It's All On Sam

[hox]

Sam's great when he protects the ball. That's all we need.

I'm starting to lean towards the opposite take. He's been a little too tentative / conservative since the first Rams game, trying to play it safe.

He needs to let it rip, especially if JSN or Shaheed is in a one-on-one situation down field. These DBs for the Rams can be beaten. Goff and Bryce Young lit them up.

A turnover downfield isn't the end of the world. It's basically like a punt, and our defense can be trusted to get Sam the ball back.

Of course it depends on the coverage. Rams played a lot of nickel and dime last time, daring the Hawks to run. Watch out for that robber safety sitting on routes as well; he can be beat on a double move over the top.

Be aggressive early. Don't play scared. Ground and pound with a lead late.

 

[rjdriver]

Sam's great when he protects the ball. That's all we need.

I’d mostly agree with this. However against an elite team, it requires a bit more. We need some TD’s. It’s evident that after the first Rams game , Sam was admonished to protect the ball at all costs. He has.

BUT

We don’t see him throwing into those tight windows like we did early on (which he was good at overall). This risk averse approach has affected our RZ TD efficiency in my opinion. It’s allowed us to game manage some victories against teams that struggle to score lately. The Rams can score though and they score TD’s in the red zone better than anyone.

Sam needs to find a balance. Not aggressively attacking their secondary would be a mistake. It should be a good game against the best team in football.

 

[ruffENrowdy]

I'm starting to lean towards the opposite take. He's been a little too tentative / conservative since the first Rams game, trying to play it safe.

He needs to let it rip, especially if JSN or Shaheed is in a one-on-one situation down field. These DBs for the Rams can be beaten. Goff and Bryce Young lit them up.

A turnover downfield isn't the end of the world. It's basically like a punt, and our defense can be trusted to get Sam the ball back.

Of course it depends on the coverage. Rams played a lot of nickel and dime last time, daring the Hawks to run. Watch out for that robber safety sitting on routes as well; he can be beat on a double move over the top.

Be aggressive early. Don't play scared. Ground and pound with a lead late.

This is pretty much what I was going to say. If he has a hell of a game tonight we are going to win the super bowl. If he can get his confidence back, man, watch out!

 

[SeahawkSteve80]

I don’t understand the comments saying this isn’t on Sam.

This is absolutely on Sam. You need to QB to play great, especially in tough divisional games. To say otherwise is foolish.

 

[NoGain]

He's not Me3, he gets through his reads plenty, it's when they aren't open
is where he's gotten in trouble, either by forcing it into coverage or taking
a sack when he could run it for a few or just throw it out of bounds.
He's been trying to do that lately, so I'm not worried about the lazy takes
from the outside.

That's just what Dan Orlovsky said this morning.

 

[SeahawkSteve80]

It’s all about the O-Line.

Yeah, because the O line needs to dissect the secondary, step up in the pocket, audible to the correct play with the clock ticking down.

What an insane comment

 

[pmedic920]

I don’t understand the comments saying this isn’t on Sam.

This is absolutely on Sam. You need to QB to play great, especially in tough divisional games. To say otherwise is foolish.

Well some are simply stating that poor QB performance can be a result of things out of the QBs control.

 

[Blazenhawks]

Well some are simply stating that poor QB performance can be a result of things out of the QBs control.

I think people are overlooking the play calling more. The play calling needs to be more short routes to get the ball out of Sam's hands. Not I'm not the best person because I don't watch film (not dedicated enough to do that) if short pass plays are being called and Sam is just freaking out (getting happy feet) then yes we do have a problem.

 

[SeahawkSteve80]

Well some are simply stating that poor QB performance can be a result of things out of the QBs control.

I don’t agree with that one bit. The QB is the general of the offense. His job is to put the offense, ie the players around him, in good positions.

If Sam does that and takes care of the ball, Seahawks win. If he doesn’t do any of that, the team loses. That simple.

 

[glenwo2]

Yeah, because the O line needs to dissect the secondary, step up in the pocket, audible to the correct play with the clock ticking down.

What an insane comment

If Sam is flat on his back because the OL can't protect him, can he dissect the secondary, step up in the pocket, audible to the correct play with the clock ticking down?

 

[SeahawkSteve80]

If Sam is flat on his back because the OL can't protect him, can he dissect the secondary, step up in the pocket, audible to the correct play with the clock ticking down?

View attachment 76504

Yes. It’s his responsibility to check into the appropriate play so he isn’t putting the O line in a position to hold up for long periods of time in pass protection.

 

[IndyHawk]

That's just what Dan Orlovsky said this morning.

Dan is one of those guys, he'll flip his opinion.
If you said Kurt Warner, I'd believe him more..

 

[pmedic920]

W

I don’t agree with that one bit. The QB is the general of the offense. His job is to put the offense, ie the players around him, in good positions.

If Sam does that and takes care of the ball, Seahawks win. If he doesn’t do any of that, the team loses. That simple.

Well you certainly don’t have to agree but let me simplify it.

QB tells receiver to run 10 yards and turn left.
Receiver runs 5 yards and turns right.

Pass incomplete or INT.

QB/OC called the play based on what the Defense was showing.

That’s not a QB deficiency, it’s not in his control.

Example 2
Offensive line all wiff on their assignments, QB gets sacked for 9 yard loss.
Not on QB

I could go on but that would be silly.

 

[SeahawkSteve80]

You need a QB to put the guys around him in good positions.

If Sam takes care of the ball, we win tonight, and we would’ve won last time. That’s why the QB is the highest paid player on the team.

 

[Jazzhawk]

It's not just the last game, though. It's how he ended the season with the Vikes last season, losing to Detroit for the top seed, and then to the Rams in the first round of the playoffs. It's how he lost both of our biggest games this season against the Rams and the 49ers. The national media is looking at all four of his biggest games the last two years where he is 0-4. So though the narrative may be lazy on some levels, it is rooted in these facts.

Sam has a chance to start changing that narrative tonight. It won't put an end to it, but it would be a start.

And the facts of those 2 Vikings games last year were that their O-Line stunk as well.

 

[NoGain]

I'm hoping that less than favorable weather, a loud and boisterous home crowd, a fiercely motivated team, a MM led killer D, and an avoidance of turnovers/mistakes will prove to be enough to pull out this one out. I've just got this feeling that our D is well schemed for this one, revved up, and can't wait to get after them. I think our D will prove to be the deciding factor tonight. But I'm often wrong.

 

[Blazenhawks]

W

Well you certainly don’t have to agree but let me simplify it.

QB tells receiver to run 10 yards and turn left.
Receiver runs 5 yards and turns right.

Pass incomplete or INT.

QB/OC called the play based on what the Defense was showing.

That’s not a QB deficiency, it’s not in his control.

Example 2
Offensive line all wiff on their assignments, QB gets sacked for 9 yard loss.
Not on QB

I could go on but that would be silly.

to be fair this response overall was silly and a bit condescending. lets not argue because at this point we know what this offense is and some of it is the o-line a lot is on the QB and the play calling.

 

[Trackhawk]

But it is all about Sam. And it will be about Sam tomorrow, absent some absurd game where he throws for 400yds, 4 TDs, and no INTs, and still manages to lose.

Even then it will be about Adam and how the team wasted his performance.

If he has an average game and wins, the narrative will be how he finally got the monkey off his back. Same game and loses, the narrative will be that he can’t win the big one.

And the narrative will be correct.

This is a QB centric league.

If Sam throws one less INT vs Rams, we likely win that game. Two less and we certainly win it. The rest of the team did their part. They did enough to give Sam a winning window to go through, and he failed.

Until he wins a big game, until he steps up and changes the story, the story will remain the same, and it will be correct.

 

[pmedic920]

to be fair this response overall was silly and a bit condescending. lets not argue because at this point we know what this offense is and some of it is the o-line a lot is on the QB and the play calling.

Was nothing more than a simplistic explanation based on your response of not agreeing “one bit”.

That’s a very absolute response wouldn’t you say?

In this response you suggest that you actually agree at least somewhat.

 

[Jac]

I think some of the Sam stuff is overblown. The Indy game was a big game regardless of who they had at QB and we engineered a game winning drive when he needed to. I think its weird that he had a bad two games ONE YEAR last year and the narrative is that he can never win, its lazy. Daniel Jeremiah when on with Brock and Salk said one of those two games Tom Brady at his best would've had a terrible game as it wasn't Sams fault. So we're down to one bad playoff game. Brady, Mahomes, Manning etc all of them have had bad playoff games. They did go out and win as well which Sam needs to do but this idea he's a massive hinderance is goofy to me. If the line does their job I have faith Darnold will too.

Even the Rams playoff game is overblown. He went 25/40 for 245 yards/1 touchdown/1 interception despite the Vikings jailbreak offensive line that game. On that, the Vikings fanbase continues to savage Kevin O'Connell for refusing to institute a short passing or run game. He did Darnold no favors that game by adjusting the offense to fend off the rush.