MontanaHawk05
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- May 1, 2009
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Sometimes it just doesn't work out.
I hate that phrase. It's just so frustratingly helpless. There's no one thing you can fix, no one strategy you can appropriate. That's what makes up the bulk of forum posts these days...the search for the one magic bullet. It's on Bevell. It's on the offensive line. It's on Wilson. It's on the defense. Everyone's trying to distill the problems down to one factor, even trying to create tie-ins where none exist. Because that offers hope. If it's just one thing to fix, it'll be a quicker fix, without an agonizing years-long wait.
But sometimes, through events beyond your control, it just doesn't work out.
The season is not mathematically over for the Seahawks, but let's face some facts. We are currently down three games in the NFC West...the NFC West...with the Cardinals looking decidedly unimpressed by the Lions at the moment. Max Unger is down again with a gruesome injury. Brandon Mebane and Zach Miller are already gone. We are, courtesy of our recent Super Bowl win, playing the league's toughest schedule. And Russell Wilson's go-to tight end in the passing game is Cooper Helfet.
Mathematically possible is not the same as realistic.
I want to say that I loved the spirit with which the Seahawks closed the game. They still fight with fire and spunk right down to the 60th minute, just as they did in Pete Carroll's first season with the team. They believe in themselves. They always give themselves a chance. Most impressive was the way they answered the big KC return followed by Lockette's ejection, a potentially devastating chain of events. They turned right around and delivered a counterblow, grabbing a crucial turnover. Trading punches all day. And because of that attitude, it will remain dangerous to underestimate the Seahawks.
But...Cooper Helfet?
I was the guy last year who predicted a Super Bowl win with my 10,000th post. I was correct. I consider that post my greatest accomplishment as an amateur Seahawks writer/blogger, much better than anything I've put on my pittance of a blog. But too much has changed since then, albeit in subtle ways. It's not as if there's been a major collapse. But between injury and attrition quietly chipping away at Seattle's season, we've suddenly found ourselves on the outside of the playoff picture, looking in. A slow fade, which your eyes don't fully register until it's might be too late.
Thoughts on today's game.
1. Passing game. Much more effective than last week, although last week was the least effective in Wilson's career. Today, our receiving corps came to play. Tough catches from everyone involved. Agonizingly, the difference in the game was (amongst other things) Jermaine Kearse's end-zone drop on a hardy but catchable pass. It's hard to hate Kearse for it, but it's also hard to resist the thought that Kelvin Benjamin would have caught it. And a lot of other passes. Ones that Wilson never threw because he knows he has no weapons tall enough to go up and get them.
Nevertheless, some plays were there. Darell Bevell seemingly remembered this thing called the slant today. He also eased up on the screens...a bit. Russell Wilson noticeably shook off his accuracy issues and didn't rely so much on his legs, perhaps in part because Kansas City's secondary was a little suspect. Willson and Kearse were game. Norwood and Lockette...still on a milk carton. (Well, not Lockette, unfortunately.) And those are the backup options who should be taking pressure off Baldwin and Kearse.
I have to confess I'm getting green with envy watching guys like Kelvin Benjamin and Odell Beckham. Is it possible that Pete Carroll and John Schneider need to quit worrying so much about scheme fit and just grab a guy who can validate jump balls? It would change so much back in the pocket. Our WR corps is to the point where we don't need to be picky to find someone who will boost us.
Does anyone really look at this receiving corps and see dynamic matchup winners? I mean, really? What we're seeing right now is probably the absolute xenith of the Seattle Sub-6'2" Show.
Refreshing alternate explanation for our passing struggles: Russell Wilson shows every sign of a QB who doesn't trust his receivers. He's naturally conservative, but why make risky throws if the defenders out-reach your receivers? He was more calm in the pocket today, and he had more pockets today than ever. But since he didn't take advantage, all that does is suggest that either he can't see his progressions, or that nobody's getting open. It might be time to conclude that he's simply not a natural pocket passer, and that we must accept a scheme built around what he IS good at. But a tall, reliable receiver is transcendent of scheme. It changes things. And Pete and John have been looking for one. He's elusive.
Another area that's starting to concern me is the scramble drill. Doug Baldwin's fire and effort on every play is unquestionable, but I wonder about the rest. Too many times, when FOX flashes its alternate views of a play, you see Wilson's targets slowing down and JOGGING after their initial route is finished. Has anyone noticed this? They're not breaking deep when a play goes awry like Sidney Rice did. They're not frantically working the field trying to give him an opening. That's dismaying. It's a huge blessing that Wilson constantly keeps his head up looking for a throw when he scrambles, but Rice was a lot better at giving him those chances than anyone else we currently have - so much that defenders are starting to ignore those little pump fakes he does to slow down pursuers. I noticed that today.
2. Running game. Carroll and Schneider need to be thinking hard about which evil they would rather swallow: the off-the-field "antics" of Marshawn Lynch (tame antics by some teams' standards) or the total excision of their identity as an offense. I don't see how anyone in the Seahawks' backfield replaces Lynch. Or anyone in the 2015 draft. Or anyone in free agency. Or any NFL player in the next 30 years. Lynch is that good. I don't think anyone is going to debate that. I know Rob Staton is in love with Melvin Gordon, but come on...this is Marshawn Lynch.
Robert Turbin and Christine Michael were oddly absent today. Up until now, I've interpreted Carroll's repeated usage of them in one of two ways: a) spelling Lynch or b) hoping to discover a feature back for the future. Throwing the entire game on Lynch's shoulders for the second half despite his hip issue kind of eliminated the first possibility for me. Turbin and Christine have yet to demonstrate team-carrying ability, although they might remain nice versatilities a la the Chiefs' backfield.
3. Pass protection. This gets its own section because of the disproportionate amount of attention it gets from Seahawks fans. Pass protection was a step up today against one of the best defensive lines in the league. That was really encouraging. Especially when you consider that Seattle's performance in pass protection has actually been, believe it or not, right about standard all year (just like the previous five Super Bowl winners). Four seconds in the NFL is considered "enough time" for the QB by most teams. Aaron Rodgers trains to begin his scramble drill even sooner than that.
As far as its prowess in the run game...with the obvious caveat that all is over if Max Unger leaves, this O-line is just so monstrous at its run blocking that upgrading/replacing them isn't as easy a decision as you think. Everything relies on the run game around here. It opens up play-action. It lets Wilson run. It wears down defenses so we can punch the game-winning score in the fourth. Lemuel Jeanpierre had better be ready.
This offensive line wasn't drafted to pass protect. We've known that. When Wilson stands back there, finds nobody open, and scrambles, much of that stems from the design of our offense. You can upgrade to a more finesse, pass-pro-oriented line if you want. But you set back the growth and chenistry they've accomplished, you downgrade the very engine of our offense when you do so, and no, O-line is NOT a safe pick. How much tradeoff is enough? Can we justify ditching an identity that took us to the Super Bowl and which is not responsible for our struggles this season?
This is something to be seriously chewed on. Much more fruitful than just falling back on announcer cliches about pass protection being the axis about which the planet rotates. This team does not rely on such an offensive philosophy. Maybe some teams do, but ours never has.
3. Defense. They did not lose the game for us. On the contrary, they stepped up in the fourth quarter in a major way and prevented Kansas City from running out the clock. I was surprised. The run defense struggled mightily, but a few caveats. We're not just missing Brandon Mebane; we're missing Brandon Mebane and Bobby Wagner. That against Jamaal Charles? Perfect storm. We likely won't face this situation again, so have some hope going forward.
However, the feeling that's creeping up on me is that we're relying a little too much on situational players in the front seven. It explains why guys like Bruce Irvin, Malcolm Smith, and KJ Wright keep coming up with pivotal plays and then disappearing for quarters at a time. I feel like our LB corps is stuck in Jay Cutler nightmare territory - not quite solid enough to push us over the top, but still too good to justify replacing with big picks or signings. So the Bears linger on, unable to improve at the position without a massive risk. That said, people step up in the playoffs when they play for Pete Carroll. Malcolm Smith did. I suppose we wait and see.
Carroll is still running competitions at a few positions. Smith and Kevin Pierre-Louis at OLB, Byron Maxwell and Tharold Simon at CB2. I've come to accept that such competitions occasionally open opportunities for the opposing team, but it'd be nice to see Seattle make decisions there. That said, it's probably something Carroll will lock down for the playoffs. If we make it.
It's got to be acknowledged that Seattle hung tough with another great NFL team and had a chance right down to the end. Seattle answered slow, excruciating drives punctuated with devastating knockout punches by delivering some of their own. True championship spirit on this team. Even now, the players are filling Twitter with reassurances and confidence. They still believe in themselves. I believe in them.
Nevertheless, this loss came at a bad time, adding to previous sloppy losses and a slow erosion of Seattle's homefield advantage to put the 'Hawks three games down in the division. It also added another unbearable injury right where it really hurts the offense. The Seahawks have their work cut out for them, they're now dependent on many other cards falling just the right way, and this time, we're not getting any big pieces back in December. If they win it all, they'll be doing it with half an offense' worth of third-stringers.
No pressure, Pete.
I hate that phrase. It's just so frustratingly helpless. There's no one thing you can fix, no one strategy you can appropriate. That's what makes up the bulk of forum posts these days...the search for the one magic bullet. It's on Bevell. It's on the offensive line. It's on Wilson. It's on the defense. Everyone's trying to distill the problems down to one factor, even trying to create tie-ins where none exist. Because that offers hope. If it's just one thing to fix, it'll be a quicker fix, without an agonizing years-long wait.
But sometimes, through events beyond your control, it just doesn't work out.
The season is not mathematically over for the Seahawks, but let's face some facts. We are currently down three games in the NFC West...the NFC West...with the Cardinals looking decidedly unimpressed by the Lions at the moment. Max Unger is down again with a gruesome injury. Brandon Mebane and Zach Miller are already gone. We are, courtesy of our recent Super Bowl win, playing the league's toughest schedule. And Russell Wilson's go-to tight end in the passing game is Cooper Helfet.
Mathematically possible is not the same as realistic.
I want to say that I loved the spirit with which the Seahawks closed the game. They still fight with fire and spunk right down to the 60th minute, just as they did in Pete Carroll's first season with the team. They believe in themselves. They always give themselves a chance. Most impressive was the way they answered the big KC return followed by Lockette's ejection, a potentially devastating chain of events. They turned right around and delivered a counterblow, grabbing a crucial turnover. Trading punches all day. And because of that attitude, it will remain dangerous to underestimate the Seahawks.
But...Cooper Helfet?
I was the guy last year who predicted a Super Bowl win with my 10,000th post. I was correct. I consider that post my greatest accomplishment as an amateur Seahawks writer/blogger, much better than anything I've put on my pittance of a blog. But too much has changed since then, albeit in subtle ways. It's not as if there's been a major collapse. But between injury and attrition quietly chipping away at Seattle's season, we've suddenly found ourselves on the outside of the playoff picture, looking in. A slow fade, which your eyes don't fully register until it's might be too late.
Thoughts on today's game.
1. Passing game. Much more effective than last week, although last week was the least effective in Wilson's career. Today, our receiving corps came to play. Tough catches from everyone involved. Agonizingly, the difference in the game was (amongst other things) Jermaine Kearse's end-zone drop on a hardy but catchable pass. It's hard to hate Kearse for it, but it's also hard to resist the thought that Kelvin Benjamin would have caught it. And a lot of other passes. Ones that Wilson never threw because he knows he has no weapons tall enough to go up and get them.
Nevertheless, some plays were there. Darell Bevell seemingly remembered this thing called the slant today. He also eased up on the screens...a bit. Russell Wilson noticeably shook off his accuracy issues and didn't rely so much on his legs, perhaps in part because Kansas City's secondary was a little suspect. Willson and Kearse were game. Norwood and Lockette...still on a milk carton. (Well, not Lockette, unfortunately.) And those are the backup options who should be taking pressure off Baldwin and Kearse.
I have to confess I'm getting green with envy watching guys like Kelvin Benjamin and Odell Beckham. Is it possible that Pete Carroll and John Schneider need to quit worrying so much about scheme fit and just grab a guy who can validate jump balls? It would change so much back in the pocket. Our WR corps is to the point where we don't need to be picky to find someone who will boost us.
Does anyone really look at this receiving corps and see dynamic matchup winners? I mean, really? What we're seeing right now is probably the absolute xenith of the Seattle Sub-6'2" Show.
Refreshing alternate explanation for our passing struggles: Russell Wilson shows every sign of a QB who doesn't trust his receivers. He's naturally conservative, but why make risky throws if the defenders out-reach your receivers? He was more calm in the pocket today, and he had more pockets today than ever. But since he didn't take advantage, all that does is suggest that either he can't see his progressions, or that nobody's getting open. It might be time to conclude that he's simply not a natural pocket passer, and that we must accept a scheme built around what he IS good at. But a tall, reliable receiver is transcendent of scheme. It changes things. And Pete and John have been looking for one. He's elusive.
Another area that's starting to concern me is the scramble drill. Doug Baldwin's fire and effort on every play is unquestionable, but I wonder about the rest. Too many times, when FOX flashes its alternate views of a play, you see Wilson's targets slowing down and JOGGING after their initial route is finished. Has anyone noticed this? They're not breaking deep when a play goes awry like Sidney Rice did. They're not frantically working the field trying to give him an opening. That's dismaying. It's a huge blessing that Wilson constantly keeps his head up looking for a throw when he scrambles, but Rice was a lot better at giving him those chances than anyone else we currently have - so much that defenders are starting to ignore those little pump fakes he does to slow down pursuers. I noticed that today.
2. Running game. Carroll and Schneider need to be thinking hard about which evil they would rather swallow: the off-the-field "antics" of Marshawn Lynch (tame antics by some teams' standards) or the total excision of their identity as an offense. I don't see how anyone in the Seahawks' backfield replaces Lynch. Or anyone in the 2015 draft. Or anyone in free agency. Or any NFL player in the next 30 years. Lynch is that good. I don't think anyone is going to debate that. I know Rob Staton is in love with Melvin Gordon, but come on...this is Marshawn Lynch.
Robert Turbin and Christine Michael were oddly absent today. Up until now, I've interpreted Carroll's repeated usage of them in one of two ways: a) spelling Lynch or b) hoping to discover a feature back for the future. Throwing the entire game on Lynch's shoulders for the second half despite his hip issue kind of eliminated the first possibility for me. Turbin and Christine have yet to demonstrate team-carrying ability, although they might remain nice versatilities a la the Chiefs' backfield.
3. Pass protection. This gets its own section because of the disproportionate amount of attention it gets from Seahawks fans. Pass protection was a step up today against one of the best defensive lines in the league. That was really encouraging. Especially when you consider that Seattle's performance in pass protection has actually been, believe it or not, right about standard all year (just like the previous five Super Bowl winners). Four seconds in the NFL is considered "enough time" for the QB by most teams. Aaron Rodgers trains to begin his scramble drill even sooner than that.
As far as its prowess in the run game...with the obvious caveat that all is over if Max Unger leaves, this O-line is just so monstrous at its run blocking that upgrading/replacing them isn't as easy a decision as you think. Everything relies on the run game around here. It opens up play-action. It lets Wilson run. It wears down defenses so we can punch the game-winning score in the fourth. Lemuel Jeanpierre had better be ready.
This offensive line wasn't drafted to pass protect. We've known that. When Wilson stands back there, finds nobody open, and scrambles, much of that stems from the design of our offense. You can upgrade to a more finesse, pass-pro-oriented line if you want. But you set back the growth and chenistry they've accomplished, you downgrade the very engine of our offense when you do so, and no, O-line is NOT a safe pick. How much tradeoff is enough? Can we justify ditching an identity that took us to the Super Bowl and which is not responsible for our struggles this season?
This is something to be seriously chewed on. Much more fruitful than just falling back on announcer cliches about pass protection being the axis about which the planet rotates. This team does not rely on such an offensive philosophy. Maybe some teams do, but ours never has.
3. Defense. They did not lose the game for us. On the contrary, they stepped up in the fourth quarter in a major way and prevented Kansas City from running out the clock. I was surprised. The run defense struggled mightily, but a few caveats. We're not just missing Brandon Mebane; we're missing Brandon Mebane and Bobby Wagner. That against Jamaal Charles? Perfect storm. We likely won't face this situation again, so have some hope going forward.
However, the feeling that's creeping up on me is that we're relying a little too much on situational players in the front seven. It explains why guys like Bruce Irvin, Malcolm Smith, and KJ Wright keep coming up with pivotal plays and then disappearing for quarters at a time. I feel like our LB corps is stuck in Jay Cutler nightmare territory - not quite solid enough to push us over the top, but still too good to justify replacing with big picks or signings. So the Bears linger on, unable to improve at the position without a massive risk. That said, people step up in the playoffs when they play for Pete Carroll. Malcolm Smith did. I suppose we wait and see.
Carroll is still running competitions at a few positions. Smith and Kevin Pierre-Louis at OLB, Byron Maxwell and Tharold Simon at CB2. I've come to accept that such competitions occasionally open opportunities for the opposing team, but it'd be nice to see Seattle make decisions there. That said, it's probably something Carroll will lock down for the playoffs. If we make it.
It's got to be acknowledged that Seattle hung tough with another great NFL team and had a chance right down to the end. Seattle answered slow, excruciating drives punctuated with devastating knockout punches by delivering some of their own. True championship spirit on this team. Even now, the players are filling Twitter with reassurances and confidence. They still believe in themselves. I believe in them.
Nevertheless, this loss came at a bad time, adding to previous sloppy losses and a slow erosion of Seattle's homefield advantage to put the 'Hawks three games down in the division. It also added another unbearable injury right where it really hurts the offense. The Seahawks have their work cut out for them, they're now dependent on many other cards falling just the right way, and this time, we're not getting any big pieces back in December. If they win it all, they'll be doing it with half an offense' worth of third-stringers.
No pressure, Pete.
