is making fewer mistakes.
There was a recent play where the opposing defender had a free shot at Darnold, right up the middle. Olu blocked the wrong guy. Either Olu made an error, or Kubiak’s blocking rules allowed the RG to read one cue and the center to read a different one.
BTW, that famous photo of Sam looking at AB? He had just been pounded to the ground, there was no flag, and Sam was looking at the ref. But AB was in the foreground of that image. Long ago I came up with this quote: “Propaganda is told through a zoom lens.” This is yet another example. (“Portland on fire” fits too.)
I can only assess how a player does up until the present moment so for Bradford you know, most of the evidence we have points to a bad player. Does not mean that this week couldn't be the week where the evidence changes.
If you look at tape from the last two games, Cross got beaten up badly on some snaps, Zabel made mistakes but recovered on some and was lucky that his losses didn’t foil plays. Olu had some bad errors. Lucas might have been second best with AB playing surprisingly well. That’s what I saw anyway. He still leaves effort off the table late in some plays though.
So when MM says AB graded out best, he’s not blowing smoke. AB has been improving. That’s the good news. The bad news is the other guys on the line got beat at times, so the bar isn’t as high as it should be. Charbs has some negative reps as well.
Here’s an excellent interview with film that shows examples…
https://youtu.be/FHqn0L6g6Zw?si=tQx9W6WfB9r3RRbm
My attitude is to avoid piling on Bradford this season. Anyone can cherry pick bad examples when a player is down. In the offseason, I’m happy to look for better options.
The challenge for Bradford is that he’s not quick. He needs to play his first steps perfectly. When he does he’s stout. When he doesn’t, he’s toast. It’s unfair to ask him to be more fleet of foot. It can’t happen. But if he plays smart, he can get good results. Lately, he’s been playing very smart.
Hopefully, he continues to do so. We need our other blockers to start playing better too. Recently, there’s blame to spread around.
To me, Bradford is fine—even dominant—when the play doesn’t require him to be athletic.
Hawks certainly don't want to cut him 'n have great seasons with other teams.
Oh yeah, good point. It's all relative.
Begaw because Begaw.
Begaw BECAUSE Begaw.
True that.