I knew it, you knew it, the Seahawks knew it, Bears knew it, Carol Burnett knew it, everyone knew it was going to Marshall. All knew Marshall was the only way to get yards or score, yet, at times, it was pitch and catch.

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@ryanadamdavis

I think we are far from "sucking." They made some plays today. That 4th down stop was clutch, and we held their running game in check. Late in the game when they had to stop them and get the ball back, they did. I think they were playing at such a high level early, that our expectations became too high. We have a good defense. They are very young and very susceptible to the high and low tides of a game. They tend to let things snowball. As they grow this will change. No, they aren't "elite," but they are good enough to keep us in ball games. The pass rush is a concern, and I'm not sure why they aren't getting it done. Probably just the same inconsistent tendencies the rest of the defense faces. There was definitely a different philosophy today. We ran a lot of soft zones for some reason. I think they were trying to limit the big play and give the offense a chance to win. I do wonder if the lingering suspensions played into some it. Either way, no, we don't suck. We are going through some growing pains, but they are still playing well enough. I'm hoping they figure it out soon and get over some of these mistakes due to inexperience.

The pitch and catch to Marshall is because the D didn't get close to him the majority of the time. You can't cover Marshall forever.

There was no pass rush today against a team with two new guards playing.

Pretty depressing although the team tackled much better today then in recent weeks.

Also Russ is amazing. That is all. Carry on.

Until we can learn how to rattle a QB, the coverage can only hold for so long. Our pass rush sucks major nuts

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Take a look at that defensive performance minus all the yards after the bullshit calls, and it looks a whole lot better. They were fatigued and let down after some pretty bad juju, and still held on just enough to let the offense seal the game.

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I blog, I tweet. When I'm not writing or goofing around on Seahawks.NET.

Look at it as potential. When this offense and defense are both hitting on all 8 no one can hang with them. Problem seems to be getting them both at that level simultaneously. In those cases where one or the other is faltering the other seems to respond. Today's game case in point.

Right???? Talent wise I think we are one of the best teams in the league.... We just can't pair our amazing defense with an amazing offense.

Honestly, it's almost like the hawks gotta keep every game close. When teams are scoring too much, Hawks stop them. When they're behind, Hawks don't stop them. On and on and on, and we have nailbiters practically every game except for 3.

They seem to synch at the CLINK!

Sorry couldn't resist.

They seem to synch at the CLINK!

Sorry couldn't resist.

Good perspective.

I agree, it doesn't suck right now, but definitely not elite anymore.

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Lack of pass rush and lack of creating turnovers is what's keeping this D from being the dominant force they are capable of and showed early in the season.

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"WE ALL WE GOT! WE ALL WE NEED!"

Agreed. That penalty on Irvin followed by the ticky tack call on Branch, those created a seismic shift in the game for our defense, much like the tough call against ET the week before.

Our secondary did play like dog shit though. Even in man coverage they looked pretty terrible. I'm not worried- yet. But if they still look that bad next week, then there is a good chance that our team could be in deep trouble. Yeah, Brandon Marshall is awesome and all that, but what about that nobody that burned Browner and should have had like an 80 yard TD that hit him on the hands only to drop it, you know because he's terrible? That was alarming.

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"I believe there’s merit to the idea that once something in life becomes conventional, it’s no longer the safest path to success." -Matt Waldman
"If everyone's thinking alike, no one's thinking." -Bill Walsh

We desperatly need a pass rushing defensive tackle. I think thats what we are missing to become elite. I'm not even asking for a Cortez Kennedy type. Even a guy like Rocky Bernard when he was in his prime would help this defense immensely.

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I think our problem in the pass rush is that most good base pass rushing teams don't rely on specialists like we do. They have freaks of nature like Julius Peppers or JPP. What they are not doing is getting a ton of sacks from 1st round draft picks at DT. They are getting most of their sacks from physical freaks at DE. Now Irvin and Clemons are athletic freaks but they are not physical freaks. They will never bulldoze a 320 pound guard to the ground for an instant sack like Peppers did to us today.

Basically, our two DEs are a lot like blitzing LBs. If they can't run around a blocker one way or the other, then they aren't going to create pressure.

BTW, this is why I said that I'd probably have preferred Coples over Irvin last year- and I really loved the Irvin pick. Coples isn't off to a great start obviously, but he was the one guy in that class that gave you a chance for a physically dominant pass rushing DE, and without that player I doubt we'll ever see an effective base pass rush.

That said, Seattle's pass rush explodes to its feet when it blitzes. Seattle's blitzing pass rush is as deadly as it's base rush is impotent. There wasn't a whole lot of base rush in the Green Bay game, for example.

I honestly think Pete Carroll needs to blitz more. Blitzing comes at a cost, but it's very rare that a Pete Carroll blitz gets picked up. Press the recievers to disrupt the quick stuff and force a QB to throw a 2 second pass. Unless you are playing Peyton Manning, good things should happen.

Obviously, I am a novice on this matter, and I also understand that you can't get predictable with blitzing. It's more complicated than I make it seem. That said, Seattle does appear to hurt themselves when they over commit to the base rush, ESPECIALLY when paired with zone coverage. I realize that is in Carroll's roots as a Kiffin disciple, but it didn't work before he came here, it didn't work in 2010, and it hasn't worked the last two weeks. It's best to stick with what works.

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"I believe there’s merit to the idea that once something in life becomes conventional, it’s no longer the safest path to success." -Matt Waldman
"If everyone's thinking alike, no one's thinking." -Bill Walsh

Love it when Kearly straightens stuff out. Thanks man!

And I am really unsure about how good Earl is right now. Is he playing well?

I agree with the we don't have a physical freak that just beat guys for sacks but I also don't think that's Pete's style. He relies on a bit of trickery to get his pass rush. Just the fact that his primary pass rusher is a 3-4 LB playing 4-3 end says it all really and just like you said, when he dials up his blitzes they are usually quite effective.

But I gotta disagree that we should blitz more. Typically if you're blitzing, you are going to be using players from the middle of the field. We struggle covering the middle of the field not blitzing, I think it would put even more strain on our already weak LB/Nickel corner coverage.

Every fan of every team always says their team should blitz more when they are struggling with pass rush but like you said, it's never that easy. Honestly I don't feel like our defensive struggles on are on the coaches at all. The players are in position, they just keep having mental mistakes that are allowing the plays to happen. The long completion to Marshall at the end of the game is a perfect example. Sherman was in position to defend it the pass, he just went for the pick instead of the deflection. So maybe it is on the coaches but not because of their play calling but because their players can't pull their head out of their ass and quit trying to force big plays.

I disagree amil; most of the 3rd and mid-long conversions seem to occur after the QB escapes the initial pressure and finds someone over the middle. I think by dialing up the bliz more you force the QB to throw ealier than he wants and have a better chance at getting home. I would start bringing the heat more and couple that with press man coverage to throw the WR's off so it's not just pitch and catch.

I'll admit some of this depends on if Thurmond is an upgrade over Trufant in the nickel (I think he is) and what is going on with our starting corners. I do think if we can get better coverage from the LBs/Nickel CB than a little more blitzing would help but until than, I think blitzing would just do more harm than good

Suck??? Not necessarily. A bit over hyped and overrated?? Possibably at times. Young with a lot of upside potential? Definitely.

yesterday was a bad performance?