Mediots piling on

[Bigpumpkin]

I would love to watch these media types eat their words come Halloween as the Hawks lead the Division. We can dream can't we?

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Well, they likely won't eat their words with the Rams implode.

 

[jammerhawk]

"While there’s talent with the likes of Frank Clark, Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright and Shaquill Griffin on this unit, we’re not expecting much more than a below-average defense in Seattle this coming season."

Soooo, these names should be just written off? These are high quality players which this guy wants to minimize. BWags is no joke and KJ can ball, so can Shaq. Not to mention we have quality smart players on defense with these guys and the possibility of ET on the team. If ET goes, it is obvious the offense needs to step up. So what! It should. This team still looks solid as far as I'm concerned.

I suspect that there will be more a just a few defensive players who will have a large chip on their shoulders after this type of disrespect, and those mentioned are all very good players.

This whole storyline from the media is nothing more than lazy reporting. while it is clear the loss of Bennett, Sherman, Avril, Chancellor, and possibly Thomas will cause the D to be different than at the end of last season the younger players who have served as quality depth now get their shot to start. They will be motivated to change the national storyline.

Crow will be consumed!

 

[truehawksfan]

You know, what Chris98xxx stated made me think, what did defenses look like when PC was the DC with the NY Jets and Niners?

He always had an elephant/Leo rush end. That's a constant.

He had 6-2 215lbs Tim McDonald (Niners) and Brian Washington (Jets) at SS. I recall McDonald was a hitter, but no idea about Washington. But neither intimidated and smashed players like BamBam.

And, PC didn't have a cover safety like Earl. Merton Hanks (Niners) was the free and he made a couple of splash plays, but...

I think the demise of this defense is overstated. Yes, he lost future HoF players but they forgot PC is still here. He designed great defenses without a LOB without future HoFers with the Jets and Niners.

I have no doubt he'll do it again. :irishdrinkers:

 

[Smellyman]

LOL doesn't even mention Wilson. And this dude gets paid for his "prose"?

It would be weird to write about Wilson in an article titled "Ranking All 32 NFL Defenses."

Yea, last season's team, and last season's defense. 11th in yards, 13th in points, 6th in passing yards, 19th in rushing yards.

Oh no, what ever shall we do?? /s :lol:

FWIW in the back half of the year once they started losing some of the defensive players that they don't have any more to injury (Sherman and Kam -- they had Bennett and Richardson through the full year) they gave up 23.5 ppg, which would put them at 21st in the league (incidentally where this article puts them).

Did they think all of these guys got hurt in week 17 or something? All of those players were missing from the team by week 8 or 9.

Michael Bennett, Sheldon Richardson, Jimmy Graham, and Paul Richardson all played the full season.

Kam and Sherman played until Week 9, and Avril only to Week 4.

If you want to ignore that most of their player losses this off-season played the full year, even going to the Week 9 injuries in which they lost Kam and Sherman, without those two guys who they no longer have they were under .500 from that point on.


To be really clear, I'm not arguing that the Hawks are going to have the 21st ranked defense or are going to be bad on defense (with this much turnover we'd expect them to take a step back, but how big that step will be is anyone's guess), but I think the rationales given for why this guy is an idiot don't really hold that much water.

#21 looked really low to me too until I started looking into some of the details, at which point, although I still think it's low, I can now at least understand how a neutral, third part observer could come to that conclusion.

Quit being reasonable. It's pitchfork season against the media who all hate and underestimate the Hawks!

 

[Steve2222]

I like how he mentions Cliff Avril is gone from last years team as if he played more than 4 games

 

[Seymour]

I like how he mentions Cliff Avril is gone from last years team as if he played more than 4 games

If your gunna dig...may as well go deep.

 

[Jimjones0384]

Yes it's Yardbarker but this is pretty bad.

21. Seattle Seahawks
How the mighty have fallen. Richard Sherman, Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril and Sheldon Richardson are all gone from last season’s team. Kam Chancellor may never play football again after suffering a neck injury. Meanwhile, fellow safety Earl Thomas promises to be a training camp holdout. That’s a total of 19 Pro Bowls right there. Seattle might think it has in-house replacements for this group, but that’s certainly a far-fetched conclusion to come to. While there’s talent with the likes of Frank Clark, Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright and Shaquill Griffin on this unit, we’re not expecting much more than a below-average defense in Seattle this coming season. A mass exodus like we saw during the spring only magnifies that further.

Vincent Frank, Sportsnaut


We are being written off basically.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...ding-into-2018/ss-AAze3NS?li=BBnba9I#image=13

Perfect!

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Haven't played a single game and they magically are already a horrible team :roll:

 

[hawk45]

It's a typical national article you see in power rankings with a small high-level blurb to support the ranking, but for all that it isn't a gross miscarriage of justice.

We've lost a ton of veteran talent in the secondary. Sherman - when healthy - was still discouraging offenses from trying the right side. I personally felt McDougald was equal to what Kam had been reduced to recently, but with Earl holding out it's fair to say the secondary is a question mark. Griffin looked the part his first year but is being asked to switch sides. What % of Sherman will Griffin be his sophomore season over there? Maxwell keeping it all in front of him works well when LCB is shutting it all down and safety play is good, but will that be the case?

Which is all compounded by losing a ton of veteran pass-rushing talent.

TBH I am hoping for a defense that can still stop the run and that can make a play in the secondary when it counts. I have a hard time seeing a Pete Carroll defense in the lower-third of the league, but if we were going to see it, next year would be the year.

 

[hawknation2018]

It’s mostly disrespectful to Pete Carroll, one of the best defensive coaches the game has seen.

 

[adeltaY]

McDougald was great against the pass, but considerably weaker against the run compared to Kam. We definitely missed Kam on run D.

 

[Jerhawk]

"19 pro bowls" -- I find it laughable when people just frivolously add numbers together to try to emphasize a point.

That's up there with "they have 95 years of combined experience".

My thoughts exactly!

 

[Fade]

I love the young D-Line that is being built but it feels like it needs 1 more pass rusher. Rasheem Green needs to emerge early.

The LB core is fantastic w/Wagner, Wright, Mingo, & Griffin.

The DBs are a big dropoff from the ridiculous 1st team all-pro's they used to have, but that being said they will still be above avg.

LC Griffin -> Above avg could be great.
FS ET -> HOF in his prime.
SS McDougald -> Avg.
RC Maxwell -> Avg in Seattle's scheme.
NB Coleman -> Fringe top 5 NB in the game. He is awesome, one of the most underrated players in the NFL.
+1 of the young players that will inevitably emerge.

Defense is the last thing I worry about with PC teams. It is always been about Pete's choices on offense with coaches, and personnel that ends up deciding the success of his teams, and how far they can go.

 

[Jimjones0384]

I love the young D-Line that is being built but it feels like it needs 1 more pass rusher. Rasheem Green needs to emerge early.

The LB core is fantastic w/Wagner, Wright, Mingo, & Griffin.

The DBs are a big dropoff from the ridiculous 1st team all-pro's they used to have, but that being said they will still be above avg.

LC Griffin -> Above avg could be great.
FS ET -> HOF in his prime.
SS McDougald -> Avg.
RC Maxwell -> Avg in Seattle's scheme.
NB Coleman -> Fringe top 5 NB in the game. He is awesome, one of the most underrated players in the NFL.
+1 of the young players that will inevitably emerge.

Defense is the last thing I worry about with PC teams. It is always been about Pete's choices on offense with coaches, and personnel that ends up deciding the success of his teams, and how far they can go.

I truly do not believe they are done adding edge rushers. There is enough cap room to sign someone, and has been pointed out in other threads, extra cap space can be made by extending other players. Just have to see who becomes available. And I think you are spot on with coleman.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Yes it's Yardbarker but this is pretty bad.

21. Seattle Seahawks
How the mighty have fallen. Richard Sherman, Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril and Sheldon Richardson are all gone from last season’s team. Kam Chancellor may never play football again after suffering a neck injury. Meanwhile, fellow safety Earl Thomas promises to be a training camp holdout. That’s a total of 19 Pro Bowls right there. Seattle might think it has in-house replacements for this group, but that’s certainly a far-fetched conclusion to come to. While there’s talent with the likes of Frank Clark, Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright and Shaquill Griffin on this unit, we’re not expecting much more than a below-average defense in Seattle this coming season. A mass exodus like we saw during the spring only magnifies that further.

Vincent Frank, Sportsnaut


We are being written off basically.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...ding-into-2018/ss-AAze3NS?li=BBnba9I#image=13

Honestly? I don't think Frank is far off when it comes to the potential issues our defense could have.

Right now our starting D-Line is Clark, Reed, Jones and Green..........with Jackson, Stephens, Johnson and Dion Jordan as depth rotation.

Does that line strike fear into anyone right now? Yeah POTENTIALLY these guys could play well, but on paper it worries the hell out of me.

And on the back end if Earl holds out into the season? This shizzle could get ugly my friend.

 

[KiwiHawk]

Honestly? I don't think Frank is far off when it comes to the potential issues our defense could have.

Right now our starting D-Line is Clark, Reed, Jones and Green..........with Jackson, Stephens, Johnson and Dion Jordan as depth rotation.

Does that line strike fear into anyone right now? Yeah POTENTIALLY these guys could play well, but on paper it worries the hell out of me.

And on the back end if Earl holds out into the season? This shizzle could get ugly my friend.

I get what you are saying, but the pundit logic goes like this:

• The Seahawks defense was crap when Carroll took over.
  Carroll adds a bunch no-names and cast-offs from other teams.
  Defense is one of the best defenses the NFL has ever seen.
  Some guys leave.
  Carroll adds a bunch no-names and cast-offs from other teams.
  DOOM!

I'll wait until I see how it plays out on the field before judging, but the guy who built the 2013 defense is still in charge and that gives me reason for optimism.