Analyzing our last loss... Arizona Week 16

[Scottemojo]

Their defense kicked our ass

Qouted for truthiness.

 

[kearly]

Wilson definitely had an off game. He's posted good performances against tougher defenses on the road. In fact, he faced the very same defense a month before in their house and kicked their asses, Wilson's best and worst games last season (IMO) came against Arizona.

But more importantly, Todd Bowles outcoached the living hell out of Darrell Bevell in that game. Every single play Seattle ran, Arizona knew what was coming and how to stop it. Rather than throw in some wrinkles or deception, Bevell just kept doing what wasn't working, over and over. It was after that game that I lost any ability to defend Darrell Bevell ever again.

Though it sucked losing out on the home wins record thanks to that loss, I'm really glad that game happened, because it ultimately didn't hurt Seattle's seeding and it taught them a valuable lesson about being flexible on offense.

Regarding Kearse, it's never a good idea to judge a player by one game. For the season his DVOA would have ranked just outside the top 10 of all NFL receivers last year had he caught enough passes to qualify, and his DYAR per reception was way up there too. His catch rate was around the league average, which is pretty good considering the high number of tough catches he had to make.

 

[Throwdown]

I just subscribe to the thought that "stuff happens", cardinals were on FIRE at that time.

While I appreciate the post and I don't wanna sound like a bigger jerk than I really am cuz Tok obviously put in work to make this post. I think it's kind of over analysis, of an outlier of a game where we couldn't get out of our own way on offense, it reminded me of that Thursday night game vs SF, where the recievers couldn't catch anything.

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

Wilson definitely had an off game. He's posted good performances against tougher defenses on the road. In fact, he faced the very same defense a month before in their house and kicked their asses, Wilson's best and worst games last season (IMO) came against Arizona.

But more importantly, Todd Bowles outcoached the living hell out of Darrell Bevell in that game. Every single play Seattle ran, Arizona knew what was coming and how to stop it. Rather than throw in some wrinkles or deception, Bevell just kept doing what wasn't working, over and over. It was after that game that I lost any ability to defend Darrell Bevell ever again.

Though it sucked losing out on the home wins record thanks to that loss, I'm really glad that game happened, because it ultimately didn't hurt Seattle's seeding and it taught them a valuable lesson about being flexible on offense.

Regarding Kearse, it's never a good idea to judge a player by one game. For the season his DVOA would have ranked just outside the top 10 of all NFL receivers last year had he caught enough passes to qualify, and his DYAR per reception was way up there too. His catch rate was around the league average, which is pretty good considering the high number of tough catches he had to make.

Good assessment but there is a possibility that not being flexible nor making adjustments was done on purpose.

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

I am very concerned after analyzing our most recent loss because this off-season we really haven't done anything to address our offensive line problems. I expect Arizona to be just as good defensively, the Rams may be even better (scary), and the 49ers are always solid.

In other words, we have not adressed our biggest weakness. The same reason we lost games last season (and nearly lost even more games) will be the same reason we may fail to repeat for another Super Bowl.

I still think we are Super Bowl favorites, but I really wish we would of focused more on offensive line this off-season. I'm quite frightened to see Wilson taking a ton of hits again this season. It doesn't matter how good the majority of our offense is, if our offensive line does not improve from last season we could lose against any decent defensive team on any given Sunday.

Stat source: http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=331222026

Well, we did add Britt, Gilliam, Schilling, Van Roten, Irwin, and Isles. Scott was an attempt to add to the line until the surprise heart condition. And we might still see some additions as teams shuffle players throughout training camps. So it's not like the team's doing nothing to address the O-line... they're just not picking up big names.

Another way to help improve the line play is for Wilson to get the ball out quicker, and the addition of multiple weapons should help with that. A healthy Harvin will make a huge difference, and Norwood (if he sticks) could be a great outlet for quick passes. Having McCoy healthy at TE can also provide another outlet that wasn't there last season. And Wilson himself can work on reducing the number of times he scrambles his way into trouble. There are times when he holds on to the ball too long to try and make something happen, and the results seem to split between big plays and big losses.

It's entirely possible that we see better health from Okung and Unger this season. It's possible that Sweezy, Bowie, Carp, and Bailey all show progress in their performance (especially Bowie and Bailey as they enter their sophomore seasons). It's possible that Britt and some other new blood makes a positive contribution. Who knows?

As for the rest of our division, yeah. I agree that the Rams are just horrifying along their D-line (though not really anywhere else to be honest). And the 49ers are solid, but they have a lot of questions. When does Justin Smith start to drop off? What's going on with Aldon Smith? Will the revamped secondary be as porous as last year's version? As for the Cards, they were monsters last season, but they just lost Dansby and Washington - two of their top guys from last season. Calais Campbell and the secondary can't do everything, so the jury is out on whether they maintain their form from last year.

This. Seahawks has done plenty to shore up the O-Line. And I think the progress of the young players is a tangible thing. I think the Seahawks challenged Carp, Sweezy, Bowie, Bailey, Hauptmann, and Smith to get bigger, faster, sthronger, slimmer, more athletic, whatever was needed to get better than before. And I think they got the results that they wanted even before free agency where they didn't have to force their hand on a free agent, and definately before the draft where we thought the Seahawks would draft 3-4 linemen. Or at least use their first pick on one.

The O-Line is already better, for it to be as worst as last year, starters would need to miss 20 games, have an average OG play out of position at LT, and have a 21 year old 7th round rookie start 9 games without any young player making any progress or development at all. That is impossible to project.

 

[ivotuk]

Wow, one game and you just decided all that? One poor performance and it's over? I'm all for analyzing our losses, but you picked the worst one to look at.

My pet peeve, and people asked this of the Broncos when we obliterated them, is the question "Who gets blamed for this loss". Why can't the other team simply be THAT good?! We certainly are. To that point, the Cardinals were easily the most underrated team in the NFL. Playoff caliber, heck, division winner caliber in any division but ours. So don't simply say "We did horrible, it's all our fault". Give them credit, and understand that we lost to a good team.

Next, you have to add the caveat that this was the last game of the year and nothing was in it for us. It's idiotic to risk your players headed into a brutal playoff run, even if you have a home winning streak on the line. I loved the streak, but I'm also glad it's gone. I think it eases some unnecessary pressure. The offensive line was our weakness last year, a patchwork of protection at best, but how many "starters" were in against Arizona? I don't know honestly, but I can bet we weren't risking anyone as thin as we were. If you wanted to evaluate a game you should've picked the 49er game in SF because there was no caveat there.

Turbin. You really dug into a guy that had JUST taken over those duties. I'm not excusing the mistakes, but great returners are not easy to find. We've all watched Lockette blow up return guys. Do you have any idea what type of nerve it takes to stand there while several tons of meat are running down the field full tilt at you? It's a mind trip. Turbin did poorly. Yes. But to say he's not good at all is just ignorant. What about the work out of the backfield, the screen passes taken for first downs? He's not Lynch, nobody ever said that, but look at the status of the run games on other teams and tell me Turbin still sucks.

Kearse. Really? Jittery? Butterfingers? Again what's with applying these labels off one game?! Did you not see the NFC championship game? Did you not see the Super Bowl human pinball move? Did you not see the catch in Carolina? I'm sorry, but Kearse, after his eye surgery has in my opinion some of the surest hands on the team after ADB and Harvin. The man has made clutch catches in traffic time and again and is a go-to for Russell for a reason.

So let's say this, we did poorly. Our line didn't make holes and offer the protection it should've, our special teams did not perform, and there were route issues. And we damn well learned from it because, hey, we went to the Super Bowl and crushed the best offense in history. But let's not condemn players off one game

In the bolded part you basically repeated the OP's point.

You can't say that beating the Broncos in the Superbowl is in any way, shape or form comparable to losing to the Cardinals. Those teams have zero similarity. The Bronco defense pales in comparison to AZ. The OP is looking at the Arizona game and I don't see where that would make any difference in playing a different team than as when we play the Cardinals again. Washington or no, AZ will be a threat this year.

"Kearse. Really? Jittery? Butterfingers? Again what's with applying these labels off one game?! "

Isn't this what the OP explained at the beginning of his post or did you not read that part? How about the thread title? Did you see that? "Analyzing our last loss Arizona Week 16" "After 12 beers"

Some people get way too worked up over a post and yet some others act like they've been personally insulted by somebody who offers up an opinion different than their own. Heaven forbid anyone should criticize our front office.

Let's just enjoy the posts and keep the discussion about the salient points and staying within the framework of the post. It's only fair that if an OP makes a point about a single game that we take his point as that, about a single game.

How anybody got to "You based our whole season on that one game?" from "Here's what I see that went wrong in that game." is beyond me.

 

[Smellyman]

The OLine was terrible all year. RW had to make so many plays with intense pressure. Lynch had no holes and most times he had to beast mode most of his runs. It was painful at times to watch him getting bludgeoned and doing the bludgeoning over and over. I like watching him mow down the second level guys, but too often it was 300 pound Dlineman and LB's mauling him.

Playing very good fronts like AZ just highlighted how average to below average the oline was.

It is a testement to RW and ML about how good they are doing it on their own. A HEALTHY oline this year could make a huge difference.

 

[HawKnPeppa]

The OLine was terrible all year. RW had to make so many plays with intense pressure. Lynch had no holes and most times he had to beast mode most of his runs. It was painful at times to watch him getting bludgeoned and doing the bludgeoning over and over. I like watching him mow down the second level guys, but too often it was 300 pound Dlineman and LB's mauling him.

Playing very good fronts like AZ just highlighted how average to below average the oline was.

It is a testement to RW and ML about how good they are doing it on their own. A HEALTHY oline this year could make a huge difference.

Exactly. Without RW and Beast Mode compensating for them, our OL would have been exposed for what they were...subpar at the very best and horrible on average.

I'm hopeful that Okung will be back in time and manage to remain healthy. I'm also hoping against hope that Cable's enthusiasm about Carp will translate to actual games. That would go a long way toward improving our weak play at Guard. Bailey is no slouch physically, but will need more PT. Sweezy steadied out last season, so I feel that spot is set. At right tackle, Either Bowie or Britt should be an improvement, Breno although that might take more than a couple of games.

 

[loafoftatupu]

The Oline needs to stay healthy and needs continuity. Putting inexperienced players in those situations can get dicey. It really hurt missing Okung, Breno and Unger at the same time. It is amazing that the offense was able to do anything in those conditions, but it did give some kids much needed real game experience that can pay big dividends later.

That Zona game was just a stinker, one that the Hawks could afford and frankly was very winnable, even after the incredible catch that Floyd made.

It was one game, but not one that I consider to be concerned about. That game played 10 times goes to the Hawks 8 times. Zona focused on an issue and a very vanilla offense could not take advantage. The Cards started cracking on defense towards the end, but there were just too many oddities to overcome. I remember thinking that Malcolm NEEDED to take that pick to the house and that was no joke.

I highly doubt that we see those results again with that matchup. I expect to see a healthy Harvin playing most, if not all of the season, adding a piece to the offense that every team will struggle with. His presence WILL be huge. In the case of the Cards? Well I suppose missing two of their starting LBers from that game won't help them.