After watching last nights game against Dallas ....I have come away with mixed impressions of the 05 Hawks. So I thought I would open a dialog to see what I might have missed...what other people's impressions of the team were...and general thoughts about what happened.
My 3 stars of the game for the Hawks would have to be:
Hass
Engram
Darby
My goats:
Holmgren
Urban
Hawks D (in Second Half)
Others who stood out include Tubbs, Lofa, Alexander.... While it was great that the first unit pushed Dallas around...it seems that Wallace has a long way to go before he will be a good backup...granted he was under preasure all night (note my first goat, for failing to find a way to protect his QB's) he just seemed to be forcing the passes to much. I still have some concerns about the D...although if Darby and Tubbs can keep playing like that...it could be a great front 4.
While I dont want to bash Holmgren...I cant understand how as a head coach.... you dont have your team ready to play there first home game of the season. To many mistakes and a zero effort to adjust the blocking against the Dallas blitz...And whats up with the dropped balls??? are they teaching the WR's to drop the ball? I am getting really sick of seeing sure TD's being dropped by open WR's! I guess ...all those empty seats caused the WR's to think that they were playing highscholl football instead of being in the NFL! How bad did that look ??and yes I will bash Seattle for their lack of support for the team! Saturday night Tampa played Jacksonville in Tampa...and the stadium was almost sold out and all in red!
Whoa GOX! Are you blaming Holmgren for dropped balls and the blocking?
ReplyDeleteSeems to me the problem was our so called Pro-bowl O-line. I told everyone months ago that they were Pro Bowlers because of their run blocking no their pass protection, and boom right off the bat Hutch gives up a shot at Matt for a stripped ball fumble.
Another thing, the drops were by guys we figured wouldn't be here in regular season anyway...that's what these games are for, to finish weeding out the culls.(Urban, Wallace & Mili to start with)
I'm actually glad teh game went the way it did, for two reasons...first to keep everyone on the team's heads screwwed on straight(no over-confidence) and two it helps sort out the cull we need to dump, up until last night I was having a tough time deciding who to get rid of.
And I agree 100% with you list of Stars and Goats. Accept Holmgren. And I think the D will improve if and when we get our starting rotation back on the field.(Moore and Woodard are still out)
the main problems i saw was
ReplyDelete-oline, but we know that will be good...and the 2nd string wont be playing during the season, so no worries though they got murdered (however im convinced Dallas had a few headstarts on those blitzes)
-team didnt win 5000 to 0, so they put the game in the refs hands
-dropped passes...it makes me sick...especially Urban, im jumping on Hackett's bandwagon now
-the fact that it was national TV, wasnt sold out, and that we had to listen to complete bias...and a review of all the negative things the team has endured while the Cowboys' 3rd stringer gets more airtime then all of our team put together
i am glad that the special teams improved a tiny bit...still not great, but better then it was
ReplyDeleteAbout the offensive line: They did great last week, they did pretty good this week. The reserves did NOT do well. Also, you'll notice that a lot of the clean blitz pressure came from the backup RB's missing their blocking assignments. Add to this the fact that they were facing a 3-4 for the first time since last season with the Patriots.
ReplyDeleteIs this Holmgren's fault? I doubt it. These men undoubtedy have been instructed about their assignments. They need to do it. This is in film, it will be considered, worked on, it's all part of the process. This is what preseason is for.
I'm with you on the jump at the snap - I think that someone on the Seahawks side of things is giving it away. Maybe the QB is not changing the snap count, or someone is twitching on the line, but it just looked too well times to be anything else.
Been said before, preseason game against a team we play later, I wouldn't show them anything were I the coach. If you don't think that Ware will be accounted for (as much as possible anyway, that guy has game) come week 7 you aren't thinking right.
ReplyDeleteThe line is called Pro Bowl because there are 2 Pro Bowlers on it. You think normally when Hutch pulls to block the rushing LB that he'll get beat like that? He hasn't ever seen Ware, so he couldn't know what to expect. Same thing when Ware ran down Wallace, Wallace thought he'd already left that guy. Having a very talented rookie do well against a team in the preseason shouldn't cast doubt on our players, they didn't plan for him, because they couldn't.
How'd their first string offense do against our 26th ranked first string defense again? 3 First downs? And a field goal on a short field after not making a first down. I ain't scared.
How'd our first string O do against their first D? Other than Ware (did I mention I think this guy is good) they were efficient and scored a TD on a long drive. The int was forced by Hasslebeck and complicated by Wares speed, that and the bad pass to Alexander on the 5 are the only mistakes that stood out to me.
Posted by JoSCh
i was just happy to see a game for once. it was cool to actually see some of the players that i've only read about until now.
ReplyDeletei'm writing a post about urban, so i'll step aside that one for now and comment on some other things.
first off, i'm really glad that we have howell and bierra. because if it weren't for them, omare lowe would have a shot at being on the team, and that's just scary.
did jaimie sharper play? if he did he's like the invisible linebacker.
i sure hope our o-line gets it together.
i'm ready to see the 4th-string qb play now. he can't be any worse than green, can he? i can't imagine him ever being put into a game this season. maybe we should only carry 2 qbs during the season, because if we lose the first two in one game, we are completely screwed. no reason to carry an active roster spot for a guy like that.
we'd be better off just hiking it directly to shawn and signing kreig the next week to finish up the season.
and lastly, give roster spots to huckeba, babineaux and hackett. they've hustled and earned a place on the team.
GOX, what are you talking about? I'm not sure what you mean by "Adjusting the Offense."....How? First of all, how does he know when the 'Boys were going to blitz?
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure he's not calling in audibles after the huddle, is he? I thought the headset was off prior to or after the huddle. Am I wrong on this?
And as you said, had the starters been in for the entire game they would have probably adjusted better.
Posted by vinnyhawkalugi
I think it's ludicrous to damn Holmy for how he handles a pre-season game. However, I will agree with the slam that he traditionally is unwilling or unable to "adjust" to what the other team is doing.
ReplyDeleteThis is my long-term gripe about the Seahawks coming out from halftime flat and lathargic. Other coaches seem to make better game time and half time adjustments than ours do. (note, not placing all the blame on Holmy)
If I'm also not mistaken, Dallas had their first team D in the game for a LONG time, which lead to the pressure on Wallace. I'm not ready to throw AVIS to the curb right now.
Greene is, well...as his name inidates....GREEN! He's a rookie. Cut him some slack. (although accidentally running out of the end zone is pretty pathetic!)
Finally, don't damn Seattle fans for not selling out their stadium, and then cite the fact that the game between BOTH teams from Florida sold out. My guess is that if the Seattle Seahawks were playing the Tacoma Tomahawks, that game would have sold out too.
Yes, we were flat as a team, and I agree that it'll be a good kick in the ass for some guys. I think the releasing of Woodard and Lumsden today was a not-so-subtle reminder than if guys don't want to be kicked to the curb next week, they'd better step it up. Urban is as much as gone after reading the Holmy quotes in the Trib.
Relax. We got two more games to get our shit together, and the roster will be much tighter for both of them, so more "bubble" guys will get more playing time.
We'd better get all this stuff out of our system now before heading to Jacksonville for the season opener, but I have faith that we will.
Posted by alba
GOX - Breathe! Put down the knife, step away from the explosives, and breathe!
ReplyDeleteI did not mean to "slam" you, and apologize if it was taken that way.
Now Vinny, you do the same. I know you rank Holmy right up there with Mother Theresa and Jesus Christ himself, but let's allow for other opinions too.
The last thing I want to see is us jumping all over each other's shit, like the ST forum, especially over a preseason game. (although sadly, I had to fire the Cowboys fan who works for me on Tuesday!)
Now, not so much in response to your post, and certainly not to prove me right or anyone wrong, but there's some great quotes from the game on Seahawks.com and this seems to be the appropriate place to post them.
(see next post)
Posted by alba
Twelve penalties are not indicative of the Seahawks in general. And if you consider how quarterback Matt Hasselbeck led them right down the field to take a 7-3 lead and didn’t play beyond the first three minutes of the second quarter, this was hardly a game to draw huge concern.
ReplyDeleteThey (Darby & Tubbs) now have allowed just one first down in two games when they are in the game.
One of the big differences in the game is the Seahawks don’t “game plan” in the preseason and aren’t prepared for blitzing, nor do they blitz much.
-- Mike Kahn, Seahawks.com
Kids got "skillz" but as Parcells said, "let's not go putting him in Canton just yet!"
ReplyDeleteHutch is slow on a block and he gets a sack and hack.
Matt throws behind Stevens and he gets a pick. He was beaten on the route and while he did close nicely, if the pass is in the right place, we move the chains.
Not sure why we don't scheme for blitzes. I agree that it's dangerous.
Posted by alba
I can verify the point about blitzing in the preseason - there is an unwritted code that you just don't do it. Mike Sando commented on it after the NO game, about how we were sending just four DL in the pass rush until the Saints blitzed a MLB, who got in clean and sacked the QB.
ReplyDeleteThen the gloves came off, Rhodes started sending them in, too. Tit for tat.
Another thing - In the preseason, NFL teams are so busy evaluating their own personnel that they spend little time scouting and watching film on the other team. They don't even have a game plan like they do in the regular season. Their main objective is not to win the game, but to evaluate their own team and condition the players. Winning is good, but secondary.
To put the best team possible together in the regular season, teams are much better off paying attention to their own team rather than the others. THe time will come for that, when the games really count.
Posted by Bluefoot
More good points...although I think we're a few over our "2 thoughts" limit on this thread!
ReplyDeletePosted by alba