Random thoughts on the Packers game

[kearly]

There's so much to say, I just hope I'll remember half of it.

My prediction for this game was 37-27 Hawks, and it would have been pretty damn close if Aaron Rodgers had been as sharp on 1st and 2nd down as he was on 3rd and long.

Seattle's offense kicked the crap out of the Packers in the first half, to me it was actually kind of amazing that they only scored 17 points before halftime. IIRC, Wilson started 10-12 with 120 yards in the first half, Lynch had almost 8 yards a carry, and Harvin looked unstoppable. Lynch and Wilson cooled off in the second half, but the Hawks still managed 17 points on offense in the second half anyway.

Green Bay had several months to prepare for this game, and Mike McCarthy is one of the NFL's better coaches. I thought he did a pretty good job preparing his secondary and his game plan on offense would have probably worked decently well if not for the Seahawks erasing Eddie Lacy.

Regarding the Packers pass defense, I was impressed. They pressured Wilson to the point where attempting the deep ball was almost impossible, and they jumped short routes about as frequently as I've ever seen a Seahawks opponent do. One of those jumped routes very nearly led to a tip drill interception, only to be saved by a heady play from Zach Miller. In the second half the Packers D seemed to commit to playing the short field and it's telling that Seattle's best passing plays seemed to come out of play action or that awesome new fake read option pass. Speaking of which, am I crazy or did Seattle use play action far less in this game than they usually do?

Yet, despite being about as prepared for Seattle as they could possibly be, it's really hard to prepare for speed. You know that scene in Twister where Bill Paxton runs into a barn to escape a tornado and it's nothing but knives and sharp objects everywhere? That's probably what the Packers defense felt like when Wilson, Lynch, and Harvin were convening on a fly sweep. There's three things that can happen, all of them terrifying for a defense. When Harvin got the ball, it was an automatic 13 yards. When Lynch got the ball, it was seemingly always a big run. And at least in the first half, when Wilson wasn't handing the ball off, he was completing over 80% of his passes for a 10 YPA.

Even with all those months to prepare, the Packers couldn't do a thing to stop the Harvin/Lynch/Wilson fly sweep trio of terror. I would say that bodes well for us.

...

-I thought the officiating was surprisingly permissive, this crew let both these teams play for the most part. They basically called this game like it was the playoffs. There were a few ticky tack fouls, including a phantom hold call on Miller that wiped out Harvin's biggest run of the game. They also had a phantom hold call in our favor that erased a huge gain for Green Bay on 3rd and long. So even their bad calls evened out. I would say I was more than happy with how this game was officiated. The last thing the NFL wanted was for this game to remind people of the Fail Mary game, so credit to this crew for doing a solid, professional job.

-Derrick Coleman has been a whipping boy for me and deservedly so, but he had a couple of awesome blocks in this game and also caught a TD. It was easily his best game in the NFL to date.

-I didn't watch the offensive line that closely but they seemed to be getting the job done in the running game. Our pass pro had issues at the tackle spots, although Wilson did a pretty good job avoiding sacks despite that.

-Lynch is a freak of nature. I know that RBs tend to decline very suddenly and unexpectedly, but Lynch looks like he's five years away from being over the hill. He's never been in better shape than he is now. I don't think the usual shelf-life of NFL RBs applies to a guy like Lynch, who's so unique in every way. I'm at the point now where I actually want Seattle to pay Lynch all that money in 2015 for his age 29-30 season. Because I think he will probably still be special for quite a while still.

-Seattle's pass rush was cause for concern in the first half, but looked much better in the second half. It was nice to see Cassius Marsh getting some looks in a real NFL game.

-Byron Maxwell is going to get targeted a lot this season. Which means he's probably going to lead the NFL in interceptions.

-Eddie Lacy finished with just 34 rushing yards on 12 carries. After a good start with a pair of productive rushes to lead off, Lacy only managed 1.3 yards per carry on his last 10 attempts, and even those yards came purely from second effort lunges and dives. Seattle's run D was living in the backfield. Starks actually had a pretty respectable game and out-rushed Lacy.

-Percy Harvin finished with 100 yards rushing + receiving. That's 10 points for those keeping tabs in fantasy. And it would have been 20 or so yards more than that if not for a phantom hold on Zach Miller. Seattle is keeping good on their promise to get Harvin touches. And so far it's really paying off.

-Earl Thomas learned a valuable lesson on special teams tonight. So did Richard Sherman.

-The Seahawks now officially have the longest streak in NFL history for consecutive games played without a multi-score loss.

-The game ball for me has to go to Lynch. With respect to Harvin and Wilson, Lynch's performance was beautiful to watch and it's hard to overstate his value in the red zone. I thought it was interesting that during the postgame show they gave the game ball award to Wilson/Harvin/Wagner and then said that they excluded Lynch because he's got a reputation as a terrible interview. I don't blame NBC for thinking this at all, though I did think it was interesting that they would say it out loud. Ultimately, I think it was a wise decision that I agreed with to exclude Marshawn from the post-game. He seems genuinely uncomfortable with that kind of attention and I for one am glad that they respected that and gave him some distance while still acknowledging that he played a fantastic game.

-Darrell Bevell seems like a new man. Not only did he graft some very interesting pass concepts into the read option, but his playcalling was much more pass heavy than we've been accustomed to. Seattle had 37 rushes compared to 29 pass attempts, but when you move Wilson's seven scrambles into the pass column, Seattle actually passed more than they ran despite leading most of the game and despite Lynch and Harvin killing it on the ground. This is definitely NOT your typical Bevell vanilla offense anymore. It's dynamic, it's much more pass oriented, and it looks hard as hell to defend.

-Whatever your opinion of Pharrell Williams is, how cool was that pregame celebration? There was an air to the buildup of this game that was not present for any of the previous season opening games in recent years. It was not a celebration of a new NFL season, but a celebration of just how amazing this Seahawks team has become. The vibe of the ceremonies felt like an outright admission that Seattle has become the capital city of the New NFL.

-The pregame opened with a montage of several different NFL teams all having players shout "WHY NOT US!?" with the team icon displayed with each voice. Of course, this phrase was used extensively by Wilson last season and this is just the latest example of the rest of the league playing copy-cat.

Of course, it was more than a little annoying hearing teams with just a smidgen of Seattle's DVOA standing making "why not us" claims, and it got to the point where I am thinking in my head "because you ain't the Seahawks, dipshit!" Pretty much the instant that thought crosses my mind, Russell Wilson walks on screen and says:

"BECAUSE YOU GOTTA GO THROUGH US... go hawks."

...

The thing that impressed me the most about this game was how unfair it felt for GB. We've seen plenty of games before where Seattle crushed their opponents bodies and spirits, but this game was a bit unique in that there seemed to be a tactical element that the opponent had absolutely no answer for.

Green Bay's defense was terrible last season and probably won't be good in 2014. It's unlikely that every team will get clowned by Harvin and Lynch this badly every single week. But, if they do, look out.

The Packers are one of the premiere offenses in all of the NFL, they had months to prepare for this game, and they managed just 255 total yards on offense.

Big wins are nothing new to the Seahawks, but this win was a little extra special, enough to make me think that a focused, consistent Seahawks team has a realistic shot at making NFL history. Not "23-0" history, but I'll take what I can get.

 

[DavidSeven]

+1 on praise for Bevell and Lynch. I think this is the offense that Bevell wanted to unleash last year, which was undone with Harvin's hip injury. Lynch will be in Seattle in 2015.

I thought the OTs held up pretty well considering the talent they were up against on the edges. Could've been better; could've been a lot worse. Certainly, Britt had a better showing than Bowie did in his early games. I thought it was a pretty promising start.

Only slight concerns for me are CB depth (we're venturing close to journey-man territory in nickel packages) and punt returns.

 

[The Great Hawktini]

Thanks kearly your posts make staying up well worth it!
Seahawks> Nfl

 

[Laloosh]

...
In the second half the Packers D seemed to commit to playing the short field and it's telling that Seattle's best passing plays seemed to come out of play action or that awesome new fake read option pass. Speaking of which, am I crazy or did Seattle use play action far less in this game than they usually do?

Right after that happened, I told the guys in .net chat "kearly has to do a random thoughts tonight after that play".

Thanks for the post, kearly. Was a really fun game to watch from an offensive standpoint.

I thought Britt held up pretty well considering the assignment. Will be curious to see what some of you more knowledgeable guys have to say after having watched the o-line play more closely.

 

[KitsapGuy]

Funny how the officials called a pretty good game. I wonder how much of that had to do with the commish in the house. :?

 

[Mick063]

I'll add.


I hope it is made clear to Sherman that forcing a right handed quarterback to throw to his left every down is a clear, distinct advantage. If any of you have played quarterback and are right handed, you know what I am talking about. It wasn't so much that Rogers was off. It was that he was out of his comfort zone.

To add to the previous point, most teams work the left offensive tackle to pressure the quarterback from his blind side. Teams typically put their best pass blocker at left tackle for that reason (ie. Walter Jones). When a quarterback has to constantly work the left side to avoid Sherman, the right side transitions to his "new" blind side. This is the area that Avril and Bennett were creating havoc. They were pressuring Rogers from his right side, over the weakest offensive tackle, and Rogers didn't even see them coming until it was too late. He is simply not accustomed to this. Everything is ass backwards to what he typically sees every week.

Luke Willson is becoming a very good blocker in the run game.

I was surprised to see Ricardo Lockette figure so heavily into the game plan. The common belief here on .net was that Lockette is a special teams guy with great speed, but very unpolished as a receiver. Apparently, at least for game 1, the staff believes he is more polished than Richardson. Regardless, I have never seen the Seahawks so deep, top to bottom, at wide receiver than they are now. I watched almost every Seahawk game since their expansion year in 1976 so that is saying something. If the staff can turn a physically strong burner like Lockette into an accomplished receiver....lord have mercy. I don't know if any of you remember Michael Bates, Olympic bronze medalist and Seahawk receiver/special teamer, but Lockette is already more accomplished as a receiver than Bates ever was and I believe Lockette is physically comparable to Bates.

 

[Seahawk Sailor]

Great stuff as always, Kip. A few comments of my own to add to yours:

Marshawn: holy crap he looks good. Like a bull elephant loose in a China shop. And I think the reason NBC said they didn't interview him is that he said a couple of words to a local reporter about the reports of his demise being exaggerated, and walked off the field. "Well, you know... people say stuff. (Screw) 'em," was the quote. More or less.

Percy: Lord have mercy! Dude has a hydrogen tank strapped to his back that somebody hammered the top off. That .00012 seconds it takes to complete the hand off in those fly sweeps give me a cold fright, but a split second later I see Harvin ten yards down field. That's gonna take a lot of game planning to even lose gracefully against.

Loved to see Coleman have a great game.

Thought Chancellor had some great big hits, but overall a very poor game. 2008-era tackling.

Earl Thomas, fair catches are occasionally a wise decision. He almost had a pick, though, and looked like he'd just fractured his spleen for about five minutes afterward because he missed it.

Sherman is pitching a 0.0 ERA. Complete shutout. And on the other side, Maxwell made 'em pay for it.

 

[kearly]

Every time Lynch carried the ball for a nice gain, there was a fairly loud "ooooooooooooo" cheer from the crowd. Anyone know what that's all about?

 

[Seahawk Sailor]

Every time Lynch carried the ball for a nice gain, there was a fairly loud "ooooooooooooo" cheer from the crowd. Anyone know what that's all about?

A gasp from the shock and awe he created when carrying the ball and trucking people like Maximum Overdrive? Seriously, his runs elicited the same sounds in the living room where I was watching the game.

 

[kearly]

Every time Lynch carried the ball for a nice gain, there was a fairly loud "ooooooooooooo" cheer from the crowd. Anyone know what that's all about?

A gasp from the shock and awe he created when carrying the ball and trucking people like Maximum Overdrive? Seriously, his runs elicited the same sounds in the living room where I was watching the game.

It's not that kind of "oo". It's probably just a word with an "oo" sound in it, like KUUUUUUHN for for Packers fans. It sounds like that, but with the consonants left off.

 

[Seahawk Sailor]

Every time Lynch carried the ball for a nice gain, there was a fairly loud "ooooooooooooo" cheer from the crowd. Anyone know what that's all about?

A gasp from the shock and awe he created when carrying the ball and trucking people like Maximum Overdrive? Seriously, his runs elicited the same sounds in the living room where I was watching the game.

It's not that kind of "oo". It's probably just a word with an "oo" sound in it, like KUUUUUUHN for for Packers fans. It sounds like that, but with the consonants left off.

I dunno, man. The only "ooooo's" I heard on Lynch's runs were of the "ooooooo damn dude just got trucked" variety.

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

ONE

When is the last time Seahawks scored more than 35 points to start off the season? Now, when is the last time that opponent made the Play-Offs the year before, and is considered by some to a Superbowl contender?

Packers Defense is bad, for sure, but this Seahawks Offense was revving hard on all cylinders in just its first game. This Offense could end up being the best in Seahawks history by the end of it.

TWO

The Seahawks Defense have three consecutive games against of what many would consider 3 of the top 5 QBs in the NFL: Rodgers, Rivers, and Manning.

How awesome of a challenge it is for the DBs to work on their craft especially the new rule emphasis on three of the best passing offenses in the NFL three straight weeks in a row. Then they can go back into the laboratory during their week 4 bye and tune up all the issues they see on film... and then its all downhill from there for the most part.

THREE

As much as the NFL punked the Seahawks for the 2nd half of the Season. The first half is looking like a blessing in disguise. Seahawks can go full throttle, petal to the metal, balls to walls out until their BYE week. This will help knock off any lingering cob-webs and rust off while allowing the team to get greased up and primed over the long haul.

We have 10 days to prepare for SD for what will be a short week for them. SD is also a very short travel with what should be a lot 12s in attendance . Then the Seahawks come back vs a great Denver team but after our Defense have spent the last two weeks preparing for Rodgers and Rivers which again is good preparation and challenge for our Passing D before facing off vs Manning.

 

[kearly]

I dunno, man. The only "ooooo's" I heard on Lynch's runs were of the "ooooooo damn dude just got trucked" variety.

The way the crowd expressed it.... that's generally not how people say that kind of "oooo" normally. It's like their saying "bluuuuuuuue" or something but not enunciating the consonants. It's damn weird. The fact that nobody has mentioned this anywhere and yet fans have been doing it now at home games for a while has me puzzled. Maybe my memory is wrong, but I remember hearing it in the preseason (and Lynch only had like 3 carries in the preseason).

 

[Hawkspur]

I dunno, man. The only "ooooo's" I heard on Lynch's runs were of the "ooooooo damn dude just got trucked" variety.

The way the crowd expressed it.... that's generally not how people say that kind of "oooo" normally. It's like their saying "bluuuuuuuue" or something but not enunciating the consonants. It's damn weird. The fact that nobody has mentioned this anywhere and yet fans have been doing it now at home games for a while has me puzzled. Maybe my memory is wrong, but I remember hearing it in the preseason (and Lynch only had like 3 carries in the preseason).

I assumed they were saying 'Beeeeeast!'. At Tottenham Hotspur we had a guy called Sandro whose nickname was The Beast and the crowd responded similarly whenever he made a hard tackle. It sounded pretty much the same.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

Really would like to see the team and Marshawn agree to 2 more years after this season. I think it'll get done and in the long run both sides will be pleased it did.

 

[hawksfanohio]

Zach Miller stood out to me, especially when blocking Clay Mathews. I thought he handled him very well and didn't let him loose.

 

[Uffda]

Think that Miller may have been the mvp, and was Lockette's best game also.

When can they get Simons back ?

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Kip, thanks for the new signature line.

 

[Scottemojo]

I thought Seattle played into the Packers hands for the 3rd quarter with the playcalling, Packers were trying to give a bunch of defensive looks and we responded to those looks with passing when the run had been kicking ass. But, it got fixed.

That drive to chew clock at the end was a foot to the neck, a real statement. 31 teams had time to evaluate their SB hopes during that drive. Hope springs eternal for teams before the first games are played, but read message boards for every team and you see people couching their words with "if Seattle". I get the feeling we are like Dallas of the early 90's in their heads right now.

Williams is a bad ass. He and Mebane made it impossible for Lacy to go up the middle, and he is just not good as a bounce out back. McCarthy should have been putting Starks in to spell Lacy a lot sooner, Starks is the kind of runner who wants the outside zone.

Teams are going to pile onto Harvin at every chance. He might want to wear a little extra rib padding. Call it the New Orleans Saints game plan.

Clay Mathews is a flopping wuss. I expect that crap from a WR, not him.

We Have Bullets Too. It isn't PC enough for a banner at the C-link, but it should be the 2014 catchphrase. I am sure the Packers were all lathered up to show how physical they can be, and they looked like a finesse team. I have no doubt they will rebound as they face a soft Bears D twice, a soft Detroit secondary twice, an rebuilt Vikings D twice, and a win or two will have their fans excited again. But on this night, they got a reminder that the Hawks shoot back.

Kip, the lack of play action was notable, and I commend Bevell for it. There will be games it will be a great thing to use, but not with Matthews and Peppers trying to meet at the QB, which they did once.

 

[Largent80]

Zach Miller stood out to me, especially when blocking Clay Mathews. I thought he handled him very well and didn't let him loose.

Me too and that one handed catch was the best I have ever see a Seahawk TE make.

I can't wait to re-watch the game today.