Random thoughts on the Packers game

[Anonymous]

This. Incredible.

"It's a waste of my time!"

 

[kearly]

Kearly,

You should get paid for this kind of insight. I love your posts (they rock!).

Thank you...

I am certain Kip will take your money. PM him for the details.

Appreciate the thought, but I'm just fine as is.

 

[WilsonMVP]

This. Incredible.

"It's a waste of my time!"

On first take they were ripping apart Rodgers for avoiding Sherman all game it was hilarious since both of them love Rodgers so much.

 

[kearly]

-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 THOUGH US...

Anyone find a place online to watch this? Sounds pretty cool.

http://vimeo.com/105322174

 

[Mick063]

-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 THOUGH US...

Anyone find a place online to watch this? Sounds pretty cool.

http://vimeo.com/105322174

Thanks for providing that link!

bookmarked. I don't get tired of watching it.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

-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 THOUGH US...

Anyone find a place online to watch this? Sounds pretty cool.

http://vimeo.com/105322174

Thanks Kearly.

 

[HomerJHawk]

-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 THOUGH US...

Anyone find a place online to watch this? Sounds pretty cool.

http://vimeo.com/105322174

Thanks for providing that link!

bookmarked. I don't get tired of watching it.

I missed that while watching the pre-game. Awesome! The last 3 seconds gives me chills!

 

[BlueTalon]

Thanks for taking the time, Kip. Like so many others here, I really appreciate it.

I consider pretty much anything you write here must-read. Don't always agree with it, but I always respect it.

 

[taco40]

-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.

Watched this one with another .net member. Line play (both sides) is often what I'll focus on and numerous times I commented that the defensive line was playing two/three yards in the backfield on running plays. O line continually had the opposition's line bunched up and stumbling over each other.

Carpenter played huge on a lot of blocks. If he plays like this every game... oh, boy!

The unsung hero, IMO, was Miller. He took Clay Matthews, a premier player and made him look ordinary on a lot of plays. Even forced him to look like a girl and flop over on purpose. On top of that, he stole all the clutch catches that Baldwin usually handles. Miller had a marvelous game. The book on Matthews is he can play out of control and lose containment in an attempt to make the play. Miller looked like he was well prepared to force Matthews into this repeatedly.

 

[Scottemojo]

In the 3rd, there was a 3rd down pass to Baldwin that ended up being short of the first down.

But watch the line. A DT gets initially blocked by Carp. adjusts his attack to the left, and an arm from Sweezy, I think Sweezy anyway, flatbacks the bastard. It was as dominant a show of strength as we are likely to see this whole year. I need to wait for the all-22 to get a better look, but it was AWESOME, and it is the type of thing San Diego defensive linemen have probably been thinking about for 24 hours now.

 

[HawkAroundTheClock]

Great observations, Kearly. The more analysis from all of you, the more giddy I get about where this team is right now. Every opponent will provide a unique challenge, but these Seahawks look ready for anything right now.

 

[YYZHawksFan]

My 2 cents. Seahawks made several mistakes and could have played even better but still easily beat a supposed top team in the NFL.

 

[Recon_Hawk]

I’ll add some thoughts. Apologies for the long post. I got writing and couldn't stop I’ve left comments off some of the big names since it was pretty obvious how they played.

- The outcome shouldn’t be a surprise to many. Not many teams prepare for a big game as well as Seattle. Playing at homefield, too, and the first showing of Pete Carroll’s multi-attack offense? Green Bay had no chance.

Darrell Bevell - Love him or hate him, he'll be a head coach after this season. Bevell has the NFL coaching experience and now the weapons to attack any defense. After this year, he'll have called plays for three consecutive 11+ winning seasons and an offensive near the top of the league in passing and rushing categories. Great game plan last night even if the Lockette "trick" TD pass was a border line illegal play

Percy Harvin - For a team that prides itself as a balance, spread the ball around offense, watching Percy used as a main piece to the offense was some of the most fun I’ve had watching a player outside of the college level. He and Russell look to have a mid-season connection as well. It’s hard to believe Percy looked as fast as he did even with almost tripping every play. Almost as if his brain knows he can run faster but his body isn’t used to opening up to full throttle yet.

Jr Sweezy – He had couple of poor pass-blocking plays contributed to a sack and a QB pressure, but also had a sort of shoulder chip-block that I can only compare to a heavyweight knockout punch that leveled a DT. There’s still flashes of being a 3rd year offensive linemen, but the strength and mobility are there to be great.

Zach Miller – Did the Seahawks get a steal in the restructure of Miller’s contract or what? I love that he came back at what I imagine was a discount. He pulled in another one handed grab and protected Wilson against Matthews and Peppers throughout the night. Great game and a really underappreciated tight end around the league.

Cassius Marsh – After an underwhelming 2013 rookie class, it looks like John Schneider has found himself another gem in the middle rounds. Quinn got the rookie in on the 3rd series of the game and played him throughout. He took some snaps on the inside, but looked more impactful at DE. As a bonus, his relentlessness, physical got into the head of the packers left tackle and eventually drew a personal foul after the safety.

Paul Richardson – He didn’t play much, but he was again used as a decoy and blocker to open up space for the bootleg QB keeper that got a first down. JMO, but I felt Richardson look a bit loss in the preseason. Like the QB keeper play, I think the more he proves he can handle the play call the more snaps he’ll get.

Bruce Irvin – I have to give Irvin credit. He showed some real professionalism by playing without much of a preseason. Seattle used him as a defensive end and Leo, only, and managed to move Rodgers off his mark a few times. The way Carroll and Quinn substituted defensive ends throughout the game, it wouldn’t surprise me if Irvin sticks to defensive end to help keep the position fresh. That said. I hope they can keep him at left defensive end. Against left tackles he was shutdown.

Earl Thomas – ET is my favorite player on this whole team. I’ve rooted for him bigtime since his rookie year, but if he ever wants to become the league defensive MVP he’s got to make the easy interception when it’s there. Besides that and the horrible no fair call catch, he was same old All-Pro ET.

Jordan Hill – If there’s a position I’m more worried about then others, it’s the inside pass rushing DT position outside of Bennett. Hill played a lot of snaps, but I can’t say I saw him change the outcome of a single play.

- The Clay Matthews flop was bad, but there was a play from Green Bay’s left tackle on a Cassius March shove which was an even worst flop. The shit really pisses me off. It’s a pathetic act in soccer. A horrible act in basketball. It’s even worst in football.

Kevin Williams – A bit of surprise to me, Williams started and played the first two series, then switch in and out with Tony McDaniels. Between those two players, I feel pretty good about our base defense interior Dline. Our run defense will be better fine.

- Some time in the 4th quarter, Kam had two consecutive hits on Eddie Lacy. The first was a hard, hard tackle and the second hit a missed tackle but a helmet-to-helmet connection. Next play, Lacy was out with a concussion. Damnnn.

Marcus Burley – He came in for Lane and had a great pass breakup on a sideline ball and generally kept the defense in front of him. It remains to be seen how good he is, but if the rest of the league continues to avoid Sherman, I imagine he’ll get tested early and often the next few games to find out. The trade for him is already paying dividends.

Offensive Line – As a whole, I felt the Oline played solid as a unit. Unger looked like his 2012 All Pro self. Carpenter looks like he’s playing on another level. Okung seems nimble as ever. Compared to Michael Bowie’s first game, hawk fans should feel good about even Justin Britt who had only a couple mistakes in protection from what I saw. We should also feel a bit silly to question Cable’s selection of the “over drafted” unknown from Missouri

- Tackling needs to improve. Seattle’s defense has had an issue with hitting without wrapping up and it’s usually the main reason an opposing offense can march down the field ever. Like before, I believe this will get cleaned up.
That’s enough for now Go Hawks!

 

[Uffda]

Game ball to Carp and Sweezy! Both guards played like raging rhinos! The beast was great but don't forget the guys who made the wholes! Seriously they laid out some vicisious punishment.

Was good to see them be what they were drafted to be.

- Tackling needs to improve. Seattle’s defense has had an issue with hitting without wrapping up and it’s usually the main reason an opposing offense can march down the field ever. Like before, I believe this will get cleaned up. - Reconhawk

Yep, they looked weak on the run, a times , took too many to swarm to swamp the target. Though that's why they should but they really shouldn't need that many to be there. Did whiff and hit hard and not stop the runner.

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

.......The unsung hero, IMO, was Miller. He took Clay Matthews, a premier player and made him look ordinary on a lot of plays. Even forced him to look like a girl and flop over on purpose. On top of that, he stole all the clutch catches that Baldwin usually handles. Miller had a marvelous game. The book on Matthews is he can play out of control and lose containment in an attempt to make the play. Miller looked like he was well prepared to force Matthews into this repeatedly.

Zach had maybe his best game as a Seahawk.
My cousin who is lifelong Raider fan keeps asking if they can get him back and I just keep saying 'no', he's a true Hawk now.

 

[capncrunch]

Hi all,

Ahhh. The Random Thoughts from Kearly. As awesome as ever. A lot of the things I would've said have been touched on by others. I agree with the observations a couple of guys had of Lockette. I have been kind of rooting for him the last few years. (except for when he was in a 9ers uniform ) The coaches seem to like him. I still see a big upside for him. I wonder if he could return punts. I like the way he blowed by Ha Ha to score. It's nice to have some guys who aren't going to be caught from behind now on the team. I also am happy with what I saw from Coleman as Kearly mentioned. Looking forward to the Chargers game. Go Hawks!!!

 

[CalgaryHawk]

Thanks everyone for providing your well-thought out observations. Better observations than you get on any of the main sports sites.

I'm encouraged to hear that Richardson got some snaps and even had a positive impact on the game by clearing out areas of the field due to his speed. I'm little forward to later in the year when the hawks roll out double-jet sweeps and double-jet sweep fakes using Harvin and Richardson.

 

[saintsfannhere]

I love the hustle from y'all's defence and how one man can take on a tackle by himself. Yards after contact verse y'all must be extremely low. I'd like to look into that of anyone has that info.

 

[ivotuk]

Like everyone else I appreciate the random thoughts and also the additional thoughts from others.

I rewatched the 1st half last night, focusing on the Dline with lots of rewinding, pausing, and putting my finger on the screen to follow a player.

The defensive line seemed to focus on being disciplined, don't chase the ball or a sack and get burned type of discipline. It's why I think that some plays may have gained traction but never went far. No big plays.

Wow they put Jordan Hill, Cassius Marsh and Bruce Irvin in early. I think they played excellent, with both Jordan and Bruce showing push while maintaining discipline.

Cassius Marsh is a rolling terror, that effortless rolling flip made me stand up and say "Wow!" I don't know much about hand fighting, but it was obvious that Cassius knows how to do it. It looked like his slapping hands away really pissed off the Olinemen.

Others have said that Jordan Hill didn't do much, but I think he did great, he did his job. I think we're going to see the same kind of production out of him that we saw in College. He will be disciplined and effective in regular games, but will light up opposing players in the really big games. He has the physical part down, he just needs to learn the intricacies of the NFL game.

Bruce had an effect when he was in there and one could see his speed when the play would get beyond the LOS and he would reverse to chase it. Once he knocks the rust off, he and Cassius will terrorize offensive linemen much the way Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett do.

Speaking of those two, how disheartening must it be to be a backup right tackle and look up to see Avril as the LDE and Bennett as the LDT? 2 monsters, right next to each other! I'm sure Sherrod was yelling "Mommy!" in his mind. It's certain he will have nightmares the rest of the season.

The strip sack of Bennett's and the 4th down sack of Avril's were so wonderful to watch. I really love Cliff's celebration, it's unique and fun to watch.

Kevin Williams next to Brandon Mebane is going to stifle the running game. I believe we will see something akin to the "Williams Wall" with those 2, although I doubt we will ever see anything as dominating as Kevin and Pat ever again.

There is no doubt in my mind, this defensive line is light years better than last years.

It was a lot of fun replaying some of the offensive line blocks over and over, giggling like a madman at the domination. Even Britt played like a vet. Apparently he ran off the field once and said something like "we get to play and have all this fun too?" I'll bet he loves Marshawn Lynch.

I think the lack of targets for Doug and Jermaine was more of a focus on a game plan that was all about Percy and Marshawn. I saw ADB signaling and talking to RW after plays as if he was relaying information about defensive formations.

Bevell is opening up the game plan and this fits in with Pete's philosophy of never standing still. Always be getting better, always be adding to the team, but only as the players are capable of handling it.

Pete "meters" out production based on his innate ability to understand a player's abilities. I think that this is what makes him such a great coach. It's proof that there is a silver lining in failure, if one only takes the time to find it.

One pundit, can't remember who, said we would go 15-1. "Seattle will have a let down in San Diego, but then will run the table." I believe him.

 

[Tokadub]

-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.

So far I just read the OP gonna read the rest later after I eat. But I think I agree with most everything Kearly said except the Derrick Coleman thing. I've always thought Coleman has been very good. I think it was just more noticeable Thursday because our Offensive Line didn't suck. It's impossible for Coleman to single-handedly give us like 9 yards a carry when our O-line was playing so bad last year. I'm curious if others would agree with that or if they really think Coleman has played poorly in the past? I would need some examples of Coleman not playing well because I can't remember anything like that.

Anyways, I watched the whole game again last night just picked up the NFL Game Rewind thingy for the first time so I'm good to go for even more analysis this year, but no coaches tape is available yet unfortunately.

So my thoughts on the game, I'm sure I'm repeating a lot of people since I haven't read this whole thread yet:

- Gonna eat some crow right now about Bennett. I said he was over rated and I would rather have kept Tate this off-season. Judging by how good our offense looks so far I would rather have Bennett, just hoping Harvin stays healthy which the more I see of him this year it seems more realistic.

That one forced fumble by Bennett is like several games of production in my book so as long as he plays decently I can't criticize Bennett till at least like Week 4 just from that one play alone haha. This is a case where I'm hoping to be wrong though since it means our team will be way better so I'm OK with eating crow here.

- Offensive Line looked pretty dang good. I'm not ready to say they aren't the weak link of our team quite yet though. I think Green Bay's defense could be downright terrible. I think we'll have a lot better idea how good our O-Line really is after week 3 VS Denver.

Carpenter looked very solid, loving how he and Britt really lay themselves out to knock guys over in the run blocking. Unger and Sweezy also looked solid but I'm not sure how much they were really tested. I thought Okung looked to be our weak link week 1. It seemed Okung was really struggling to move his feet and guys were able to blow past him quite easily. Hopefully he starts playing better ASAP because it seemed like Wilson's confidence in our O-Line is starting to grow but he might start losing it if Okung can't hold up. One play comes to mind where Wilson was casually running to the right ready to throw a 90% completion on the play but then he got tripped up from behind because Okung got badly beat, I don't think Wilson was expecting that.

Zach Miller also had some nice blocks and probably the most impressive catch of his career, but I've noticed a few times including last season where he will line up on the right side and will double team the guy along with the right tackle allowing the edge rusher who was obviously lined up to rush to run right behind him. In this game it was Clay Matthews who just ran right past him and tackled Lynch in the back field, it almost seems like it must be by design from the coaches though since it's so obvious someone needs to cover Clay Matthews but nobody touches him... not too sure about that.

- Wilson is a bit lucky he didn't get intercepted twice, he didn't look quite as sharp as pre-season but still looked very good overall. Wilson's running was a thing of beauty though, just made the Packers look foolish out there and his slides are so damn good.

- Of course at the start of 2nd half they showed Rodgers stat line and his 4.8 yards per attempt. Heaven forbid they would of shown Russell Wilson who at the time had like a 140 passer rating, can't let the world know how good he really is right?

I really think the media is intentionally under selling the Hawks because they know we are so good they don't want other team's fans to know how slim their chances are to win the Super Bowl. Only Denver is allowed to get praise but I hope we destroy them week 3.

Reading the arguments about why the Seahawks won't repeat are so stupid, there isn't any good reason why they won't. Guys are like "Oh, well I admit they are better this year but they still won't repeat!" HUH???

The 49ers who were our biggest threat last year are gonna suck this year in my opinion. I think Dallas might even make it a close game or possibly win. 49ers are gonna win 9 games tops in my opinion. We just proved we are way better than Green Bay, probably would be similar story against the Saints since our Offense is so much better now.

So who can really beat us realistically? I guess we'll have to see how good Denver and the Patriots are this year but I'm feeling pretty good about my 14-2 prediction for regular season.

- Aaron Rodgers is also really lucky he didn't get intercepted twice, Earl Thomas was so pissed at himself when he didn't come down with that pass that hit him right in the chest/shoulder area towards the end of the game.

- Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse combined for just 22 yards off 8 targets. In future games I would like them to be a bit more involved so we can lighten the load on Harvin.

The more I see of Harvin this year the more it seems like he might be able to stay healthy. But I'd still rather play it a little safe and spread the ball out more to minimize Harvin getting hit. It was good to have Harvin so involved in Week 1 though so the rest of the league is probably freaked out now no matter how many times we actually target him, he's a real game changer.

- Hate to say it but in this game it would of been nice to have Tate even though we didn't need him at all to win. Earl Thomas had a rough day on punt returns (I'm not giving up on him just from one game though). And I honestly think Tate might of come down with that one deep throw to Baldwin on the left side of the field. Tate always did ridiculous stuff to put himself in position to grab the ball, he makes great adjustments and had great body control in the air. I didn't really see Baldwin put himself in position to have a chance on that catch. I'm not doubting Baldwin I had him tied with Tate for our best receiver last year, just on that particular play I kinda wish we had Tate over there.

- Lockette had an awesome touchdown, I think we might use him a bit more this season. He's been so good for us I think he's earned some more reps.

- Also loved the Coleman touchdown nobody was expecting that he made it look so easy.

- I am kinda shocked Aaron Rodgers didn't even attempt any throws towards Sherman. If he's really the #1 QB in league he should be able to make at least a few throws on his side to keep our D honest. He let us stack the whole left side of the field because we knew he wouldn't ever target Sherman.

Pretty pathetic game plan from the Packers. I think you gotta gamble a little bit to beat our defense. Don't be stupid like Kaepernick, but I don't think a team can beat us if they don't throw at Sherman the entire game. It's kinda like pick your poison playing against us but I thought the Packers looked quite pathetic and scared in this one.

- It seems like a lot of people think that was a perfect game for us. They think we beat Green Bay because we played like perfectly and that's the only reason we beat them so easily... I kinda disagree. My prediction for the game was 37-16 so just 1 point off.

Although our running game and our offensive line was a thing of beauty compared to last season's average I think our offense could be EVEN BETTER. Let's say Baldwin and Kearse combine for around 100 yards instead of 22, Harvin could still get 100 super easily...

The Packers are lucky we fumbled that punt, the media story could of been a lot more brutal for them if that didn't happen. What if we had scored a TD on that drive instead of them scoring one? Well the score might of been 43-10... that looks a little similar to a score I saw last year in the Superbowl

It's scary for the rest of the NFL but I don't think we played perfectly at all, that seemed like an average game for us this season to me if our O-line continues to play like this.