WFT's D. WTF?

[kidhawk]

This game would be a good place to get Carson a ton of reps. Having him in the backfield is the key piece to Wilson's offense that has been missing. Sure he's been back a few weeks, but his workload had been very light. The more we see of Carson, the better the offense seems to click. A healthy Chris Carson makes a world of difference in our offense and makes it one that is hard to completely contain even for a defense as stout as Washington's.

 

[sutz]

Looking like rain/snow all week long in the mid-Atlantic area. Haven't heard what next weekend looks like yet, but that field could be really trashed this seek. Probably gonna need that ground game working. I'm really glad we got off the "let Russ cook" bandwagon and have been working on our old school football the past couple of weeks.

:mrgreen:

 

[Ramfan128]

Their DL was supposedly dominant early in the season too, and we absolutely destroyed them through the air. Had trouble running until we popped one long one though.

I think their defense is the same as it was then, it's their offense that has dramatically improved.

I guess after the Giants game, I'd a little nervous if I were you guys too - but Seattle almost always wins these games going away.

 

[AROS]

Actually losing the Giants game may help them be more focused for this game. Watching film, the players and coaches have no illusions about Washington's defense. I would honestly be shocked if we come out flat and unprepared for them.

This is definitely not a Let Russ Cook game plan.

 

[HawkRiderFan]

Sorry I can't talk you off the ledge when it come to our offense vs that D. But I have faith in our D stopping their O. Not just Alex Smith but whether Antonio Gibson is back or not will be a big factor too. I think our D can keep their score down so 3 thing need to happen to prevent them from getting "easy scores". No turnovers, no special teams big plays, and no busts, like the long run by the Giants. Everyone looks at the final numbers and it looks like the Giants ran all day, but the Giants 17 points came after one huge run, a short field after the botched 4th down, and the int that deflected off Carson.

 

[Sports Hernia]

Need to limit the 5 and 7 step drops to a bare minimum. No bubble screens.
Quick slants, roll Russ out, Russ keep it on RO, run the ball often, RB screens, no hero ball from Russ.

 

[Scorpion05]

They're not better than the Niners defense of last year and not better than some of the Vikings defenses we've faced. I'm concerned but not panicking.

This could be a 2017 Jaguars type game but that defense was better too. The teams I worry about are the ones with a D-line AND a shut down corner. Rams will be tougher

 

[LTH]

I think this game falls on Russ a bit... decision making... If the Hawks are going to win this game they can't turn the ball over, they have to win the turnover battle.... The Hawks have the talent RB, WR, QB,TE to win this game they just have to execute the game plan... So again it gets down to the fact that it's not about WFT. It's about the Hawks getting up for the game and playing to their potential. as cliche as that sounds that is the truth..

We don't know how WFT is going to attack the Hawks O... their D line is the strength so I would imagine they will stack the box and try to stop the run... If I were the Hawks I would bring out two TE and run it right down their throats the whole first half of the game whether it was successful or not...


I see this game as an defensive battle and field position battle...I would be conservative on O as the team that makes the fewest mistake wins this one...


LTH

 

[John63]

Need to limit the 5 and 7 step drops to a bare minimum. No bubble screens.
Quick slants, roll Russ out, Russ keep it on RO, run the ball often, RB screens, no hero ball from Russ.

You realize the supposed "hero Ball' 'is not just a Wilson thing. PC like long passes adn chunk plays which is what "hero Ball" is/

 

[AROS]

A classic example of "Hero Ball" is that roll out where Russ chucked it down the field to DK in the endzone only to get picked. His only INT that day. We've all seen him make that play before in his career but they are low percentage throws and that would have been the perfect play to either keep the ball and run out of bounds or throw it away to live to see the next play on the drive. Save the Hero Balls for when you are on your last breath of the game trying to pull out the win.

 

[John63]

A classic example of "Hero Ball" is that roll out where Russ chucked it down the field to DK in the endzone only to get picked. His only INT that day. We've all seen him make that play before in his career but they are low percentage throws and that would have been the perfect play to either keep the ball and run out of bounds or throw it away to live to see the next play on the drive. Save the Hero Balls for when you are on your last breath of the game trying to pull out the win.

LOl yeah okay whatever.

 

[kidhawk]

A classic example of "Hero Ball" is that roll out where Russ chucked it down the field to DK in the endzone only to get picked. His only INT that day. We've all seen him make that play before in his career but they are low percentage throws and that would have been the perfect play to either keep the ball and run out of bounds or throw it away to live to see the next play on the drive. Save the Hero Balls for when you are on your last breath of the game trying to pull out the win.

With Russ, that's not really hero ball. If he has the time to let that play develop, he hits it more often than not. On that play, he just onder threw DK. If he'd got that ball just a little deeper, it would have been an easy TD. If you go back and watch it again, DK has to turn for the ball. When that pass is on the money, he doesn't have to turn his body to get the ball, only his head to see it coming down to him. It was a poor pass. If the coverage wasn't so good, it may have been a score anyway. Either way, I don't have any issue with going deep when we can. We just can't count on that to be the majority of our offense. We need to mix it up and keep defenses honest. Carson is the one man on our roster who has the ability to keep defenses from cheating to protect from that deep ball. When he's in, defenses either have to cheat up to stop him, or pay the price. We don't get that consistently enough from any other back on our current roster.

 

[HTTWFT]

Hello Everyone!

Just thought I'd scoot over and see how you guys were doing before another Washington/Seattle battle. Thought I'd also give you an inside look to the team through the eyes of a fan on the other side. I've actually always enjoyed talking with Seahawks fans.

As the thread and most of you have pointed out, our team has a stout defense and a little more to be desired offense.

Our defensive line consists of a plethora of first round picks, with Kerrigan coming off the bench and Tim Settle(who may end up starting if Jonathan Allen's groin injury from SF lingers). They are a hit you in the mouth type of line, built like SF/Rams which you've experienced. Our LB core is definitely the weakness on this team and can be exploited by outside zone runs and screens(Carson worries me if he's good to go). Our defensive backs are pretty solid but have been known to give up a few deep passes based around miscommunication between CB/S. This is a team that loves to get after the qb and force errant throws, but that also happens to be my biggest worry in this game. Wilson can scramble and he knows when to take off and get down to avoid a hit, it has been an achilles heel for this defense(we saw it with AZ and Ravens) . Overall the defense is light years better than it was to begin the season, but you don't really ever get over Kyler Murry running all over the field on your team.

Our offense...oh boy where do I begin. Our offensive line has held up better than I thought it would to begin the season but besides Chase Roullier and Brandon Scherff they can be bull rushed or will miss assignments with a blitzing S/CB. Our RBs are above average with the emergence of Antonio Gibson but he didn't play last week and from reports wont be a go this week either. JD with get the bulk of the carries, he's surprised me this year, he's a lot shiftier than I thought, but he wont break your back either if he hits a crease. He's about as dependable as you could hope for in the passing game though. Barber is just a 2-3 yard goaline powerback. Logan Thomas has been an absolute steal in the offseason for us. He has started to really come on as a dependable TE for the qbs. WR has been an ongoing issue for us outside of Terry McLaurin(teams have basically shifted 2/3 people on him plus he's been playing through a hamstring issue). Cam Sims has been showing promise but no one is afraid of him. Our slot wr Simms Jr couldn't catch a cold in February if he went outside the house butt naked in a snow storm. However, he's oddly a really good PR? If Isiah Wright can go, he's a more dependable catcher than Simms. Our QB situation: if Alex is healthy enough to go...I think he can do enough to make this game competitive. If Haskins has to go, I don't like this offenses chance of scoring. He's just not ready, most of us in DC don't know if he'll ever get there. He has happy feet, his mechanics and footwork are atrocious. I'm also not sure he progresses reads based on the defense properly either.

ST: Our punter deserves to make his second straight Pro Bowl. I can't speak highly enough of him. Our kicker is struggling this year. Last year he was almost automatic inside 51, this year he's cost us at least 3 games that I can remember. He's either going to be hot or cold, there is no in between.

We are supposed to get snow here in the DMV area on Wednesday so it could make for a sloppy mess of a field at FedEx(fans here have been clamoring for field turf for years...for some reason the owner refuses to get rid of the grass field). I'm expecting a very defensive game and think it will be a close one. Here's to a good game with as few injuries as possible. Good luck!

 

[Jerhawk]

Awesome post HTTWFT! Thank you!

That was a great read.
It's a bummer Antonio Gibson won't be playing. He seems like an up and coming back.
It's good to see Mckissic doing well. It's a shame we let him go.

 

[HTTWFT]

Awesome post HTTWFT! Thank you!

That was a great read.
It's a bummer Antonio Gibson won't be playing. He seems like an up and coming back.
It's good to see Mckissic doing well. It's a shame we let him go.

Not a problem, I’ll pop in throughout the week with updates with the team or to answer any questions about the WFT, if any of you have any. I’m really down that Gibson most likely won’t play again this week. He was considered a “hybrid” wideout that started getting touches at RB in college. You could see over the last few weeks he played that the game was slowing down from that position for him. He was doing well with screens but you could see as a true RB1 his vision was better, he was hitting holes quicker, and he was starting to finish runs with an aggression you wanted to see out of a RB.

Absolutely happy with Mckissic, he has played way better than I expected.

 

[Maelstrom787]

Hello Everyone!

Just thought I'd scoot over and see how you guys were doing before another Washington/Seattle battle. Thought I'd also give you an inside look to the team through the eyes of a fan on the other side. I've actually always enjoyed talking with Seahawks fans.

As the thread and most of you have pointed out, our team has a stout defense and a little more to be desired offense.

Our defensive line consists of a plethora of first round picks, with Kerrigan coming off the bench and Tim Settle(who may end up starting if Jonathan Allen's groin injury from SF lingers). They are a hit you in the mouth type of line, built like SF/Rams which you've experienced. Our LB core is definitely the weakness on this team and can be exploited by outside zone runs and screens(Carson worries me if he's good to go). Our defensive backs are pretty solid but have been known to give up a few deep passes based around miscommunication between CB/S. This is a team that loves to get after the qb and force errant throws, but that also happens to be my biggest worry in this game. Wilson can scramble and he knows when to take off and get down to avoid a hit, it has been an achilles heel for this defense(we saw it with AZ and Ravens) . Overall the defense is light years better than it was to begin the season, but you don't really ever get over Kyler Murry running all over the field on your team.

Our offense...oh boy where do I begin. Our offensive line has held up better than I thought it would to begin the season but besides Chase Roullier and Brandon Scherff they can be bull rushed or will miss assignments with a blitzing S/CB. Our RBs are above average with the emergence of Antonio Gibson but he didn't play last week and from reports wont be a go this week either. JD with get the bulk of the carries, he's surprised me this year, he's a lot shiftier than I thought, but he wont break your back either if he hits a crease. He's about as dependable as you could hope for in the passing game though. Barber is just a 2-3 yard goaline powerback. Logan Thomas has been an absolute steal in the offseason for us. He has started to really come on as a dependable TE for the qbs. WR has been an ongoing issue for us outside of Terry McLaurin(teams have basically shifted 2/3 people on him plus he's been playing through a hamstring issue). Cam Sims has been showing promise but no one is afraid of him. Our slot wr Simms Jr couldn't catch a cold in February if he went outside the house butt naked in a snow storm. However, he's oddly a really good PR? If Isiah Wright can go, he's a more dependable catcher than Simms. Our QB situation: if Alex is healthy enough to go...I think he can do enough to make this game competitive. If Haskins has to go, I don't like this offenses chance of scoring. He's just not ready, most of us in DC don't know if he'll ever get there. He has happy feet, his mechanics and footwork are atrocious. I'm also not sure he progresses reads based on the defense properly either.

ST: Our punter deserves to make his second straight Pro Bowl. I can't speak highly enough of him. Our kicker is struggling this year. Last year he was almost automatic inside 51, this year he's cost us at least 3 games that I can remember. He's either going to be hot or cold, there is no in between.

We are supposed to get snow here in the DMV area on Wednesday so it could make for a sloppy mess of a field at FedEx(fans here have been clamoring for field turf for years...for some reason the owner refuses to get rid of the grass field). I'm expecting a very defensive game and think it will be a close one. Here's to a good game with as few injuries as possible. Good luck!

Classy post, and we appreciate the perspective. We're, for the most part, worried about the matchup with the WFT defensive line. If the Seattle rushing game can't get off the ground, they'll likely revert to a heavy passing game full of intermediate and deep routes. Seattle leans very heavily on long-developing routes, which'll really put a lot of pressure on the middling offensive line, especially if starting right tackle Brandon Shell can't go. The starting offensive line is actually fairly talented and sound in pass protection, but the offensive scheme puts a hefty amount of pressure on them, and it'll be made much more severe if backups, especially at tackle, see action.

One matchup I do like is Seattle's blitz packages against the Washington offensive line. Jamal Adams has been a terror when blitzing - he's set the single season record for DB sacks already, and that's with 4 games missed due to injury. Using him to engineer pressure may prove deadly, especially if it's Haskins at QB instead of the savvy Alex Smith. Linebackers Jordyn Brooks and Bobby Wagner, along with situational rusher Shaquem Griffen, also have a knack for blitzing. I'd expect Seattle to come heavy in that regard.

 

[HTTWFT]

Thank you for the warm welcome. Adams has been stellar for y’all. He definitely has a chance to get home 1 or 2 times on Sunday. Our line and backers struggle picking up the hot blitz from the secondary. I would also agree, I’d worry less with Smith rather than Haskins sliding protection to avoid it.

Something else to keep an eye on, we may be down our starting safety opposite Kameron Curl(a 7th round gem this year), with Landon Collins having already been on IR we will have to play Troy Apke in certain packages. I pray that doesn’t have to happen. If it does you all may see RW go deep off double moves by the WR quite often. He takes terrible angles against RBs as well.

 

[HawkRiderFan]

Thank you for the warm welcome. Adams has been stellar for y’all. He definitely has a chance to get home 1 or 2 times on Sunday. Our line and backers struggle picking up the hot blitz from the secondary. I would also agree, I’d worry less with Smith rather than Haskins sliding protection to avoid it.

Something else to keep an eye on, we may be down our starting safety opposite Kameron Curl(a 7th round gem this year), with Landon Collins having already been on IR we will have to play Troy Apke in certain packages. I pray that doesn’t have to happen. If it does you all may see RW go deep off double moves by the WR quite often. He takes terrible angles against RBs as well.

I think you will find t hat a lot of us here don't feel the confidence of Russ getting enough time for those routes to develop! Good point you made about Thomas in your earlier post above too. Forgot about how good he's been. And he's been part of some trick plays Washington seems to try each week. I would expect one or two of those this week.

 

[HTTWFT]

Thank you for the warm welcome. Adams has been stellar for y’all. He definitely has a chance to get home 1 or 2 times on Sunday. Our line and backers struggle picking up the hot blitz from the secondary. I would also agree, I’d worry less with Smith rather than Haskins sliding protection to avoid it.

Something else to keep an eye on, we may be down our starting safety opposite Kameron Curl(a 7th round gem this year), with Landon Collins having already been on IR we will have to play Troy Apke in certain packages. I pray that doesn’t have to happen. If it does you all may see RW go deep off double moves by the WR quite often. He takes terrible angles against RBs as well.

I think you will find t hat a lot of us here don't feel the confidence of Russ getting enough time for those routes to develop! Good point you made about Thomas in your earlier post above too. Forgot about how good he's been. And he's been part of some trick plays Washington seems to try each week. I would expect one or two of those this week.

If Haskins plays, Thomas may be our most accurate QB on the field Sunday lol. Wilson will definitely take some licks from our DL but if there’s a soft spot on our defense it’s LB coverage and a speedy WR double move or an up and out. Don’t be surprised if DK doesn’t look great against Fuller with Curl blanketing the top, but Tyler Lockett having another big game for Seattle(all depending on FedEx Field conditions).

 

[chris98251]

Way to combat the Skins line, run right at Young, if our right side is healthy with weak LB support we can get yards, maybe not chunk but 4 and 5 yards constantly and wear them down. I don't suspect Penny is going to be used if the field is sloppy, not his first game back where footing can be an issue and fresh back from Knee injury, we have Dallas.

Power runs with TE Dissly and a bit of Gordon DK down field blocking and or releasing on other plays for over the top passes.

Avoiding Pass rushers plays into their hands, sooner or later they get to pin their ears back, running at them they can't think sack when they are going oh shit.

He is 265 or so, he can be ate up if Shell can play and Lewis is available.