What's been your biggest surprise this season?

[Ad Hawk]

Positive: The number of games during the 2nd half of the season that weren't even close. I was so used to being fearful every time our O came on the field knowing they could hardly advance the ball. What a different feeling now!

Negative: The number of people (a very few left here, more elsewhere on opposing team sites) who still don't thing Wilson is a franchise QB or as good as "their" QB.

 

[had2bhawk]

Positive: The number of games during the 2nd half of the season that weren't even close. I was so used to being fearful every time our O came on the field knowing they could hardly advance the ball. What a different feeling now!

This :thirishdrinkers:

 

[rjdriver]

I know this isn't pleasant, but 3 home losses was something I would have never guessed in a million years starting the season.

My pleasant surprise is how quickly Lockett has been integrated into the offense. I knew he would upgrade our return game, but his receiving impact has been better than I imagined.

 

[Laloosh]

I know this isn't pleasant, but 3 home losses was something I would have never guessed in a million years starting the season.

My pleasant surprise is how quickly Lockett has been integrated into the offense. I knew he would upgrade our return game, but his receiving impact has been better than I imagined.

Completely agree.

 

[Mick063]

The light bulb coming on for Wilson.

Folks blamed the play calling. Folks blamed the offensive line.

The rough start was on Wilson.....until he made the biggest transcendental leap I have ever witnessed in professional sports, and I have been following professional sports for a long, long time. He didn't gradually get better. It was a quantum jump of historic magnitude. A jump so amazing that folks dream up weird crap like....Graham or Lynch were hurting the offense.

Nope.....it was real simple. The light bulb finally came on for Wilson.

 

[Anthony!]

The light bulb coming on for Wilson.

Folks blamed the play calling. Folks blamed the offensive line.

The rough start was on Wilson.....until he made the biggest transcendental leap I have ever witnessed in professional sports, and I have been following professional sports for a long, long time. He didn't gradually get better. It was a quantum jump of historic magnitude. A jump so amazing that folks dream up weird crap like....Graham or Lynch were hurting the offense.

Nope.....it was real simple. The light bulb finally came on for Wilson.

YEAH aww no, PC said it straight out Wilson had been playing well, they needed to make adjustments and they did and Wilson thrived, and took that next step, but please lets not act silly like the oline and the pay calling at the time was good and has not changed it has.

 

[Mick063]

The light bulb coming on for Wilson.

Folks blamed the play calling. Folks blamed the offensive line.

The rough start was on Wilson.....until he made the biggest transcendental leap I have ever witnessed in professional sports, and I have been following professional sports for a long, long time. He didn't gradually get better. It was a quantum jump of historic magnitude. A jump so amazing that folks dream up weird crap like....Graham or Lynch were hurting the offense.

Nope.....it was real simple. The light bulb finally came on for Wilson.

YEAH aww no, PC said it straight out Wilson had been playing well, they needed to make adjustments and they did and Wilson thrived, and took that next step, but please lets not act silly like the oline and the pay calling at the time was good and has not changed it has.

Completely disagree.

100% change in Wilson, more than anything else.

 

[Anthony!]

The light bulb coming on for Wilson.

Folks blamed the play calling. Folks blamed the offensive line.

The rough start was on Wilson.....until he made the biggest transcendental leap I have ever witnessed in professional sports, and I have been following professional sports for a long, long time. He didn't gradually get better. It was a quantum jump of historic magnitude. A jump so amazing that folks dream up weird crap like....Graham or Lynch were hurting the offense.

Nope.....it was real simple. The light bulb finally came on for Wilson.

YEAH aww no, PC said it straight out Wilson had been playing well, they needed to make adjustments and they did and Wilson thrived, and took that next step, but please lets not act silly like the oline and the pay calling at the time was good and has not changed it has.

Completely disagree.

100% change in Wilson, more than anything else.

You can disagree all you want you have that right, just know as I said the experts, and his HC disagree with you.

 

[Hawks46]

I didn't see us losing 3 home games.

I'm not surprised that Wilson progressed (although I was surprised he was able to after how bad the OL started out), but I am amazed at the magnitude of it. I thought he only needed to get a little bit better on 3rd down and getting deeper in his progressions, while working on his pocket presence. but he's blown by all that.

People that don't understand just how good Wilson got needs to reread Mick's post. Wilson just uncorked the best 7 game stretch by a QB in NFL HISTORY. He didn't just turn it around, he was Hall of Fame good. 2007 Tom Brady on his best stretch of games breaking NFL records good.

I'm also not surprised Baldwin seemed to improve; I've seen him open plenty and Russ hasn't gotten him the ball. I'm also surprised at how drastic it was. He only had 2 TD's at the bye. Then he went on to tie for the lead in the NFL.

I liked Rawls, but it surprised me how good he was and how quickly he was good.

I'm also surprised at how quickly I went from dreading losing Marshawn Lynch to realizing we had his replacement.

 

[Fade]

The lack of home field advantage. It's gone. Seattle should of been 4-4 at home.

 

[HawKnPeppa]

Russell's ability to finally hone in on his best weapons, Baldwin and Lockett, and exploit all the mis-matches they create. And doing it to the benefit, not the detriment, of the overall offense. No more receiver neutrality.

This is the area I wanted to see him grow the most in during the offseason -- let's stop pretending our ST gunner is the same receiver as our #1. Over the last half of the season, he really exceeded what even I could have imagined in this regard. He made our top guys fantasy-relevant. Uncharted territory for Seahawks receivers. Excited to see if this can spill over into next year. Baldwin/Lockett can be an elite WR duo, but Russ needs to trust them as such, and it looks like he's starting to. No coincidence that his game has taken off ever since.

I totally disagree with your premise. He still treats them in a neutral fashion. Lockett on IR means the best playmakers are now on the field ...bonus with Lockett catching on so quickly. Graham really needed more time to fully mind meld with Russ, so there's a sliver lining to that IR as well. I will instead will counter that he has always had the ability to hone in on his best weapons, but chooses not to do so. How many different WR's did he spread the ball between against the Tards? One or two of them catching more passes and/or scoring more TDs than the others simply mean they are good enough to be open more often. I would much rather he just choose who's open, and that's what he does. The biggest difference is RW able to see more of the field with the improvements in scheme, OL and his patience/sacrifice with staying in the pocket as much as possible while the evolution happened.

My biggest surprise?? I though Pete would NEVER allow his O coaches to start emphasizing quick passing and working the middle of the field. What a welcome change that was!

 

[rideaducati]

The biggest surprise this season has been the Seahawk fans that when the going gets tough, they give up. Wussies.

Adapt and overcome...don't give up.

If there is a hole in the boat, they'll scream that their boat is sinking instead of just plugging the hole and bailing some water.

 

[rideaducati]

The lack of home field advantage. It's gone. Seattle should of been 4-4 at home.

Yeah, totally gone. Its not like the Seahawks were playing their WORST football in the last four years and still had leads in the fourth quarter of every game against playoff bound teams or anything.



:sarcasm_off:

 

[BigBird]

This season has been full of surprises. Here's my list:

1. The way the offensive line has improved after the bye week. Who knew how good the offence would be by simply designing Wilson getting rid of the ball faster? It's amazing how after the Arizona home game, (that was plagued by penalties, which completely nullified whatever adjustments had been made during the bye week) the offence completely took off. During the preseason and the first half of the season, the offensive line reminded me of the 2011 offensive line, which, if anyone remembers, was absolutely terrible with two rookies starting there and got completely wrecked the first couple weeks before settling in

2. Thomas Rawls. I admit, I thought he looked average at best during the preseason and I wasn't sure if he would even make the roster (I thought Rod Smith looked better). I've been never happier to have been proven wrong, and I think Rawls can take over Lynch's starting spot next season.

3. The way Seattle's home field advantage seemed weaker this season than year's past. I recall a player (Wagner?) recently saying that they can actually hear each other on the road, rather than relying on hand signals at home, because they couldn't hear each other due to crowd noise. The Seahawks have undoubtedly played better on the road this season, and I think this is the reason why.

4. And last, but not least, I'm surprised that this Seahawks team is even in the position they are right now: being the team that "nobody wants to play" in the NFC and even being in the playoffs in the first place. After the Super Bowl loss, I thought it would be nearly impossible for this team to get over the hangover. As a fan, I still think every day how it would have gone differently if the Seahawks had won that game - the glory, the dynasty of the 2010's, becoming one of the NFL's most storied franchises, etc - imagine how the players and coaches feel about that loss? They should have more motivation than any other team in the playoffs.

Even if this season ends in a loss on Sunday, this year has been one of the most entertaining and pleasurable Seahawks seasons I have ever watched. I freakin' love this team.

 

[HawkJay]

My biggest (and most exciting) surprise this year was An undrafted free agent like Rawls literally running like he is the best back in the league. Was absolutely gutted when he got injured he brought excitement every time he touched the ball

 

[Tical21]

Russell playing the game with his head, and letting it rip from the pocket. I had given up on it ever happening. It had just been so long since he had made big strides in this area. Couldn't be happier to be completely wrong.

Deshaun Shead playing corner, and playing it pretty well. There were probably five guys I would have predicted to get the nod there before him, but he has more than made the most of his opportunity.

The offense playing for Bevell. I thought this was a situation beyond repair.

 

[Rob12]

The struggles at home. Three losses... It's just unfathomable to me, and still hard to believe.

The loss to Carolina. Just didn't seem possible (I was there). An opposing team coming in to the Clink, down 23-7 after three quarters, and winning. That shocked me, and that's when I knew the Seahawks as a team were really sick.

But the one single biggest surprise of the 2016 season was Kam Chancellor's holdout. I just never saw it coming. And even when it did happen, I thought it would be a very short thing. But it went two games deep into the regular season, and I never thought that that would happen. He was a leader on this team, and never fit the profile of a guy that would bail on his teammates, which is exactly what he did. So for me, the Chancellor hold out is what sticks out to me the most. I'm 34, and it shouldn't be this way, but that was the "loss of the innocence" moment of the current era of Seahawks football. It was just completely unexpected, and unhelpful.

 

[Seahawkwalt1967]

1 Rawls babyyy
2 OL gelling
3 Wilsons development as a pocket passer
4 Locketts development as a receiver

Go Hawks

 

[lobohawk]

Russell's ability to finally hone in on his best weapons, Baldwin and Lockett, and exploit all the mis-matches they create. And doing it to the benefit, not the detriment, of the overall offense. No more receiver neutrality.

This is the area I wanted to see him grow the most in during the offseason -- let's stop pretending our ST gunner is the same receiver as our #1. Over the last half of the season, he really exceeded what even I could have imagined in this regard. He made our top guys fantasy-relevant. Uncharted territory for Seahawks receivers. Excited to see if this can spill over into next year. Baldwin/Lockett can be an elite WR duo, but Russ needs to trust them as such, and it looks like he's starting to. No coincidence that his game has taken off ever since.

And the nice thing about this is that Russell did it without having to become a volume passer. Even though an outside observer may say it's become a passing offense, it hasn't. Just better play calls, better protection, better reads and passes.

 

[Ruminator]

For me, it took a lot of getting used to (in a good pinch-me-am-I-dreaming way) seeing the Seahawks consistently convert third downs. Up until this season, third-and-medium/long often meant having to punt the next play.

This season, however, there have been several games (primarily in the latter half the season) where the offense assertively ran their third-down plays and, bam, first down -- time and time again. With the possible exception of the 2005 season, I believe the 2015 (latter half) Seahawks might be the best in franchise history at coverting third downs. Last week they scored on 7 of their first 8 possessions if I recall correctly -- much of it made possible by such third-down conversions.

Wilson gets some credit, but moving the chains requires the entire offense to be in sync, so the teamwork that has increased their third-down conversion rate has been a pleasant surprise for me.