Random Thoughts on the Rams game

[kearly]

Never has a devastating loss felt easier to take. The offense and even the secondary to a degree look to be back in form. If Seattle wants to go anywhere this year they must get right on offense and they must get right on pass defense. We saw some emphatically good signs from the offense and even a few signs of encouragement from the secondary.

Seattle lost a game, but they were in it despite a mountain of adversity. In a lot of ways, this game mirrors the structure of the Atlanta playoff loss a couple years ago. Big halftime deficit, no pass rush, not the greatest run defense, Lynch struggling early, and Wilson turning it on in the second half with one of the finest performances of his career. All to be undone by an improbable finish by the opponent.

I've defended the pass rush through the first month of the season, but I think now it has clearly become a major issue. Same thing with the OL, and unfortunately both had their worst performances of the season this game. Seattle had to blitz constantly and STILL couldn't get Davis down. Davis is a good QB, and he played close to a perfect game today, but he's not Tony Romo and this isn't the Dallas OL he's behind.

The OL also had several protection breakdowns and numerous holds on run plays (though one such call on Alvin Bailey seemed totally bogus). They also struggled to create run lanes. Lynch was held to 2 yards or less on about half his carries. And when Lynch did break runs, it was usually via the cutback lane. Whatever run production Seattle got this game was mostly thanks to some stellar play by our RBs. And even then, Lynch averaged less than 3 yards per carry (seemingly all his big runs got called back), and his rushing total was doubled by his QB.

Yet despite these issues, Seattle still outgained the Rams by almost 200 yards. Just imagine how badly they would have outgained them if not for the fake punt at the end. And the Seahawks were turnover free. How often does a team lose a game like that?

It would require the other team putting up a monster performance on special teams and that's exactly what the Rams did. Kudos to Jeff Fisher. I don't normally enjoy seeing coaches get fired but when his day comes there will be no shortage of schaudenfreude for me. It's not that he's annoying, it's that he's only annoying to the Seahawks. What did we ever do to him?

For Pete, I don't know why he didn't anticipate the fake on that last punt. Super obvious. You don't need a big punt return with 3 minutes left. Just put your normal D on the field. I think Pete was asleep at the wheel there, and I would be surprised if he didn't admit as much.

I also have no idea how Seattle didn't recover the miraculous fumble at the end, Sherman was right on it and another Seahawk was in the area too.

I wish I could write 5000 more words on how impressive our QB is. But you all saw the game. One moment I must highlight was his big run in the 2nd half. That was like Russell's version of Beastquake. What a moment in his career. It's a shame, had Seattle won that play is all you'd be hearing about all week.

Doug Baldwin is back in a big way.

Though there were a few minor mistakes by Bevell playcall wise (throwing deep on 2nd and 16), I loved how Seattle countered the Rams for selling out to stop the bootleg and Lynch.

Simon is an idiot, although I do think he got screwed on that drive extending DPI.

Davis completed 84% of his passes and looked very sharp. However, up until the final quarter nearly all of those passes where very short and were essentially zone beaters. In other words, he was taking what the D gave him, which is exactly what Pete wanted. The Rams RBs outrushed Seattle's RBs, but the Rams still finished under 300 yards of offense.

Looking ahead, Seattle is kind of screwed. Their five remaining road games are all against teams that won 10+ games last year, and even their home schedule still has some gutty divisional games too. Of course, one of those teams is 3-3-1 Carolina, who has looked awful at times and seems to be in no shape to challenge Seattle if Seattle repeats their performance in this game.

But to make the playoffs, Seattle will probably need 11-5. Which would mean finishing 8-2 after starting 3-3. I'm not a statistician, but I have to think the playoff odds aren't looking great right now.

Seattle has to get hot. Starting right now. They need to pull some upsets and win some games you don't expect them to.

The playoffs start now for Seattle.

If Seattle does miss the postseason, I think we will all look back to the fake punt and the missed chance on the fumble at the end of the year. But despite the devastating nature of this loss, I can't help but feel great about the Seahawks right now. Their offense is back and despite some issues in certain places, they seem to have exorcised the demons that plagued their offense in 2013. And if the pass rush decides to show up, I think we might just be okay on defense too. Or at least good enough.

 

[ivotuk]

Brian Schneider, he's the Special Teams coach, this should be on him.

Tough loss, but I'm not going to allow myself to wallow in it. Instead, I'm looking forward to the WIN in Carolina. :th2thumbs:

 

[kmedic]

The lack of interior pass rush that was so dominant last season by Clinton McDonald is completely absent now. It's affecting everything on third down defense, our ends can't get to the QB, which puts pressure on our secondary, and forces to blitz more (which isn't working). The defense looks so reminiscent of 2012 IMO. It's not going to improve until we draft better players or sign a quality FA. I agree playoffs look slim at this point.

 

[DavidSeven]

Protection could be better, but I think we saw that a lot of those issues can be resolved by simply getting the ball out. Wilson utilized his receivers in intermediate areas for the first time in about 2 games of action. The result was an offense that looked nearly unstoppable with those same five spacegoats playing OL. Didn't come soon enough, but I'm extremely encouraged going forward.

The receivers were never "gone." They haven't been trusted until today. These guys need to be featured more earlier in the game. Less reliance on scramble drills, more reliance on timed routes and quickly released balls.

The game was lost on D-line and special teams. Dan Quinn needs to find an answer to our pressure issues. We're relying too heavily on the secondary and LBs in coverage right now.

 

[larjon53]

The offense did not look good. 1) The Rams were playing in prevent mode. They were playing to not give up big plays. 2) they :thirishdrinkers: suck. That's why they couldn't keep Wilson contained even though they knew he would run.

 

[theENGLISHseahawk]

I'd find this loss easier to take if it wasn't against a truly hopeless 1-4 Rams team. We struggled at home against a good team last week. In an empty stadium on the road against a bad team, we needed a late comeback to make a game of it.

Big thing for me is -- I'd grown fond of the idea of this team being really good for another 2-3 years at least and maybe even becoming the kind of dynasty people talked about. Receding back into the pack this year will be very disappointing if it happens, because we're better than that.

Plus I'm concerned that San Francisco's biggest problem in the NFC remains having to visit Seattle. And without us, they might have a clear road to the Super Bowl.

It doesn't feel like we're about to go on a 5-6 game winning streak.

 

[pehawk]

The Hawks protection gets better when the defense is forced to respect the zone read. The entire Seahawks offense works better with the zone read in play. You draft and teach ZBS and grappling and your line will always need advantages like zone read and play action. Fact of life.

The line missed Hill and Marsh today. They we're playing better than I think most realized.

The line play is actually better suited for Michael than Lynch at this point, IMO. Especially vs blitz happy toddlers like Williams, today.

 

[ivotuk]

I'd find this loss easier to take if it wasn't against a truly hopeless 1-4 Rams team. We struggled at home against a good team last week. In an empty stadium on the road against a bad team, we needed a late comeback to make a game of it.

Big thing for me is -- I'd grown fond of the idea of this team being really good for another 2-3 years at least and maybe even becoming the kind of dynasty people talked about. Receding back into the pack this year will be very disappointing if it happens, because we're better than that.

Plus I'm concerned that San Francisco's biggest problem in the NFC remains having to visit Seattle. And without us, they might have a clear road to the Super Bowl.

It doesn't feel like we're about to go on a 5-6 game winning streak.

I can relate to your points Rob, I was feeling the same way. But I think we'll bounce back now that we are adjusting to the injuries which will only make this team deeper.

Pete always gets his young guys playing time so that injuries don't kill the team. I didn't see that this year until the injuries happened, now there will be an adjustment and the play will pick up.

And the Rams are borderline being a good team. They have a ridiculous amount of talent but have had bad luck with the QB until Austin Davis came along. They gave the 49ers hell last week for a good part of the game and were keeping it close until Austin Davis threw a pick 6.

Russell Wilson is the reason this team will continue to be great, year in and year out. He will drag this team, kicking and screaming in to the playoffs. And once they get there, watch out!

 

[smerfy01]

I actually really liked what I saw from our offense this game. After the tumultuous week, we seem to have finally found a bit of a rhythm in that second half. This loss is something that unit can build on. It's also something our secondary can build on. Despite the loss, I think the back half of our D played tremendously well. This is the second week in a row where I kept seeing Sherman make great plays.

We may not have the pass rush we had. We may have a lot of injuries. What we DO have now, though, is a road map on how to play damn good football on offense now.

 

[Wagon12]

I'd find this loss easier to take if it wasn't against a truly hopeless 1-4 Rams team. We struggled at home against a good team last week. In an empty stadium on the road against a bad team, we needed a late comeback to make a game of it.

Big thing for me is -- I'd grown fond of the idea of this team being really good for another 2-3 years at least and maybe even becoming the kind of dynasty people talked about. Receding back into the pack this year will be very disappointing if it happens, because we're better than that.

Plus I'm concerned that San Francisco's biggest problem in the NFC remains having to visit Seattle. And without us, they might have a clear road to the Super Bowl.

It doesn't feel like we're about to go on a 5-6 game winning streak.

All this.

 

[theENGLISHseahawk]

And the Rams are borderline being a good team. They have a ridiculous amount of talent but have had bad luck with the QB until Austin Davis came along. They gave the 49ers hell last week for a good part of the game and were keeping it close until Austin Davis threw a pick 6.

For me they played well for nearly one half against the Niners. Then gave up an 80-yard TD to end the half. And the Niners took total control in the second.

I think they'll struggle to win four games this year personally. None of their high picks from the RGIII trade are paying off. They have no idea what to do with Tavon Austin.

Last year we lost to the Colts, Niners and Cards. I know we had a few close ones too, but we didn't lose to a team anywhere near as bad as this St. Louis outfit.

 

[Yxes1122]

I feel the same way in a general sense. This was the first time this year that the Seahawks felt like the Seahawks. And more than anything, it felt like they got pissed off after that first half. Pissed off at the loss to Dallas, pissed off at the 1st half, pissed off at the penalties and poor execution, then, suddenly, they started to play with the competitive fire again. I hope I don't hear anything about "this team doesn't want it bad enough" or the synonymous phrases that were tossed around last week. Because this team came out and fought hard to get back in this game.

I think it's pretty clear that this team is hurting from injuries. KJ is not even close to the same caliber MLB as Wagner is, at least to my eye. And for the most part our Rush D really started to take a step back when Wagner went out in Dallas. I really hope this team doesn't think it can let him walk. His absence today was felt.

Simon looked good, outside of the complete boneheaded penalties that may just be part of his game and Marcus Burley continues to give up huge plays in the worst moments (Terrence Willams last week and a huge completion on the Rams final scoring drive to put them in the Redzone).

Really impressed with Paul Richardson today, particularly his back shoulder catch with the defender all over him. Excited to see him develop.

Seattle really needs to learn how to find DL talent. How many more seasons is Mebane going to play at a high level? And who do we have that can replace him? Can anyone imagine what our interior pass rush would look like without him? There are going to be outcry to draft OL high, but I truly believe Seattle needs to draft DL this year (maybe even double up).

I think the problems on D right now are very personnel related. Avril's run D issues are showing up here and lack of pass rush from the interior stems from just not having someone who can consistently push the pocket. Then the secondary issues (I think) are stemming from reaching into the bottom of the barrel when it comes to our depth.

Personally, I didn't see this season playing out like this. But my too biggest concerns (DL and DB depth) have manifested themselves in about as big a way as possible. And it'll be interesting to see how this team tackles these problems. PC/JS have been so proactive in attacking this teams weaknesses that I'm really looking forward to watching them tackle this problem.

 

[brimsalabim]

David seven how much of that was simply not being asked to force the ball to Percy? It is not a coincidence that Doug had a great game.

 

[glad2bdada3]

Last year we could always depend on our D to either put points on the board or keep our O alive. Clearly not the case this yr. In the preseason and after the GB game thought I saw a better O than last yr. So we would not have to rely so heavily on our D. Clearly this is also not the case.

 

[TwistedHusky]

As Bill Parcells would say: "You are what your record says you are."

The Rams are a 1-4 team. Now 2-4. We are a 3-3 team.

We lost to a 1-4 team and are .500.

That is who the Hawks are.

Yes there are some excuses for why they lost to the Rams. There are always excuses when you lose to a 1-4 team.

This team went through adversity. But that is not an excuse since it was adversity of its own creation. The FO could and should have waited on the Harvin trade. Or just released him outright. They certainly shouldn't have done it this weekend and it cost them because the coaches clearly were more distracted and less prepared than the players.

As a Hawk fan, I am thrilled that we have such a great, dynamic and dangerous QB. And I happy to see our offense moving despite having one of the most braindead OCs in the league (really? A Turbin run on 3rd and 15?). So I enjoy them but I don't think anyone could crunch the #s and expect to see the Seahawks in the playoffs this year much less a SB.

 

[pehawk]

David seven how much of that was simply not being asked to force the ball to Percy? It is not a coincidence that Doug had a great game.

It's all Percy. Wilson got his YPA up to where it usually is; 8+. This Hawks offense isn't built to go lateral.

 

[DavidSeven]

David seven how much of that was simply not being asked to force the ball to Percy? It is not a coincidence that Doug had a great game.

Percy wasn't getting a ton of touches before this, but I think having to incorporate Percy, even minimally, disrupted Russell's progress and may have thrown off his timing with more conventional receivers. He looks a lot better without Percy, to be honest. That's why I'm encouraged.

 

[sutz]

I had a real deja vu feeling today about slow starts in 10:00am games. This had a real pre-Pete vibe to it, with the slow start and all.

I was really happy to see them push the ball up field, and stop all of the nonsense of throwing and running sideways behind the line of scrimmage. IMHO, part of the slow start on offense was just coming around to the reality of that; returning to our roots. They didn't maybe go deep often enough, but Paul Richardson had a promising beginning, and even Norwood had at least one catch I can recall. They kept feeding Lynch, even after falling behind. These are good things.

Hate the loss, mainly because trick plays on special teams has been a Fisher specialty since last century. It hurts to get fooled by that stuff when we should be expecting it. Hey, coaching staff and players! Listen up! Coach Fisher uses trick plays on special teams!

:229031_shrug:

Meanwhile, sure we had some breakdowns, but there were some real positives. I'm still in.

 

[ShaunPope]

Never has a devastating loss felt easier to take. The offense and even the secondary to a degree look to be back in form. If Seattle wants to go anywhere this year they must get right on offense and they must get right on pass defense. We saw some emphatically good signs from the offense and even a few signs of encouragement from the secondary.

Seattle lost a game, but they were in it despite a mountain of adversity. In a lot of ways, this game mirrors the structure of the Atlanta playoff loss a couple years ago. Big halftime deficit, no pass rush, not the greatest run defense, Lynch struggling early, and Wilson turning it on in the second half with one of the finest performances of his career. All to be undone by an improbable finish by the opponent.

I've defended the pass rush through the first month of the season, but I think now it has clearly become a major issue. Same thing with the OL, and unfortunately both had their worst performances of the season this game. Seattle had to blitz constantly and STILL couldn't get Davis down. Davis is a good QB, and he played close to a perfect game today, but he's not Tony Romo and this isn't the Dallas OL he's behind.

The OL also had several protection breakdowns and numerous holds on run plays (though one such call on Alvin Bailey seemed totally bogus). They also struggled to create run lanes. Lynch was held to 2 yards or less on about half his carries. And when Lynch did break runs, it was usually via the cutback lane. Whatever run production Seattle got this game was mostly thanks to some stellar play by our RBs. And even then, Lynch averaged less than 3 yards per carry (seemingly all his big runs got called back), and his rushing total was doubled by his QB.

Yet despite these issues, Seattle still outgained the Rams by almost 200 yards. Just imagine how badly they would have outgained them if not for the fake punt at the end. And the Seahawks were turnover free. How often does a team lose a game like that?

It would require the other team putting up a monster performance on special teams and that's exactly what the Rams did. Kudos to Jeff Fisher. I don't normally enjoy seeing coaches get fired but when his day comes there will be no shortage of schaudenfreude for me. It's not that he's annoying, it's that he's only annoying to the Seahawks. What did we ever do to him?

For Pete, I don't know why he didn't anticipate the fake on that last punt. Super obvious. You don't need a big punt return with 3 minutes left. Just put your normal D on the field. I think Pete was asleep at the wheel there, and I would be surprised if he didn't admit as much.

I also have no idea how Seattle didn't recover the miraculous fumble at the end, Sherman was right on it and another Seahawk was in the area too.

I wish I could write 5000 more words on how impressive our QB is. But you all saw the game. One moment I must highlight was his big run in the 2nd half. That was like Russell's version of Beastquake. What a moment in his career. It's a shame, had Seattle won that play is all you'd be hearing about all week.

Doug Baldwin is back in a big way.

Though there were a few minor mistakes by Bevell playcall wise (throwing deep on 2nd and 16), I loved how Seattle countered the Rams for selling out to stop the bootleg and Lynch.

Simon is an idiot, although I do think he got screwed on that drive extending DPI.

Davis completed 84% of his passes and looked very sharp. However, up until the final quarter nearly all of those passes where very short and were essentially zone beaters. In other words, he was taking what the D gave him, which is exactly what Pete wanted. The Rams RBs outrushed Seattle's RBs, but the Rams still finished under 300 yards of offense.

Looking ahead, Seattle is kind of screwed. Their five remaining road games are all against teams that won 10+ games last year, and even their home schedule still has some gutty divisional games too. Of course, one of those teams is 3-3-1 Carolina, who has looked awful at times and seems to be in no shape to challenge Seattle if Seattle repeats their performance in this game.

But to make the playoffs, Seattle will probably need 11-5. Which would mean finishing 8-2 after staring 3-3. I'm not a statistician, but I have to think the playoff odds aren't looking great right now.

Seattle has to get hot. Starting right now. They need to pull some upsets and win some games you don't expect them to.

The playoffs start now for Seattle.

If Seattle does miss the postseason, I think we will all look back to the fake punt and the missed chance on the fumble at the end of the year. But despite the devastating nature of this loss, I can't help but feel great about the Seahawks right now. Their offense is back and despite some issues in certain places, they seem to have exorcised the demons that plagued their offense in 2013. And if the pass rush decides to show up, I think we might just be okay on defense too. Or at least good enough.

Um, what game were you watching? We still can't run block and the secondary was TERRIBLE when we needed them to come through most.

 

[kearly]

I'd find this loss easier to take if it wasn't against a truly hopeless 1-4 Rams team.

It's an old saying but it's been true since the inception of the league. When divisional opponents face off, you can throw records out the window.

Also, the Rams aren't your typical 1-4 team. They blew some huge leads in previous weeks against very good opponents.

At any rate, the Rams played a hell of a game. The one mistake they made at the very end didn't even hurt them. They had to be perfect and they were.