Thoughts and observations on the game thread

[Sarlacc83]

@Scanner: The end zone ball was TJ's fault. He threw it too late and too short. Richardson had immediate separation but then had to wait for the pass, and the DB, to catch up.

 

[Hawkscanner]

@Scanner: The end zone ball was TJ's fault. He threw it too late and too short. Richardson had immediate separation but then had to wait for the pass, and the DB, to catch up.

Thanks for that. I didn't have the full view on that one, but kind of suspected that in the back of my mind. I should have realized that one. I'm not operating on all thrusters at the moment (I've been up until Midnight and up at 5am every morning this week trying to prepare for my classes -- which is what I SHOULD have been doing last night. Gotta have priorities after all.

Given that, can you imagine Russell Wilson being back there and hitting him full stride?

[Low whistle]

I'm simply drooling over the possibilities with having Percy and that guy out there at the same time. Talk about deep threats!

 

[hawkfan68]

Pretty much everyone covered all the good stuff. Seahawks are ready for the season, at least the 1s and 2s are. So are the 12s. It was Seattle loud last night. Thanks for drowning out Menefee and Huard. Most appreciated.

On the downside, Pryor continues to look awful. Missed an open receiver while throwing on the run. Then floated a ball he was throwing away right into a defender's hands. Ya...he's better than TJack. Please! I don't believe he's better than Hoyer and Manziel at this point in time.

 

[Blitzer88]

It seemed like Sherm was getting picked on early in this game.

 

[Blitzhawk]

I seen a lot of comments on Sherm and it is making me wonder watching him play real soft w/ big cushions and not really contesting the catches if he is not playing his mind games again. What if Sherm for some reason thinks preseason games don't count as much as regular season and knows if he clamps down on WRs in the preseason then QBs may not want to try him in the regular season w/ mediocre receivers (heh, could not help but throw that in there). But, if he backs off a bit and lets them get away w/ throwing to his guys maybe they will try it when it counts most.

Just a funny thought I had watching him run backwards from the WR multiple times yesterday when he normally presses hard and sticks to them like glue.

 

[Hasselbeck]

It seemed like Sherm was getting picked on early in this game.

Brandon Marshall is one of the few WR's that has had success against Sherm.. so not much of a surprise.

Team looked incredible to me. Another pleasant thing I noticed were the sudden decrease in penalties called on the secondary for each team. Hoping that remains the case here in two weeks.

 

[sutz]

Sherm is the least of my worries. They were playing soft much of the night. I have no doubt they'll step it up when the games start counting.

Hey, even with that all said, we still didn't give up any TDs, and no points at all by the #1s & #2s. Maybe we didn't like the methods used, but it worked.

:229031_shrug:

 

[Hasselbeck]

Putting on mu Tokadub hat....wtf ET? You let a punter run with you down the sideline? That punter either ran a 4.4 or Earl is not in top speed shape yet.

The Bears punter, Pat O'Donnell, is a physical freak. Ran a 4.62/40 at the combine but had been timed at a high 4.5 previously.. he also out bench pressed Jadeveon Clowney .. so basically that was not your normal punter chasing Earl down.

 

[nanomoz]

Turbin seems to have learned more patience waiting for blocking to develop. He's running lower behind the LOS too, and it's helping his balance.

If it continues, he's really got big-play potential to go with his well-rounded skill set. He gets a lot of grief around here, but he's got a lot of utility. He's good at blitz pickup and chipping and a solid receiver. I'm glad the coaches value his skills (even if the fans around here don't).

 

[Mick063]

I want future opponents to throw to Richard's side. He is known for his "baiting" in game. Why not bait on preseason film as well? Lull opponents into thinking that the right side is fair game?

Seriously, I doubt he is doing that, but on the other hand, I would like to see the ball thrown his way more often. I have seen Lester Hayes, Deion Sanders, and Darrell Green get beat before. They are legendary because they were consistently good, played on championship teams, and made big plays in big games (sounds like Richard to me). They still got beat on occasion.

Cutler has a cannon arm and the Bear receivers are not chopped liver. Still.......check that scoreboard. How many touchdowns?

The answer is none.

 

[Ruminator]

Some in this thread commented on Okung's rustiness, but I'm surprised no one mentioned observing how he looked slightly hobbled -- as though he were dealing with a sprain or who-knows-what. Seemed that way to me each time the camera was on him. Hope it's nothing to be concerned about.

Edit: Yxes1122 did mention him limping, missed that.

 

[Ruminator]

14) Terrell Pryor -- *sigh* He can so impress you with that athleticism and then he goes out and makes dumb plays like that interception on a long bomb to Arceto Clark. It was a long, looping throw that looked more like a punt. Jon Ryan couldn't have done better. If I were making the decisions on the 53 man roster, I would cut him -- roster spaces on this team are just too valuable a commodity. From my standpoint, he looks more like a guy who belongs in the CFL or the Arena League.

Agree. That panicky asinine toss-it-up-there-and-pray-a-teammate-miracously-catches-it pass was the dumbest thing I've seen a Seahawk do since Tate's taunting wave to the Rams D on a score.

 

[drdiags]

The TJack to Richardson miss was due to the DE walking right by the LT, TJack was lucky to get a pass off. He should have gotten it off earlier but I think the OL was just as much at fault as TJack on that pass. Richardson had a step on his man but the defense won on that play.

The Pryor interception was just as bad as the former Seahawks QB David Green run out of the back of the end zone play.

 

[TwilightError]

I did not like the Bears TD being flagged. A horrible call, even if it helped the Hawks. Very annoying. after a pass TD, I always have to wait for a while before I moan or celebrate, because first I have to be sure that no referee is in need of attention on himself.

Unreal performance by the Hawks. Everything just clicks.

 

[Laloosh]

Since just about everything has been covered, I'll just comment on our secondary.

Looked like Sherm was just trying to prevent the deep ball at the expense of a few first downs. He really misread a couple of those routes though, completely losing the receiver for a couple of seconds when he turned his head and body thinking that Marshall was going deep.

Didn't look like baiting to me. He was either off his game or completely fooled on a couple of routes.

 

[TwilightError]

Oh yeah, and Pete Carroll should put a bear fleece on his office floor as a trophy cause the Bears got killed!

 

[sc85sis]

Putting on mu Tokadub hat....wtf ET? You let a punter run with you down the sideline? That punter either ran a 4.4 or Earl is not in top speed shape yet.

The Bears punter, Pat O'Donnell, is a physical freak. Ran a 4.62/40 at the combine but had been timed at a high 4.5 previously.. he also out bench pressed Jadeveon Clowney .. so basically that was not your normal punter chasing Earl down.

He also took the perfect cutoff angle on his run.

 

[XxXdragonXxX]

I did not like the Bears TD being flagged. A horrible call, even if it helped the Hawks. Very annoying. after a pass TD, I always have to wait for a while before I moan or celebrate, because first I have to be sure that no referee is in need of attention on himself.

Unreal performance by the Hawks. Everything just clicks.

I disagree about the horrible call. Receivers are not allowed to block more than 1 yard past the LOS. Offensive PI rules start when the ball is snapped. Marshalls job on that play was to clear space for the underneath route, which he did by blocking the DB (Sherman?) out of the area. This is hardly ever called because the league favors the offense, I was surprised by the call, but it was correct.


http://static.nfl.com/static/content/pu ... Fumble.pdf

. OTHER PROHIBITED ACTS BY THE OFFENSE
Article 4 Other Prohibited Acts By the Offense.Blocking downfield by an offensive player prior to a
pass being thrown is offensive pass interference.
Note: It is also pass interference by the offense to block a defender beyond the line while the pass is in the air,
if the block occurs in the vicinity of the player to whom the pass is thrown.

 

[Hawknballs]

How did Maxwell catch a break on his defense of the ball to Jeffery? I just got home from work and finally watching the game and that play happened right as I'm reading this...Maxwell hits his arm after the ball hits his hands

First off great post as usual from Kearly - but...I agree with this sentiment, not sure it's catching a break when a guy just makes a great play, and that's exactly what Maxwell did.

 

[AgentDib]

The score prevented most of the panicking about our offensive line that we would otherwise be seeing. The pass protection from our starters left a lot to be desired against a very average defensive line and then our backups looked overwhelmed. Hopefully our starters just need to shake the rust off and get some more snaps together as a unit as they get healthy. This may be an area in which see a pickup.

Our skill positions look stronger than I can ever remember. It is a bit top heavy but that is unavoidable; name a more coveted QB/RB/WR trio than Wilson, Lynch and Harvin. That will also probably be the most expensive trio in the league next offseason so this is definitely a contract year for Lynch. Even beyond those three we are looking better than the starters on a handful of teams. It looks like there may be two spots initially for Lockette/Bates/Walters/Matthews and then tough decisions will have to be made if Norwood starts the season on PUP and has to come off in week 7.

I am feeling very good about our defense, and am completely okay with the Bears completing a few of those short comebacks and curls. The idea is to keep stuff in front of us, prevent big plays, and then take the ball away on the throws where the other team fails to execute perfectly. Manning just set a record for completions in the Super Bowl and we didn't care. We care about our cornerbacks getting beat over the top and that didn't happen. Our run defense and the shorter stuff is going to look better once Wagner takes the Mike spot back.

sc85sis points out the important part on the Earl return. The punter took the correct angle, had quite a few less yards to cover, and Earl had been running for a lot longer at that point. It's a fun thing to kid Earl about but comparing 40 times has nothing to do with the play.