I loved this guy in college. He was a ball hawking freak. I could see him becoming one of the best safetys in the NFL...and a frequent visitor to the Probowl. Then with the addition of these awesome DB's i figured he would really shine. But so far he is real quiet snf kinda taking a backseat to the other Db's. Not complaining. I love the kid. But why do you think his ball hawking has dropped off. Even his tackle have seemed to drop off, and his int certainly did. I still see a recod year in his future. Just want other opinions as to why he is so quiet this season.

Seattle plays a lot of 2 man and cover 1. Meaning especially in 2 man under your not going deep against us. Quarterbacks will avoid the safetys zones when they have 1 - 1 matchup. Teams also know to avoid earl because they know he can make plays on the ball. What Seattle trys to do is play man cover 1 and 2 man to take everything deep away and force quarterbacks to beat tight press man coverage on the outside and line backers tight to the backs/tight ends... the disadvantages of playing man all the time is when you have Marcus trufant on anyone or a Leroy hill on anyone... In man coverage unless your revis offense every wins about 50% of the time... but when you get good man play from our guys like WT3 and Sherman and browner at times earls job is easy... LAST LINE OF DEFENSE

xCalibur wrote:I loved this guy in college. He was a ball hawking freak. I could see him becoming one of the best safetys in the NFL...and a frequent visitor to the Probowl. Then with the addition of these awesome DB's i figured he would really shine. But so far he is real quiet snf kinda taking a backseat to the other Db's. Not complaining. I love the kid. But why do you think his ball hawking has dropped off. Even his tackle have seemed to drop off, and his int certainly did. I still see a recod year in his future. Just want other opinions as to why he is so quiet this season.

Ball hawking hasnt dropped off, only thing thats dropped for Earl is those INT's he's almost had.

feels like the ball is rarely in the air near ET. he just isnt given the opportunities to pick off passes

He makes a lot of tackles and is all over the place on passing downs, you just don't notice it because there haven't been the turnovers. He's a monster on hitting runners that break through and when the ball is thrown deep, he's there closing in on it and backing up his DBs. Without him, they couldn't play press the way they do. But because he's so fast, they can take chances and the QB doesn't dare throw the ball if Earl is in his line of sight because he will get there. Go check out his stats, they will tell you more than your eyes.

ivotuk wrote:He makes a lot of tackles and is all over the place on passing downs, you just don't notice it because there haven't been the turnovers. He's a monster on hitting runners that break through and when the ball is thrown deep, he's there closing in on it and backing up his DBs. Without him, they couldn't play press the way they do. But because he's so fast, they can take chances and the QB doesn't dare throw the ball if Earl is in his line of sight because he will get there. Go check out his stats, they will tell you more than your eyes.

Exactly. Earl is the oil that keeps the engine running.

He is one of the top 2 or 3 in the game at the moment, only getting better too.

Teams gameplan with him in mind.

They should nickname him , Zoom or something.

The guy is just flying around ...

when coaches and players vote he WILL be in the probowl

if we count all the drops he had this year he has ATLEAST 5 interceptions .. and i may be shortin him a few.

better to not hear about him....means he's not getting beat

Sherman is the best player on defense and it isn't close best corner in the game right now.

Like DJ said, its a good thing you dont ever hear anything from him. Why do you think teams continue to throw the ball Shermans way? They have no other choice.

Throwdown wrote:

xCalibur wrote:I loved this guy in college. He was a ball hawking freak. I could see him becoming one of the best safetys in the NFL...and a frequent visitor to the Probowl. Then with the addition of these awesome DB's i figured he would really shine. But so far he is real quiet snf kinda taking a backseat to the other Db's. Not complaining. I love the kid. But why do you think his ball hawking has dropped off. Even his tackle have seemed to drop off, and his int certainly did. I still see a recod year in his future. Just want other opinions as to why he is so quiet this season.

Ball hawking hasnt dropped off, only thing thats dropped for Earl is those INT's he's almost had.

This is so true. He's had more balls off his fingertips this year than I can recall seeing from any single player. A lot of people would look at this solely and think he's lost something, but honestly, some of those balls, I've seen Earl come literally out of nowhere (by this I mean not visible at all on the tv screen) to come zooming in and almost pick a ball off or grab a batted pass. The man has serious wheels and plays all over the field. Couple this with the fact that teams know he's much better at pass protection, where Kam is much better at run protection, and you see more throws in Kam's area of the field (as far as safeties are concerned). It may be just a perception, but you also don't see as many deep throws against us as you might against other teams. We get a little soft in the short to mid range throws and these are not in Thomas' area of the field, although if you watch through the entire play, at the end you will almost always see him around the ball.

I have absolutely no complaints about Earl.

How many of our picks this year come when the other team is in the red zone? I'm getting to the point where I don't mind if the other team drives down the field because Thomas gets more freed up by not playing deep and magic happens. Definitely another Pro Bowl year for Earl.

Earl Thomas is so fast in his pursuit on defending the pass , or blitzing the qb and in run defense.

sometimes it seems as if he were slower he would have more interceptions , but im very proud of Earl . remember the dude is 23 years old

General Manager wrote:Sherman is the best player on defense and it isn't close best corner in the game right now.

I agree ... Sherman is a legitimate lock down corner. The guy is so much fun to watch. He brings a ton of intensity, and swag/ confidence to this defense. The defensive line knows they have the best DB's in football behind them, which is why they never give up on getting to the QB.

Uffda wrote:He is one of the top 2 or 3 in the game at the moment, only getting better too.

Teams gameplan with him in mind.

They should nickname him , Zoom or something.

The guy is just flying around ...

They absolutely do gameplan for Earl. As was mentioned by another poster, he simply does not get thrown at very much. Same goes with Kam.

To start Thomas's career, QBs would throw deep, thinking Thomas couldn't get there. The word is now out on his range, and QBs are figuring out to keep it away from Earl. Even Brady commented on how he coudln't believe Thomas's range and closing speed.

That said, he's still getting his opportunities, but he's dropped a few this year. I'm also impressed with how hard he hits, since he's actually a pretty small guy. Kid brings it with every play.

Earl hasn't dropped off, he isn't a big talker, he lets Sherm and Browner do that. Kam is quiet too. ET is EVERYWHERE and very dangerous.

In fact, if for some reason, the Hawks have to play games with both Browner and Sherman out, the secondary is still VERY good with WT3, Kam and ET out there. Maybe one of the young ones steps in and makes a name for himself, but ET is still doing his job. He has dropped a few INTs, but he is always seeming to be in the play.

DBs are a weird position. The good ones get lots of stats and what not but the truly elite DBs (both corners and safeties) just don't even get thrown at. Revis will never lead the league in interceptions but no-one will ever throw at him.

Elite DBs effect the game by just being on the field. Thomas is an elite safety

Wow, thx guys...this was very informative and i see now what you mean. It is like just being on the field he makes us a better defense because no one wants to put the ball near him. So he is making everyone around him better. Great replys. thx a lot....i smell playoffs, and yes, i have to say even a division title

Late add to this one, ET's tackles might be down a bit this year due to the improvement in our LB corps. KJ and Bobby are making the stops before they get to ET's level. IMHO you WANT your MLB to have more tackles than your FS.