I know this is probably for you guys, but I wanted to give you a non Seahawks fan's perspective.
Many of you already said this, but IMO the biggest coaching gaffe was not blitzing more frequently. If you give Goff time, our weapons are just too good and he is accurate - with time to pass, no defense is going to stop the Rams. The Bears, Eagles and Patriots blue print from last year was stopping the run, taking away the deep passes AND getting pressure, usually without blitzing. The Seahawks stopped the run (traditional run plays at least) effectively, and took away the deep passing game - but without pressure, Goff found open WRs in the middle of the field. The counter to this is blitzing - it may have backfired, depending on what playcalls McVay would have made, but Goff is pretty bad when blitzed.
Russell Wilson - dude is a mystery. I maintained for a long time that he wasn't "elite" because he had so many games like this against the Rams. He was pressured, but he missed some throws that he shouldn't have too. I finally came off of that last year. This year I thought he was the best or 2nd best QB for most of the season - but he clearly hasn't been as effective for multiple weeks now. But the Rams defense is actually pretty damn good..
Rams defense - partly why I wouldn't read too much into this game - we lead the NFL in sacks since the Ramsey trade, and if you set aside the Ravens game, here is what our defense has allowed since that trade:
10
10
10
7
7
6
You have the Ravens game too, and the first five were against the Falcons, Bengals, Steelers, Bears and Cardinals - all pretty bad offenses. But those are below their season averages too, and now obviously Seattle has been a really good offense. The confusing thing is that, while our D has played really well, the Niners have been better and Seattle had much more success against them.
Seahawks offense - I've read a lot of you guys saying that the Hawks should pass more, but I disagree. There was one drive where you guys ran/ran/ran punted, but honestly, I think they should have done this more often. More often than not, three runs by Carson will get you a first down. This may have been changed once Penny went out and the Hawks were down. But moving forward, I think they should run more and involve Wilson more in the run game. The Seahawks are not good enough to win the Super Bowl this year IMO - but one way to improve their odds would be to incorporate some of what Baltimore is doing into their offense. Wilson has been in the league a while and has proven to be durable - I think this is the perfect time to say screw it and run him 10 times a game going forward, with the goal to be possessing the ball 40 minutes a game to protect that defense.
Many of you already said this, but IMO the biggest coaching gaffe was not blitzing more frequently. If you give Goff time, our weapons are just too good and he is accurate - with time to pass, no defense is going to stop the Rams. The Bears, Eagles and Patriots blue print from last year was stopping the run, taking away the deep passes AND getting pressure, usually without blitzing. The Seahawks stopped the run (traditional run plays at least) effectively, and took away the deep passing game - but without pressure, Goff found open WRs in the middle of the field. The counter to this is blitzing - it may have backfired, depending on what playcalls McVay would have made, but Goff is pretty bad when blitzed.
Russell Wilson - dude is a mystery. I maintained for a long time that he wasn't "elite" because he had so many games like this against the Rams. He was pressured, but he missed some throws that he shouldn't have too. I finally came off of that last year. This year I thought he was the best or 2nd best QB for most of the season - but he clearly hasn't been as effective for multiple weeks now. But the Rams defense is actually pretty damn good..
Rams defense - partly why I wouldn't read too much into this game - we lead the NFL in sacks since the Ramsey trade, and if you set aside the Ravens game, here is what our defense has allowed since that trade:
10
10
10
7
7
6
You have the Ravens game too, and the first five were against the Falcons, Bengals, Steelers, Bears and Cardinals - all pretty bad offenses. But those are below their season averages too, and now obviously Seattle has been a really good offense. The confusing thing is that, while our D has played really well, the Niners have been better and Seattle had much more success against them.
Seahawks offense - I've read a lot of you guys saying that the Hawks should pass more, but I disagree. There was one drive where you guys ran/ran/ran punted, but honestly, I think they should have done this more often. More often than not, three runs by Carson will get you a first down. This may have been changed once Penny went out and the Hawks were down. But moving forward, I think they should run more and involve Wilson more in the run game. The Seahawks are not good enough to win the Super Bowl this year IMO - but one way to improve their odds would be to incorporate some of what Baltimore is doing into their offense. Wilson has been in the league a while and has proven to be durable - I think this is the perfect time to say screw it and run him 10 times a game going forward, with the goal to be possessing the ball 40 minutes a game to protect that defense.
