Caution... Optimism ahead...

I have a pattern that I follow after a Seahawks loss. For the first day (usually a Monday), I am inconsolable. The sky is falling, the world is ending, and depression just runs rampant. Then, I look for that light of hope. That single ray of optimism that will light my way until the next weeks game. This week, I found… the schedule.

We know that the hawks are not an elite team the way they’re playing right now. We know that unless something kickstarts them, they are most likely looking at a division title, and an early exit from the playoffs. Some people are worried about the team and it’s record being subpar enough to cause a major rule change, eliminating the automatic playoff bid for division winners. After looking at the schedule for the rest of the regular season, this is not a worry I share.

Week 10 San Francisco at Seattle
Week 12 Seattle at Saint Louis
Week 14 Arizona at Seattle

These three games, division games, should be easy wins. The division is down. The teams, especially the teams below the Hawks, are weak. The only game that should cause any concern is the Arizona game, but that will be in the Q, and should feature either an injured Kurt Warner, or the Timmy combination of Rattay and Hasselbeck. I see 3 wins.

Week 16 Baltimore at Seattle

Our sole remaining game against the AFC. Again, at the Q, and if any of you watched MNF last night, we shouldn’t feel bad about losing 21-0 in Pittsburgh, when Baltimore is down 35 – 0 before the end of the first half. I don’t see Baltimore escaping the Emerald city with a win. That team is bad.

Week 11 Chicago at Seattle
Week 17 Seattle at Atlanta

These should be wins as well. Both of these teams have major issues at quarterback, both are very down in their division, both are more than beatable. Neither of these teams should be in any kind of playoff race, both should be jockeying for draft position. The Chicago game is something of a revenge game for the Hawks as a team, and the Atlanta game is something of a revenge game for the DB coach. Unless Seattle is comatose before the games, I see 2 wins here.

Week 13 Seattle at Philadelphia
Week 15 Seattle at Carolina

These are the two games that make me nervous. These teams are most likely both going to be involved in wild card/division title races. They’re both schizophrenic teams that will play very tough one week, and very poorly the next. Seahawk fans have been conditioned to think that teams like these will for some reason play their best against Seattle. The fact that both games are on the east coast doesn’t help much at all. I’m hoping for 1 win out of these 2 games.

Looking at these teams, considering these factors, hoping for the change in offensive philosophy by the Walrus, I don’t see Seattle doing worse than 11-5. Anything under 10-6 should be a supreme disappointment.

With that kind of streak (7-1 or at worst 6-2) going into the playoffs, with a home game to start… who know what can happen!

The REAL problem with Running Up the Score

Let’s face it. Many teams have run up the score. Even our beloved Hawks have been a little guilty of that at times. We’re always hoping that our team will “Hang 50 on ‘em”. The occasional embarrassment of one’s opponent is not something that is solely practiced in New England. The problem is the image that develops from this practice.

New England has long considered itself to be the class of the NFL. Stories of Tom Brady, Tedy Bruschi, Adam Vinatieri, and even turnaround stories like Corey Dillon’s have led the public to believe that this club was the model organization, a standard for which all other teams should strive. We’d hear occasional stories about Richard Seymour stepping on an opponents helmetless face, Rodney Harrison’s dirty hits, and Asante Samuel’s contract issues, and we’d push them aside. The good seemed to far outweigh the bad in Beantown. And that’s why it’s hard for us to accept this “class act” doing something as bush league as rubbing an opponents face in their shortcomings. It’s difficult to see and believe this dastardly act from the NFL’s Finest.

But we should have seen it coming.

In addition to the above issues, just this season the Patriots have drafted Brandon Meriweather, one of the main culprits in the Miami/Florida International brawl last season. Their best safety, Rodney Harrison, served a 4 game suspension for substance abuse. They signed proven malcontent Randy Moss, completely contradicting the “character first” mindset they claim. Their coach was involved in a video camera scandal, then claimed that it was a mistake, merely a different interpretation of the rules. And now, the Patriots are doing everything in their power to humiliate the rest of the league, as if the final scores will somehow vindicate them. They need to be stopped.

The only problem is that no team seems up to the task.

Where we stand: Offense

Mike Holmgren watches drills during the bye week.

Thanks to last Sunday's 33-6 grass stain inducing beatdown of the Rams, I did not do make bourbon and Bayers. So, hats off to the Seahawks. Its the bye week, so I figured I'd be serious for a moment and discuss where the team stands. I was going to write this as a team, but we'll take it by unit instead.

Out of sixteen teams in the NFC, the Seahawks rank seventh both in total offense and defense. That suggests a middle of the road kind of team. Considering the NFC is improved this season, thats not a bad thing. Dallas and New York seem to be fairly legit contenders in the conference. Green Bay has had a nice season so far, I think in general the conference is much improved from a year ago.

That said, here's what alarms me. Arizona is ranked higher in both total offense (5 to 7) and defense (4 to 7). Seahawk fans take a dismissive view towards Arizona, and many wrote the week 2 loss off as an anomaly. It was a lack of communication, something that won't happen again.

However, as the weeks have gone by, it is evident that Seattle is not the elite team it used to be. The team has been inconsistent from week to week. I think this can be best evidenced by Matt Hasselbeck. Hass is fifth in the league in passing yards with 1,705. Thats more then Peyton Manning (granted, the Colts have had their bye week but Matt is comparable to Brett Favre and Carson Palmer who are considered to be having good years) yet, due in part to 61% completion rate (24th in the league) and an 88.7 qb rating (14th), Hasselbeck is still finding his stride this year.

Compare those numbers to 2005, where he completed 65% of his passes, and put up a rating of 98.2. The talk going into this season was that with the drop plagued Derrel Jackson gone and a season under his belt with Deion Branch and Nate Burleson that the offense would be back in high gear. Instead, its tied with the (brace yourselves) Chicago Bears in touchdowns scored.

A lot of that would have to do with the running game that has not been able to find a groove through seven games. Shaun Alexander averages 65.7 yards per game, not near where the team needs or wants him to be. As a whole, Seattle ranks 22nd in rushing offense, averaging 92 yards per contest.

The offensive line has seemed to have some trouble run blocking this year, and o line development needs to be stressed in this bye week. It all starts up front, to use the tired football cliche, and right now its not happening for Seattle. Twice against Saint Louis, the Seahawks settled for field goals on drives that began in enemy territory. Don't let the lopsided scoreline fool you, there is much work to be done with this offense.

Seahawks vs. 49ers: Game Previews You'll Want To Read

This is a big game. The winner gets a formidable step up on the division, and there is a budding rivalry that smells like spite. Darrell Jackson has something to prove, Frank Gore is mouthing off, and Lofa Tatupu is looking to slam the door on his running lanes.

I'm white-knuckling already. I'm making my grocery list for the gameday feast, but I have a feeling that I won't have much of an appetite. This kind of competitive shit is as good as it gets.

Needless to say, I've been deeply interested in matchups and analysis this week--and there is some good stuff out there:

• The best analysis of the bunch is over at Field Gulls. John Morgan hits heavily on the reason and history of the niners' recent offensive struggles, how Shaun Alexander may be a liability, and the best way to attack the existing personnell in the 3-4 alignment. A definite must-read. Then jump over and check out his Matchupalooza between Lofa Tatupu and Moran Norris.


• The Examiner gives up Three Keys to Victory.


• The 49ers Observer gives a fair overview, sort of a Seahawks 101.


• NFLGameAnalysis.com makes this matchup their Feature Preview.

My two cents? With Alexander playing one-armed, the Seattle linebackers hyperfocusing on Gore, this is bound to be a low scoring affair. The difference of the game will be Seattle's secondary (especially Grant and Russell) keeping a solid grip of the 'niner's passing game, enabling the front seven to focus entirely on Gore. With the low score, Seattle's superior special teams will break the niner's backs. Seattle 20, San Francisco 16.

(Thanks to 2*2*2 at SeahawkBlue for the cool pic! Click on it for actual coolness.)

Tatupu, Peterson and Hill are Gonna Be On Frank Gore, Like (Something Something)

You know Lofa Tatupu and company have this Sunday's game circled on their calendar. Last season, Frank Gore trucked around the Seahawks for 416 total yards, and that didn't make anyone in Blue very happy.

Do you think they are gonna let that happen again? Not on their watch. The front seven will be coming at him without good intentions.

Like flies on shit.



Baaah, that's boring...

Like a hammer to a nail.



Like a pod of killer whales on a seal.



Heh...

Like Rocky's fists on a side of beef.



WHOA! Wrong beef.

Like a fat guy on a booger.



Like a tazer on a pig.



Like Alba on positive feedback, Citizen K on an anagram. (NSFW!!! With the volume on, anyway.)



Wait, I said anagram.


Like a post thingy to a truck.



Cool.

Seahawks' Defense Gets Upgrades, Tunes Up, Kicks A$$

Like adding high-perfomance parts to a sweet hot rod, Tim Ruskell has been busily upgrading components to the Seahawks' defense. And last Sunday, when defensive coordinator John Marshall finally got to turn the key and fire this baby up, he began making adjustments and tuning this machine into a synchronized force.


What kind of adjustments did Marshall make? While it is noteworthy that the players stayed very agressive throughout the game--hitting hard and attacking the quarterback--there were some significant adjustments to the strategy Marshall employed.

The best way I can describe it is in phases:

• Phase I - Blitz. It was fun to see all seven of the defensive front running after Carrot Top in a blind rage, but it was the least successful part of the game plan with Tampa netting drives of 20 (shortened by a fumble), 55 (field goal) and 79 (field goal) yards. To his credit, Garcia took the hits on the blitzes and found his receivers, including Galloway for a 49 yard bomb. When they did not blitz, the offense generally stalled. Which is probably why Marshall altered his defensive calls.


• Phase II - Fearsome Foursome. Having less success on blitz plays, Marshall changed things for the second quarter. Sending just four down linemen against Garcia proved to be just as much pressure as blitzing - and dropping linebackers into coverage gave him no quick options to bail out to. He began hesitating, looking for receivers, and then looking for receivers on the run. This effective balance between pass rush and coverage resulted in failed drives of 24 (punt), -3 (punt), and 31 (end of half) yards.


• Phase III - Pounding into submission. This was the most fun part of the game for me to watch. By the time the third quarter started, the defense settled into their strategy, got progressively more comfortable with their assignments, and began hitting ball carriers with reckless abandon. It has been years, maybe even going back into the eighties, since I have seen a Seahawks defense play with that kind of physical agression. Massively hard hits to Cadillac and Carrot Top sent them to the sidelines, snuffing out the offense like a Kevorkian patient.
  I sort of enjoyed Williams' reponse, via Bucs Beat:
  

  ""It was a tough blow," Williams said. "Initially, my thought laying on the ground was, "Oh, man, I've broken my ribs.""....
  
  "Williams said he had difficulty breathing and sleeping Sunday and Monday and struggled to get out of bed....
  
  ""Monday morning, it was like I could barely breathe or cough or make a certain movement," Williams said."

  'Nuff said. For this phase, the Bucs managed drives of 4, 0, 19, and 8 yards, all resulting in punts.


• Phase IV - Clock Killer. Usually you hear of winding down the clock with the offense, but the Seahawks brilliantly accomplished this with the other squad. The Bucs found themselves down by 14 halfway through the fourth quarter, and out comes the full-panic pass attack. It would have appeared that the Seahawks let up as the Bucs gained 56 yards in nine plays, but something different was at work here. (1) The deep ball was completely covered, (2) Garcia was still short on time in the pocket, and (3) the Seahawks allowed them to complete short little passes, and nothing more, which kept the clock running. This ate 4:17 off the clock until Tatupu punched the ball loose and Jennings recovered. It was the last time Tampa got their hands on the ball. All the while, Seattle's defense was in complete control, just giving out enough rope for them to hang themselves.

It's been a long time since I've been this impressed with a Seahawks defense. Clearly, the linebackers are more comfortable with the secondary behind them, and can just go full throttle without hesitation. No longer do we nee safeties way out of place -- even on a reverse, they are right there on assignment.

This season is gonna be good.

Bloof's Keys to the 2007-08 Season

Note: The following may not make sense to some people. The author was high on muscle relaxants at the time.

'Keys' atricles are always kind of weird. Whether they are keys to the game or of the season, there is always a simple tendency to state the obvious. Whenever I see "Shaun Alexander needs to have a good game," "the offensive line needs to protect Matt Hasselbeck," or "establish the running game," I want to yank on puppy ears and knock over lamps.



In my opinion, a good 'keys' feature will avoid the obvious, football 101 crap. You folks know all this--If you're a Seahawks fan and found this site, chances are that you have seen all the banal speculation, but are looking for something beyond that. For the sake of not wasting your attention span, I'll cast aside all of the primordial shit and focus on the more obscure.

1. The Seahawks' offense is the key to stopping the run. Much has been said of the loss of Tubbs to the IR, and how it will be a disaster to the Seahawks' run defense. Yes, it is undeniably a factor. But looking back to the 2005 season, the old axiom has proven true: The best defense is a good offense.

Back in '05, Seattle's powerful and balanced attack put other teams behind and on their heels. The result? The defense often found themselves playing against a team under a lot of pressure to score, and passing more than it otherwise wanted to. Seattle ended up leading the NFL in sacks, and their run defense was good, in part, because teams found themselves behind the 8-ball and elected to pass instead.

So this season, what we may see, instead of Jerramy Stevens killing drives with butterfingers, Marcus Pollard moving the chains closer to the goal line. Instead of Seneca Wallace getting chased out of the pocket along in a limping offense, Patrick Kerney **going off** on the other team's QB because he knows it will be a pass.

In any case, the way this undersized-but-fast defense is made, it is built to keep a lead and rush the passer, not to grind out a low-scoring duel of running backs. If the offense hold up it's end of the deal, the Seahawks' rushing defense will do well.

2. The learning curve of Leonard Weaver. There are a few weaknesses on this offense. Screen passes are a crack smoker's dream that never came true. Nobody in the backfield can pass block their grandmother.

Weaver has the ability to change that. On occasion, he has shown flashes of playmaking ability that could change him into a dynamic threat. He could add components to the offense that would give defenses fits.

The problem is that he's something of a dumbass. If he ever catches on, look out.

3. The maturation of the secondary. Everyone is expecting the additions of Deon Grant and Brian Russell to stop the profuse bleeding of deep passes. I am hoping for more.

Some nice things happen when a cornerback can rely on the safety behind him. When he knows his partner is assignment correct, he stops playing tenetively and can play more agressively. When was the last time you saw a Seattle cornerback just flat outplay a receiver for the ball?

I want to see turnovers, baby. If this nominally improved secondary does it's job, we will see them.

OK, I'm bored now. Let's hear your keys to the season in the comments.

Five Seahawks to Watch on Sunday

Preseason football is like a blind date. Sure, you're finally going out on Sunday night, but you never really know what you're going out with!

What we do know is that the starters, Hasselbeck, Alexander and the like, will be in the game barely long enough to work up a sweat. What we also know is that most of the media focus will be on the rookies, like Wilson, Mebane and Atkins, and newly acquired free agents, like Kerney, Pollard, Russell and Grant.

So how do you keep yourself interested in the game after the stars are on the bench in baseball caps?

Here are five returning Seahawks players to watch, whose performance may be critical to the success of the team in 2008:

Chris Spencer (65) - granted he's a starter, but he'll probably play a good portion of the game, to get as much game-speed activity as possible and to work on the Center-QB exchange with Seneca. He got a lot of experience last season, but now that he's taking over for Robbie Tobeck and calling out the blocking assignments, his performance will be a determining factor in the effectiveness of our offense.

Leonard Weaver (43) - with Shaun and Mack sure to be out of the game early, Weaver should see a lot of time at fullback and even some tailback. Will he still be as explosive after the ankle injury that landed him on IR last season, and will he be once again baptising people with that incredible stiff-arm?

Will Heller (85) - Marcus Pollard is four inches shorter and 6 years older than former staring TE Jerramy Stevens, which means that Will Heller will probably see more playing time this coming season. Is Heller more like Itula Mili, the starting TE before Stevens, or more like former TE Ryan Hannam, mostly a blocker who was rarely a target in the offensive game plan? The WCO needs an effective TE who can both block and make critical catches when called upon, and we'll need more than one option with Pollard as the starter.

EDIT: just read that neither Will Heller nor 3rd stringer TE Bennie Joppru are making the trip to San Diego, so I guess I'll be watching rookie Joe Newton (46) and third year man Leonard Stephens (89) instead. (Not sure if Leo's surname will help or hurt him, even if it is spelled a little differently!)

David Greene (11) - All Seahawks fans now feel more comfortable with Seneca Wallace after last season, but this is the make or break year for Greene, entering his third season as the head clipboard holder. If he can impress Holms enough to potentially be slotted as Matt's backup, that can free up Seneca to be used in more creative ways, either returning kicks and/or punts, or as a "slash" type of receiver.

Michael Boulware (28) - Only two short seasons ago, Boulware was featured in a Disney commercial leading up to the Super Bowl. Now with the departure of Hamlin and the arrival of Grant and Russell, his future with the Seahawks may be in jeopardy. Can he keep his head in the game as a backup, and play assignment-correct when called upon? If not, he could be a surprise cut when rosters spots become a premium.

Lastly, since this is also pre-season for us fans, here's a little roster cheat sheet so you don't yell "way to go Jerramy" when you see a TE named Stephens on the field, or "drop back Hammer" when you see #26 lining up at cornerback.

26 - CB Josh Wilson (used to be Ken Hamlin, who is now a Cowboy)
39 - SS C.J. Wallace (used to be Josh Scobey, who is now a Bill)
69 - OG Steve Vallos (used to be Joe Tafoya, who is now a Cardinal)
82 - WR Jordan Kent (used to be Darrell Jackson, who is now a 49er)
86 - WR Courtney Taylor (used to be Jerramy Stevens, who is now a Buc)
88 - TE Marcus Pollars (used to be Itula Mili, who is now retired)
98 - DT Marcus Green (used to be Grant Wistrom, who is now retired)

12 Seahawks Street Will Track A Useless Contest of Statistics Between Darrell Jackson and Deion Branch

On my long drive back from the Oregon Coast this weekend, many Seahawks-related things rattled around in my cranium. (After some of the posts lately, maybe you're relieved.)



One of the things that I got to thinking about was the upcoming seasons of Darrell Jackson and Deion Branch. For those of you who spent the last football season under a rock, the Seahawks' acquisition of Branch from the Patriots made Jackson expendable. Immediately, speculation arose in blogdom as to who would be the #1 receiver of the future. Jackson, with his history of skipping OTA's, injury history (with seemingly non-compliant self-sponsored medical evaluation) and drive-killing drops, there was plenty of fuel to feed that speculation.

With Jackson's draft day departure to the 49ers, the specualtion was over. Branch moved up to take Jackson's role as flanker, and Jackson finally gave the 'Niners a true #1 receiver.

But questions still remain: Did Seattle overpay for Branch, handing over a first round pick and a $39 million? Would the Seahawks have been better off sticking with Jackson, and letting the 'Niners keep their measly fourth round pick?

To be honest, none of it truly matters to me. All I really care about is the scoreboard at the end of the game, and the division standings at the end of the regular season. The only true determination of a successful acquisition is if the team wins when the player plays. Sure, stat monkeys have always been the poo-flinging anathema to this logic, but as usual, I am right and they are wrong.

For the sake of argument, let's say a newly acquired receiver goes out one Sunday and racks up 11 catches for 130 yards in a losing effort against his former team. On the surface, you would think he carried his team, and hoo-boy, he showed them. Afterwards, Stat monkeys would fling that poo, saying we should have kept him, blah blah blah, we sure could use a gamer like that in the playoffs.

But what the airborne feces doesn't tell you:

• About that key drop in the first quarter that killed their opening drive.
• How that missed block that could have sprung the RB for a touchdown.
• To quote Madden, (aargh!) "he zigged when he should've zagged," resulting in an interception. (and he zigged because he didn't do his homework.)
• The fact that his team got behind, in part because he didn't do the little things, so they had to throw the running game out the window; AND he got the ball thrown to him a lot as a result, padding his stats.

I'll take the winning player any day. I'll take the player that quietly does the little things, and does what he needs to win. If he ends the game with three catches for 28 yards, so be it. They are probably all first downs.

Branch is that kind of player. Recall last year against the Cheifs when Alba gave Deion the DAA for stripping the ball in a critical situation. He's more than a receiver, he's a damn fine football player.

But you know what, poo-flinging stat monkeys? I'm going to concede this time. The comparison between Branch and Jackson does hold some intrigue. In the big picture, who cares, but sometimes little subplots make nice blog filler. So as a guesture of my goddamn effervescent kindness, I'm going to heep a rolling stat sheet in one of the columns comparing the two in common stats - receptions, yards, touchdowns, and more importantly -wins in games they actually played. Look for it in the right hand column, people.

No really, stop thanking me. It's the least I can do.