Random Thoughts™ on the Falcons game

kearly

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This will be pretty short. Busy day.

-Zach Miller and Russell Wilson were amazing. Nuff said.

-You kind of knew 31 seconds was enough time. At least I did. Wasn't actually that heartbreaking. More disappointing than heartbreaking.

-Really proud of Seattle for very nearly completing the biggest road comeback in the Super Bowl era. I am MORE than happy with how this game turned out. Seattle kept it's streak alive of playing competitive 1 score games even in losses, and as late as the 4th quarter, that seemed like a pipe dream, much less winning the game.

-Russell Wilson is going to be wearing Superbowl rings on both hands when he retires.

-While I'm on the prediction front, Seattle will be 13-3 or better next season, and reach at least the NFCCG. This is not a "hot" team. This is a ridiculously good offense with an erratic but incredibly talented defense. They will do this week in and week out, and the only games they will lose will be road games where their defense plays perfectly unclutch. Which is not going to happen often.

-I really hope Carroll wakes up and realizes that the Red Bryant strategy just isn't worth it. It would be one thing if we had a brick wall run defense- but we don't.

-I don't care what Pete said to reporters, Bruce Irvin is hardly the "ideal" LEO. I like Irvin, but the team needs to be honest about his capabilities. Irvin is not built physically to defend against the run, and he doesn't have much talent for stopping the run either. You've probably heard the expression "selling out" to rush the passer? Well today, Irvin was selling out to stop the run, which he didn't really stop all that much. He was very slow off the snap, often ran straight into blockers playing almost a 2-gap type role, and provided what I would call "negative value" for most of this game. In Irvin's previous job, he didn't have to worry about the run and that allowed him to sell out against the pass. The only way that Irvin will have a worthwhile NFL career is if he can sell out as a pass rusher, and barring a revelatory transformation that just isn't happening in a 3 down role for him.

-Matt Ryan did an excellent job countering Seattle's blitz. Part of the reason Seattle lost the game was because they blitzed 5 players on Atlanta's first play during their final drive (a completion for over 20 yards). I love big balls Pete, and against a guy like Kaepernick I would applaud that choice, but against Ryan, that was a mistake from the very get go.

-I really hope Clemons pulls an AP and comes back 100% next year. Man, do they need him. I would fully support Seattle making a bold move this offseason to add a blue chip DE. If Seattle banks on Irvin as a full time LEO, they could be making a mistake that costs them championships. He NEEDS to be in a pure pass rush role. And again, this team just can't afford what Bryant costs them in the pass rush. The only way Bryant could be justified is if our 3-tech was putting up JJ Watt type numbers. Good luck finding that guy.

-Did I mention Russell Wilson is a stud? The greatest shame about this loss is that nobody will be talking about his epic performance.

-Seattle scored 0 points in the first half despite 193 yards of offense. After opening the game with a 3 and out, Seattle averaged almost 50 yards per drive on their remaining first half drives. Lynch didn't have a great day (it's tough to on a bad foot), but this offense was rolling despite that. My only criticism was Seattle not taking an intentional grounding on the final play of the 1st half. I actually called that out loud right before it happened, saying that if Wilson thinks he's going to take a sack, he NEEDS to throw the ball into the ground and take the penalty. Unfortunately, he didn't. And BTW, JR Sweezy (who was badly beaten for that sack) should not have been starting in these playoffs. Great player with a great future, but it's possible that one sack could have been the difference in the game today.

-GREAT season. The only thing that taints it is my nagging worry that our DE problem will become a lingering one that persists for years now that Clemons is in the situation he's in. Please prove me wrong Pete. The sooner you prove me wrong, the better. Do WHATEVER it takes. If they traded their entire draft but fixed the pass rush long term, I'd consider that a huge win.
 

Meeker

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kearly":cl8skg5n said:
-You kind of knew 31 seconds was enough time. At least I did. Wasn't actually that heartbreaking. More disappointing than heartbreaking.

Yeah, I really didn't want to score on that first down...ugh.
 

bellingerga

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I agree with most points. Im so dissapointed that I'm not sure I can come up with a fully thought out, intelligible comment to this so I will just say this: I really hope seahawk fans, once they calm down after this loss, begin to realize how amazing this season was, and how lucky we are to have Russell Wilson as the QB, and to have a team that can scrap it out with ANYONE IN THE LEAGUE PERIOD!
 

NJSeahawk

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Meeker":1qtp35es said:
kearly":1qtp35es said:
-You kind of knew 31 seconds was enough time. At least I did. Wasn't actually that heartbreaking. More disappointing than heartbreaking.

Yeah, I really didn't want to score on that first down...ugh.


Lol, me too. But we cant Madden that situation...cant whittle the clock and assume we get the score. We were able to stop the Patriots in this situation, we shouldve stopped the Falcons too. The D was gassed, and we overused them
 

Jazzhawk

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In retrospect, it probably would have been better to have Scruggs play in Clem's role and keep Irvin where he was. What can you do......

Agree that the Seahawks need Clemons back to begin the year.

Gotta improve the DE/DT rotation and develop a real pass rush for sure. Still need one more WR that can get open on every play.
 

FlyingGreg

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I also knew when they had time left our soft zone shit would kill us.

Agreed on the Bryant comment - it ain't working, Pete. We need massive improvement in our pass rush.

Irvin needs to put on a lot of muscle. He just gets manhandled too much.
 

Shadowhawk

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"My only criticism was Seattle not taking an intentional grounding on the final play of the first half."

Isn't there an 10-second runoff if you ground the ball in that situation? That would have ended the half anyway.
 

vin.couve12

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WindCityHawk":2isqawec said:
kearly":2isqawec said:
-You kind of knew 31 seconds was enough time.

This. And it speaks volumes about our defense.
Well, I kind of knew that Gus was going to go prevent. I had hoped not, but indeed that's what he did. I don't care to deviate from the norm in that situation. Many coaches go ultra conservative in that situation and many end up regretting it.
 

themunn

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kearly":34rjhzed said:
This will be pretty short. Busy day.

-Zach Miller and Russell Wilson were amazing. Nuff said.

-You kind of knew 31 seconds was enough time. At least I did. Wasn't actually that heartbreaking. More disappointing than heartbreaking.

I'd add Golden Tate to that.

And I wish they'd overturned our TD. Just one more play taking another 5 seconds off the clock would have been great, and with 3 goes to go from inches I'd actually be confident in "doing a Madden" and trying to not score on 2nd down either just to make sure
 

baumer64

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My two things I was most worried about going into the game was Tony Gonzales (and other drag routes across the middle) and our lack of pass rush. If we can get any pass rush whatsoever, Ryan doesn't complete those two passes. A consistent pass rush also gives you a better chance of taking away those short middle routes that kept getting 1st downs.
 

SE174

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Go get Osi Umenyiora. Let Tru go, and start Lane or draft a better corner in case Thurm can't stay healthy (hasn't proved that he can). Could also use an upgrade at guard.
 

rjdriver

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kearly":2bt23hre said:
This will be pretty short. Busy day.

-Zach Miller and Russell Wilson were amazing. Nuff said.

-You kind of knew 31 seconds was enough time. At least I did. Wasn't actually that heartbreaking. More disappointing than heartbreaking.

-Really proud of Seattle for very nearly completing the biggest road comeback in the Super Bowl era. I am MORE than happy with how this game turned out. Seattle kept it's streak alive of playing competitive 1 score games even in losses, and as late as the 4th quarter, that seemed like a pipe dream, much less winning the game.

-Russell Wilson is going to be wearing Superbowl rings on both hands when he retires.

-While I'm on the prediction front, Seattle will be 13-3 or better next season, and reach at least the NFCCG. This is not a "hot" team. This is a ridiculously good offense with an erratic but incredibly talented defense. They will do this week in and week out, and the only games they will lose will be road games where their defense plays perfectly unclutch. Which is not going to happen often.

-I really hope Carroll wakes up and realizes that the Red Bryant strategy just isn't worth it. It would be one thing if we had a brick wall run defense- but we don't.

-I don't care what Pete said to reporters, Bruce Irvin is hardly the "ideal" LEO. I like Irvin, but the team needs to be honest about his capabilities. Irvin is not built physically to defend against the run, and he doesn't have much talent for stopping the run either. You've probably heard the expression "selling out" to rush the passer? Well today, Irvin was selling out to stop the run, which he didn't really stop all that much. He was very slow off the snap, often ran straight into blockers playing almost a 2-gap type role, and provided what I would call "negative value" for most of this game. In Irvin's previous job, he didn't have to worry about the run and that allowed him to sell out against the pass. The only way that Irvin will have a worthwhile NFL career is if he can sell out as a pass rusher, and barring a revelatory transformation that just isn't happening in a 3 down role for him.

-Matt Ryan did an excellent job countering Seattle's blitz. Part of the reason Seattle lost the game was because they blitzed 5 players on Atlanta's first play during their final drive (a completion for over 20 yards). I love big balls Pete, and against a guy like Kaepernick I would applaud that choice, but against Ryan, that was a mistake from the very get go.

-I really hope Clemons pulls an AP and comes back 100% next year. Man, do they need him. I would fully support Seattle making a bold move this offseason to add a blue chip DE. If Seattle banks on Irvin as a full time LEO, they could be making a mistake that costs them championships. He NEEDS to be in a pure pass rush role. And again, this team just can't afford what Bryant costs them in the pass rush. The only way Bryant could be justified is if our 3-tech was putting up JJ Watt type numbers. Good luck finding that guy.

-Did I mention Russell Wilson is a stud? The greatest shame about this loss is that nobody will be talking about his epic performance.

-Seattle scored 0 points in the first half despite 193 yards of offense. After opening the game with a 3 and out, Seattle averaged almost 50 yards per drive on their remaining first half drives. Lynch didn't have a great day (it's tough to on a bad foot), but this offense was rolling despite that. My only criticism was Seattle not taking an intentional grounding on the final play of the 1st half. I actually called that out loud right before it happened, saying that if Wilson thinks he's going to take a sack, he NEEDS to throw the ball into the ground and take the penalty. Unfortunately, he didn't. And BTW, JR Sweezy (who was badly beaten for that sack) should not have been starting in these playoffs. Great player with a great future, but it's possible that one sack could have been the difference in the game today.

-GREAT season. The only thing that taints it is my nagging worry that our DE problem will become a lingering one that persists for years now that Clemons is in the situation he's in. Please prove me wrong Pete. The sooner you prove me wrong, the better. Do WHATEVER it takes. If they traded their entire draft but fixed the pass rush long term, I'd consider that a huge win.


I'll miss me some random thoughts Kearly. Sigh

Quick question for you....... Marshawn will be another year older next year. Any concerns about him deteriorating in the coming years, I know a lot of backs peak, then fall fast. I hope he isnt one of them. Turbin showed some great stuff today though. Was as effective as Beast.
 

Hawk n Load

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Great post.

Pete is flexible on a lot of things, but stays true to his fundamental principles and will not deviate from what he things is basic. The monster 5 tech and Leo combo is one of those, at least so far. I'd be surprised if Red or Irvin are in different spots next year (assuming Clemons isn't back right away).
 

ErikG803

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I love these so I'll read it all later when I'm in a better mood but after skimming it i just have to say YES, they really need to fix the Red Bryant situation. He is USELESS
 

morgulon1

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Im pissed but over it at the same time. Make sense? I'm proud of my team . The way they played this year, the way they fought, the way they never got punked. They are a lot farther at this point than I thought they'd be. I love this team.

Congrats....
 
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