Are we exposed somehow

[formido]

Can we please stop trying to pretend that we go up against "the best front X" or a "really good runningback" or whatever other new excuse?

These are professional football teams with professional players on both sides of the ball. It stands to reason that some of their players are good and if this in indeed a championship team it should be able to handle it.

I think the niner fan is right. We are struggling at stopping the run right now. We have a lot of great fast DL but our issues against the run have got to be ironed out by the niner game.

Newsflash, we just barely beat an 0-7 team AT HOME. We, in fact, went to overtime. Can we stop pretending there is no problem because there clearly is. Please go back in recent history and find me examples where 0 win teams have beaten superbowl bound teams, with the exception of the last game where the other team might be resting its players.

We struggled with a Rams team that came back to earth against the Titans and then we struggled with a 0 win team at home.

A win is a win, unless it is a harbinger of future losses. This team has been playing *@#$* football for several weeks now, let's please not pretend otherwise. Our OL is struggling, our defense cannot stop the run, and we are subjecting our star QB to a ridiculous amount of punishment. Combine that with a relatively anemic offense lately and it is hard to be as optimistic as some of you, especially considering the glaring mistakes by some of the staff.

They not only are not dominating, they are squeaking by. Squeaking by weak teams, and all we can do is pray that when our guys get healthy that things will go back to "normal" or that Harvin will somehow return and produce, turning this team into a worldbeater again.

I assume you would have said pretty much the same thing last week, right? As of last week, we are #2 in DVOA, far ahead of the Niners, for any trolls watching on.

If the complaint is that we aren't the best football team in history right now, I can agree with that whole-heartedly.

Do we have pretty much the best or second best shot in the NFL of winning the Super Bowl this year? Yep, all evidence says yes. Is there anyone I'd trade places with? Nope. Does that guarantee we'll win the Super Bowl? Nope. Always take the field. We probably are not going to win the Super Bowl. But we're doing freaking great.

 

[AbsolutNET]

but they did a better job yesterday of snap, step & throw and it helped us out quite a bit, imo.

It didn't help us, not even a little. It was just different, and probably slightly worse. Wilson threw 2 interceptions, some of his worst interceptions in a long time. He's not elite at these types of throws, and if you force him to make them, there will be mistakes. Wilson's passer rating was significantly worse than last week.

If you're set on the passing game looking a certain way, and it starts to look more that way, then you'll see an improvement. But objectively, in the ways that win games, it definitely was not an improvement.

Not only that, by standing in the pocket, Wilson took more abuse than ever and was noticeably hurt.

The first pick was a bad throw, but we had what we needed. We can't just not throw from the pocket, it's a part of the game we need to improve on. My point was that we actually had an answer against the blitz on the play, but Russ just made a poor throw. He was able to get it out of his hands to a receiver ready for the ball, but missed. The other pick was play action and doesn't apply to what I was getting at. 19/26 with two bad passes but an improvement in a passing scheme we have to develop to go anywhere in the post-season is how I saw it.

 

[ZagHawk]

Weaknesses have been exposed, if we do not fix those weaknesses, we will be exposed especially by better teams who will be able to finish the job the Rams and Bucs could not.

Pressure on RW with the current O-Line
Our lack of Run D
Good string of completed short passes to demoralize our secondary.

 

[scutterhawk]

I'm not an X & O guys, far from it but is out team somehow exposed? I know we got two backups on the Oline where teams are pushing right through, but don't we as a team adjust for that...can someone help me here break it down in lamans terms for me? Defense winning games for us is the obvious.

Your defense doesn't seem like it can stop the run. Teams like the Rams and TB are gashing your defense on the ground.

That's true enough, and even last Year Adrian Peterson ran amok on our D ,but just like last Year when they were gashing us?, we were finding ways to still win those games.
Even though our O-Line is banged up bad? ,8 & 1 for the first time ever for the Seahawks, should tell you something about their no quit, never give up attitude.

 

[loafoftatupu]

Your defense doesn't seem like it can stop the run. Teams like the Rams and TB are gashing your defense on the ground.

It doesn't seem like it because you forgot all the other games that they did stop the run. Including the performance of Frank Gore. You are highlighting 6 Quarters of football in a long season. You're not stupid, you know that isn't typical of the Seahawks.

However... Lynch seems to basically run on everyone when he gets more than 8 carries. Especially SF.

 

[Hawkpower]

I'm not an X & O guys, far from it but is out team somehow exposed? I know we got two backups on the Oline where teams are pushing right through, but don't we as a team adjust for that...can someone help me here break it down in lamans terms for me? Defense winning games for us is the obvious.

Your defense doesn't seem like it can stop the run. Teams like the Rams and TB are gashing your defense on the ground.

And yet the Whiners couldnt move the ball at all...

That has to hurt

 

[Laloosh]

I'm not an X & O guys, far from it but is out team somehow exposed? I know we got two backups on the Oline where teams are pushing right through, but don't we as a team adjust for that...can someone help me here break it down in lamans terms for me? Defense winning games for us is the obvious.

Your defense doesn't seem like it can stop the run. Teams like the Rams and TB are gashing your defense on the ground.

And yet the Whiners couldnt move the ball at all...

That has to hurt

Their QB nearly had 100 yards rushing... unfortunately, their RBs combined for less than 20 yards if i remember correctly.

 

[TeamoftheCentury]

Your defense doesn't seem like it can stop the run. Teams like the Rams and TB are gashing your defense on the ground.

It doesn't seem like it because you forgot all the other games that they did stop the run. Including the performance of Frank Gore. You are highlighting 6 Quarters of football in a long season. You're not stupid, you know that isn't typical of the Seahawks.

However... Lynch seems to basically run on everyone when he gets more than 8 carries. Especially SF.

Yup. Perhaps some of us in this thread would do well to consider your words as well. I was just as steaming mad the last couple of games, but rather than vent on .net - I chose to walk away and calm down before I posted. Yes, there are things that are driving me nuts just like the rest here and I could have chosen to take that route in posting. But, the wisdom of Loaf's post here (before he said it, still props) held me back on Sunday. Too, I chose to answer the jab a rival took the opportunity to slip in. So, to the poster who suggested there is a crowd (and me among them) "pretending"... you are "incorrect."

Other Super Bowl contenders and winners have had their mid-season challenges to overcome. What matters is how the team is playing down the stretch into the playoffs. This thing isn't broke. There is at least some validity to everything being said. There are some fairly obvious observations. Still, the team has shown extraordinary resiliency in the face of unexpected adversity? I'm not willing to vent in that manner - at least not yet. A bit too early for that, especially when the team won both games.

All but 2 teams make an early exit from the playoffs. Not only teams that are slumping, but also sometimes teams that look unbeatable. So, even if this team dominates every game remaining on the schedule... anything can happen in the playoffs. Teams can only take it one game at a time, work to get better and learn how to win no matter what adversity they face. Seems like the Seahawks know how to win, they just need to work on the "in a more impressive, dominating fashion" part. Yes, I'd like to see improvement (and hopefully we will.) But, I think it's very telling that comments were made during the broadcast and after the game that this team never had quit in them. The thing I love most about this team is that they fight to the end. How many games now that they haven't lost by more than 7 points?

This is the time in each season when things start tightening up and these sorts of games happen. Less talented teams have had some time to work on some things and improvements from teams are not uncommon. How many games has Mike Glennon started? That rookie played with poise in a tough environment. That's not pretending. That's giving credit where credit is due. He sure played a lot better than CK has ever played @ the Seahawks.

Next game. Prepare. Improve. Execute. Win.

Go Hawks!!!
Team of the Century

 

[getnasty]

I hate the argument of we're tired, the only reason we would be tired is because we can't stop the run and get off the field. I also think its a matter of just thinking were better than teams and we can just show up. This week should really show if we have problems or not, we can't get up to go into Atlanta after what happen to us last year, then we have problems. I would say Atl isbetter then Stl or TB despite their poor record and injurys at the WR position. If we don't come out of the gates with some old piss and vinegar, if we let Atl build some confidence, then we got problems.

 

[Exittium]

I agree with a previous post on this board.. and that was.. WITHOUT Wagner.. our run d was solid with K.J... now that Wagner's back (still not convinced he's 100%) its gotten really soft and easy to run through.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

They will fix it, they got hot at the end of last season as well. Difference is that they are sitting at 8-1, and have Okung, Breno and Harvin all coming back. Things will be fine.

 

[Popeyejones]

Your defense doesn't seem like it can stop the run. Teams like the Rams and TB are gashing your defense on the ground.

You are highlighting 6 Quarters of football in a long season. You're not stupid, you know that isn't typical of the Seahawks.

Run defense was a problem for the Hawks last year too, particularly in the second half of the season. Agreed that it's just this last two games where the Run D has looked atrocious, but the Hawks have also only played two good running teams this year and their 27th in yards, and 18th in Y/C on run defense. It's not preventing them from winning obviously, but just dismissing it outright is pretty silly, IMO. If I had to venture a guess the coaching staff is feeling pretty good about its run offense and pass defense, and is looking for improvement on pass offense and run defense (albeit admittedly probably in that order).

 

[SalishHawkFan]

If there's one weakness on our defense, it's panic.

When things aren't going well, many of our defensive players like to take matters into their own hands and try to be the hero...........instead of playing smart, staying in their gaps and staying with their assignments.

This results in overrunning plays, being out of position and not being in correct gaps. Thus mediocre QB's and RB's having career days against us. I'm sure Pete and Quinn hammered this point home during halftime yesterday, which is why you saw a much more disciplined D in the second half. Still a cause for concern though, because this trend keeps happening. It's just lucky that we have the talent to overcome it (so far).

I think the reason for their reaction is that they don't believe the offense can generate any points out there. They realize how tough Wilson, Lynch and the WR's have it with that pathetic offensive line and when the team falls behind, the defense thinks they have to make a big play because the offense isn't doing anything.

 

[Mindsink]

It's all about matchups and coaching. Look how we stuffed the run against some better running teams (statistically), like the 49ers, Panthers, Colts (even though we lost), and the Titans. Those are all better running teams than the Bucs and the Rams, and we contained, if not stuffed those teams in the running game.

We have the talent/personnel to get the job done.

 

[Blitzer88]

We have been exposed in certain parts of our game, lets hope the players and coaches can make adjustments to reduce these exposed areas.