I'd love to believe that the 49'ers will be shite this year, but even after a few glasses of optimism, I can't quite get there. I think they will be very good, again (sigh). On a positive note, I think we'll be harder to handle than last year, so the 2 games against them should be entertaining at least. A play here, a play there, and who knows.
Alert! Do not sleep on the Rams in week 1. Everyone is expecting them to really suck......and they may.....but week 1 always seems to look a little ugly and unpolished. A few missed opportunities and shoddy tackling and who knows what could happen. I would love us to blow them out to start the season, but can anyone remember a week 1 blowout lately? I thought I remembered we hammered the Eagles pretty good in week 1 once in the Chad Brown era, and I did some googling and lo and behold we did back in 1998. Joey Galloway, Ahman Green, Michael Sinclair all had big games. 38-0 is a pretty thorough shellacking.
I couldn't remember any other big week 1 games, but my memory isn't that great.
??? who is going to start at LCB? Michael Jackson did not look good at All! They still need someone to step up at the Nickle, although it looked a little better. AND boy to me it looks like they still need a big ugly a NT for this team!
Good content today. Kinda like the FG daily summary but on steroids. BTW, I stopped listening to Dan at 18:29. Too long. What was the point you wanted us to know?
Grant Cohn. Yeah man, I don't know. On one hand, when I really listen to what he's actually saying he has some valid points and he's basing on them facts but his whole persona and approach is not my cup of tea. On the other hand, it's actually amazing he's getting away with all of this and still has full access to the Niners. Hate to say it but that probably isn't ever happening with the Seahawks, at least not under Carroll.
Just one note about clickbait. I truly believe that “Heavy.com” does based on their titles displayed and the horrible articles. Nothing productive at all and a waste of time and tons of advertising links. Only time I truly call a journalistic organization that way.
The cutdown to 53 is coming within the very near future and I am dreading the results. I know that, despite how much we like them, many of our preseason favorites aren't going to make the team. Players like SaRoderick Thompson and Holton Ahlers will be gobbled up by other teams almost immediately, as will Matt Landers. I think that Levi Bell makes the roster. I hope the Hawks keep 3 QBs because Ahlers is a baller., however they are so deep at RB that they are probably going to have to cut Thompson (or DJ Dallas).
Glad to see that some of the 'Hawks castoffs are having success on other teams. Just might be that it is a better fit for them to be successful. It also shows that PC/JS do have a clue when it comes to drafting players.
WRs and RBs almost always make it through to the waiver period if they were UDFAs, because signing them means you have to sign them to your 53. Every team has some WRs and RBs that they are going to cut, so unless they need a PR/KR type and believe the guy you cut is that guy, they will make it through. But a guy like Bell will get snapped up for sure. Ahlers... will likely make it through because he is so raw but it would be great if he made it onto the 53. OTOH the Niners would probably scoop him up as a better player than, say, Lance :D.
I think Cohn is a troll, and I think he is entertaining. His QB worship of Lance has been comical and is certainly driven by the clicks. But I do think he hit on something when he talked about the real concern for the 49ers - the defense. I agree with him that the 49ers run over the past four years has been driven by defense which gotten the 49ers to three NFC championships and one Super Bowl.
From 2012 to 2015 a top defense similarly got the Seahawks to 2 Super Bowls and the second round of the playoffs every year. But after four years two defensive coordinators had left to be head coaches of other teams, and the draft had not brought in a next generation of stars and in 2016 the Seahawks to began slide. So I think there is an argument that continued dominance by the 49ers just because the defense remains largely intact should not be taken for granted in the abstract. That being said, the 49ers defense are little younger than Seattle's was and have not yet felt full effects of 2nd contracts. So they could remain elite a little while longer.
What Cohn notes from being at practice every day -something he has done for years is interesting. His concerns are that the intensity is missing, and they are having trouble stopping the run - two early signs that things might be slipping. If the 49ers defense is actually slipping then the potential for the Seahawks to catch them this year goes up by a lot.
Re Pocic’s renaissance in Cleveland (what a concept!), it may be a matter of what went right in Cleveland more than what went wrong in Seattle. He may have needed a change of scene or maybe Cleveland has better guards. Maybe the OL coach connected with him in a way Solari couldn’t. Who knows? Anyway, every now and then these things happen.
Yeah, very fair point, Paul. These things do happen. Although I can't think of too many players who were drafted by the Seahawks under Pete, didn't work out, then really worked out somewhere else. But then again, it's only been a year.
I think Glowinski simply ended up in a better situation that played to his strengths, which is how it should be but he also had Pro Bowl/All-Pro next to him so that certainly can't hurt. The bigger reality is that the Seahawks spent the better part of a decade wasting picks and talent on their OL with little or no real direction behind it. The coaching was not good and there was no strategy for the OL or the players on it. The only upside for me as a fan is that all those years of bad OL on this team forced me to learn a LOT about OL.
Both the drafting and the FAs were downright inept. They started lines that looked beaten from the get-go. This why I don’t blame Russell for throwing his hands up.
I feel kind of bad that they finally started fixing the OL after Russ left. He really played through some horrific OL play, and if it hadn't been for ML those OLs would have sucked that much more. I am really curious how they suddenly learned how to draft linemen again last year when most of PC and JS time here brought a revolving door of piss poor linemen.
RE Pocic, I think the fan base (and perhaps some of the coaces) were just done with him his final season with the Seahawks, so even though he played well and improved each year while playing center (his position in college), we got a one year free agent who was ok in the first part of the season, but really started to stink it up as the season progressed. It is too bad we cut Pocic loose when we did, but if we hadn't we may not have Olu, and I am really excited for his future with the team.
"Seattle Seahawks rookie wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba will have surgery to repair a broken bone in his wrist but still could be ready for the start of the regular season, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Smith-Njigba suffered the injury during Seattle's preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday when he was tackled near the goal line after a highlight-reel catch in the second quarter."
Apparently Locket had similar procedure in season a few years ago and he missed one game. JSN has 4 weeks to heal. Seattle has options with Bobo who played slot at UCLA, and both Thompson and Johnson. The route running favors Bobo. Locket can also play slot for a week or two.
There may be some truth to what Viens suggesting about Bellore and Bell. Bell has looked pretty good on special teams, has the ability to be used as a FB, is bigger and faster than Bellore and adds depth to the PR. Bellore's LB depth is being challanged by Bell and with the return of Brookes. The signing of former New England Patriots linebacker and special teams stalwart DaMarcus Mitchell, also adds another interesting aspect to the mix. Both guys are young and hungry and cutting Bellore is not much of a cap loss. The play of O'Connell and his special teams ability also plays into this. Dareke Young (Bad Day at the Office) also can also play fullback, and has been another special teams stand out. Hopefully he shows out this next week.
The 49ers also lost two productive DE's to the KC Cheifs in FA, Ebukam and Omenihu, along with secondary depth and experience with Ward and Moseley also moving on. Their starting RT also moved his locker to Denver. Garoppolo, their QB safety net is also gone.
I still don't think San Francisco is "all in" just yet. Taking the Rams or the Cardinals lightly could be a big mistake for Seattle. Division games can be won by QB's like Mullens, and years of Rams 2nd and 3rd stringers. Purdy actually looked okay last week during his first game back. 5 of 6 for 65 yrds.
The better evaluation of who SF is going to be in 23 will be their 1st and third games in Sept. Opener in Pitt and hosting the Giants in week 3. Whether or not they lost steam should show up in those games. The Rams in LA is sandwiched in between that. Rams open up in Seattle and host SF week two. I guess they'll be revealed for who they are in the first two games.
NT Cooper by the way was cut and immediately added to Philly's roster. I think a lot of Seattle's cuts are going to be picked up by other teams. Seattle hasn't had that problems for quite awhile.
On to Green Bay and then "Tell the Truth" roster cuts on the 30th. JS / PC like to look at this as the bonus draft. The secondary will be an intersting Chess piece for Seattle this year. It really has unlimited potential.
Underrated: Bwagz knew the Seahawks better than some of our own players last year, but now he's back with Rams info. Big reason why we struggled with them!
Yeah, he may be onto something with Bellore. Maybe Bellore's contract will just turn into a Christmas bonus thank you present and a "we'll call you if something opens up".
Your last couple of articles have finally allowed me to get past the really disappointing run defense we played last year. Seeing the Hawks replaced all but one DLman showed me they were thinking the same way I was. The guys that had to go may all be great players but for whatever reason the teamwork just didn’t play well together.
I’m going to start the season hoping and thinking we can win each game every week, fully believing that we will probably not go undefeated but enjoying each week one at a time.
Sometimes I enjoy the regular season more than the playoffs because when you lose you can look forward to getting better the next week. Losing in the playoffs is cold, with no tomorrow.
Out of all possible concerns, the DL is most worrying to me. I don’t think they’ve been great in the pre season so far. Still feeling their way I suppose, but time is ticking.
Pete seemed very disappointed with the DL efforts last year and the year before. He says he's more involved on defense now than he's been in a long time.
Viens stokes the Bell vs Bellore debate and I agree--although I remain Torn--that Bellore may be on the outside looking in when the cutdown to 53 happens later this month.
I'd love to believe that the 49'ers will be shite this year, but even after a few glasses of optimism, I can't quite get there. I think they will be very good, again (sigh). On a positive note, I think we'll be harder to handle than last year, so the 2 games against them should be entertaining at least. A play here, a play there, and who knows.
Alert! Do not sleep on the Rams in week 1. Everyone is expecting them to really suck......and they may.....but week 1 always seems to look a little ugly and unpolished. A few missed opportunities and shoddy tackling and who knows what could happen. I would love us to blow them out to start the season, but can anyone remember a week 1 blowout lately? I thought I remembered we hammered the Eagles pretty good in week 1 once in the Chad Brown era, and I did some googling and lo and behold we did back in 1998. Joey Galloway, Ahman Green, Michael Sinclair all had big games. 38-0 is a pretty thorough shellacking.
I couldn't remember any other big week 1 games, but my memory isn't that great.
Loved this! Please do this more often with articles you love.
??? who is going to start at LCB? Michael Jackson did not look good at All! They still need someone to step up at the Nickle, although it looked a little better. AND boy to me it looks like they still need a big ugly a NT for this team!
Good content today. Kinda like the FG daily summary but on steroids. BTW, I stopped listening to Dan at 18:29. Too long. What was the point you wanted us to know?
Grant Cohn. Yeah man, I don't know. On one hand, when I really listen to what he's actually saying he has some valid points and he's basing on them facts but his whole persona and approach is not my cup of tea. On the other hand, it's actually amazing he's getting away with all of this and still has full access to the Niners. Hate to say it but that probably isn't ever happening with the Seahawks, at least not under Carroll.
Just one note about clickbait. I truly believe that “Heavy.com” does based on their titles displayed and the horrible articles. Nothing productive at all and a waste of time and tons of advertising links. Only time I truly call a journalistic organization that way.
The cutdown to 53 is coming within the very near future and I am dreading the results. I know that, despite how much we like them, many of our preseason favorites aren't going to make the team. Players like SaRoderick Thompson and Holton Ahlers will be gobbled up by other teams almost immediately, as will Matt Landers. I think that Levi Bell makes the roster. I hope the Hawks keep 3 QBs because Ahlers is a baller., however they are so deep at RB that they are probably going to have to cut Thompson (or DJ Dallas).
Glad to see that some of the 'Hawks castoffs are having success on other teams. Just might be that it is a better fit for them to be successful. It also shows that PC/JS do have a clue when it comes to drafting players.
WRs and RBs almost always make it through to the waiver period if they were UDFAs, because signing them means you have to sign them to your 53. Every team has some WRs and RBs that they are going to cut, so unless they need a PR/KR type and believe the guy you cut is that guy, they will make it through. But a guy like Bell will get snapped up for sure. Ahlers... will likely make it through because he is so raw but it would be great if he made it onto the 53. OTOH the Niners would probably scoop him up as a better player than, say, Lance :D.
If it helps in your quest to be the "taste-maker", I came home for lunch today and the only think I wanted to do was read your post while eating.
I think Cohn is a troll, and I think he is entertaining. His QB worship of Lance has been comical and is certainly driven by the clicks. But I do think he hit on something when he talked about the real concern for the 49ers - the defense. I agree with him that the 49ers run over the past four years has been driven by defense which gotten the 49ers to three NFC championships and one Super Bowl.
From 2012 to 2015 a top defense similarly got the Seahawks to 2 Super Bowls and the second round of the playoffs every year. But after four years two defensive coordinators had left to be head coaches of other teams, and the draft had not brought in a next generation of stars and in 2016 the Seahawks to began slide. So I think there is an argument that continued dominance by the 49ers just because the defense remains largely intact should not be taken for granted in the abstract. That being said, the 49ers defense are little younger than Seattle's was and have not yet felt full effects of 2nd contracts. So they could remain elite a little while longer.
What Cohn notes from being at practice every day -something he has done for years is interesting. His concerns are that the intensity is missing, and they are having trouble stopping the run - two early signs that things might be slipping. If the 49ers defense is actually slipping then the potential for the Seahawks to catch them this year goes up by a lot.
Re Pocic’s renaissance in Cleveland (what a concept!), it may be a matter of what went right in Cleveland more than what went wrong in Seattle. He may have needed a change of scene or maybe Cleveland has better guards. Maybe the OL coach connected with him in a way Solari couldn’t. Who knows? Anyway, every now and then these things happen.
Seems to have happened allot here-
Yeah, very fair point, Paul. These things do happen. Although I can't think of too many players who were drafted by the Seahawks under Pete, didn't work out, then really worked out somewhere else. But then again, it's only been a year.
Mark Glowinski comes to mind, although it’s debatable how much didn’t work out in Seattle. They gave up on him, though.
I think Glowinski simply ended up in a better situation that played to his strengths, which is how it should be but he also had Pro Bowl/All-Pro next to him so that certainly can't hurt. The bigger reality is that the Seahawks spent the better part of a decade wasting picks and talent on their OL with little or no real direction behind it. The coaching was not good and there was no strategy for the OL or the players on it. The only upside for me as a fan is that all those years of bad OL on this team forced me to learn a LOT about OL.
Both the drafting and the FAs were downright inept. They started lines that looked beaten from the get-go. This why I don’t blame Russell for throwing his hands up.
I feel kind of bad that they finally started fixing the OL after Russ left. He really played through some horrific OL play, and if it hadn't been for ML those OLs would have sucked that much more. I am really curious how they suddenly learned how to draft linemen again last year when most of PC and JS time here brought a revolving door of piss poor linemen.
RE Pocic, I think the fan base (and perhaps some of the coaces) were just done with him his final season with the Seahawks, so even though he played well and improved each year while playing center (his position in college), we got a one year free agent who was ok in the first part of the season, but really started to stink it up as the season progressed. It is too bad we cut Pocic loose when we did, but if we hadn't we may not have Olu, and I am really excited for his future with the team.
Oh no. I just grabbed this off ESPN.
"Seattle Seahawks rookie wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba will have surgery to repair a broken bone in his wrist but still could be ready for the start of the regular season, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Smith-Njigba suffered the injury during Seattle's preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday when he was tackled near the goal line after a highlight-reel catch in the second quarter."
I need a "thumbs down " button for comments , and I need it RIGHT NOW.
Ouch. At the time I both yelled for the catch and to take him out for fear of injury.
Apparently Locket had similar procedure in season a few years ago and he missed one game. JSN has 4 weeks to heal. Seattle has options with Bobo who played slot at UCLA, and both Thompson and Johnson. The route running favors Bobo. Locket can also play slot for a week or two.
There may be some truth to what Viens suggesting about Bellore and Bell. Bell has looked pretty good on special teams, has the ability to be used as a FB, is bigger and faster than Bellore and adds depth to the PR. Bellore's LB depth is being challanged by Bell and with the return of Brookes. The signing of former New England Patriots linebacker and special teams stalwart DaMarcus Mitchell, also adds another interesting aspect to the mix. Both guys are young and hungry and cutting Bellore is not much of a cap loss. The play of O'Connell and his special teams ability also plays into this. Dareke Young (Bad Day at the Office) also can also play fullback, and has been another special teams stand out. Hopefully he shows out this next week.
The 49ers also lost two productive DE's to the KC Cheifs in FA, Ebukam and Omenihu, along with secondary depth and experience with Ward and Moseley also moving on. Their starting RT also moved his locker to Denver. Garoppolo, their QB safety net is also gone.
I still don't think San Francisco is "all in" just yet. Taking the Rams or the Cardinals lightly could be a big mistake for Seattle. Division games can be won by QB's like Mullens, and years of Rams 2nd and 3rd stringers. Purdy actually looked okay last week during his first game back. 5 of 6 for 65 yrds.
The better evaluation of who SF is going to be in 23 will be their 1st and third games in Sept. Opener in Pitt and hosting the Giants in week 3. Whether or not they lost steam should show up in those games. The Rams in LA is sandwiched in between that. Rams open up in Seattle and host SF week two. I guess they'll be revealed for who they are in the first two games.
NT Cooper by the way was cut and immediately added to Philly's roster. I think a lot of Seattle's cuts are going to be picked up by other teams. Seattle hasn't had that problems for quite awhile.
On to Green Bay and then "Tell the Truth" roster cuts on the 30th. JS / PC like to look at this as the bonus draft. The secondary will be an intersting Chess piece for Seattle this year. It really has unlimited potential.
Go Hawks!
Underrated: Bwagz knew the Seahawks better than some of our own players last year, but now he's back with Rams info. Big reason why we struggled with them!
Yeah, he may be onto something with Bellore. Maybe Bellore's contract will just turn into a Christmas bonus thank you present and a "we'll call you if something opens up".
That would be the way JS/PC would probably handle something like that with their loyalty to Bellore
Your last couple of articles have finally allowed me to get past the really disappointing run defense we played last year. Seeing the Hawks replaced all but one DLman showed me they were thinking the same way I was. The guys that had to go may all be great players but for whatever reason the teamwork just didn’t play well together.
I’m going to start the season hoping and thinking we can win each game every week, fully believing that we will probably not go undefeated but enjoying each week one at a time.
Sometimes I enjoy the regular season more than the playoffs because when you lose you can look forward to getting better the next week. Losing in the playoffs is cold, with no tomorrow.
Out of all possible concerns, the DL is most worrying to me. I don’t think they’ve been great in the pre season so far. Still feeling their way I suppose, but time is ticking.
I see it as a clear message from Pete to the Linemen, both now and in the future: a failure of one is a failure of all. Find your unit cohesion.
Pete seemed very disappointed with the DL efforts last year and the year before. He says he's more involved on defense now than he's been in a long time.
Viens stokes the Bell vs Bellore debate and I agree--although I remain Torn--that Bellore may be on the outside looking in when the cutdown to 53 happens later this month.
As for the 49ers collapse, one of the best articles on the topic was written by Seaside Joe's alter ego on the TurfShowTimes site :D https://www.turfshowtimes.com/2023/8/18/23836862/rams-49ers-training-camp-trey-lance-kyle-shanahan :D
Good call with the link to Mr. Arthur’s takedown of the 9ers. One thing about the article...damn that’s a lot of ads stuffed into a single article.
I love how it’s ad-free here at SSJ. Paid journalism is so much better.
One of many reasons why I appreciate SSJ and what Ken has built here: no ads! Just great content (and some music :D).
And an inner Doug. 2 for the price of one.
Trolling=passive aggressive?
Could be either.
"Do you think you might be a little heavy to cross this particular bridge" = passive aggressive trolling.
"GET OFF MY FNG BRIDGE"= Agressive trolling.
Oh, absolutely, I think.