Despite giving games away, Hawks still in it

November 12, 2018 cc 1 Comment

It has become abundantly clear by this point that the Seahawks are not good enough to beat both themselves and the opponent this season — not like they did in their recent glory years.

That was proven once again in their 36-31 loss to the Rams as the Hawks gave away yet another game with an easy-score turnover and failed again to make a harried comeback.

As expected, the Hawks were not good enough to beat the high-powered LA teams the past two weeks, so they now sit 4-5 and needing to win at least six of the final seven to make the playoffs.

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Week 9: L.A. Chargers

Wilson, Hawks throw away another

November 4, 2018 cc 1 Comment

That’s two games Russell Wilson has thrown away for Seattle this season.

Just like Week 2 in Chicago, he threw a pick-six against the Chargers that basically put the exclamation point on an inexplicably poor performance by Seattle’s offense in a 25-17 loss.

Everyone expected Philip Rivers and the high-powered Chargers to put up yards and points on the Seahawks’ young defense, and they did for a while. But this loss really has to be pinned on Wilson and company, who — good rushing numbers aside — looked a lot like the Week 1-2 offense that failed to win in Denver or Chicago.

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Schedule, Week 9: L.A. Chargers

Time for Hawks to prove they are contenders

November 3, 2018 cc Leave a comment

The last time the Seahawks faced Philip Rivers, four years ago, they lost the day’s battle but won the season’s war (or came a yard short anyway).

Coming off a stunning 36-16 blowout of the Packers in the 2014 opener, the Seahawks went down to San Diego and melted in the heat against Rivers and the Gates of Hell. They stumbled to a 3-3 start that year, but they survived an early gantlet of great quarterbacks and rallied to reach the Super Bowl for the second straight year.

Now, here they are again — trying to pull away from 3-3 and make a deep playoff run, with a string of excellent QBs and offenses looming. It’s the perfect test for this team to prove it is a real contender.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 9: L.A. Chargers

November 1, 2018 cc Leave a comment

Chris Carson (groin/hip) appears to be a game-time decision for Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. Said Pete Carroll: “We’ll see.”

Carroll said K.J. Wright “should be ready to go” against the Chargers after taking it easy the week after his first game. Bradley McDougald, who has battled a knee issue for weeks, also is listed as questionable. Carroll said he is “ready to go. We just wanted to rest him all the way through the week. … We just wanted to make sure to maximize the rest.”

Chargers running back Melvin Gordon, who missed the game before L.A.’s bye with a hamstring injury, appears to be a game-time decision.

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The roster

Good news: Kendricks has a ‘definite’ suspension, will be back in December

October 30, 2018 cc Leave a comment

When the Seahawks signed Mychal Kendricks before Week 2, we figured it could be a really short marriage or else one that was interrupted by a suspension that lasted for as long as half the season.

The Hawks fortunately got three good games out of Kendricks while K.J. Wright was out, and then the NFL went the overly harsh route of suspending Kendricks indefinitely — which typically means beyond the season.

But, thanks to the doggedness of Kendricks and Pete Carroll, the linebacker will be back for the final month of the season and the playoffs after the NFL finally picked a definite suspension: the eight games we originally thought he might get.

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Week 8: At Detroit

‘No mystery,’ Hawks start stretch ‘run’ well

October 29, 2018 cc 4 Comments

One down, two to go as the Seahawks show us who they really are for the home stretch.

The 28-14 win in Detroit showed they can beat a good team in its place (Carolina, take note). Next, the Hawks need to show they can beat a better team (the Chargers) in Seattle (so Green Bay, Minnesota and Kansas City can take note). And then the Hawks will get a chance to show us they can beat the NFC’s best on the road.

“We’ve been on the road a lot now (five of first seven),” Pete Carroll said after the win in Detroit. “It’s no big deal to us. It doesn’t matter where we play right now to get the style of play we want.”

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Franchise history, Week 8: At Detroit

This Detroit game has a very familiar look

October 26, 2018 cc Leave a comment

K.J. Wright will make his season debut against Sea Lions Golden Tate, Luke Willson and DeShawn Shead, and he’s got big plans for the reunion game.

“I’m going to mess Luke up — no, I’m just (kidding),” Wright said. “I do hope I cover Luke. I want to tackle Golden as well. I talked to Shead earlier this week and I told him I’ve got to exchange jerseys with him. So it feels good seeing those guys.”

This game should look very familiar to the Seahawks — not only because of the Sea Lion reunion but because the Hawks are in almost the same position they were in exactly six years ago when they went to Detroit.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 8: At Detroit

October 25, 2018 cc Leave a comment

CHAWK LINES -- Hawks at Lions The Seahawks will honor Paul Allen with a uniform patch for the rest of the season.

The Seahawks will see three Super familiar faces in Detroit.

The Lions, who rank 30th against the run, brought in Snacks to help. Golden Tate welcomed Damon Harrison and also gave a throwback nod to his NFL career.

The Hawks will get their own defensive help. The return of K.J. Wright should allow Bobby Wagner to start making more plays. Wagner is close to the No. 2 spot on the franchise tackles list.

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The roster, Trades, Week 8: At Detroit

Will Hawks acquire pass rusher this week?

October 23, 2018 cc 2 Comments

We’ll never know whether the Dallas Cowboys would have put together a deal for Earl Thomas this week if the Seahawks’ star safety had not been lost for the season.

Instead, the Cowboys sent a first-round pick to Oakland for Amari Cooper, who joined Carlos Hyde and Eli Apple as starting players already changing teams as the trade deadline nears.

There’s surely more to come before next Tuesday, but will the Seahawks be one of the teams in the action?

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Schedule, Week 7: Bye

Hawks still look good for 10 wins

October 20, 2018 cc 4 Comments

The Seahawks have found their winning formula again, and now the question is: How will it translate against their opponents the rest of the way?

A typical poor start on the road and a close loss to the league’s best offense have the Hawks (3-3) a game worse than we projected. They’re three games back in the division, so they’re really chasing a wild-card spot — unless the Rams stunningly stumble in the second half.

According to Football Outsiders, the Hawks are the fourth-best team in the NFC (eighth overall). FiveThirtyEight ranks the Hawks as the No. 6 NFC team right now, projecting a 43 percent chance of making the playoffs along with Carolina (3-2) and Chicago (3-2) — behind L.A. (6-0), New Orleans (4-1), Philadelphia (3-3) and Minnesota (3-2-1). But, beyond the Rams, the NFC has no dominant team, and the Hawks will have the chance to assert themselves with games against three of those contenders (L.A., Carolina, Minnesota) over the final 10 weeks.

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