Random Thoughts™ on the Bills game

Just in case it hasn't been mentioned, C.J. Spiller is ridiculously fast. It seemed like there were multiple cases of a defender looking like he had a good angle on him, and then suddenly Spiller was past him.

This was an interesting game, and really an interesting day of football. It felt like the closest, nailbiting 50-point blowout I've ever watched. I think partially because of the 10 points the Bills put up, rather with ease, just before the half. Even though they were still down big, it felt like they could come back and close the gap quickly, forcing us to rely on an offense we're not used to being so potent to score big points again. Coupled with wins by the Packers and especially the 49ers, it felt a lot more like a Pyrrhic victory than it should have. It wasn't, but it felt like it. A lot.

The 49er victory last night really took the sails out of next week's game. Yea, it's still a "win and we're in" scenario against a division foe, but it feels far less impactful knowing we're probably not playing for the outright division title. Sure, the Cardinals could pull out a victory the last week of the season, but it's not likely. And it's not even likely we'll win next week either. They're a pretty damned good team, and it'll be a real fight to win it. I just hope the 12th Man is as fired up about it as they could have been following a 49er loss.

I think in part what scares me so much about that is this new Seahawks offense. They have looked unbelievable the past few weeks. Taken great strides forward. They look more like the Patriots than the Cardinals, as Kip said earlier here. And that's what's a bit scary. It's hard to believe that's the case, with a brand new, unexpectedly talented rookie quarterback at the helm. It's new territory for us. We haven't had that happen to us before, this drafting a superstar quarterback, and it takes a little getting used to. We keep waiting for the letdown, that previously inevitable feeling that we knew our great fortune just couldn't last.

Still, it's been an incredible year - a year full of shoulda woulda coulda's. But that's exactly what year three should look like. I'm stoked for the future, and still cautiously optimistic for this postseason.

Yeah Spiller is a bawse. Too bad he's completely wasted in buffalo. Like a less atrocious version of a decade of wasting barry sanders in detroit.

kearly":3y8n7mph said:

Seattle's offense is beginning to look almost unstoppable. Seattle's offense was already very good when it relied on Wilson as a passer, but the dual threat of Lynch-Wilson on read option just isn't fair to defenses. Wilson did not run much read option in college but like everything else he's picked it up quickly and his ability to execute a play has always been one of his biggest strengths. Seattle did not punt until there was a minute remaining before halftime, and by then Seattle had already amassed well over 300 yards of offense and 31 points.

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Overall the offense did OK, but the OL actually remains a liability. RW continues to be forced to run for his life every other play. First possession was a sack. Once they beef up that OL, 300+ yards passing would then be routine for RW. I have no problem with RW throwing on the run, but it hurts his game to be forced to do so so frequently. If we had a QB other than the elusive and quick-thinking RW, we'd be watching ugly sack-o-ramas.

kearly":3y8n7mph said:

It's also a bummer that Colin Kaepernick is growing up before our eyes and could make the NFC West extremely challenging for a decade to come. I never thought I'd say that a weekend with a 50-17 win would be a tough weekend, but yeah, it kind of was.

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If Seattle had offensive linemen like SF's, they would be putting up 400+ yards/game in the air. Seems to me that SF's line is so good just about any QB could notch a 90+ QB rating behind it.

We can still get a home playoff game..

A few thoughts - Chicago was blowing out crappy teams early in the year... The offense is clicking but the Arizona score was a result of turnovers so I hope people don't look at the 108 points and say we have the most potent offense in the NFL....... We are definately miles ahead of where we were to start the season but personally I can't wait to go up against the 49ers to find out what we really have.

49ers - I think I prefer the possible turnovers that comes with Kapernick starting over Alex Smith going over the middle again and again and again against us. I think with Kap we will see more possesions (faster scoring / faster to 3 and out / faster turnovers) compared to the slow moving the ball across the field scoring that we saw in the first game. I think the way this Seahawks team is right now that benefits us and I rather see 49ers take shots against our secondary than short slant routes. I also rather see RW with the ball in his hand more than 4 times in the second half.......

49ers lost to Minnesota, Rams (1 1/2 times) and the Giants. They are going to put a rookie up against the Arizona defense that can be good. They will probably win the game because the 49ers offense will score 21pts on interceptions but if that somehow doesn't happen it is a game that the 49ers can loose. I put their chances at 70-30 in that game. I think it is very easy for them to be looking ahead to the playoffs.

The division is still in play 2 weeks to go. This is a lot better than not even being in the playoff picture or relying on others to get into the playoffs.......

What's scary is, if we have a draft somewhere between 2011 and 2010 in success, think of how good the team will be.

Hard to beat last year's just based on finding a franchise QB in the 3rd round. Add a starting potential Pro Bowl MLB, a starting caliber RB for a backup, and some good role players and secondary depth, and it was a good draft.

If we added a dominant interior OLman and a dominant WR, we could truly be sick.

cj spiller is a boss, I wanted the Seahawks to draft him. Thanks again kearly for the postgame writeup!

Lamenting the importance of next weeks game because the 9ers had a great win is crazy! No one seriously thought this would start getting easier, did they?

This upcoming game is still huge. I can't wait to not have my stream crash at a critical time.

Ruminator":20nmdcl0 said:

kearly":20nmdcl0 said:

Seattle's offense is beginning to look almost unstoppable. Seattle's offense was already very good when it relied on Wilson as a passer, but the dual threat of Lynch-Wilson on read option just isn't fair to defenses. Wilson did not run much read option in college but like everything else he's picked it up quickly and his ability to execute a play has always been one of his biggest strengths. Seattle did not punt until there was a minute remaining before halftime, and by then Seattle had already amassed well over 300 yards of offense and 31 points.

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Overall the offense did OK, but the OL actually remains a liability. RW continues to be forced to run for his life every other play. First possession was a sack. Once they beef up that OL, 300+ yards passing would then be routine for RW. I have no problem with RW throwing on the run, but it hurts his game to be forced to do so so frequently. If we had a QB other than the elusive and quick-thinking RW, we'd be watching ugly sack-o-ramas.

kearly":20nmdcl0 said:

It's also a bummer that Colin Kaepernick is growing up before our eyes and could make the NFC West extremely challenging for a decade to come. I never thought I'd say that a weekend with a 50-17 win would be a tough weekend, but yeah, it kind of was.

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If Seattle had offensive linemen like SF's, they would be putting up 400+ yards/game in the air. Seems to me that SF's line is so good just about any QB could notch a 90+ QB rating behind it.

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whoa! I thought I was hard on them. They aren't a liability. Are they perfect in pass pro? No, but they are getting better even with the guards rotating with Carpenter out. Outside of the Miami game they've been very good, sometimes even dominant in run blocking. Can they get some more talent, absolutely, and I would love the picks. However I have backed off dramatically on the need of drafting o line because their play has gotten better as time goes on.

Ruminator":13dllab0 said:

Overall the offense did OK, but the OL actually remains a liability. RW continues to be forced to run for his life every other play. First possession was a sack. Once they beef up that OL, 300+ yards passing would then be routine for RW. I have no problem with RW throwing on the run, but it hurts his game to be forced to do so so frequently. If we had a QB other than the elusive and quick-thinking RW, we'd be watching ugly sack-o-ramas.

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Giving up a couple sacks on creative pass rush plays does not mean our line sucks. I agree with you that our skill players help make our line look better than it really is, but still, our line ranked 3rd in run blocking and 16th in pass protection before the Bills game. We have a good line, and I think it's time Seahawks fans start giving it the credit it deserves. Without their terrific run blocking, we wouldn't have the balance on offense which allows Russell Wilson to be such a fantastic difference maker.

That's no knock on Wilson, but in college he had a HUGE boost his senior year when being paired with Wisconsin's line and Montee Ball. It's a very similar situation here in Seattle. Point guards at the QB position like Wilson are enablers and ball distributors. Some QBs are gloryhogs and other QBs are just facilitators who look great because they make their teammates play better. Wilson is the latter type, with the talent level of the former type. The threat of Lynch and our great run blocking has made Wilson deadly in read option, which has helped him out as a passer as well.

Or to put it another way, Wilson's role on this type of offense is to open up the running game by forcing defenses to respect other threats. He's done an outstanding job of that. In the last two games, Seattle has 554 yards rushing, which is pretty mindblowing when you remember that Seattle took their starters out for about 3 quarters between those two games.

We don't have an elite line, but for the offense we run, there are only a handful of lines in the league I would trade our line for (SF's being one of them). If we had the same line the 2010 team had, this offense would be a huge mess. Remember, that offense had Lynch too and couldn't run the ball to save it's life most games.

Scottemojo":13dllab0 said:

And Kip, i wonder if you share a thought with me on this: I never expected the surgical feel of the offense in the last two games. I think we have had a glimpse of the future here in the last two weeks. There is going to come a time when Wilson has full control of the offense, the kind of control Brady has, and Seattle will have a top 5 offense. We aren't there yet, right now we are gutting bad teams, but I can see it now.

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I put a lot of stock into football outsiders numbers and they already see a top 5 offense in Seattle, and that's even when factoring the games earlier this season.

I agree though, the execution on offense has taken it to a new level in the last two weeks. Almost Patriot like, if the Patriots were capable of rushing for 550+ yards over two games.

mikeak":13dllab0 said:

A few thoughts - Chicago was blowing out crappy teams early in the year... The offense is clicking but the Arizona score was a result of turnovers so I hope people don't look at the 108 points and say we have the most potent offense in the NFL....... We are definately miles ahead of where we were to start the season but personally I can't wait to go up against the 49ers to find out what we really have.

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True, but Seattle averaged over 8 yards per play yesterday. That's insanely good. Their yards per play against Arizona was also very high.

quadsas":13dllab0 said:

We can still get a home playoff game..

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I think the Lakers have a better shot at getting a top 4 seed at this point. We really needed the Patriots to win that game, because Arizona has about as good a chance to beat SF in week 17 as they did of beating Seattle last week when the Seahawks destroyed them 58-0. That reminds me, the Patriots went 1-3 vs. the NFC West this year and are currently 9-1 against everyone else. Go figure.

kearly":2ailpoqd said:

-Pete Carroll scrambled to tell reporters after the game that his fake punt while nursing a 30 point lead was a case of forgetting to change a predetermined play. I trust Pete, but this strikes me as a little hard to believe. I played the game at two levels and I never really bought into the sportsmanship thing. These are grown, tough men. It's not something worth being offended by. That said, this was clearly poor sportsmanship if done intentionally. And I think I'd rather believe that Pete is a poor sport than a guy who doesn't even know what play his team is running. Either way, it's nothing worth caring about, although it will probably effect his image in the national media.

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I don't find it hard to believe at all. What Pete said was that it was part of the game plan, based on a certain look the Bills could give, and if they gave it, would automatically be the call.

Remember when Sherman had his Sack? Not really a different thing ... The team was coached to do what they did if they saw a particular formation being lined up. The one difference being Sherman was taking his cue from camp, and the fake punt was part of something practiced in the week specifically for the Bills.

Good observation madbohem.

For whatever reason, it's really hard for us to accept. We're all clamoring for reasons why the Hawks offense ISN'T elite. Maybe it’s because it’s a rookie QB, maybe because Pete's a defensive coach, maybe due to the opposition, but we need to come to grips with it.

It's not hard for me to accept. I'm honestly 0% surprised by Wilson's success. If I could give a negative percentage I would, because I thought he'd be this good in week 1. I was the guy talking up our WR/TE group when everyone thought they sucked earlier this year. I was defending Bevell when he was getting bashed after every loss. I'm the guy talking up our O-line right now. I think it's time Seahawks fans trust their eyes and forget about past history. This is nothing like any Seahawks offense we've ever had before.

kearly":29ho48s2 said:

It's not hard for me to accept. I'm honestly 0% surprised by Wilson's success. If I could give a negative percentage I would, because I thought he'd be this good in week 1. I was the guy talking up our WR/TE group when everyone thought they sucked earlier this year. I'm the guy talking up our O-line right now. I think it's time Seahawks fans trust their eyes and forget about past history. This is nothing like any Seahawks offense we've ever had before.

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I should've prefaced that statement with "sans Kearly". And agree, wholeheartedly with the above.

You deserve ALOT of credit for being a respected blogger/writer AND letting your enthusiasm show. Most people in your sitation are too afraid of being wrong to show such enthusiasm. That's why I'm currently outside your window, blasting "In your eyes" via an I-Pod, wearing only a sock and a snug breathe-rite strip.

HawkHack":3ebi5gdv said:

Our zone read options is killer right now. RW is so good at selling the thing he doesn't do. If you watch his college tape, you see the same thing.

I hope it will last a few more games. One of the criticisms of a "fast" D is typically that they overpursue, and the Hawks have been guilty of that. Can we get SF's "fast" D to overpursue on the zone reads?

I hope we keep Clemons. He's the most disruptive part of our D line.

Finally, I love when the refs let teams play. The game is just so much better. Thanks, guys. No, seriously.

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did you catch Howie Long on the halftime show. talking about how his boys played against rw in high school, and he played exactly the same way.

I may be misunderstanding it, but I think the fake punt is an on field decision based on what coverage the players saw. So while Pete says it's his fault, he'd probably have had to call a time out to stop it from being run.

i'm not even going to read anymore posts in this thread.
Simply because putting up 50 points in a game for 2 games..
We either have a good offense or a good defense.. but yet this thread seems littered with OK offense and bad defense..

To me... its been the best season I can remember as a fan... and even if it ends tomorrow it was worth every single penny of my season tix all 4 of em

pehawk":1pnn7myw said:

kearly":1pnn7myw said:

It's not hard for me to accept. I'm honestly 0% surprised by Wilson's success. If I could give a negative percentage I would, because I thought he'd be this good in week 1. I was the guy talking up our WR/TE group when everyone thought they sucked earlier this year. I'm the guy talking up our O-line right now. I think it's time Seahawks fans trust their eyes and forget about past history. This is nothing like any Seahawks offense we've ever had before.

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I should've prefaced that statement with "sans Kearly". And agree, wholeheartedly with the above.

You deserve ALOT of credit for being a respected blogger/writer AND letting your enthusiasm show. Most people in your sitation are too afraid of being wrong to show such enthusiasm. That's why I'm currently outside your window, blasting "In your eyes" via an I-Pod, wearing only a sock and a snug breathe-rite strip.

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And I'm beside him eating a bagel.