Re-watched the AZ game again

[kearly]

A few things jumped out at me after watching the game again.

-Arizona was DEFINITELY trying to win this game for most of the first half. Palmer threw far more than David Johnson ran. Palmer actually played very well outside of one bad throw (the one that Shead tipped away from Lane). Palmer's line only looks bad because of some clutch tipped balls, some clutch PDs, and some unclutch drops (and of course, the controversial INT). The TD to Fitzgerald was a combination of good anticipation and Shead being flatfooted, but it showed what Palmer could do when nobody was screwing up. If the Hawks face Palmer again this season they shouldn't relax, Palmer was very close to having a very good first half.

-This is what "lucky + good" looks like for Seattle. When Seattle plays sharp and gets even just a little luck to go their way they can destroy any team anywhere.

-The key moment of this game in my opinion was a play that I initially thought little of, though credit to Troy Aikman for seeing it live. It's 2nd and 10 and Arizona has the ball down 17-6. There is definitely some urgency on Arizona's part as they can smell the game slipping away from them. Palmer throws to a wide open David Johnson for what would have been a sure 1st down, and given what Johnson is capable of in the open field, it had the potential to be a massive big play and help get AZ back in the game. But fortunately for us, the ball never gets there since it hits Cliff Avril right in the facemask. And if not for a heads up play by Palmer to bat the airborne deflection down, it could have been picked by DeShawn Shead who as it happened was in the area on a corner blitz. Arizona would punt after a failed 3rd down, and within two minutes Seattle expanded their lead by an additional two touchdowns.

-Only a few minutes later, Arizona now down 30-6, they had 2 minutes to work with and plenty of timeouts. Facing 3rd and short, Palmer threw to a wide open receiver on an uncovered receiver screen. It would have easily picked up the first down. Except the ball never got there, because Avril had batted it down, again.

-Overall, there were a ridiculous number of drops, batted balls, and passes defensed for Arizona's pass offense. One of them negated a TD in the 4th quarter that would have cost Seattle the scoring defense crown. Several others negated crucial 1st down conversions. Seattle also batted three balls at the LOS (Irvin had the other). All of this is very nice, but also extremely unsustainable. This was like a bottom 5% type of game for AZ in terms of pass breakups, tipped balls, and drops. Palmer looked pretty comfortable but couldn't connect due to it being a game of inches that broke against him in spectacular fashion. So while the defense played very well, it also got very lucky. I am just a teeny tiny bit concerned about the Hawks secondary being over-confident in a rematch, because they won't likely catch these kinds of breaks again in a potential NFCCG showdown.

-Russell Wilson was fantastic, but actually missed a couple of open receivers including two for long TDs. As good as he was, he was very close to being even better.

-Russell was PUMPED after his TD to Kearse.

-Overall the OL protection was decent considering the circumstances. The run blocking however, was pretty bad. It felt like about 40% of the runs either went nowhere or were TFLs. There was only one clear hole to run through all game and Christine Michael turned it into a 45 yard gain. Bryce Brown's TD run was well blocked too, so credit for that. But to me the success of the running game had almost everything to do with our RBs creating plays and maximizing yardage. Wilson's excellence in the passing game also took the pressure off the run game which is very important for backs like Brown and Michael.

-Sherman was aware of the scoring defense crown being in play before the game and had been tracking scores for KC and CIncy throughout. There were several cuts to the Seahawks sideline for players like Sherman and Earl cheering on the backups just before Shead's pick saved the day.

-Palmer worked Sherman back in week 10, it was the worst game of Sherman's life. But Sherman looked fired up in this game and Palmer rarely targeted him.

-Tyler Lockett was unstoppable, and if not for a questionable holding call on Sherman that wiped out Lockett's first big return, Lockett may have actually produced roughly as many yards for Seattle as Wilson did. Why did Arians keep kicking it to him? We all know how Pete Carroll can get 'hormonal' with his red challenge flag. I think Arians gets a bit hormonal too when an opposing player makes him look bad.

-The run defense was masterful again just as they have been all year. All season long I could scarcely believe there was a better run D in the league. So it's fitting that Seattle ended up with the #1 run D after this game.

-Shead and Lane had some mistakes at times, but they look much more comfortable than they did earlier in the year, IMO. McCray is also starting to look comfortable. Anyone still pissed about sending a 5th for McCray anymore? I get why some people thought it was an overpay initially, but in retrospect I think he's been worth the price and then some.

Overall, this was a very good game for Seattle but also a game where they caught some breaks, so as fans I think we should try to avoid being too confident in the afterglow of it. If just a few plays had barely gone differently this could have been a much tighter game. That said, I do think Seattle is the best team in the NFL by a good margin despite their 10-6 record, and this game was an awesome exclamation point to prove it.

 

[hawkfan68]

Awesome post. Thanks for sharing your observations and thoughts, Kearly.

 

[Laloosh]

Thanks for taking the time, Kearly. Anything jump out with Earl's play? Thought I saw him playing shallow with McCray deep on a play or two. What's that all about?

Also, regarding your last paragraph... When we don't play well, we lose close games. When we play well, we destroy the opposing team's spirit.

GO HAWKS!

 

[hawknation2015]

Good summation, hope to see some more random thoughts from you throughout the playoff run.

:thirishdrinkers:

 

[HawkFan72]

Thanks for the post kearly. Always appreciate reading your observations about the games.

 

[HawkGA]

- McCray is also starting to look comfortable. Anyone still pissed about sending a 5th for McCray anymore? I get why some people thought it was an overpay initially, but in retrospect I think he's been worth the price and then some.

Teams are going to start questioning when Seattle wants one of their players. Gonna realize they must be good and simply start driving the price up.

If that happens, the Seahawks should just start messing with them and telling them they want certain players, get the team to think they must have promise, then pull out of the trade talks. Might be able to get some bad players into starting roles just based on the fact the Seahawks showed an interest in them!

 

[HawkGA]

Thanks for the post kearly. Always appreciate reading your observations about the games.

For those of us who don't get to watch the games, these write-ups are really appreciated. Heck, even if I did watch the games, I'd still learn something from your post (probably a lot of things).

 

[Ad Hawk]

Good stuff, Kip.

The O-line was up against a good run-D, and we still rushed for over 140 yards. But it did feel watching the game just like you said: a lot of being bottled up, then an amazing 2nd effort occasionally to get 7-9 yards to make reasonable 3rd downs.

Is it possible that some of the "luck," while not necessarily sustainable in the same way from game to game, is still a product of good players doing what they do best? Is it possible that Palmer's release of the ball, for instance, is low enough that the D-line keyed in on it to bat down some of those balls? There may be some luck involved, but when it happens that many times, I start to think there's more too it; we're creating space for our own luck. I play a lot of competitive volleyball and being in the right place at the right time gives you a much better chance to dig a hit than if you're out of position. I wonder if it's much the same way here...

 

[EverydayImRusselin]

Did you get a chance to watch Glowinski? I am really hoping he is a solid replacement for Sweezy already in year 1.

 

[DangerousDoug]

Thanks for the post Kearly!
:thirishdrinkers:

 

[Floridahawk79]

Thanks, that was great

 

[MontanaHawk05]

Any backup safety who can replace Kam without being Cary Williams is worth a 5th round pick.

 

[12th_Bob]

Compared to the week 16 game in Arizona last season, this was way more impressive.

No Lynch or Rawls, no Chancellor, no Okung...

Zona' with Palmer and a much better running game.

The Hawks didn't really get going in the previous game until the end of the third quarter and Willson was the driver against an ancient Larry Foote.

This time around, Wilson is just on his game, playing the best football of his career. Seattle did all the damage in the first half and even left points on the field with a missed extra point and FG before intermission.

I hope the return of everyone and the recent road mentality can continue for three weeks. :snack:

 

[pmedic920]

Great post.

I like how you think, randomly :{)

 

[Mick063]

Nice post.


I re-watched myself.

After a second view, I'll tell you what blew me away.

Richard Sherman is nothing short of outstanding in handling the gunner on punt returns. Sure he did make a penalty to get one called back, but the rest of the time he was giving Lockett that extra second to get started.

Lockett had a huge day returning punts and a big reason for that was Sherman's play on punt returns.

 

[Fade]

Shead was playing zone. He should of carried Fitz up the seam, before buzzing the flat, or wherever he was going. Bad technique, and a bad play call in a sense that teams know your weakness is the seam.

 

[DavidSeven]

I agree with the summation of the run game. Pretty average or even below-average for everything except Michael's one big run and the TD run. To me, we looked pretty stifled at times. Arizona has a good run defense though, so no big shame in that. However, I don't think we really ran all over them either if you look at it closely. Take out one big play, and it's pretty ho-hum day. Still, that one run was an absolutely huge play in the game, so you can't discount its impact entirely.

 

[Ozzy]

Great post Kearly. Adds more fuel for my Michael love affair as well lol.

 

[HuskerHawk]

Thanks Kearly for a great and thought provoking read!

 

[theincrediblesok]

Nice article Kearly, always looking forward to these.

I went and re-watched it as well.

I dont' think it was luck that made the Cardinal's offense looked like it did. We were already up 30-6 after the first batted pass, and at that time it was a good play by Bennett. The next batted pass by Avril was a great diagnoses of stopping the screen pass as the O-linemen went pass him. If he had gone for the sack instead that play would of been converted. Isn't that what they taught the Defensive players is that if you can't get to the QB you put your hands up. If Avril had caught it instead that would of been a pick 6.

Palmer was off and when I looked at those throws where he was throwing to no one, we got pressure on him. He took quite a bit of hits early in the first quarter and I think it had affected him after when even the small amount of pressure was forcing his errant throws.

In a rematch I see the Cardinals putting up another TD or 2, also we put up 30 points in the first half.

On the 3rd and 10 in the 3rd Quarter where Carroll had called a time out, if he hadn't I think Doug gets that TD, I know it was close to an expire clock but it looked like the ball was snap before. You can see Wilson was smiling and looking like there was one he should of had. On the next play if Coffman just run straight into the defender he would of gotten the first down, instead he elected to lower his head. We would of score a TD a few plays later.

I agree that if Lockett had stayed in the whole game he would of gotten 300 kick/punt return yards easy.

Great overall team win, there were still mistakes but this team seems to fix it when they need to.

The O-line didn't make the run happen. Michael made it happen. He made alot of guys miss on the first tackle, and he played out of his mind. I hope he keeps playing with that intensity. That's the type of back we need in this system. Gotta run hard and through people and dish out the punishment.