Expectations & Perspective (long one-enter at your own risk)

Smoke

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49er, I understand your point, my honest question is what number in the draft were a lot of those 3 and 4 th rounders taken? Picking 3rd in the 4th round for years on end will tend to let a team hit on there picks with higher frequency, not to take anything away from the 9ers defensive drafting, it has been impeccable, which is a lot easier when you are at the top of each round.
 

Hawkadeus

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49fansince70":16rqeyss said:
Hawkadeus":16rqeyss said:
Why do we have so many 49ers fans posting on here in the middle of the night, feeling the need to respond to every mention of their team? Really weird how close so many of them pay attention to this site.

Interesting approach. Don't attack the argument, which is clearly irrefutable, attack the poster with hyperbole. Well played, Sir, well played!

I could care less about your point. Sorry, Charlie. I was commenting on the fact that I read 3 different 49er fan posts in a course of 5 minutes all made by different posters in the middle olf the night on a week when we dont play your team. It's just strange how many of you monitor our site. And comical how you guys make your presence known in weeks after wins, but very less so after losses. ;)
 

volsunghawk

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FlyingGreg":fznw4fzx said:
But here we are...looking at 10-6/11-5 if some things go REALLY well but certainly 9-7 at the least, I would suspect. Considering all of the above factors, is that a travesty? A lot of people want to contrast us with the 49ers, but we are not on the same point of the rebuild arc as San Francisco is. The 49ers are loaded with upper-level talent because they were bad for a long time and collected a lot of top draft picks that enabled them to draft the cornerstones of their team. The Seahawks, however, are usually in that middle-of-the-road status and have not had the same ability to ascend as quickly (IMO). This by know means is meant to take a shot at the 49ers - I give them credit for building that team, but let's be fair - they have had a LOT of ammunition to do it. The decade of poor performance before Harbaugh arrived was fertile ground for them to acquire the likes of Alex Smith, Frank Gore, Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree, Patrick Willis and Aldon Smith.

Just wondering aloud, boys and girls...fire away.

Great post, Greg. And one other thing should be noted. We haven't had the same access to top draft picks as the 49ers have over the years, but even absent that fact, we have to recognize that we had a stretch where the drafts just turned out terribly. Sure, they might have looked okay on first glance, but there was a lot of drop-off. Holmgren's drafts continually left our defense struggling. Ruskell landed us Tatupu and Hill early on, and that seemed to buy him a lot of rope from fans (myself included). But after that first draft, there were a TON of picks that never really panned out (especially in the 1st round). So when Carroll and company took over, that was one bare cupboard they inherited.

And that seems to be a wrinkle that gets glossed over by people who are flabbergasted by how long the rebuild is taking. They'll point to quick turnarounds by this or that team, but fail to consider that those quick turnarounds often had to do with adding a couple of key players and/or adding new leadership. Those quick turnarounds NEVER involved the level of roster turnover and culture change that have occurred and are occurring in Seattle. Considering how young our roster is, and how Carroll and Schneider have really torn this thing down and started from scratch, the Seahawks could almost be considered an expansion club in some ways. We had some veteran leadership in 2010 help us transition into the new regime, but nearly all of it departed over the course of the next two years. Now, out of the guys on the team, only 8 pre-date Carroll/Schneider (Obomanu, Unger, Morrah, Bryant, Mebane, Hill, Tru, Ryan). It's like we've gone from a tricycle to a bike with training wheels, and now we've finally taken the training wheels off and we're starting to learn how to really ride. Racing comes next (yeah, I know, weird metaphor, but it's early).
 
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FlyingGreg

FlyingGreg

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49fansince70":i2ld89sl said:
I think we can all agree that the 49ers offense is at best mediocre, the core of the team is the defense. The players on defense were obtained as follows:

SS Donte Whitner: FA
FS Dashon Goldson: 4th round 2007
CB Carlos Rogers: FA
CB Tarrell Brown: 5th round 2007
ILB Patrick Willis 1st round 2007
ILB NaVorro Bowman: 3rd round 2010
OLB Ahmad Brooks: FA
OLB Aldon Smith 1st round 2011
DT Ray McDonald: 3rd round 2007
DT Sopoaga: 4th round 2004
DT Justin Smith: FA

Noteworthy subs:
CB Chris Culliver: 3rd round 2011
OLB Larry Grant: 7'th round 2008
DT Rickey Jean Francoi 7'th round 2009 (backup DT/DE)

So it's mostly 3'rd and 4'th rounders, Free Agents, and two rather exceptional 1st round picks. Most of the 1st round picks were used on offense, which really hasn't worked out. So I'm not sure I'm buying into this whole 'decade of suckage resulted in top-5 team' thing (technically, it's more like 6 years of suckage, as far as players on the current roster). And from the Seahawks point of view, I can't condone using past success as a reason for current failure. Lots of teams, like the Pats, Steelers, NYG seem to keep it going year after year.

No, you don't get to leave out Alex Smith (1st overall pick), Vernon Davis (6th overall pick) and Michael Crabtree (10th overall pick) just because it waters down your argument. That's exactly the point - the Seahawks rarely draft in the top-10 overall, and we have NEVER had a #1 overall pick.

And this is why I said "this by know means is meant to take a shot at the 49ers - I give them credit for building that team". But the facts are the facts, twist them as you will - the 49ers have been much worse overall since 2002 (including a 2-14 record, a 4-12 record, and a 5-11 record) than the Seahawks and the result was it put themselves in the position to draft the cornerstones. It's funny that 49ers fans want to jump up and down with how good your team is now but you ignore how you were able to build it -- by being bad.

FYI, this is a thread about the Seahawks and not the 49ers.
 
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Great post, Greg! That kind of perspective DOES help. Sunday's loss really ached for a little while.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel of this rebuild, and it's approaching fast.

--I love seeing RW improve each week, and I feel GOOD with him at the helm.

--I love having a tough, physical team that can actually intimidate opponents. In particular, when our DBs get a lick on the opponent's WR's or TE's early in a game, it actually sets up the 'hearing footsteps' incompletions in the following quarters.

--Penalties have gone way down lately...especially the STUPID ones. These guys can be taught.

--RW learns from his mistakes. Hopefully the coaching staff can too and continue to tighten up weak areas and explore other approaches to problematical situations (3rd and long on defense, and 3rd and anything on offense).


I don't feel there is 'wait till next year'. I feel like good things are happening this year, with some good progress and a legit shot at playoff contention. I also feel that next year it's safe to expect playoff contention with a legit shot at the Super Bowl, based on how this team is tracking and how well drafts are going with JS/PC.
 

Sarlacc83

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Great post Greg.

Though I'm getting a weird sense of a deja vu. It's almost like I've seen all these points made before...
 

Blitzhawk

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Great post Greg (x2 including response to whiner trolls).

Only think I would add is I do not think the defense has regressed, as someone else mentioned, as much as opposing O coordinators have identified a "chink in the armour" so to speak. The last couple weeks teams have found that soft underbelly of ours to work and we seem to be having trouble plugging the hole. I hope the coaches figure it out soon and/or the players improve in that area soon. Worst case I guess would be get it fixed in offseason via draft/fa but I pray they can shore it up much sooner or could be a really long season.

I think the issue lies in the youth/inexperience of our LBers but the coaches may need to figure some other way/scheme to help them for awhile. I also think we could use more help/depth in our pass rush (esp the middle) but that will probably have to wait for the offseason.

I agree 100% with your assessment regarding the WR's. I think they have done all they could to "bandaid" the position while building the rest of the team and that this year we will be snagging playmakers via draft.
 

AbsolutNET

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49fansince70":1gk923eu said:
Hawkadeus":1gk923eu said:
Why do we have so many 49ers fans posting on here in the middle of the night, feeling the need to respond to every mention of their team? Really weird how close so many of them pay attention to this site.

Interesting approach. Don't attack the argument, which is clearly irrefutable, attack the poster with hyperbole. Well played, Sir, well played!

He's right. This is a Seahawks forum and that's who we are here to talk about. Go somewhere else to talk about your team instead of bringing them up in threads that have nothing to do with them.
 

Reaneypark

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Some things to remember: This team was built to compete at the Clink.

Winning on the road in the NFL is hard no matter what and we still have a young team that doesn't seem to know how to bring the same energy on the road, especially on D.

The magic number is 10-6. I doubt we're going to catch San Fran, so honestly, we want them to keep beating NFC teams to help with our Wild Card chances.

Let's hope the learning curve accelerates and we can get on a roll heading into the playoffs. I think we could be a very tough team to beat, especially if we play outdoor playoff games.
 
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