It's all about the ball

[jammerhawk]

Sam Darnold after the 10th game so far has fumbled away the ball 5 times and thrown 10 interceptions. Collectively the team has turned the ball over 20 times in 10 games to lead the league (1 other INT and 4 other fumbles), this leads the league in an unenviable stat. Take away Darnold's numbers and the team is actually doing well looking after the ball. Unfortunately his lack of ball security has cost the team the team scoring opportunities and allowed opponent scoring opportunities. several of which have been effectively snuffed out by the D but he's cost the team points and perhaps at least contributed to the most recent L while taking away a chance at another divisional W.

He certainly has not played badly otherwise but his ball security is suspect. I think he's a far better QB than Gee-No was for us, but it's clear Darnold's got a problem with ball security. I genuinely think he's a very good QB and the Hawks a re lucky to have him.

It's harder to win when you turn over the ball to your opponents, and the team is certainly not having a losing season because after 10 games they have only lost 3 games by a combined total of 9 points (L to SF 4 points, L to TB 3 points, L to LAR 2 points). This metric shows he is still keeping the team in the game despite himself. I'm not sure how the team can fix this problem but it's clear something needs to happen, Darnold needs to be harassed more in practice perhaps to cause him to protect the ball better or at least raise him awareness of his problems with ball security..

Not sure if his situation can be improved but know the team needs to work on this problem.

 

[Floridahawk79]

Agreed, seems like a fine line between protecting the ball and being aggressive. That being said, I think with our defense playing like they are he could dial back the aggreesive throws. just my 2 cents

 

[NoGain]

Sam Darnold after the 10th game so far has fumbled away the ball 5 times and thrown 10 interceptions. Collectively the team has turned the ball over 20 times in 10 games to lead the league (1 other INT and 4 other fumbles), this leads the league in an unenviable stat. Take away Darnold's numbers and the team is actually doing well looking after the ball. Unfortunately his lack of ball security has cost the team the team scoring opportunities and allowed opponent scoring opportunities. several of which have been effectively snuffed out by the D but he's cost the team points and perhaps at least contributed to the most recent L while taking away a chance at another divisional W.

He certainly has not played badly otherwise but his ball security is suspect. I think he's a far better QB than Gee-No was for us, but it's clear Darnold's got a problem with ball security. I genuinely think he's a very good QB and the Hawks a re lucky to have him.

It's harder to win when you turn over the ball to your opponents, and the team is certainly not having a losing season because after 10 games they have only lost 3 games by a combined total of 9 points (L to SF 4 points, L to TB 3 points, L to LAR 2 points). This metric shows he is still keeping the team in the game despite himself. I'm not sure how the team can fix this problem but it's clear something needs to happen, Darnold needs to be harassed more in practice perhaps to cause him to protect the ball better or at least raise him awareness of his problems with ball security..

Not sure if his situation can be improved but know the team needs to work on this problem.

Good post.

I said this before in another thread, but it really could be as simple as getting it into his head that he doesn't have to make something happen on every play. At the very least, that could cut his turnovers in half. He's got to understand that we have a top notch defense, a bunch of talent on our offense, a very good coaching staff, and we'll beat most all teams we play now simply by not forcing it, by keeping mistakes to a minimum. And when we do play one of those contending teams like the Rams, this becomes even more exaggerated, as the margin for error becomes even slimmer. Throw the ball away if it's not there. Dump it off. Take off and slide. Go down. With the overall quality of our team now, punting is not a bad thing.

Work on this idea in practice.

Sometimes I honestly think he wants to do good for his team so much that he feels compelled to try to make something good happen when the best thing to do for your team is fold your hand. I know this sounds nuts, but I think there's some weird self-defeating psychological thing with him in this way, even though I think it comes from a good place.

Red Alice said something in another thread that sort of got at what I'm saying here. She said that Stafford knows how to read the room. Darnold needs to learn how to relax and read the room. Stop trying to always make something good happen, and play the position like it needs to be played given the circumstances.

 

[Hawkstud]

Sam Darnold after the 10th game so far has fumbled away the ball 5 times and thrown 10 interceptions. Collectively the team has turned the ball over 20 times in 10 games to lead the league (1 other INT and 4 other fumbles), this leads the league in an unenviable stat. Take away Darnold's numbers and the team is actually doing well looking after the ball. Unfortunately his lack of ball security has cost the team the team scoring opportunities and allowed opponent scoring opportunities. several of which have been effectively snuffed out by the D but he's cost the team points and perhaps at least contributed to the most recent L while taking away a chance at another divisional W.

He certainly has not played badly otherwise but his ball security is suspect. I think he's a far better QB than Gee-No was for us, but it's clear Darnold's got a problem with ball security. I genuinely think he's a very good QB and the Hawks a re lucky to have him.

It's harder to win when you turn over the ball to your opponents, and the team is certainly not having a losing season because after 10 games they have only lost 3 games by a combined total of 9 points (L to SF 4 points, L to TB 3 points, L to LAR 2 points). This metric shows he is still keeping the team in the game despite himself. I'm not sure how the team can fix this problem but it's clear something needs to happen, Darnold needs to be harassed more in practice perhaps to cause him to protect the ball better or at least raise him awareness of his problems with ball security..

Not sure if his situation can be improved but know the team needs to work on this problem.

I actually believe that Sam Darnold is a couple of coachable clicks away from being good Quarterback to being a great one.
He can't be happy with being 'Almost', he has to accept & trust in Kubiak's system.

 

[Ruminator]

The second half adjustments ALMOST worked. (And there were probably a few adjustments they should have made, but didn't.) But like I said a couple days ago, Rams game was great for some Seahawks lessons learned.

 

[chrispy]

I remember Mahomes (I think) talking about INTs in an interview in the past. He said it's not only bad to have too many, it's bad to have none. Having none, or too few, means you've missed out on good chances. They don't all go your way, but being too cautious loses games too.

I only bring it up because it's a nuance that doesn't often get mentioned. The tightrope a QB has to walk between risk and safety is razor thin. QB confidence is a commodity that Seahawks have never lacked (recently anyway). It seems to me that we're in a bit of uncharted waters here.

I'm anxious to see if the Titans game starts with giving Sam some big throws to "turn the page" or lots of runs and dump offs to build slowly. I think that'll give plenty of insight as to how MM and KK are looking at the situation.