MontanaHawk05
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Until the second half, I truly thought that Pete Carroll had lost the team.
Moreover, I thought Russell Wilson was kinda done for the season. That he was an elite QB having a mediocre stretch of games - https://www.si.com/nfl/seahawks/news/al ... uesgetting greedy and ignoring checkdowns, as he has periodically throughout his career[/url] - while his receivers drop stuff and his line struggles to block a gust of wind.
I also thought the defense had had it. Too many injuries to cornerstone players, too many wasted spots on the defensive line, and did I mention injuries?
Then Wilson got a no-call while being late hit. And he got PISSED.
It was a different game after that. Coinciding with the offense quickly switching back to pass concepts that were workable with Wilson's love of rhythm and the gimpified O-line's love of being turnstiles, Seattle started getting stuff done. Guys started making catches count again. Lockett silenced the doubts that he's back. We remembered Hollister. Travis Homer proved himself a NICE little weapon in the passing game, sticky-handed and FAST. And, yes, of course, the Beast was Beasting when he got the chance.
The defense still struggled despite some tremendous individual efforts. I HATE seeing another good year from K.J. Wright go to waste (almost). Marquise Blair continued to suggest some hidden Kam in him, if he can ever become schematically sound. Shaquill still had a game-changing play or two in him when it mattered. Clowney? Well, they limited his snaps. That and Al Woods' suspension are going to be tough to overcome. He needs to be full-go next week.
It reminded me of where Pete's strengths lie.
If you're only now catching up to the fact that Pete's not good at clock management, you're eight years behind. We've all known this. It's not news. And frankly, he needs to get better. Seattle's talent quotient is not yet back up to the point where we can overcome that stuff.
Instead, Pete's strengths are player acquisition and inspiration, and it goes for a lot. Pete's ability to keep the team believing in themselves for sixty minutes - and his results, in the form of one-score comeback wins not just this season but in many past - gives him credibility. Players on many NFL teams quit in these situations. Duane Brown and Jadaveon Clowney, on the other hand, engineer their free-agent situations just to come here. They believe in the organization and its coach. I'll take that over the word of a bunch of forum randos and analytics smuglords who have never set foot on the field.
During the second half, Pete's depleted team outscored the peaking, fully healthy 49ers and came less than a yard from winning. Pete deserves blame for the loss. He also deserves credit for even being in that position in the first place. That dual-edged sword will always confound us. We'll never get a clear read on the guy's legacy.
But it reminded us all why it's never wise to count us out. And we're getting healthier next week.
Moreover, I thought Russell Wilson was kinda done for the season. That he was an elite QB having a mediocre stretch of games - https://www.si.com/nfl/seahawks/news/al ... uesgetting greedy and ignoring checkdowns, as he has periodically throughout his career[/url] - while his receivers drop stuff and his line struggles to block a gust of wind.
I also thought the defense had had it. Too many injuries to cornerstone players, too many wasted spots on the defensive line, and did I mention injuries?
Then Wilson got a no-call while being late hit. And he got PISSED.
It was a different game after that. Coinciding with the offense quickly switching back to pass concepts that were workable with Wilson's love of rhythm and the gimpified O-line's love of being turnstiles, Seattle started getting stuff done. Guys started making catches count again. Lockett silenced the doubts that he's back. We remembered Hollister. Travis Homer proved himself a NICE little weapon in the passing game, sticky-handed and FAST. And, yes, of course, the Beast was Beasting when he got the chance.
The defense still struggled despite some tremendous individual efforts. I HATE seeing another good year from K.J. Wright go to waste (almost). Marquise Blair continued to suggest some hidden Kam in him, if he can ever become schematically sound. Shaquill still had a game-changing play or two in him when it mattered. Clowney? Well, they limited his snaps. That and Al Woods' suspension are going to be tough to overcome. He needs to be full-go next week.
It reminded me of where Pete's strengths lie.
If you're only now catching up to the fact that Pete's not good at clock management, you're eight years behind. We've all known this. It's not news. And frankly, he needs to get better. Seattle's talent quotient is not yet back up to the point where we can overcome that stuff.
Instead, Pete's strengths are player acquisition and inspiration, and it goes for a lot. Pete's ability to keep the team believing in themselves for sixty minutes - and his results, in the form of one-score comeback wins not just this season but in many past - gives him credibility. Players on many NFL teams quit in these situations. Duane Brown and Jadaveon Clowney, on the other hand, engineer their free-agent situations just to come here. They believe in the organization and its coach. I'll take that over the word of a bunch of forum randos and analytics smuglords who have never set foot on the field.
During the second half, Pete's depleted team outscored the peaking, fully healthy 49ers and came less than a yard from winning. Pete deserves blame for the loss. He also deserves credit for even being in that position in the first place. That dual-edged sword will always confound us. We'll never get a clear read on the guy's legacy.
But it reminded us all why it's never wise to count us out. And we're getting healthier next week.