In the midst all the excitement of the Bears win, and the playoff possibilities, I am quietly baffled by the performances of a few players that were playing awesome last year.

Red Bryant - It might just be because what I remember most was his amazing blocked kicks last year. Really if thats the only reason its nothing to fault him for, but he also just doesn't seem to be having the same impact as last year. I think he is a big reason why we are good at stopping the run, when we're good at stopping the run. Maybe this foot issue is a bigger deal than they are letting on? The Red Bryant I remember was a pass batting, run smashing, kick blocking, pick-6 fatman touchdown grabbing monster.

Doug Baldwin - This isn't meant to be a knock on Doug, and I know he is making a bit of a come back. I know its largely injury related, but he was a star last year. Kinda seems like Golden took over that role which i'm fine with. Hope he comes back to what he was, his performance in the Bears game was a good sign.

Steven Hauschka - He has missed 3 field goals this year. That might not sound that bad out of 19 attempts. That puts him at 16th among kickers for percentage made, middle of the pack, fine. But the real story I think is the kicks he never tried. He is 27th for field goals attempted, and I am suggesting this is because of Pete's (lack of) confidence in him. He made my list because I distinctly recall him being very reliable last year. I looked at his stats for last year, and they are only marginally better but still - something just doesn't feel right about him. Will we see a kicker drafted in the 6th/7th round to compete with Steven?

Earl Thomas - Earl was a pro-bowler and earned it. He is still a very good player. At least, that's what I keep telling myself after I see Jay Cutler juke his socks off. It was acceptable when Adrian Peterson did the same thing to him, but Jay Cutler? Maybe you can excuse that as him reacting to his BS penalty in the game before. Still, Earl seems a step back from last year and I don't really understand why. He is still a top-tier safety, but to my layman eyes it looks like he has missed quite a few tackles this season, and that's not good. He still seems just as FAST though. Ask Tannehill about that one.

Breno Giocamini - Oh Breno. Is your tiny helmet squeezing the blood out of your brain? Penalties. Penalties. Penalties. I believe someone had an entire post that was much more intelligent than anything I could come up with, so I won't go into detail other than to say I am highly dissapointed after I thought he came in as a backup last year and truly earned his starting spot. Why doesn't this guy get the simple stuff?

Other Mentions (I am to the point in the list where I don't want to put as much effort in and am trying to make it look like its by design. And, these guys weren't really playing awesome last year either, just worse than before)

Leroy Hill - This one is easy. He is another year older, another half step slower. Hes still a solid backup but time to hang it up as a starter.

Marcus Trufant - See Leroy Hill. Except, I think Trufant needs to hang it up all together. Love you Tru, business is business.

Feel free to add more that I might not have thought of.

Kam Chancellor. He's not in the right place at the right time for coverage. Does he even have any pass breakups this year ?

He's whiffing on a lot more tackles. He went for the home run against Forte, took a bad angle, and slipped down. Forte went for about 20 on that play. He's not run filling the same as he was, and he just seems a few steps slower. I really hope this changes.

I think he knows he's lagging, and he is pressing a lot more, which is making it harder for him.

Kam had a great day in run support despite that slip and dropping a pick. His pass coverage hasn't been so good tho.

_________________
GO HAWKS!!!

Visit my Seahawks blog at 17power.blogspot.com!

Follow me on Twitter at @17power

Good point on Earl and Kam.

Point being, we actually have very few players getting worse than better. One of the great things about being a young team.

I'm betting some of those guys are playing injured and just not telling anyone.

_________________

This...ET beens great in coverage. He's missed some tackles and dropped some INTs but I think he's been fine.

Marshawn...now before I get killed, he's been awesome this year. He just haven't had many of those big homerun runs as last year. That is all.

Marshawn had a career long 77 yard TD against the Lions...where have you been?

_________________
Legal Notice: Any references made by the online entity know as SacHawk 2.0 or "Sac" in regards to "Currystopstheruns" being a pre-op tranny with an anal tampon fetish are entirely accurate.

Refer to the part that I said "many of those big homerun runs". I'm well aware of the 77 yarder. Like I said, he's been awesome this year.

Then you may be incorrect

_________________

I'll agree with you. He is certainly not matching the unbelievable pace he set the 2nd half of last year.

With that said, his pace right now is just fine for me. I'll take it.

And about Thomas.

Guess it depends what you consider a "homerun" but Lynch already has as many 20+ yard runs this year as he had last year, and theres still 4 games left.

_________________
----

...and Red. Stats don't mean good plays. We suck against the run, but it hasn't been to his side. It has been up the middle and to Clems side.

Right but regardless Red just doesn't seam to be running around pissing lightning and crapping thunder like last year.

_________________

Lynch essentially got all of those "homeruns" in the last half of the year though.

Had most of his yards in the last half, but he only had 2 runs over 20 yards after week 8.

_________________
----

Well in fairness, yes we beat up the Ravens last year, but can you remember the second half of our schedule?

Rams x 2
Cardinals
49ers
Eagles
Redskins
Bears

Although the Bears looks like a tough game on paper, anyone that watched it knows they were just shocking that day. I'd expect Lynch to have success running against those teams - I think our O-Line blocked better towards the end of last year too.
Certainly, 9 of the teams we've faced are in the top 20 in rushing defense (4 in the top 10), so it's not been the easiest schedule in terms of rushing D

Why even mention Marshawn if you deem him "awesome"?

_________________
Wolf grey all day every day.

Regarding Baldwin, remember that his performance last year had plenty to do with the fact that Rice couldn't stay on the field, so his opportunities were up. This season, Rice has stayed healthy and Baldwin's been injured. The math is pretty clear.

_________________


Okay, so maybe that pass rush is still an issue. Lather, rinse, repeat.