Hawks adjusting pass-rush scheme to help Bennett and Avril

October 25, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Despite the efforts of Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril, the Seahawks’ pass rush just has not gotten the job done well enough so far this season.

Coach Pete Carroll has noticed it, and he and his coaches are finally taking corrective measures.

The Seahawks’ pass defense ranks in the bottom third of the league after being a top-10 unit in 2013. The Hawks ranked first in passer rating (63.4) and interceptions (28) last season, but they are 28th this year (103.9 rating, just two picks). After allowing just 59 percent completions last season, they are giving up 68.3 this year. And they are worse by many other measures as well.

The Hawks have just seven sacks, which ranks 27th, and the rush has suffered in the face of some of the league’s best quarterbacks — Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning, Tony Romo.

“We’ve faced the best of the best so far,” Carroll said last week after Romo beat them, “and they’ve been able to hold us off a little bit. We haven’t been quite as effective.”

This week, after yet another game in which the Hawks got little to no pressure on the QB, Carroll said, “The inability to really disrupt the quarterback has been a factor. There are some things that we have to do that will change us a little bit from what we’ve been in the past. So we will make those moves.”

Continue reading Hawks adjusting pass-rush scheme to help Bennett and Avril →

Schedule, Week 8: At Carolina

1% chance to win Super Bowl? Why the Hawks can buck those odds

October 24, 2014 cc Leave a comment

As disappointing as the last two weeks have been for the Seahawks and their fans — two tough losses, lots of injuries and the shocking trade of Percy Harvin — there’s still plenty of time for the Seahawks to overcome their 3-3 start and turn into the Super Bowl team everyone expected them to be.

History apparently says the Hawks have a 38 percent chance of making the playoffs and just a 1 percent chance of winning the Super Bowl. But nobody makes the playoffs or wins the Super Bowl in October.

Among the reasons to be confident:

Continue reading 1% chance to win Super Bowl? Why the Hawks can buck those odds →

CHAWK LINES

October 20, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Percy Harvin talked to New York reporters, and GM John Idzik, the former Seattle exec who is on the hot seat with the Jets, said, “This could be a potential coup for the New York Jets.”

Harvin was as frustrated as everyone else who thought he needed to be used downfield more by Darrell Bevell.

Pete Carroll talked about how his players responded to the news and said, “We needed to make a decision to keep us team-oriented and moving ahead.”

Unsurprisingly, the Seahawks were so fed up with him that they apparently were prepared to release him if they could not trade him.

The Hawks reportedly were looking for tight ends in exchange for Harvin, feeling out Denver about Julius Thomas and Cleveland about Jordan Cameron.

Week 7: At St. Louis

Carroll relays what NFL said about last play

October 20, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The ball settles under Richard Sherman in a pile on the last play of the Seahawks-Rams game (via FOX)

Pete Carroll said the NFL called him Monday to talk about the last play of the Seahawks’ 28-26 loss in St. Louis.

With about one minute left, the Rams fumbled the ball on the play and Richard Sherman appeared to recover the ball for the Seahawks.

“I got a call from them this morning, just to see if I had any questions about it,” Carroll said. “What I was concerned about was: It was such a crucial moment in the game, it was such an unusual situation, why wouldn’t they take all the time that they needed to make a clear-cut decision?

Continue reading Carroll relays what NFL said about last play →

Week 7: At St. Louis

Just a Seahawks fact: ‘We’re playing the referees, too’

October 20, 2014 cc Leave a comment

In a loss like the Seahawks suffered in St. Louis — rallying from a horrible first half to lose by two — it is easy to assume that any complaint about the officiating is simply sour grapes and poor sportsmanship.

But Earl Thomas merely stated the obvious when he said, “We’re playing the referees, too.”

We are not just referencing the controversial final play to the game in which the Rams fumbled and Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman appeared to recover with about a minute left.

The St. Louis game was the third in a row in which NFL officials have quite obviously favored Seattle’s opponent.

In those three games, Seattle has been flagged 32 times for 237 yards. Their opponents have been penalized a mere 11 times for 96 yards.

For the season, Seattle opponents have been flagged a league-low 29 times — and it certainly isn’t because they have committed just 29 fouls. They have been called for 51, which is tied for seventh most. They led the league in penalties last season.

“If you really look at some plays, we’re playing (against) more than our opponents,” Thomas said. “We’re playing the referees, too. I don’t care what anybody is saying. Something is wrong. That needs to be brought up.”

Continue reading Just a Seahawks fact: ‘We’re playing the referees, too’ →

Week 7: At St. Louis

Special teams had been Hawks’ rock, but it got rocked by Rams

October 20, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks’ special teams had been the rock of the team all season — the main reason Seattle had been in every game. And then they went to St. Louis, where the Rams have a history of beating the Hawks on special teams.

Punter Jon Ryan had been a huge factor all season for Seattle. He was the regulation MVP of the overtime win over the Denver Broncos, flipping field position with booming kick after booming kick. He was a big reason the Hawks still had a late chance to win in San Diego. And he helped make sure Washington never started past its 20-yard line in Seattle’s Monday night win.

He and Ricardo Lockette had become their own special battery, Ryan pitching fastballs to his speedy catcher, who typically made it downfield in time to prevent any kind of runback or to keep the return to a minimal gain.

Ryan had punted 18 times, and opponents had returned three of them for a total of 21 yards. Denver returned just two of six punts, and Washington didn’t have a single return on six kicks.

On top of that, Ryan had converted a big fourth down on a fake field goal in the fourth quarter of the win in Washington.

The Hawks had been just as good on kickoff coverage, yielding just 16.6 yards per return. In all, they were one of the league’s top four or five special-teams units.

And then they went to St. Louis, where Jeff Fisher’s staff once again outsmarted Pete Carroll’s. And, once again, the Hawks left with a close loss, 28-26.

Continue reading Special teams had been Hawks’ rock, but it got rocked by Rams →

The roster, Trades

A look at John Schneider’s 31 trades

October 19, 2014 cc Leave a comment

John Schneider has proved very adept at turning first-round picks into late-rounders, although this is the first time he has devalued his own initial trade in such fashion.

By shelling out Percy Harvin for peanuts — just to get rid of the headache receiver and his mindboggling contract — Schneider in effect turned a first-rounder, third-rounder and seventh-rounder into a sixth that could become a fourth. Now that’s some real wheelin’ and dealin’.

Obviously, that stands as Schneider’s biggest whiff in his Seattle tenure — a gamble on greatness against all odds that did not pay off. It was one of his few foul-ups in nearly five years as Seattle’s general manager.

It also is now the fourth time he has moved a player the Hawks used a first-round pick to obtain.

Continue reading A look at John Schneider’s 31 trades →

Contracts, Trades

Harvin trade gives Seahawks $12.8 million more next offseason

October 18, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Percy Harvin’s contract was an albatross from the ill-advised moment the Seahawks decided to guarantee him $25.5 million in a deal that included salary cap hits north of $12 million from 2014 through 2017.

It seemed farfetched that he would last that long at those numbers; thanks to his alleged anti-team antics, the Hawks just ended up cutting ties much earlier than anyone thought they would.

Even though he will still count $7.2 million in proration in 2015, the Seahawks divested themselves of the remainder of his $11 million salary this season and his $10.5 million salary in 2015.

With the trade official, the Hawks are not paying his $647,000 salary this week, so they will recoup $7.1 million this season. Add that to their net savings of $5.7 million in 2015, and the Hawks pulled an extra $12.8 million in cap space for next offseason.

That gives the Hawks a lot of wiggle room to re-sign some of their key free agents, if they choose.

Continue reading Harvin trade gives Seahawks $12.8 million more next offseason →

Contracts

Have Hawks finally learned lesson about overpaying receivers?

October 18, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Hopefully the Seahawks learned their lesson once and for all about overpaying for wide receivers.

Percy Harvin is the team’s fourth big-money bust at the position in the past decade, joining underperformers Deion Branch, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Sidney Rice. It was easy to see coming.

The Hawks paid $84 million to those four players — receiving just 116 games and 31 touchdowns in return. Talk about dropping the ball.

Continue reading Have Hawks finally learned lesson about overpaying receivers? →

State of the team, Week 7: At St. Louis

Seahawks showed folly & wisdom in Harvin saga

October 18, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks’ stunning trade of Percy Harvin says a lot about John Schneider, Pete Carroll, Darrell Bevell and the entire franchise.

They were naïve, hopeful, enabling and nearly self-defeating, but they also realized what a colossal error it was and probably made a great move — however shocking it was — in order to save their offense and season.

The ill-advised decision (we said it then, so we can say it now) to trade for Harvin and give him a $67 million contract last year was easily Schneider’s biggest gamble since he and Carroll arrived in 2010. And, unsurprisingly, the GM lost big time.

Continue reading Seahawks showed folly & wisdom in Harvin saga →