Random Thoughts on the Dallas game

[jammerhawk]

I applaud Carroll for putting Sherman on Dez after the Maxwell injury. Unfortunately, the move exposed Sherman as a player that is now clearly having a down season.

Uh.. what? Dez had two catches against Sherman.. one of them was an amazing grab.

If this is indicative of a "down season" ... Sherman is fine.

I do agree though that depth is a major concern right now. Feel bad for Burley and Terrell for being thrown in the fire. Maxwell is down for at least a couple games you have to believe.. we need Simon back ASAP.

And no, the Cowboys are not the best team in the NFC.

BINGO!!! I was with Kearly up until this remark. Totally disagree, and believe we should be looking at other players to point fingers at i.e.: the mysteriously recently underachieving Thomas. Sherman was one of the few who played a whole game and played darn well against Bryant.

The team's problems are up front on O, I guess Bevell decided yesterday that any long passes or ground n' pound were not part of his game plan, thus abandoning the team's identity.The concept of a slow developing option type pitch left me scratching my head and saying WTF? Why not bring all the pursuit to you and trap the the option receiver on the sideline. 3rd and 20 and the D gives up a 1st down, 3rd and 17 they give up another. Last season we got interior pressure, this season not so much.

Last week rocks were wrongly thrown at Irvin who played well but where was Avril yesterday? How is it they could not stop Dallas' Running game when they critically needed to stop them?

Simply stated Russell had a bad day.

 

[bigwrm]

Who is the best team in the NFC right now? Can anyone really say it's Seattle at this point? Maybe if the Seahawks get their act together on pass defense, but I don't think that problem is getting any better, at least not in 2014. It is a rules environment issue. The Seahawks spent years building their secondary to play in the NFL world of 2013, not the NFL world of 2014.

Is that best NFC team the 49ers with all their problems? Arizona with all their flaws? Philly? Carolina? Green Bay?

Actually I think the lions are the best team in the NFC. Can't believe I'm saying this but I'm jealous of their defense. Absolutely dominant against the run and a consistent pass rush. Once they get Calvin Johnson back I think they're the team to beat. For some reason people are still underestimating them, but I've been making money on them all year so all the better for me.

 

[Wagon12]

Who is the best team in the NFC right now? Can anyone really say it's Seattle at this point? Maybe if the Seahawks get their act together on pass defense, but I don't think that problem is getting any better, at least not in 2014. It is a rules environment issue. The Seahawks spent years building their secondary to play in the NFL world of 2013, not the NFL world of 2014.

Is that best NFC team the 49ers with all their problems? Arizona with all their flaws? Philly? Carolina? Green Bay?

Actually I think the lions are the best team in the NFC. Can't believe I'm saying this but I'm jealous of their defense. Absolutely dominant against the run and a consistent pass rush. Once they get Calvin Johnson back I think they're the team to beat. For some reason people are still underestimating them, but I've been making money on them all year so all the better for me.

Uh, the Lions lost to Buffalo last week... at home.

 

[pehawk]

Who is the best team in the NFC right now? Can anyone really say it's Seattle at this point? Maybe if the Seahawks get their act together on pass defense, but I don't think that problem is getting any better, at least not in 2014. It is a rules environment issue. The Seahawks spent years building their secondary to play in the NFL world of 2013, not the NFL world of 2014.

Is that best NFC team the 49ers with all their problems? Arizona with all their flaws? Philly? Carolina? Green Bay?

Actually I think the lions are the best team in the NFC. Can't believe I'm saying this but I'm jealous of their defense. Absolutely dominant against the run and a consistent pass rush. Once they get Calvin Johnson back I think they're the team to beat. For some reason people are still underestimating them, but I've been making money on them all year so all the better for me.

People underestimate them because they've should've been the best team in NFL for at least the past 4 or 5 years. They're kind of like Holmy's pre-2005 Seahawks or current Bengals; prove it stage.

 

[seahawks187]

you can't just say lynch avg 6 yards a carry when he clearly had one big run and the 9 other runs were pretty much stuffed.. he wasn't gashing them for 6 yards each carry

 

[Wagon12]

By the way, was there a large Cowboys fan base on hand yesterday? From the TV broadcast, I swear I could hear "Defense, Defense" when the Hawks were on offense??!!

I wonder if we had played Dallas in their house and the Niners played them in SC, maybe two opposite results?

 

[HawkGA]

Offensive Line built for run blocking + offensive game plan built around passing = WTF?

 

[bigwrm]

Who is the best team in the NFC right now? Can anyone really say it's Seattle at this point? Maybe if the Seahawks get their act together on pass defense, but I don't think that problem is getting any better, at least not in 2014. It is a rules environment issue. The Seahawks spent years building their secondary to play in the NFL world of 2013, not the NFL world of 2014.

Is that best NFC team the 49ers with all their problems? Arizona with all their flaws? Philly? Carolina? Green Bay?

Actually I think the lions are the best team in the NFC. Can't believe I'm saying this but I'm jealous of their defense. Absolutely dominant against the run and a consistent pass rush. Once they get Calvin Johnson back I think they're the team to beat. For some reason people are still underestimating them, but I've been making money on them all year so all the better for me.

Uh, the Lions lost to Buffalo last week... at home.

And they would have won were it not for historically bad field goal kicking. They may not have the best track record in recent years but with jim schwartz gone i think this team is legit. If they can start hitting field goals at a rate better than a mannequin wearing a lions jersey, then watch out.

 

[Wagon12]

Who is the best team in the NFC right now? Can anyone really say it's Seattle at this point? Maybe if the Seahawks get their act together on pass defense, but I don't think that problem is getting any better, at least not in 2014. It is a rules environment issue. The Seahawks spent years building their secondary to play in the NFL world of 2013, not the NFL world of 2014.

Is that best NFC team the 49ers with all their problems? Arizona with all their flaws? Philly? Carolina? Green Bay?

Actually I think the lions are the best team in the NFC. Can't believe I'm saying this but I'm jealous of their defense. Absolutely dominant against the run and a consistent pass rush. Once they get Calvin Johnson back I think they're the team to beat. For some reason people are still underestimating them, but I've been making money on them all year so all the better for me.

Uh, the Lions lost to Buffalo last week... at home.

And they would have won were it not for historically bad field goal kicking. They may not have the best track record in recent years but with jim schwartz gone i think this team is legit. If they can start hitting field goals at a rate better than a mannequin wearing a lions jersey, then watch out.

Fair enough.

IMO, there are but a handful of "legit" teams in the NFC, and the Lions are not one of them... yet. In no particular order:

Cowboys
49ers
Seahawks
Packers
Cardinals
Eagles

That's it.

 

[Evil_Shenanigans]

I decided to show some restraint and not post on the board yesterday for obvious reasons, but its Monday, I lost sleep over this game last night, and I just need to vent. First off let me say that everybody has a bad day now and then. Our whole team has now had two “Bad Days” this season. In both cases, our opponents clearly and decisively outplayed us. Eventually that is going to happen to everybody, I get that. However, the coaching in particular in this game left me feeling betrayed, bewildered and just generally with lots of questions. I saw a Head Coach today displaying the same ineptitude and body language on the sideline that John Fox displayed in the Superbowl in February. Moreover, the adjustments to our offensive strategy that I had hoped would come after Half time never materialized.

I understand to some extent the Defensive woes, as half our DB corps is playing either injured, or outright unable to play. The fact that the D-line could not get anywhere with the Dallas OL just exacerbated the issue for the secondary. The D-Line is an issue and I honestly do not think we have the roster to improve it much at all. IMO Mebane is doing his part but the others are just not able to get home and give the secondary a fighting chance. Hoping like hell some of them get healthy before next weekend, or it could be a long winter. As it Is Earl seems to be practically invisible and Sherman just seems desperate right now. I will give them some slack because they are both trying to shore up gaps created by injury elsewhere.

The Offense, I just do not understand right now. Much has been written of the misuse of Harvin, and I whole-heartedly agree. The fact that we only ran Lynch twice in the first half had me about to throw a cupcake at my brand new TV! You can blame the lack of separation and the drops by our receivers; you can blame Wilson for not being able to clear the pocket, you can blame the OL for all the penalties and all the whiffs. But at the end of the day Bevell (and Pete’s) play calling dug a hole that the players could not get out of. The lack of a response or adjustment of any kind in the second half had me yelling and cussing at my TV. That was a piss poorly coached team effort yesterday and anybody that thinks I am wrong just need to go back and watch it again with emphasis on our coaching staff on the sideline, and the infighting it created amongst the players and I presume, the coaches after the game. That will not do!

The fact that we only lost by 7 points is a special teams miracle, with Mike Morgan channeling his inner Malcolm Smith for most of this game and the continuing excellence of Ryan and Hauschka. So at least we were not missing on all phases! Until I hear one of the coaches “jump on the sword” for this one, and acknowledge the lack of understanding and discipline, I just do not have any faith that we can make a legitimate post season run. We have the (barring injury) talent to correct most of this, but without better coaching, they will continue to be underutilized and misused. Just glad as hell that our Offensive big three came away (for the most part) unscathed in this dust-up. Had we lost one of them for a significant time, heads would surely roll.

 

[pmedic920]

I'm no expert.
The thing I most agree with you on is THE PLAY CALLING.

The play calling sucked in this game.
I screamed "what are they doing" at my TV more than I ever have.
IMHO Percy has the speed and movement to be a true deep threat, why don't they use him? Rhetorical.
I like many today, am very sad.

 

[CANHawk]

Our defense is depleted and Dallas has a truly great offense. Tony UhOh was nowhere to be seen yesterday and Murray is legitimately the next big thing. Couple that with the fact our offense couldn't make a single bloody first down and that depleted defense was playing exhausted ball. It was a recipe for disaster.

Am I disappointed with that game? Sure. But I don't see it as some kind of major indictment of Seahawks football. I'm positive we'll get back to basics on offense and feed the beast more. Actually, this might prove to be a good thing over the long haul. Get us back to our center.

Speaking of centers... getting zack and max back will help significantly. I'm not worried. The road to repeat is a very tough one as everyone sees us coming this time. I still have faith we make it back though...

 

[Skansi82]

18-5..........that is the combined records of the teams we've played(not counting the crappy Redskins). We've had one of the toughest schedules in the league, and now need to win at least 4 out of our next 5 to have any sort of comfort going into that meatgrinder 6 game stretch to end the season. It will be interesting to see how the squad responds.

 

[Russ Willstrong]

Agree with almost all of this except for Richard Sherman. I thought once he went to press man coverage shadowing Dez he played fantastic. Romo threw his way a lot.

Maybe my standards of Sherman are higher than others. I'm counting the DPI as a "got beat" play. In half a game covering Dez, he was beat 3 times one on one, as opposed to zero PDs or INTs for Sherman. Over a full game, that would be five or six victories in Dez's column.

They lined up across from each other on 48 snaps. That's far more than half a game

Of those 48 snaps 26 were running plays. Only 6 were directed at Dez when covered by Sherm. Of the 6 attempts he beat Sherm 3 times for good yardage and drew 2 DPI. Sherm had no pass defensed or INT.
I have to side with Kearly on this one.

Yes, Dez is a top receiver and Richard didn't allow a many big plays. However, the bottom line is Sherman will come away once again with pedestrian stats. At years end he will not be regarded as the top corner if the statistics don't support it.
What's more important is the notion that you use him to shut down a portion of the right side of the field all game long is not necessarily smart either. Any team can assign a lesser receiver to occupy the left corner's area just to cancel out Sherm's talent. It is effectively a DNP for Sherm if teams don't look his way which is what GB did. Yesterday we saw another negative outcome from this strategy which is that Maxwell has been doing all the heavy lifting which results in injury or failure.
IMO, a positive that came out of this game is that we are finally moving Sherman around to involve him more in the game. We need him to scratch and claw for plays against the best wide receivers if we can. Critics who knock Richard for playing only a part of the field have a valid point. Yesterday was a step up and I applaud Richard and Dan Quinn for adjusting BECAUSE THEY HAD TO.

 

[Popeyejones]

Anyone have a guess as to why Harvin suddenly can't return a kick off to the 15 yard line?

Absolutely not, given that he averaged 28 yards per return.

He just got bottled up due to poor blocking and good coverage when it counted towards the end of the game.

 

[Popeyejones]

Regarding Sherman, he looked fine. He's simply not as effective when he's not playing press, and the Hawks have moved away from press coverage. Pretty simple. That's not a knock on him, as there aren't really any corners in the league of his size who are better than him playing off, it's just not his strength.

Overall I thought the pass blocking was fine. This is what happens when Wilson isn't pulling impossible plays out of his rear several times a game. There were pockets for Wilson to step into, he just doesn't do that yet. It looks like there's more pressure than there is because Wilson stays at the top of the pocket or bails out rather than working within it. If you're still at the top of the pocket after the play has developed, you're gonna get pressure a lot of time, it doesn't matter who your line is. It's why the top passing QBs in the league are throwing from within the pocket on long developing plays, and manipulating their blocking while within it.

So too with the "drops", the only three of which I remember off the top of my head were tough throws (not a lot of TEs in the league who bring down that ball, although it was a great pass, and the drop on the cross over the middle was pretty off target high and behind, not an easy catch, and third -- the Baldwin endzone drop -- was a great pass but not an easy catch either).

 

[Happypuppy]

Harvin is one of those great athletes. He is amazing with the ball in his hands. However he is not a stellar wide, slot or back.

He gets open by sheer speed and is so quick. He is not a traffic guy he is small. We miss miller and Tate a lot for the in traffic catches. Willson had one in traffic he has to make

 

[Hawker]

We need to revert back to more press D. I know the rules have made press coverage difficult, but our cover3 is figured out - our injuries are showing; time to get back to our roots. My Cowboy-fanatic neighbor often said "don't see too much boom in that legion of boom anymore." He has a point.

Oh well. Like many have said - we had this coming. Dallas has a potent offense that has been under-creddited in recent years and our offense has stalled... unable to keep up or convert any sort of 3rd downs. At one point our average third-to-go gain was OVER ten yards. Simply unacceptable, Bevell.

1 game at a time. On to St. Louis for a get-well game, hopefully.

 

[Largent80]

The Legion of Boom is long gone.

Chest thumping is being done in Texas today in spite of just probably one 3rd and 20 that the Hawks could not stop.

That could be because the old "Legion" was down to Sherman and a gimped Chancellor.

All things considered the scoreboard does not reflect that beating.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

There are TWO ways to look at Seattle.

A) I am of the opinion that SF and Kaepernick/Harbaugh will never win a Super Bowl BECAUSE, when you take them out of their ability to run the ball, I don't think Kaepernick or their offensive playcalls are capable of throwing the ball.

It appears that Seattle has adopted that identity, BUT felt that the difference between both rosters was Wilson's ability to make throws and runs. Essentially the rosters are very close in talent, they have the offensive line, we have the secondary. Both "strengths" of SF and SEA are banged up.

B) Seattle is miles better than the rest of the NFL because we have the depth in spots that can overcome injuries IF they are not to the secondary. When your 2nd, 3rd and 4th CB's are not on the roster, I'm not sure how the original poster even approaches talking about Sherman.......You would be more apt to start at Earl Thomas, whose name was not called once yesterday.

Seattle is winning another super bowl in Glendale, once they restart the running attack, then get back to play action passing, absorb more clock on offense and get back Willson as a compliment to Zach Miller. You have to get back to running first, then attacking in the passing game and keeping the defense off the field and limiting the plays you expose your defense to......This also minimizes the exposure of the WR corp, which is not a strength of the roster.

What the team is doing and got burned on yesterday, is going through the expansion of how they want to play by showing a lot of fast paced offense, passing game, in an attempt to develop a weakness of the team. Seattle could look like SF and just hand the ball off and win 19-16 or 20-16 against a tougher opponent. Dallas essentially did the same thing to SF, but had turnovers and fell way behind. They dominated SF the same way stat wise that they did to Seattle.

Dallas is a playoff team, BUT they will not beat Seattle in Dallas and definitely would not win a rematch in Seattle. They don't have the personnel on defense and cannot stop a running attack. If you watched their games carefully and stop watching ESPN rave about them, they give up a lot of yards on the ground to folks like Arian Foster etc. If our secondary gets Maxwell, Lane and Simon back and places Burley somewhere else on specials or as an emergency DB, Seattle is fine.

Once Seattle dials up running plays and leans on Lynch and Turbin to get yards, things fall into place. I am not as concerned about any lack of focus or anything else. 10-6 could be the record but Super Bowl champions have had 6 0r 7 losses in a season.....The question is does Seattle have the pieces to run aggressively, stop passing attacks and get sacks....the answer to all THREE is yes....if you can do all 3 well, you win Super Bowls.....there is no other roster in the NFL that can dominate in these three phases....Seattle beats Denver in Glendale and goes back to back.....

What did Aaron Rodgers tell Packers fans three weeks ago.......R.....E...L....A.....X........relax......relax folks.....!!!

I appreciate your optimism and agree that running the ball is vital to regaining their identity and helping keep the defense off the field. However, I have serious doubts about the team's ability to generate a pass rush and get off the field on 3rd down. Even early in games when they're obviously fresh, we haven't seen nearly enough of that this season IMO.