The Day After

[Largent80]

Yesterdays zone coverage reminded me of our Ray Rhodes years. And remember, someone actually started a fire Ray Rhodes website.

Time to modify or ditch it, or get some interior players that have the desire and ability to do the dirty work.

Same can be said for the other side of the ball. We need a center, Sweezy probably gone so Glowinski in there, but also need to address LT again. Lot's of holes to fill IMO, and I'm not so quick to throw all of the coaches under the bus except for the obvious bonehead Nowak experiment.

 

[AROS]

The zone coverage yesterday was indeed Ray Rhodes-Esque. Incredibly alarming and frustrating. The separation the Panthers had in our zones felt like miles. Disgusting. Definitely out-coached yesterday.

That and Clock Management made me want to chew glass.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd like to see Seattle's coaching staff go higher-tech. Make the best attempt they can possibly buy to make sure they are prepared to out-think the Belichick's and the Arians'es out there next year. Kinda like Jonah Hills' Character in Money Ball, I'd like them to dig deeper into actually looking at what offensive plays yielded who how many yards, and what circumstances made those offensive plays work, or not work. Detailed analysis, not just from our team but from every team.

Then, we look at the same exact stuff on defense.

We need to go diabolically high-tech, innovate, find and pay a couple new, smarter, more eager players to add to our core group that take notes and are students of the game as well as athletes. The Lockett's and Frank's are great on draft day, Sure, don't miss out on those guys, duh! I'm saying make some moves to yield some more hyper-intelligent, Marshall Faulk type FA guys. Then, we plan and execute an ass-kicking of every team we play next year.

 

[kearly]

I don't think integrating graham will be a big problem going forward. But I also think tight end is one area where Seattle may have to evaluate the way they define the role.

Get a blocking tight end, don't ask helfet and graham and Willson to play that role.

An area of focus has to be center and guard. Donald, Short, among many others, constituted a long list of Dts that wrecked offensive rhythm. Lewis is a stopgap plan, and there is no real reason to assume Sokoli can play there. A lot will be determined by free agency, Okung and Sweezy mean that next year, like this one, we could start the season with a lack on line continuity

I've been complaining about the lack of a blocking TE since before the draft. Early in the season it had a huge impact on Seattle's ability to protect on deep throws and to disguise plays.

I am uncomfortable throwing the word "arrogant" or "hubris" around when it comes to Pete, but thinking that they could get adequate blocking with Graham, Willson, and Helfet was as big a case of coaching over-confidence as their decisions on the offensive line were.

 

[justafan]

I dint see anything that isnt fixable.The Zone coverage held Newton to 160 yds.Thats good enough to beat them.

The offensive gameplan was pretty much wrecked after 2 interceptions.

Anytime you have a gamebreaking run to start the game,a pick six and a 2nd interception in your own side of the field in the first 16 mins you are in for a long day.

 

[Hawkscanner]

An area of focus has to be center and guard. Donald, Short, among many others, constituted a long list of Dts that wrecked offensive rhythm. Lewis is a stopgap plan, and there is no real reason to assume Sokoli can play there. A lot will be determined by free agency, Okung and Sweezy mean that next year, like this one, we could start the season with a lack on line continuity

I wholeheartedly agree with that. As I've sat and sifted through the rubble of what happened yesterday, the one key thing that I keep coming back to is that interior of the Seahawks offensive. How have the Rams been able to so completely take apart the Seahawks offense? The answer to that (of course) is Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers completely blow the Hawks offense right out of the water by getting penetration in to the backfield almost immediately. Yesterday -- it was Kawann Short (in particular) and Star Lotulelei doing the damage early. Same idea. Teams have shown that if they can get pressure right up the gut (and couple that with decent secondary coverage), they can pretty well neutralize Seattle's Offense. That was my greatest fear that I talked about this past offseason ... and man, it sure came to fruition yesterday. They tried stopgaps, hoping that band-aids could mask that deficit this year. Moving forward, that is weakness that Schneider and company just flat out have got to get fixed.

On the defensive side of the ball, I believe the same argument holds true. For as much as I love Brandon Mebane, he wasn't nearly the dominant penetrator at the 3 Tech as he has been in the past. The Seahawks need to get that same level of penetration that Carolina and the Rams get on a consistent basis. So if I'm Schneider, given the fact that Mebane is a free agent anyway, I might let him walk and look to see what we can do in the draft. Nkemdiche or Billings would look real nice in a Seahawks uniform if there is any realistic way to do that.

To me, those areas have got to be high priority items this offseason.

 

[Laloosh]

My mental transition from disappointment to acceptance was pretty quick with this one. Felt lucky to be in the playoffs, felt realistic to lose to a team that's been consistent all season.

I really enjoyed watching the young guys play this year and I can't freaking wait to see who JS pulls out of the woodwork in 2016.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the games this year, Scotte. I've really enjoyed it and I know others have as well.

 

[Scottemojo]

Next year is so far away. Still, those I have not broke bread, or barley soda, with, New Orleans.

Be there. Let's make it a thing.

 

[Seahawkfan80]

If my cat will let me, I plan on being there. Might make it a decent vacation and go see some friends that live down thare.

 

[WilsonMVP]

Rawls is awesome. I think he needs another legit big back to take some load, he may not be durable as a 25 touch guy,

This is the one thing that stands out that I disagree with, I've seen nothing to suggest he's not durable enough for 25+ touches a game, his injury was just freak bad luck in getting caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, and my instant thought was "that is not gonna be good".

Really I'd rather see us pick up a scatback to aid in our spread offense, someone with a bit more speed and shiftiness that can also break a big run - I think a Leon Washington type would have massively thrived in the new Russell Wilson-look offense.

He is not. 25+ touch guy is over 400 touches in a season.

That's too much wear and tare for sustained success.

Dont see a reason why we couldnt go with Rawls + another RB for more of a duel threat RB system. Even with Peterson the Vikings use Mckinnon alot

 

[WilsonMVP]

What about the lack of turnovers this year? Just think if we had gotten even one yesterday for 3 points!!!

This really did not help our offense, slow starting or not!

I think we had as many turnovers this year as last year, but still I agree............the defense while good didn't make the big plays we're used to seeing out of them. Especially on the interception front.

Our turnover differential was +9 last year and +6 this year. We had 23 takeaways this year and 24 last year. Had 39 takeaways in 2012 :shock:

Carolina was only +3 last year and +20 this year....Had 26 takeaways last year and 39 in 2015

+14 was the top last year and 2nd this year...If Panthers dont win this year I dont think they are going to go back IMO. +20 turnover is amazingly hard to do and is a reason they are 15-1 even with playing an easy schedule. Fun fact...we had a +20 turnover differential in 2013 when we won it all....coincidence?


Just looking at turnovers Carolina is almost a mirror of our super bowl defense in 2013. Just looking at the numbers it is not sustainable so I will make an early predicition that Panthers will fall back in line next year to a 11-5 or so team

 

[Sgt. Largent]

What about the lack of turnovers this year? Just think if we had gotten even one yesterday for 3 points!!!

This really did not help our offense, slow starting or not!

I think we had as many turnovers this year as last year, but still I agree............the defense while good didn't make the big plays we're used to seeing out of them. Especially on the interception front.

Our turnover differential was +9 last year and +6 this year. We had 23 takeaways this year and 24 last year. Had 39 takeaways in 2012 :shock:

Carolina was only +3 last year and +20 this year....Had 26 takeaways last year and 39 in 2015

+14 was the top last year and 2nd this year...If Panthers dont win this year I dont think they are going to go back IMO. +20 turnover is amazingly hard to do and is a reason they are 15-1 even with playing an easy schedule. Fun fact...we had a +20 turnover differential in 2013 when we won it all....coincidence?


Just looking at turnovers Carolina is almost a mirror of our super bowl defense in 2013. Just looking at the numbers it is not sustainable so I will make an early predicition that Panthers will fall back in line next year to a 11-5 or so team

Agree on all fronts, and I said last year we should never expect our D to be as dominant as they were in 2013, that was an all world all time D with crazy depth and production.

Not sure what we can do to get better on D, while we can give Bennett more money, and try to keep guys like Rubin and Mebane.........we're more than likely going to lose Irvin and Lane and hope Simon and Shead can get better and compete for the other outside corner? Idk.

 

[JustTheTip]

I'm not a rah rah fan when it comes to my pro sports teams.

If any fanbase knows this, it's us. This is a VERY finite window of opportunity to win championships, so I see this year as nothing more than a wasted opportunity.

Too many off season distractions, too many selfish players complaining about money and holding out. Too many blown leads, and most importantly too long to finally play up to our capabilities as a VERY talented and deep team that SHOULD have won 13 or 14 games and challenged Arizona for the NFC West title and Carolina for the #1 seed.

So sorry, 2015 will go down as the year we underperformed and underachieved. This group of players and coaches is too talented to be 10-6 and lose in the Divisional round. Period.

This.

I keep seeing "those disappointed are the bandwagon fans who don't understand the lean times we had to go through." I see it as completely the opposite. For me this year was far more difficult to watch than the teams of the mid 90's. Those teams I could enjoy for what they were. Sure it sucked that they weren't very good, but knowing that at times they were playing above their potential made it entertaining. This team often played well below potential. I am not disappointed because they didn't go to or win a Super Bowl, I am disappointed because all season long I saw potential wasted. Wasted on ego, wasted on poor coaching decisions and wasted on lack of preparation.

Knowing what the normal is in the NFL, it is extremely difficult to see the potential opportunity the talent level on this team presents squandered this year.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

You'll get nowhere with this thread, Scotte.

As crafty as you were to avoid the word "Bevell", not enough people want to hear it. A great deal of our offensive struggles were absolutely on him and Pete this year.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

This.

I keep seeing "those disappointed are the bandwagon fans who don't understand the lean times we had to go through."

Half my Facebook timeline is bandwagon chicks posting all their rah rah we love our Hawks omg I can't believe we didn't win Sunday. It drives me crazy frankly.

I either need to find a new group to watch games with, or go back to watching by myself............cause I'm tired of being one of 3 people at our parties with 20 people there, all of which are in the background blabbing not paying attention until something happens then asking "OMG what happened!? We lost? what?"

I guess this makes me sound like a dick, but I can't be the only one tired of the chick bandwagon fan mouthing off on social media and at parties like she knows what's up when she couldn't name one player on the Hawks prior to 2012.

 

[HawkGA]

I don't think integrating graham will be a big problem going forward. But I also think tight end is one area where Seattle may have to evaluate the way they define the role.

Get a blocking tight end, don't ask helfet and graham and Willson to play that role.

An area of focus has to be center and guard. Donald, Short, among many others, constituted a long list of Dts that wrecked offensive rhythm. Lewis is a stopgap plan, and there is no real reason to assume Sokoli can play there. A lot will be determined by free agency, Okung and Sweezy mean that next year, like this one, we could start the season with a lack on line continuity

I've been complaining about the lack of a blocking TE since before the draft. Early in the season it had a huge impact on Seattle's ability to protect on deep throws and to disguise plays.

I am uncomfortable throwing the word "arrogant" or "hubris" around when it comes to Pete, but thinking that they could get adequate blocking with Graham, Willson, and Helfet was as big a case of coaching over-confidence as their decisions on the offensive line were.

Wouldn't moving to a spread offense making a blocking tight end much less important? In short yardage situations you just move Gilliam to TE and bring in another tackle (honest question).

It would be nice to have a blocking tight end, but I'm thinking in a 53 man roster, it might be a luxury a team just can't afford if it's main offense is the spread.

 

[HawkGA]

You'll get nowhere with this thread, Scotte.

As crafty as you were to avoid the word "Bevell", not enough people want to hear it. A great deal of our offensive struggles were absolutely on him and Pete this year.

I'm becoming less convinced of this. I've been anti-Bevell all season but I'm starting to wonder if the real problem isn't Cable.

 

[HawkGA]

Rawls is awesome. I think he needs another legit big back to take some load, he may not be durable as a 25 touch guy,

This is the one thing that stands out that I disagree with, I've seen nothing to suggest he's not durable enough for 25+ touches a game, his injury was just freak bad luck in getting caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, and my instant thought was "that is not gonna be good".

Really I'd rather see us pick up a scatback to aid in our spread offense, someone with a bit more speed and shiftiness that can also break a big run - I think a Leon Washington type would have massively thrived in the new Russell Wilson-look offense.

He is not. 25+ touch guy is over 400 touches in a season.

That's too much wear and tare for sustained success.

Dont see a reason why we couldnt go with Rawls + another RB for more of a duel threat RB system. Even with Peterson the Vikings use Mckinnon alot

I think Michael made a decent enough of a case to be that other back.

 

[Anthony!]

You'll get nowhere with this thread, Scotte.

As crafty as you were to avoid the word "Bevell", not enough people want to hear it. A great deal of our offensive struggles were absolutely on him and Pete this year.

I actually agree, not coming out in the spread from the beginning was the biggest reason we lost.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

I've been beating the "we need better interior o-linemen" drum for several months now as well. It's just so obvious that the Hawks offense is awesome against teams weak in that area and struggles against the ones that aren't.......Rams and Panthers being the 2 best examples as Scanner said above. And look at the 2 games vs. the Vikes.....first one Linvale Joseph doesn't play and it looks like a 7 on 7 drill for our offense. Next one, cold or not, Joseph plays and Seattle struggles. Warmer weather and Hawks get at least one more TD, but it was nothing like the first game even if it's 50 degrees out.



I also have a question for those more in the know than myself...........what happened to playing press cover and why has zone pretty much replaced it? Was press cover part of the cover 3 and the NFL just took it away fro us with the increased emphasis last year rolling into this year? Or is it just Richard's approach?



Great thread going here folks. Let's not let it die.