Well, we still lead the division (and other takeaways)...

[Welshers]

If it makes anyone feel any better we are still alone atop the division. The Dolphins did us another favor and beat Arizona today. We are also still tied for top of the NFC. This was a tough 10 AM game across the country against a good division leading team... Our D did show some SIGNS of life on the pass rush and we still scored 34 points despite our 4 turnovers, so I think it's safe to say we are still the league's best offense. We still have a shot at winning it all this season and anyone who says otherwise is wrong. Make the playoffs and anything can happen.

 

[tersal]

If it makes anyone feel any better we are still alone atop the division. The Dolphins did us another favor and beat Arizona today. We are also still tied for top of the NFC. This was a tough 10 AM game across the country against a good division leading team... Our D did show some SIGNS of life on the pass rush and we still scored 34 points despite our 4 turnovers, so I think it's safe to say we are still the league's best offense. We still have a shot at winning it all this season and anyone who says otherwise is wrong. Make the playoffs and anything can happen.

Good points no reason to lose hope. Defense showed some fight when they started blitzing. Dunlap showed some nice flashes great bull rush for a sack. Four turnovers is super unusual for Russ. perhaps this game will emerge as the turning point for the defense they did show some fight today Allen made some great plays under pressure.

 

[TypeSly]

The best takeaway for me today, Adams ringing out the D personnel, and how great Carlos Dunlap was!

CD: 5 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack (should have been 1.5), a few hurries and pressures. First game as a Seahawk, and has the best stats on the D... tells you a lot about our D.

 

[MrThortan]

Glad that AZ lost. Rams next week then the Cardinals. Will be interesting if we can make some important changes. Would be nice to go 1-1 vs Arizona. Schedule gets a little easier for a few weeks after, but none of those are a given.

 

[TwistedHusky]

I think Dunlap is going to be like an Avril/Bennett type of signing.

Hugely important.

Splashy FA signings or trades rarely work for us (Harvin, Graham, etc.). The only one I can think of that worked (fantastically) is the Duane Brown one. But the kind of signing Dunlap was tends to be a winner for us. The 'disgruntled stud that is fallen out of favor because of new guys' is the Lynch/Bennett type of signing.

 

[bigskydoc]

I didn't get to watch the game because I was driving through a blizzard. Didn't even get to listen to the Raible call because Sirius put it on a channel I don't get. The Buffalo crew is absolutely atrocious. So take my thought with a grain of salt.

Despite the turnovers, this loss is not on Russ. 34 points should be enough to win in this league. He was off a bit, like he was in the Cards game. It is reasonable to wonder if his gaudy stats are coming thanks to playing sub-par defenses.

The defense. To me, they sounded out of sync from the get go, like the rough draft of a paper that has B minus potential, but is currently just a bunch of disjointed ideas.

The last few weeks, this has been the Bobby Wagner lead defense of the last few years, rather than the new look defense that I believe Pete envisioned for this year. This week, we went back to the original vision for 2020.

On the radio, it sounded like there were dueling leaders yesterday, Wagner and Adams. That will shake out in time. Unfortunately, Norton does not have the coaching chops to be the overarching alpha of the trio. That is not to suggest there is an actual power struggle, or bad blood, just that the leadership of the defense is in flux. Chancellor and Wagner worked it out well, and there is no reason to think Adams and Wagner won't.

The late addition of Dunlap, while productive, was not integrated into the overall defensive scheme just yet. He wasn't exactly a free Lancer, but it sounded like he may have been looking to make a mark, rather than having the team as his first priority. There is no reason to think he won't be fully integrated by season's end.

It is unfortunate that this is happening in the middle of the season, but injuries have left us here. I fully expect that, barring further major injury, this was the low point for the 2020 defense. The old guard is learning a new scheme, and the new players will integrate better. I don't see us losing another game where the offense puts up 30 plus points.

I see us splitting with the Cards and the Rams. If we had another 2 weeks before playing the Rams, I say we would sweep them.

 

[themunn]

Rams have a 2 week lead in but I still think it would be a major upset if we lost to them.

They've lost to Niners and Dolphins - both teams we've beaten. They also lost to the Bills in a game they should have won, but aside from that their recent wins have come against the Giants and Redskins, who are both terrible teams, and the Bears, who are basically running the opposite to us - incredible on defense but their offense is terrible.

We should be able to put enough points on them they can't keep up.

Cardinals are after that on a short week (Thursday night game) and that has to be a game we're also favoured in - we should have beaten them a few weeks ago, and if the Bills d-line can get after Murray the same way they got after Wilson then hopefully that'll slow him down a little bit on the short game.
Then we get a mini-bye and 4 games on the trot against bottom-feeder opponents. The schedule is falling favourably for us and our competitors in the NFC have a much tougher go of it coming up.