Some thoughts on "Friendly Fire"...

[Armchair Bronco]

I wasn't surprised to see Richard Sherman get injured in the NFC Championship game, and I wasn't surprised to see who caused the injury:

It was Kam Chancellor, and it was a classic case of "Friendly Fire".

Dating back to early last year, I've been complaining (to my flat screen TV) that two Seahawks players in particular need to eliminate "Friendly Fire" from their arsenal. The two offenders are Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas.

On numerous occasions, these guys have been so amped up that they've crashed into piles of bodies to "lay down the law" only to take down one of their team mates.

I've watched the play on which Sherman was injured, and it's clear that Richard was blindsided by Chancellor who, in my opinion, totally unnecessarily smashed into Sherman's arm when #25 had already driven his guy to within inches of the sideline. In fact, when I play it back slowly, it almost seems as if Chancellor was trying to tackle Sherman, not the dude dressed in yellow and green.

Earl Thomas does the same thing, too. On many occasions, I've seen him try to spear a guy on the ground (who had already been tackled by Byron Maxwell) only to end up crashing into Maxwell full force.

I'm all in favor of setting the tone early, but the LOB needs to put a higher priority on avoiding "Friendly Fire".

 

[JSeahawks]

It's football. It happens. Fly to the ball and be aggressive and sometimes carnage happens.

 

[Throwdown]

So we need to go soft? Friendly fire happens all the time in every game for every team, ours just looks worse cuz we got killers out there

 

[bigtrain21]

Sherman put his arm in there late, after Kam was committed to hitting him. It was neither guys fault though.

 

[rain7]

Kam is an all pro caliber safety - let's spell his name right /soapbox

 

[Blitzer88]

His name is KAM.......not CAM.

And friendly fire is the risk you have to endure when you have an aggressive defense. Everyone is flying around trying to get in on the tackle. It is just something you have to live with. I would love to see less of it, but you would also limit the instincts and aggressiveness away from our guys and that is what makes them who they are.

 

[Armchair Bronco]

I fixed the misspelling. Sorry about that, Kam!

I'm not suggesting that the Hawks tone things down or stop being aggressive. But Friendly Fire is serious business. When it happens in the military, there's usually some kind of investigation, followed by recommendations from a Blue Ribbon panel to try to avoid Friendly Fire in the future.

I just don't want to see the ranks of the LOB thinned out unnecessarily. And in my opinion, Sherman was in the diver's seat on the play that led to his injury. Kam's hit at the end didn't add much to the play.

 

[-The Glove-]

Take away the killer instinct of our incredible D...makes a lot of sense

 

[HawKnPeppa]

I fixed the misspelling. Sorry about that, Kam!

I'm not suggesting that the Hawks tone things down or stop being aggressive. But Friendly Fire is serious business. When it happens in the military, there's usually some kind of investigation, followed by recommendations from a Blue Ribbon panel to try to avoid Friendly Fire in the future.

I just don't want to see the ranks of the LOB thinned out unnecessarily. And in my opinion, Sherman was in the diver's seat on the play that led to his injury. Kam's hit at the end didn't add much to the play.

They aren't going away from that approach. They agressively get as many bodies as possible on a tackle. The timid approach holding back in fear of injuring a teammate could cost big plays.

 

[Armchair Bronco]

Well, call me "Old School", but I would have been much happier if Sweezy had taken out Ha Ha's elbow when he tackled Clinton-Dix after an interception, or if Sweezy had made the unnecessary roughness penalty really rough and unnecessary.

The Hawks need to take out the other guys first, then -- I guess - they can take out each other.

 

[bigtrain21]

Well, call me "Old School", but I would have been much happier if Sweezy had taken out Ha Ha's elbow when he tackled Clinton-Dix after an interception, or if Sweezy had made the unnecessary roughness penalty really rough and unnecessary.

The Hawks need to take out the other guys first, then -- I guess - they can take out each other.

When Kam committed to hitting the running back, Sherm's arm wasn't in the way. Kam was running full speed. No one wants to see it happen but unfortunately it happens from time to time by accident.